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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:37:33 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:37:33 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11671-0.txt b/11671-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9ac27de --- /dev/null +++ b/11671-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5484 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11671 *** + +THE RUDDER GRANGERS ABROAD AND OTHER STORIES + + + + +BY + +FRANK R. STOCKTON + + +1891, 1894 + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. EUPHEMIA AMONG THE PELICANS + II. THE RUDDER GRANGERS IN ENGLAND +III. POMONA'S DAUGHTER + IV. DERELICT + V. THE BAKER OF BARNBURY + VI. THE WATER-DEVIL + + + + +EUPHEMIA AMONG THE PELICANS. + + +The sun shone warm and soft, as it shines in winter time in the +semi-tropics. The wind blew strong, as it blows whenever and wherever +it listeth. Seven pelicans labored slowly through the air. A flock of +ducks rose from the surface of the river. A school of mullet, disturbed +by a shark, or some other unscrupulous pursuer, sprang suddenly out of +the water just before us, and fell into it again like the splashing of +a sudden shower. + +I lay upon the roof of the cabin of a little yacht. Euphemia stood +below, her feet upon the mess-chest, and her elbows resting on the edge +of the cabin roof. A sudden squall would have unshipped her; still, if +one would be happy, there are risks that must be assumed. At the open +entrance of the cabin, busily writing on a hanging-shelf that served as +a table, sat a Paying Teller. On the high box which during most of the +day covered our stove was a little lady, writing in a note-book. On the +forward deck, at the foot of the mast, sat a young man in a state of +placidness. His feet stuck out on the bowsprit, while his mildly +contemplative eyes went forth unto the roundabout. + +At the tiller stood our guide and boatman, his sombre eye steady on the +south-by-east. Around the horizon of his countenance there spread a +dark and six-days' beard, like a slowly rising thunder-cloud; ever and +anon there was a gleam of white teeth, like a bright break in the sky, +but it meant nothing. During all our trip, the sun never shone in that +face. It never stormed, but it was always cloudy. But he was the best +boatman on those waters, and when he stood at the helm we knew we +sailed secure. We wanted a man familiar with storms and squalls, and if +this familiarity had developed into facial sympathy, it mattered not. +We could attend to our own sunshine. At his feet sat humbly his boy of +twelve, whom we called "the crew." He was making fancy knots in a bit +of rope. This and the occupation of growing up were the only labors in +which he willingly engaged. + +Euphemia and I had left Rudder Grange, to spend a month or two in +Florida, and we were now on a little sloop-yacht on the bright waters +of the Indian River. It must not be supposed that, because we had a +Paying Teller with us, we had set up a floating bank. With this Paying +Teller, from a distant State, we had made acquaintance on our first +entrance into Florida. He was travelling in what Euphemia called "a +group," which consisted of his wife,--the little lady with the +note-book,--the contemplative young man on the forward deck, and +himself. + +This Paying Teller had worked so hard and so rapidly at his business +for several years, and had paid out so much of his health and strength, +that it was necessary for him to receive large deposits of these +essentials before he could go to work again. But the peculiar habits of +his profession never left him. He was continually paying out something. +If you presented a conversational check to him in the way of a remark, +he would, figuratively speaking, immediately jump to his little window +and proceed to cash it, sometimes astonishing you by the amount of +small change he would spread out before you. + +When he heard of our intention to cruise on Indian River he wished to +join his group to our party, and as he was a good fellow we were glad +to have him do so. His wife had been, or was still, a schoolteacher. +Her bright and cheerful face glistened with information. + +The contemplative young man was a distant connection of the Teller, and +his first name being Quincy, was commonly called Quee. If he had wanted +to know any of the many things the little teacher wished to tell he +would have been a happy youth; but his contemplation seldom +crystallized into a knowledge of what he did want to know. + +"And how can I," she once said to Euphemia and myself, "be expected +ever to offer him any light when he can never bring himself to actually +roll up a question?" + +This was said while I was rolling a cigarette. + +The group was greatly given to writing in journals, and making +estimates. Euphemia and I did little of this, as it was our holiday, +but it was often pleasant to see the work going on. The business in +which the Paying Teller was now engaged was the writing of his journal, +and his wife held a pencil in her kidded fingers and a little +blank-book on her knees. + +This was our first day upon the river. + +"Where are we?" asked Euphemia. "I know we are on the Indian River, but +where is the Indian River?" + +"It is here," I said. + +"But where is here?" reiterated Euphemia. + +"There are only three places in the world," said the teacher, looking +up from her book,--"here, there, and we don't know where. Every spot on +earth is in one or the other of those three places." + +"As far as I am concerned," said Euphemia, "the Indian River is in the +last place." + +"Then we must hasten to take it out," said the teacher, and she dived +into the cabin, soon reappearing with a folding map of Florida. "Here," +she said, "do you see that wide river running along part of the +Atlantic coast of the State, and extending down as far as Jupiter +Inlet? That is Indian River, and we are on it. Its chief +characteristics are that it is not a river, but an arm of the sea, and +that it is full of fish." + +"It seems to me to be so full," said I, "that there is not room for +them all--that is, if we are to judge by the way the mullet jump out." + +"I think," said the teacher, making a spot with her pencil on the map, +"that just now we are about here." + +"It is the first time," said Euphemia, "that I ever looked upon an +unknown region on the map, and felt I was there." + +Our plans for travel and living were very simple. We had provided +ourselves on starting with provisions for several weeks, and while on +the river we cooked and ate on board our little vessel. When we reached +Jupiter Inlet we intended to go into camp. Every night we anchored near +the shore. Euphemia and I occupied the cabin of the boat; a tent was +pitched on shore for the Teller and his wife; there was another tent +for the captain and his boy, and this was shared by the contemplative +young man. + +Our second night on the river was tinged with incident. We had come to +anchor near a small settlement, and our craft had been moored to a rude +wharf. About the middle of the night a wind-storm arose, and Euphemia +and I were awakened by the bumping of the boat against the wharf-posts. +Through the open end of the cabin I could see that the night was very +dark, and I began to consider the question whether or not it would be +necessary for me to get up, much preferring, however, that the wind +should go down. Before I had made up my mind we heard a step on the +cabin above us, and then a quick and hurried tramping. I put my head +out of the little window by me, and cried-- + +"Who's there?" + +The voice of the boatman replied out of the darkness:-- + +"She'll bump herself to pieces against this pier! I'm going to tow you +out into the stream." And so he cast us loose, and getting into the +little boat which was fastened to our stern, and always followed us as +a colt its mother, he towed us far out into the stream. There he +anchored us, and rowed away. The bumps now ceased, but the wind still +blew violently, the waves ran high, and the yacht continually wobbled +up and down, tugging and jerking at her anchor. Neither of us was +frightened, but we could not sleep. + +"I know nothing can happen," said Euphemia, "for he would not have left +us here if everything had not been all right, but one might as well try +to sleep in a corn-popper as in this bed." + +After a while the violent motion ceased, and there was nothing but a +gentle surging up and down. + +"I am so glad the wind has lulled," said Euphemia, from the other side +of the centre-board partition which partially divided the cabin. + +Although I could still hear the wind blowing strongly outside, I too +was glad that its force had diminished so far that we felt no more the +violent jerking that had disturbed us, and I soon fell asleep. + +In the morning, when I awoke, I saw that the sun was shining brightly, +and that a large sea-grape bush was hanging over our stern. I sprang +out of bed, and found that we had run, stern foremost, upon a sandy +beach. About forty feet away, upon the shore, stood two 'possums, +gazing with white, triangular faces upon our stranded craft. Except +these, and some ducks swimming near us, with seven pelicans flying +along on the other side of the river, there was no sign of life within +the range of my sight. I was not long in understanding the situation. +It had not been the lulling of the storm, but the parting of our cable +which had caused the uneasy jerking of our little yacht to cease. We +had been blown I knew not how far down the river, for the storm had +come from the north, and had stranded I knew not where. Taking out my +pocket-compass I found that we were on the eastern shore of the river, +and that the wind had changed completely, and was now blowing, not very +strong, from the southeast. I made up my mind what must be done. We +were probably far from the settlement and the rest of the party, and we +must go back. The wind was in our favor, and I knew I could sail the +boat. I had never sailed a boat in my life, and was only too glad to +have the opportunity, untrammelled by any interference. + +I awoke Euphemia and told her what had happened. The two 'possums stood +upon the shore, and listened to our conversation. Euphemia was much +impressed by the whole affair, and for a time said nothing. + +"We must sail her back, I suppose," she remarked at length, "but do you +know how to start her?" + +"The hardest thing to do is to get her off the beach," I answered, "but +I think I can do that." + +I rolled up my trousers, and with bare feet jumped out upon the sand. +The two 'possums retired a little, but still watched my proceedings. +After a great deal of pushing and twisting and lifting, I got the yacht +afloat, and then went on board to set the sail. After much pulling and +tugging, and making myself very warm, I hoisted the main-sail. I did +not trouble myself about the jib, one sail being enough for me to begin +with. As the wind was blowing in the direction in which we wished to +go, I let the sail out until it stood nearly at right angles with the +vessel, and was delighted to see that we immediately began to move +through the water. I took the tiller, and steered gradually toward the +middle of the river. The wind blew steadily, and the yacht moved +bravely on. I was as proud as a man drawn by a conquered lion, and as +happy as one who did not know that conquered lions may turn and rend. +Sometimes the vessel rolled so much that the end of the boom skimmed +the surface of the water, and sometimes the sail gave a little jerk and +flap, but I saw no necessity for changing our course, and kept our bow +pointed steadily up the river. I was delighted that the direction of +the wind enabled me to sail with what might be called a horizontal +deck. Of course, as the boatman afterward informed me, this was the +most dangerous way I could steer, for if the sail should suddenly +"jibe," there would be no knowing what would happen. Euphemia sat near +me, perfectly placid and cheerful, and her absolute trust in me gave +me renewed confidence and pleasure. "There is one great comfort," she +remarked, as she sat gazing into the water,--"if anything should happen +to the boat, we can get out and walk." + +There was force in this remark, for the Indian River in some of its +widest parts is very shallow, and we could now plainly see the bottom, +a few feet below us. + +"Is that the reason you have seemed so trustful and content?" I asked. + +"That is the reason," said Euphemia. On we went and on, the yacht +seeming sometimes a little restive and impatient, and sometimes rolling +more than I could see any necessity for, but still it proceeded. +Euphemia sat in the shadow of the cabin, serene and thoughtful, and I, +holding the tiller steadily amidship, leaned back and gazed up into the +clear blue sky. + +In the midst of my gazing there came a shock that knocked the tiller +out of my hand. Euphemia sprang to her feet and screamed; there were +screams and shouts on the other side of the sail, which seemed to be +wrapping itself about some object I could not see. In an instant +another mast beside our own appeared above the main-sail, and then a +man with a red face jumped on the forward deck. With a quick, +determined air, and without saying a word, or seeming to care for my +permission, he proceeded to lower our sail; then he stepped up on top +of the cabin, and looking down at me, inquired what in thunder I was +trying to do. + +I made no answer, but looked steadily before me. Now that the sail was +down, I could see what had happened. I had collided with a yacht which +we had seen before. It was larger than ours, and contained a +grandfather and a grandmother, a father and a mother, several aunts, +and a great many children. They had started on the river the same day +as ourselves, but did not intend to take so extended a trip as ours was +to be. The whole party was now in the greatest confusion. I did not +understand what they said, nor did I attend to it. I was endeavoring, +for myself, to grasp the situation. Euphemia was calling to me from the +cabin, into which she had retreated; the man was still talking to me +from the cabin roof, and the people in the other boat were vociferating +and screaming; but I paid no attention to any one until I had satisfied +myself that nothing serious had happened. I had not run into them head +on, but had come up diagonally, and the side of our bow had struck the +side of their stern. The collision, as I afterward learned, had +happened in this wise: I had not seen the other boat because, lying +back as I had been, the sail concealed her from me, and they had not +seen us because their boatman was in the forward part of their cabin, +collecting materials for breakfast, and the tiller was left in charge +of one of the boys, who, like all the rest of his party who sat +outside, had discreetly turned his back to the sun. + +The grandfather stood up in the stern. He wore a black silk hat, and +carried a heavy grape-vine cane. Unsteadily balancing himself on his +legs, and shaking his cane at me, he cried:-- + +"What is the meaning of this, sir? Are you trying to drown a whole +family, sir?" + +"If he'd run his bowsprit in among you," said the boatman from the +cabin roof, "he'd 'a' killed a lot of you before you'd been drowned." + +Euphemia screamed to me to come to her; the father was standing on his +cabin roof, shouting something to me; the women in the other boat were +violently talking among themselves; some of the little children were +crying; the girls were hanging to the ladies, and all the boys were +clambering on board our boat. It was a time of great excitement, and +something must be instantly said by me. My decision was quick. + +"Have you any tea?" I said, addressing the old gentleman. + +"Tea!" he roared. "What do you mean by that?" + +"We have plenty of coffee on board," I answered, "but some of our party +can't drink it. If you have any tea, I should like to borrow some. I +can send it to you when we reach a store." + +From every person of the other party came, as in a chorus, the one +word, "Tea?" And Euphemia put her pale face out of the cabin, and said, +in a tone of wondering inquiry, "Tea?" + +"Did you bang into us this way to borrow tea?" roared the old +gentleman. + +"I did not intend, of course, to strike you so hard," I said, "and I am +sorry I did so, but I should like to borrow some tea." + +Euphemia whispered to me:-- + +"We have tea." + +I looked at her, and she locked her lips. + +"Of course we can give you some tea, if you want some," said the +red-faced boatman, "but I never heerd of a thing like this since I was +first born, nor ever shall again, I hope." + +"I don't want you to give me any tea," I said. "I shall certainly +return it, and a very little will do--just a handful." + +The two boats had not drifted apart, for the father, standing on the +cabin roof, had held tightly to our rigging, and the boatman, still +muttering, went on board his vessel to get the tea. He brought it, +wrapped in a piece of a newspaper. + +"Here comes your man," he said, pointing to a little boat which was +approaching us. "We told him we'd look out for you, but we didn't think +you'd come smashing into us like this." + +In a few moments our boatman had pulled alongside, his face full of a +dark inquiry. He looked at me for authoritative information. + +"I came here," I said to him, "after tea." + +"Before breakfast, I should say!" cried the old gentleman. And every +one of his party burst out laughing. + +Much was now said, chiefly by the party of the other part, but our +boatman paid little attention to any of it. The boys scrambled on board +their own vessel. We pushed apart, hoisted sail, and were soon speeding +away. + +"Good bye!" shouted the father, a genial man. "Let us know if you want +any more groceries, and we'll send them to you." + +For six days from our time of starting we sailed down the Indian River. +Sometimes the banks were miles apart, and sometimes they were very near +each other; sometimes we would come upon a solitary house, or little +cluster of dwellings; and then there would be many, many miles of +wooded shore before another human habitation was to be seen. Inland, to +the west, stretched a vast expanse of lonely forest where panthers, +bears, and wild-cats prowled. To the east lay a long strip of land, +through whose tall palmettoes came the roar of the great ocean. The +blue sky sparkled over us every day; now and then we met a little +solitary craft; countless water-fowl were scattered about on the +surface of the stream; a school of mullet was usually jumping into the +air; an alligator might sometimes be seen steadily swimming across the +river, with only his nose and back exposed; and nearly always, either +to the right or to the left, going north or going south, were seven +pelicans, slowly flopping through the air. + +A portion of the river, far southward, called "The Narrows," presented +a very peculiar scene. The banks were scarcely fifty feet apart, and +yet there were no banks. The river was shut in to the right by the +inland shore, and to the left by a far-reaching island, and yet there +was no inland shore, nor any island to the left. On either side were +great forests of mangrove trees, standing tiptoe on their myriad +down-dropping roots, each root midleg in the water. As far as we could +see among the trees, there was no sign of ground of any kind--nothing +but a grotesque network of roots, on which the forest stood. In this +green-bordered avenue of water, which extended nine or ten miles, the +thick foliage shut out the breeze, and our boatman was obliged to go +ahead in his little boat and tow us along. + +"There are Indians out West," said Euphemia, as she sat gazing into the +mangroves, "who live on roots, but I don't believe they could live on +these. The pappooses would certainly fall through." + +At Jupiter Inlet, about a hundred and fifty miles from our point of +starting, we went into camp, in which delightful condition we proposed +to remain for a week or more. There was no trouble whatever in finding +a suitable place for a camp. The spot selected was a point of land +swept by cool breezes, with a palmetto forest in the rear of it. On two +sides of the point stretched the clear waters of the river, while half +a mile to the east was Jupiter Inlet, on each side of which rolled and +tumbled the surf of the Atlantic. About a mile away was Jupiter +Light-house, the only human habitation within twenty miles. We built a +palmetto hut for a kitchen; we set up the tents in a permanent way; we +constructed a little pier for the yacht; we built a wash-stand, a +table, and a bench. And then, considering that we had actually gone +into camp, we got out our fishing-lines. + +Fishing was to be the great work here. Near the Inlet, through which +the waters of the ocean poured into and out of our river, on a long, +sandy beach, we stood in line, two or three hours every day except +Sunday, and fished. Such fishing we had never imagined!--there were so +many fishes, and they were so big. The Paying Teller had never fished +in his life before he came to Florida. He had tried at St. Augustine, +with but little success. "If the sport had been to chuck fish into the +river," he had said, "that would be more in my line of business; but +getting them out of it did not seem to suit me." But here it was quite +a different thing. It was a positive delight to him, he said, to be +obliged so often to pay out his line. + +One day, when tired of struggling with gamy blue-fish and powerful +cavalios (if that is the way to spell it), I wound up my line, and +looked about to see what the others were doing. The Paying Teller stood +near, on tiptoe, as usual, with his legs wide apart, his hat thrown +back, his eyes flashing over the water, and his right arm stretched far +out, ready for a jerk. Quee was farther along the beach. He had just +landed a fish, and was standing gazing meditatively upon it as it lay +upon the sand. The hook was still in its mouth, and every now and then +he would give the line a little pull, as if to see if there really was +a connection between it and the fish. Then he would stand a little +longer, and meditate a little more, still looking alternately at the +line and the fish. Having made up his mind, at last, that the two +things must be separated, he kneeled down upon his flopping prize and +proceeded meditatively to extract the hook. The teacher was struggling +at her line. Hand over hand she pulled it in. As it came nearer and +nearer, her fish swam wildly from side to side, making the tightened +line fairly hiss as it swept through the water. But still she pulled +and pulled, until, red and breathless, she landed her prize upon the +sand. + +"Hurrah!" shouted the Paying Teller. "That's the biggest blue-fish +yet!" But he did not come to take the fish from the hook. He was +momentarily expecting a bite. + +Euphemia was not to be seen. This did not surprise me, as she +frequently gave up fishing long before the others, and went to stroll +upon the sea-beach, a few hundred yards away. She was fond of fishing, +but it soon tired her. "If you want to know what it is like," she wrote +to a friend in the North, "just tie a long string around your boy +Charlie, and try to haul him out of the back yard into the house." + +But Euphemia was not upon the sea-beach to-day. I walked a mile or so +along the sand, but did not find her. She had gone around the little +bluff to our shark-line. This was a long rope, like a clothes-line, +with a short chain at the end and a great hook, which was baited with a +large piece of fish. It was thrown out every day, the land end tied to +a stout stake driven into the sand, and the whole business given into +the charge of "the crew," who was to report if a shark should bite. But +to-day the little rascal had wandered away, and Euphemia was managing +the line. + +"I thought I would try to catch a shark all by myself," she said. "I +wonder if there's one on the hook now. Would you mind feeling the +line?" + +I laughed as I took the rope from her hand. + +"If you had a shark on the hook, my dear," said I, "you would have no +doubt upon the subject." + +"It would be a splendid thing to catch the first one," she said, "and +there must be lots of them in here, for we have seen their back fins so +often." + +I was about to answer this remark when I began to walk out into the +water. I did not at the time know exactly why I did this, but it seemed +as if some one had taken me by the hand and was leading me into the +depths. But the water splashing above my ankles and a scream from +Euphemia made me drop the line, which immediately spun out to its full +length, making the stake creak and move in the sand. + +"Goodness gracious!" cried Euphemia, her face pale as the beach. "Isn't +it horrible? We've got one!" + +"Horrible!" I cried. "Didn't you want to get one?" and seizing the axe, +which lay near by, I drove the stake deep down into the sand. "Now it +will hold him!" I cried. "He can't pull that out!" + +"But how are we to pull him in?" exclaimed Euphemia. "This line is as +tight as a guitar-string." + +This was true. I took hold of the rope, but could make no impression on +it. Suddenly it slackened in my hand. + +"Hurrah!" I cried, "we may have him yet! But we must play him." + +"Play him!" exclaimed Euphemia. "You can never play a huge creature +like that. Let me go and call some of the others to help." + +"No, no!" I said. "Perhaps we can do it all by ourselves. Wind the line +quickly around the top of the stake as I pull it in." + +Euphemia knelt down and rapidly wound several yards of the slack cord +around the stake. In a few moments it tightened again, jerking itself +out of my hand. + +"There, now!" said Euphemia. "He is off again! You can never haul him +in, now." + +"Just wait," I said. "When he finds that he cannot break away he rushes +toward shore, trying to bite the line above the chain. Then I must haul +it in and you must wind it up. If you and I and the shark continue to +act in this way, perhaps, after a time, we may get him into shallow +water. But don't scream or shout. I don't want the others to know +anything about it." + +Sure enough, in a minute or two the line slackened again, when it was +rapidly drawn in and wound around the stake. + +"There he is!" exclaimed Euphemia. "I can see him just under the water, +out there." + +The dark form of the shark, appearing at first like the shadow of a +little cloud, could be seen near the surface, about fifteen yards away. +Then his back fin rose, his tail splashed violently for an instant, and +he disappeared. Again the line was loosened, and again the slack was +hauled in and wound up. This was repeated, I don't know how many times, +when suddenly the shark in his desperation rushed into shallow water +and grounded himself. He would have floundered off in a few moments, +however, had we not quickly tightened the line. Now we could see him +plainly. He was eight or nine feet long and struggled violently, +exciting Euphemia so much that it was only by clapping her hand over +her mouth that she prevented herself from screaming. I would have +pulled the shark farther in shore, but this was impossible, and it was +needless to expect him to move himself into shallower water. So, +quickly rolling up my trousers, I seized the axe and waded in toward +the floundering creature. + +"You needn't be afraid to go right up to him," said Euphemia. "So long +as he don't turn over on his back he can't bite you." + +I had heard this bit of natural history before, but, nevertheless, I +went no nearer to the shark than was necessary in order to whack him +over the head with the axe. This I did several times, with such effect +that he soon became a dead shark. + +When I came out triumphant, Euphemia seized me in her arms and kissed +me. + +"This is perfectly splendid!" she said. "Who can show as big a fish as +this one? None of the others can ever crow over you again." + +"Until one of them catches a bigger shark," I said. + +"Which none of them ever will," said Euphemia, decidedly. "It isn't in +them." + +The boatman was now seen approaching in his boat to take the party back +to camp, and the "crew," having returned to his duty, was sent off in a +state of absolute amazement to tell the others to come and look at our +prize. Our achievement certainly created a sensation. Even the boatman +could find no words to express his astonishment. He waded in and +fastened a rope to the shark's tail, and then we all took hold and +hauled the great fish ashore. + +"What is the good of it now you have got it?" asked Quee. + +"Glory is some good!" exclaimed Euphemia. + +"And I'm going to have you a belt made from a strip of its skin," I +said. + +This seemed to Euphemia a capital idea. She would be delighted to have +such a trophy of our deed, and the boatman was set to work to cut a +suitable strip from the fish. And this belt, having been properly +tanned, lined, and fitted with buckles, is now one of her favorite +adornments, and cost, I am bound to add, about three times as much as +any handsome leathern belt to be bought in the stores. + +Every day the Paying Teller, his wife, and Quee carefully set down in +their note-books the weight of fish each individual had caught, with +all necessary details and specifications relating thereunto; every day +we wandered on the beach, or explored the tropical recesses of the +palmetto woods; every evening the boatman rowed over to the light-house +to have a bit of gossip, and to take thither the fish we did not need; +every day the sun was soft and warm, and the sky was blue; and every +morning, going oceanward, and every evening, going landward, seven +pelicans flew slowly by our camp. + +My greatest desire at this time was to shoot a pelican, to have him +properly prepared, and to take him to Rudder Grange, where, suitably +set up, with his wings spread out, full seven feet from tip to tip, he +would be a grand trophy and reminder of these Indian River days. This +was the reason why, nearly every morning and every evening, I took a +shot at these seven pelicans. But I never hit one of them. We had only +a shot-gun, and the pelicans flew at a precautionary distance; but, +being such big birds, they always looked to me much nearer than they +were. Euphemia earnestly desired that I should have a pelican, and +although she always wished I should hit one of these, she was always +glad when I did not. + +"Think how mournful it would be," she said, "if they should take their +accustomed flights, morning and evening, with one of their number +missing." + +"Repeating Wordsworth's verses, I suppose," remarked the little +teacher. + +I had been disappointed in the number of pelicans we had seen. I knew +that Florida was one of the homes of the pelican, and I had not +expected to see these birds merely in small detachments. But our +boatman assured me that on our return trip he would give me a chance of +seeing and shooting as many pelicans as I could desire. We would +touch at Pelican Island, which was inhabited entirely by these birds, +and whence the parties of seven were evidently sent out. + +When we had had all the fishing we wanted, we broke up our camp, and +started northward. We had all been very happy and contented during our +ten days' sojourn in this delightful place; but when at last our +departure was determined upon, the Paying Teller became possessed with +a wild desire to go, go, go. There was some reason, never explained nor +fully expressed, why no day, hour, minute, or second should be lost in +speeding to the far Northwest. The boatman, too, impelled by what +impulse I know not, seemed equally anxious to get home. As for the +Paying Teller's "group," it always did exactly as he wished. Therefore, +although Euphemia and I would have been glad to linger here and there +upon our homeward way, we could not gainsay the desire of the majority +of the party, and consequently we sailed northward as fast as wind and +sometimes oars would take us. + +Only one cause for delay seemed tolerable to the Paying Teller. This +was to stop at every post-office. We had received but one mail while in +camp, which had been brought in a sail-boat from an office twenty miles +away. But the Paying Teller had given and written the most intricate +and complex directions for the retention or forwarding of his mail to +every postmaster in the country we had passed through, and these +directions, as we afterward found, had so puzzled and unsettled the +minds of these postmasters that for several weeks his letters had been +moving like shuttlecocks up and down the St. John's and Indian +rivers--never stopping anywhere, never being delivered, but crossing +and recrossing each other as if they were imbued with their owner's +desire to go, go, go. Some of the post-offices where we stopped were +lonely little buildings with no other habitation near. These we usually +found shut up, being opened only on mail-days, and in such cases +nothing could be done but to slip a protesting postal into the little +slit in the wall apparently intended for letters. Whether these postals +were eaten by rats or read by the P.M.'s, we never discovered. Wherever +an office was found open, we left behind us an irate postmaster +breathing all sorts of contemplated vengeance upon the disturbers of +his peace. We heard of letters that had been sent north and sent south, +but there never were any at the particular place where we happened to +be, and I suppose that the accumulated mail of the Paying Teller may +for several years drop gradually upon him through the meshes of the +Dead-Letter Office. + +There were a great many points of interest which we had passed on our +downward trip, the boatman assuring us that, with the wind we had, and +which might cease at any moment, the great object was to reach Jupiter +as soon as possible, and that we would stop at the interesting places +on the way up. But now the wind, according to his reasoning, made it +necessary that we should again push forward as fast as we could; and, +as I said before, the irresistible attraction of the Northwest so +worked upon the Paying Teller that he was willing to pause nowhere, +during the daytime, but at a post-office. At one place, however, I was +determined to land. This was Pelican Island. The boatman, paying no +attention to his promise to stop here and give me an opportunity to +shoot one of these birds, declared, when near the place, that it would +never do, with such a wind, to drop anchor for a trifle like a pelican. +The Paying Teller and Quee also strongly objected to a stop; and, while +the teacher had a great desire to investigate the subject of +ornithology, especially when exemplified by such a subject as a +pelican, she felt herself obliged to be loyal to her "group," and so +quietly gave her voice to go on. But I, supported by Euphemia, remained +so firm that we anchored a short distance from Pelican Island. + +None of the others had any desire to go ashore, and so I, with the gun +and Euphemia, took the boat and rowed to the island. While we were here +the others determined to sail to the opposite side of the river to look +for a little post-office, the existence of which the boatman had not +mentioned until it had been determined to make this stoppage here. + +As we approached the island we saw hundreds of pelicans, some flying +about, some sitting on trunks and branches of dead trees, and some +waddling about on the shore. + +"You might as well shoot two of them," said Euphemia, "and then we +will select the better one to take to Rudder Grange." + +The island was very boggy and muddy, and, before I had found a good +place to land, and had taken up the gun from the bow of the boat, every +pelican in sight took wing and flew away. I stood up and fired both +barrels at the retreating flock. They swerved and flew oceanward, but +not one of them fell. I helped Euphemia on shore, and then, gun in +hand, I made my way as well as I could to the other end of the island. +There might be some deaf old fellows left who had not made up their +minds to fly. The ground was very muddy, and drift-wood and under-brush +obstructed my way. Still, I pressed on, and went nearly half around the +island, finding, however, not a single pelican. + +Soon I heard Euphemia's voice, calling loud. She seemed to be about the +centre of the island, and I ran toward her. + +"I've got one!" I heard her cry, before I came in sight of her. She was +sitting at the root of a crooked, dead tree. In front of her she held, +one hand grasping each leg, what seemed to me to be an ungainly and +wingless goose. All about her the ground was soft and boggy. Her +clothes were muddy, her face was red, and the creature she held was +struggling violently. + +"What on earth have you got?" I exclaimed, approaching as near as I +could, "and how did you get out there?" + +"Don't you come any closer!" she cried. "You'll sink up to your waist! +I got here by treading on the little hummocks and holding on to that +dead branch; but don't you take hold of it, for you'll break it off, +and then I can't get back." + +"But what is that thing?" I repeated. + +"It's a young pelican," she replied. "I found a lot of nests on the +ground over there, and this was in one of them. I chased it all about, +until it flopped out here and hid itself on the other side of this +tree. Then I came out quietly and caught it. But how am I going to get +it to you?" + +This seemed, indeed, a problem. Euphemia declared that she needed both +hands to work her way back by the means of the long, horizontal limb +which had assisted her passage to the place where she sat, and she also +needed both hands to hold her prize. It was likewise plain that I could +not get to her. Indeed, I could not see how her light steps had taken +her over the soft and marshy ground that lay between us. I suggested +that she should throw the pelican to me. This she declined to do. + +"I could never throw it so far," she said, "and it would surely get +away. I don't want to lose this pelican, for I believe it is the last +one on the island. If there are other young ones, they have scuttled +off by this time, and I should dreadfully hate to go back to the yacht +without any pelican at all." + +"I don't call that much of one," I said. + +"It's a real pelican for all that," she replied, "and about as curious +a bird as I ever saw. Its wings won't stretch out seven feet, to be +sure." + +"About seven inches," I suggested. + +"But it is a great deal easier to carry a young one like this," she +persisted, "and I expect a baby pelican is a much more uncommon sight +in the North than a grown one." + +"No doubt of it," I said. "We must keep him now you've got him. Can't +you kill him?" + +"I've no way of killing him," returned Euphemia. "I wonder if you could +shoot him if I were to hold him out." + +This, with a shot-gun, I positively declined to do. Even if I had had a +rifle, I suggested that she might swerve. For a few moments we remained +nonplussed. I could not get to Euphemia at all, and she could not get +to me unless she released her bird, and this she was determined not to +do. + +"Euphemia," I said, presently, "the ground seems hard a little way in +front of you. If you step over there, I will go out on this strip, +which seems pretty solid. Then I'll be near enough to you for you to +swing the bird to me, and I'll catch hold of him." + +Euphemia arose and did as I told her, and we soon found ourselves about +six feet apart. She took the bird by one leg and swung it toward me. +With outstretched arm I caught it by the other foot, but as I did so I +noticed that Euphemia was growing shorter, and also felt myself sinking +in the bog. Instantly I entreated Euphemia to stand perfectly still, +for, if we struggled or moved, there was no knowing into what more +dreadful depths we might get. Euphemia obeyed me, and stood quite +still, but I could feel that she clutched the pelican with desperate +vigor. + +"How much farther down do you think we shall sink?" she asked, her +voice trembling a little. + +"Not much farther," I said. "I am sure there is firm ground beneath us, +but it will not do to move. If we should fall down, we might not be +able to get up again." + +"How glad I am," she said, "that we are not entirely separated, even if +it is only a baby pelican that joins us!" + +"Indeed, I am glad!" I said, giving the warm pressure to the pelican's +leg that I would have given to Euphemia's hand, if I could have reached +her. Euphemia looked up at me so confidently that I could but believe +that in some magnetic way that pressure had been transmitted through +the bird. + +"Do you think they will come back?" she said, directly. + +"Oh, yes," I replied, "there's no manner of doubt of that." + +"They'll be dreadfully cross," she said. + +"I shouldn't wonder," I replied. "But it makes very little difference +to me whether they are or not." + +"It ought to make a difference to you," said Euphemia. "They might +injure us very much." + +"If they tried anything of the kind," I replied, "they'd find it worse +for them than for us." + +"That is boasting," said Euphemia, a little reproachfully, "and it +does not sound like you." + +I made no answer to this, and then she asked:-- + +"What do you think they will do when they come?" + +"I think they will put a plank out here and pull us out." + +Euphemia looked at me an instant, and then her eyes filled with tears. + +"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, "it's dreadful! You know they couldn't do +it. Your mind is giving way!" + +She sobbed, and I could feel the tremor run through the pelican. + +"What do you mean?" I cried, anxiously. "My mind giving way?" + +"Yes--yes," she sobbed. "If you were in your right senses--you'd never +think--that pelicans could bring a plank." + +I looked at her in astonishment. + +"Pelicans!" I exclaimed. "Did you think I meant the pelicans were +coming back?" + +"Of course," she said. "That's what I was asking you about." + +"I wasn't thinking of pelicans at all," I answered "I was talking of +the people in the yacht." + +Euphemia looked at me, and then the little pelican between us began to +shake violently as we laughed. + +"I know people sometimes do lose their minds when they get into great +danger," she said, apologetically. + +"Hello!" came a voice from the water. "What are you laughing about?" + +"Come and see," I shouted back, "and perhaps you will laugh, too." + +The three men came; they had to wade ashore; and when they came they +laughed. They brought a plank, and with a good deal of trouble they +drew us out, but Euphemia would not let go of her leg of the little +pelican until she was sure I had a tight hold of mine. + +Day after day we now sailed northward, until we reached the little town +at which we had embarked. Here we discarded our blue flannels and three +half-grown beards, and slowly made our way through woods and lakes and +tortuous streams to the upper waters of the St. John's. In this region +the population of the river shores seemed to consist entirely of +alligators, in which monsters Euphemia was greatly interested. But she +seldom got a near view of one, for the sportsmen on our little steamer +blazed away at every alligator as soon as it came into distant sight; +and, although the ugly creatures were seldom hit, they made haste to +tumble into the water or disappear among the tall reeds. Euphemia was +very much annoyed at this. + +"I shall never get a good close look at an alligator at all," she said. +"I am going to speak to the captain." + +The captain, a big, good-natured man, listened to her, and entirely +sympathized with her. + +"Tom," said he to the pilot, "when you see another big 'gator on shore, +don't sing out to nobody, but call me, and slow up." + +It was not long before chocolate-colored Tom called to the captain, and +rang the bell to lessen speed. + +"Gentlemen," said the captain, walking forward to the group of +sportsmen, "there's a big 'gator ahead there, but don't none of you +fire at him. He's copyrighted." + +The men with the guns did not understand him, but none of them fired, +and Euphemia and the other ladies soon had the satisfaction of seeing +an enormous alligator lying on the bank, within a dozen yards of the +boat. The great creature raised its head, and looked at us in apparent +amazement at not being shot at. Then, probably considering that we did +not know the customs of the river, or were out of ammunition, he slowly +slipped away among the reeds with an air as if, like Mr. Turveydrop, he +had done his duty in showing himself, and if we did not take advantage +of it, it was no affair of his. + +"If we only had a fellow like that for a trophy!" ejaculated Euphemia. + +"He'd do very well for a trophy," I answered, "but if, in order to get +him, I had to hold him by one leg while you held him by another, I +should prefer a baby pelican." + +Our trip down the St. John's met with no obstacles except those +occasioned by the Paying Teller's return tickets. He had provided +himself and his group with all sorts of return tickets from the various +points he had expected to visit in Florida. These were good only on +particular steamboats, and could be used only to go from one particular +point to another. Fortunately he had lost several of them, but there +were enough left to give us a good deal of trouble. We did not wish to +break up the party, and consequently we embarked and disembarked +whenever the Paying Teller's group did so; and thus, in time, we all +reached that widespread and sandy city which serves for the gate of +Florida. + +From here, the Paying Teller and his group, with complicated tickets, +the determinate scope and purpose of which no one man living could be +expected to understand, hurried wildly toward the far Northwest; while +we, in slower fashion, returned to Rudder Grange. + +There, in a place of honor over the dining-room door, stands the baby +pelican, its little flippers wide outstretched. + +"How often I think," Euphemia sometimes says, "of that moment of peril, +when the only actual bond of union between us was that little pelican!" + + + + +THE RUDDER GRANGERS IN ENGLAND. + + +It was mainly due to Pomona that we went to Europe at all. For years +Euphemia and I had been anxious to visit the enchanted lands on the +other side of the Atlantic, but the obstacles had always been very +great, and the matter had been indefinitely postponed. Pomona and Jonas +were still living with us, and their little girl was about two years +old. Pomona continued to read a great deal, but her husband's influence +had diverted her mind toward works of history and travel, and these she +devoured with eager interest. But she had not given up her old fancy +for romance. Nearly everything she read was mingled in her mind with +Middle Age legends and tales of strange adventure. Euphemia's frequent +reference to a trip to Europe had fired Pomona's mind, and she was now +more wildly anxious for the journey than any of us. She believed that +it would entirely free Jonas from the chills and fever that still +seemed to permeate his being. And besides this, what unutterable joy to +tread the sounding pavements of those old castles of which she had so +often read! Pomona further perceived that my mental and physical +systems required the rest and change of scene which could be given only +by a trip to Europe. When this impression had been produced upon +Euphemia's mind, the matter, to all intents and purposes, was settled. +A tenant, who I suspect was discovered and urged forward by the +indefatigable Pomona, made an application for a year's lease of our +house and farm. In a business view I found I could make the journey +profitable, and there seemed to be no reason why we should not go, and +go now. + +It appeared to be accepted as a foregone conclusion by Euphemia and +Pomona that the latter, with her husband and child, should accompany +us; but of this I could not, at first, see the propriety. + +"We shall not want servants on a trip like that," I said; "and although +I like Jonas and Pomona very much, they are not exactly the people I +should prefer as travelling companions." + +"If you think you are going to leave Pomona behind," said Euphemia, +"you are vastly mistaken. Oceans and continents are free to her, and +she will follow us at a distance if we don't let her go with us. She +was quite content not to go with us to Florida, but she is just one +tingle from head to foot to go to Europe. We have talked the whole +thing over, and I know that she will be of the greatest possible use +and comfort to me in ever so many ways; and Jonas will be needed to +take care of the baby. Jonas has money, and they will pay a great part +of their own expenses, and will not cost us much, and you needn't be +afraid that Pomona will make us ashamed of ourselves, if we happen to +be talking to the Dean of Westminster or the Archbishop of Canterbury, +by pushing herself into the conversation." + +"Indeed," said I, "if we ever happen to be inveigled into a confab with +those dignitaries, I hope Pomona will come to the front and take my +place." + +The only person not entirely satisfied with the proposed journey was +Jonas. + +"I don't like trapsin' round," said he, "from place to place, and never +did. If I could go to some one spot and stay there with the child, +while the rest of you made trips, I'd be satisfied, but I don't like +keepin' on the steady go." + +This plan was duly considered, and the suitability of certain points +was discussed. London was not believed sufficiently accessible for +frequent return trips; Paris could scarcely be called very central; +Naples would not be suitable at all times of the year, and Cairo was a +little too far eastward. A number of minor places were suggested, but +Jonas announced that he had thought of a capital location, and being +eagerly asked to name it, he mentioned Newark, New Jersey. + +"I'd feel at home there," he said, "and it's about as central as any +place, when you come to look on the map of the world." + +But he was not allowed to remain in his beloved New Jersey, and we took +him with us to Europe. + +We did not, like the rest of the passengers on the steamer, go directly +from Liverpool to London, but stopped for a couple of days in the +quaint old town of Chester. "If we don't see it now," said Euphemia, +"we never shall see it. When we once start back we shall be raving +distracted to get home, and I wouldn't miss Chester for anything." + +"There is an old wall there," said the enthusiastic Pomona to her +husband, "built by Julius Caesar before the Romans became Catholics, +that you kin walk on all round the town; an' a tower on it which the +king of England stood on to see his army defeated, though of course it +wasn't put up for that purpose; besides, more old-timenesses which the +book tells of than we can see in a week." + +"I hope," said Jonas, wearily shifting the child from one arm to the +other, "that there'll be some good place there to sit down." + +When we reached Chester, we went directly to the inn called "The Gentle +Boar," which was selected by Euphemia entirely on account of its name, +and we found it truly a quaint and cosey little house. Everything was +early English and delightful. The coffee-rooms, the bar-maids, the +funny little apartments, the old furniture, and "a general air of the +Elizabethan era," as Euphemia remarked. + +"I should almost call it Henryan," said Pomona, gazing about her in +rapt wonderment. + +We soon set out on our expeditions of sight-seeing, but we did not keep +together. Euphemia and I made our way to the old cathedral. The ancient +verger who took us about the edifice was obliged to show us everything, +Euphemia being especially anxious to see the stall in the choir which +had belonged to Charles Kingsley, and was much disturbed to find that +under the seat the monks of the fifteenth century had carved the +subject of one of Baron Munchausen's most improbable tales. + +"Of course," said she, "they did not know that Charles Kingsley was to +have this stall, or they would have cut something more appropriate." + +"Those old monks 'ad a good deal of fun in them," said the verger, +"hand they were particular fond of showing up quarrels between men and +their wives, which they could do, you see, without 'urting each other's +feelings. These queer carvings are hunder the seats, which turn hup in +this way, and I've no doubt they looked at them most of the time they +were kneeling on the cold floor saying their long, Latin prayers." + +"Yes, indeed!" said Euphemia. "It must have been a great comfort to the +poor fellows." + +"We went all through that cathedral," exclaimed Pomona, when she came +in the next day. "The old virgin took us everywhere." + +"Verger," exclaimed Euphemia. + +"Well, he looked so like a woman in his long gown," said Pomona, "I +don't wonder I mixed him. We put two shillin's in his little box, +though one was enough, as I told Jonas, and then he took us round and +pointed out all the beautiful carvin's and things on the choir, the +transits, and the nave, but when Jonas stopped before the carved figger +of the devil chawin' up a sinner, and asked if that was the transit of +a knave, the old feller didn't know what he meant. An' then we wandered +alone through them ruined cloisters and subterraneal halls, an' old +tombstones of the past, till I felt I don't know how. There was a girl +in New Jersey who used to put on airs because her family had lived in +one place for a hundred years. When I git back I'll laugh that girl to +scorn." + +After two days of delight in this quaint old town we took the train +Londonward. Without consultation Jonas bought tickets for himself and +wife, while I bought Euphemia's and mine. Consequently our servants +travelled first-class, while we went in a second-class carriage. We +were all greatly charmed with the beautiful garden country through +which we passed. It was harvest time, and Jonas was much impressed by +the large crops gathered from the little fields. + +"I might try to do something of that kind when I go back," he afterward +said, "but I expect I'd have to dig a little hole for each grain of +wheat, and hoe it, and water it, and tie the blade to a stick if it was +weakly." + +"An' a nice easy time you'd have of it," said Pomona; "for you might +plant your wheat field round a stump, and set there, and farm all +summer, without once gettin' up." + +"And that is Windsor!" exclaimed Euphemia, as we passed within view of +that royal castle. "And there lives the Sovereign of our Mother +Country!" + +I was trying to puzzle out in what relationship to the Sovereign this +placed us, when Euphemia continued:-- + +"I am bound to go to Windsor Castle! I have examined into every style +of housekeeping, French flats and everything, and I must see how the +Queen lives. I expect to get ever so many ideas." + +"All right," said I; "and we will visit the royal stables, too, for I +intend to get a new buggy when we get back." + +We determined that on reaching London we would go directly to lodgings, +not only because this was a more economical way of living, but because +it was the way in which many of Euphemia's favorite heroes and heroines +had lived in London. + +"I want to keep house," she said, "in the same way that Charles and +Mary Lamb did. We will toast a bit of muffin or a potted sprat, and +we'll have a hamper of cheese and a tankard of ale, just like those old +English poets and writers." + +"I think you are wrong about the hamper of cheese," I said. "It +couldn't have been as much as that, but I have no doubt we'll have a +jolly time." + +We got into a four-wheeled cab, Jonas on the seat with the driver, and +the luggage on top. I gave the man a card with the address of the house +to which we had been recommended. There was a number, the name of a +street, the name of a place, the name of a square, and initials +denoting the quarter of the town. + +"It will confuse the poor man dreadfully," said Euphemia. "It would +have been a great deal better just to have said where the house was." + +The man, however, drove to the given address without mistake. The house +was small, but as there were no other lodgers, there was room enough +for us. Euphemia was much pleased with the establishment. The house was +very well furnished, and she had expected to find things old and +stuffy, as London lodgings always were in the books she had read. + +"But if the landlady will only steal our tea," she said, "it will make +it seem more like the real thing." + +As we intended to stay some time in London, where I had business to +transact for the firm with which I was engaged, we immediately began to +make ourselves as much at home as possible. Pomona, assisted by Jonas, +undertook at once the work of the house. To this the landlady, who kept +a small servant, somewhat objected, as it had been her custom to attend +to the wants of her lodgers. + +"But what's the good of Jonas an' me bein' here," said Pomona to us, +"if we don't do the work? Of course, if there was other lodgers, that +would be different, but as there's only our own family, where's the +good of that woman and her girl doin' anything?" + +And so, as a sort of excuse for her being in Europe, she began to get +the table ready for supper, and sent Jonas out to see if there was any +place where he could buy provisions. Euphemia and I were not at all +certain that the good woman of the house would be satisfied with this +state of things; but still, as Jonas and Pomona were really our +servants, it seemed quite proper that they should do our work. And so +we did not interfere, although Euphemia found it quite sad, she said, +to see the landlady standing idly about, gazing solemnly upon Pomona +as she dashed from place to place engaged with her household duties. + +After we had been in the house for two or three days, Pomona came into +our sitting-room one evening and made a short speech. + +"I've settled matters with the woman here," she said, "an' I think +you'll like the way I've done it. I couldn't stand her follerin' me +about, an' sayin' 'ow they did things in Hingland, while her red-faced +girl was a-spendin' the days on the airy steps, a-lookin' through the +railin's. 'Now, Mrs. Bowlin',' says I, 'it'll just be the ruin of you +an' the death of me if you keep on makin' a picter of yourself like +that lonely Indian a-sittin' on a pinnacle in the jographys, watchin' +the inroads of civilization, with a locomotive an' a cog-wheel in +front, an' the buffalo an' the grisly a-disappearin' in the distance. +Now it'll be much better for all of us,' says I, 'if you'll git down +from your peak, and try to make up your mind that the world has got to +move. Aint there some place where you kin go an' be quiet an' +comfortable, an' not a-woundin' your proud spirit a-watchin' me bake +hot rolls for breakfast an' sich?' An' then she says she'd begun to +think pretty much that way herself, an' that she had a sister a-livin' +down in the Sussex Mews, back of Gresham Terrace, Camberwell Square, +Hankberry Place, N.W. by N., an' she thought she might as well go there +an' stay while we was here. An' so I says that was just the thing, and +the sooner done the happier she'd be. An' I went up stairs and helped +her pack her trunk, which is a tin one, which she calls her box, an' I +got her a cab, an' she's gone." + +"What!" I cried; "gone! Has she given up her house entirely to us?" + +"For the time bein' she has," answered Pomona, "for she saw very well +it was better thus, an' she's comin' every week to git her money, an' +to see when we're goin' to give notice. An' the small girl has been +sent back to the country." + +It was impossible for Euphemia and myself to countenance this +outrageous piece of eviction; but in answer to our exclamations of +surprise and reproach, Pomona merely remarked that she had done it for +the woman's own good, and, as she was perfectly satisfied, she didn't +suppose there was any harm done; and, at any rate, it would be "lots +nicer" for us. And then she asked Euphemia what she was going to have +for breakfast the next morning, so that Jonas could go out to the +different mongers and get the things. + +"Now," said Euphemia, when Pomona had gone down stairs, "I really feel +as if I had a foothold on British soil. It doesn't seem as if it was +quite right, but it is perfectly splendid." + +And so it was. From that moment we set up an English Rudder Grange in +the establishment which Pomona had thus rudely wrenched, as it were, +from the claws of the British Lion. We endeavored to live as far as +possible in the English style, because we wanted to try the manners and +customs of every country. We had tea for breakfast and ale for +luncheon, and we ate shrimps, prawns, sprats, saveloys, and Yarmouth +bloaters. We "took in the Times," and, to a certain extent, we +endeavored to cultivate the broad vowels. Some of these things we did +not like, but we felt bound to allow them a fair trial. + +We did not give ourselves up to sight-seeing as we had done at Chester, +because now there was plenty of time to see London at our leisure. In +the mornings I attended to my business, and in the afternoons Euphemia +and I generally went out to visit some of the lions of the grand old +city. + +Pomona and Jonas also went out whenever a time could be conveniently +arranged, which was done nearly every day, for Euphemia was anxious +they should see everything. They almost always took their child, and to +this Euphemia frequently objected. + +"What's the good," she said, "of carrying a baby not two years old to +the Tower of London, the British Museum, and the Chapel of Henry VII.? +She can't take any interest in the smothered princes, or the Assyrian +remnants. If I am at home, I can look after her as well as not." + +"But you see, ma'am," said Pomona, "we don't expect the baby'll ever +come over here ag'in, an' when she gits older, I'll tell her all about +these things, an' it'll expan' her intelleck a lot more when she feels +she's seed 'em all without knowin' it. To be sure, the monnyments of +bygone days don't always agree with her; for Jone set her down on the +tomb of Chaucer the other day, an' her little legs got as cold as the +tomb itself, an' I told him that there was too big a difference between +a tomb nigh four hundred years old an' a small baby which don't date +back two years, for them to be sot together that way; an' he promised +to be more careful after that. He gouged a little piece out of +Chaucer's tomb, an' as we went home we bought a copy of the old +gentleman's poems, so as we could see what reason there was for keepin' +him so long, an' at night I read Jone two of the Canterbury Tales. 'You +wouldn't 'a' thought,' says Jone, 'jus' by lookin' at that little piece +of plaster, that the old fellow could 'a' got up such stories as +them.'" + +"What I want to see more'n anything else," said Pomona to us one day, +"is a real lord, or some kind of nobleman of high degree. I've allers +loved to read about 'em in books, and I'd rather see one close to, than +all the tombs and crypts and lofty domes you could rake together; an' I +don't want to see 'em neither in the streets, nor yet in a House of +Parliament, which aint in session; for there, I don't believe, dressin' +in common clothes as they do, that I could tell 'em from other people. +What I want is to penetrate into the home of one of 'em, and see him as +he really is. It's only there that his noble blood'll come out." + +"Pomona," cried Euphemia, in accents of alarm, "don't you try +penetrating into any nobleman's home. You will get yourself into +trouble, and the rest of us, too." + +"Oh, I'm not a-goin' to git you into any trouble, ma'am," said Pomona; +"you needn't be afeard of that." And she went about her household +duties. + +A few days after this, as Euphemia and I were going to the Tower of +London in a Hansom cab--and it was one of Euphemia's greatest delights +to be bowled over the smooth London pavements in one of these vehicles, +with the driver out of sight, and the horse in front of us just as if +we were driving ourselves, only without any of the trouble, and on +every corner one of the names of the streets we had read about in +Dickens and Thackeray, and with the Sampson Brasses, and the +Pecksniffs, and the Mrs. Gamps, and the Guppys, and the Sir Leicester +Dedlocks, and the Becky Sharps, and the Pendennises, all walking about +just as natural as in the novels--we were surprised to see Pomona +hurrying along the sidewalk alone. The moment our eyes fell upon her a +feeling of alarm arose within us. Where was she going with such an +intent purpose in her face, and without Jonas? She was walking +westward, and we were going to the east. At Euphemia's request I +stopped the cab, jumped out, and ran after her, but she had disappeared +in the crowd. + +"She is up to mischief," said Euphemia. + +But it was of no use to worry our minds on the subject, and we soon +forgot, in the ancient wonders of the Tower, the probable +eccentricities of our modern handmaid. + +We returned; night came on; but Pomona was still absent. Jonas did not +know where she was, and was very much troubled; and the baby, which had +been so skilfully kept in the background by its mother that, so far, it +had never annoyed us at all, now began to cry, and would not be +comforted. Euphemia, with the assistance of Jonas, prepared the evening +meal, and when we had nearly eaten it, Pomona came home. Euphemia asked +no questions, although she was burning with curiosity to know where +Pomona had been, considering that it was that young woman's duty to +inform her without being asked. + +When Pomona came in to wait on us, she acted as if she expected to be +questioned, and was perfectly willing to answer, but Euphemia stood +upon her dignity, and said nothing. At last Pomona could endure it no +longer, and standing with a tray in her hand, she exclaimed:-- + +"I'm sorry I made you help git the dinner, ma'am, and I wouldn't 'a' +done it for anything, but the fact is I've been to see a lord, an' was +kep' late." + +"What!" cried Euphemia, springing to her feet; "you don't mean that!" + +And I was so amazed that I sat and looked at Pomona without saying a +word. + +"Yes," cried Pomona, her eyes sparkling with excitement, "I've seen a +lord, and trod his floors, and I'll tell you all about it. You know I +was boun' to do it, and I wanted to go alone, for if Jone was with me +he'd be sure to put in some of his queer sayin's an' ten to one hurt +the man's feelin's, and cut off the interview. An' as Jone said this +afternoon he felt tired, with some small creeps in his back, an' didn't +care to go out, I knew my time had come, and said I'd go for a walk. +Day before yesterday I went up to a policeman an' I asked him if he +could tell me if a lord, or a earl, or a duke lived anywhere near here. +First he took me for crazy, an' then he began to ask questions which he +thought was funny, but I kep' stiff to the mark, an' I made him tell me +where a lord did live,--about five blocks from here. So I fixed things +all ready an' today I went there." + +"You didn't have the assurance to suppose he'd see you?" cried +Euphemia. + +"No, indeed, I hadn't," said Pomona, "at least under common +circumstances. You may be sure I racked my brains enough to know what I +should do to meet him face to face. It wouldn't do to go in the common +way, such as ringin' at the front door and askin' for him, an' then +offerin' to sell him furniter-polish for his pianner-legs. I knowed +well enough that any errand like that would only bring me face to face +with his bailiff, or his master of hounds, or something of that kind. +So, at last, I got a plan of my own, an' I goes up the steps and rings +the bell, an' when the flunkey, with more of an air of gen'ral +upliftedness about him than any one I'd seen yet, excep' Nelson on top +of his pillar, opened the door an' looked at me, I asked him,-- + +"'Is Earl Cobden in?' + +"At this the man opened his eyes, an' remarked:-- + +"'What uv it if he is?' + +"Then I answers, firmly:-- + +"'If he's in, I want yer to take him this letter, an' I'll wait here.'" + +"You don't mean to say," cried Euphemia, "that you wrote the earl a +letter?" + +"Yes, I did," continued Pomona, "and at first the man didn't seem +inclined to take it. But I held it out so steady that he took it an' +put it on a little tray, whether nickel-plated or silver I couldn't +make out, and carried it up the widest and splendidest pair o' stairs +that I ever see in a house jus' intended to be lived in. When he got to +the fust landin' he met a gentleman, and give him the letter. When I +saw this I was took aback, for I thought it was his lordship a-comin' +down, an' I didn't want to have no interview with a earl at his front +door. But the second glance I took at him showed me that it wasn't him. +He opened it, notwithstanding', an' read it all through from beginnin' +to end. When he had done it he looked down at me, and then he went back +up stairs a-follered by the flunk, which last pretty soon came down +ag'in an' told me I was to go up. I don't think I ever felt so much +like a wringed-out dish-cloth as I did when I went up them palatial +stairs. But I tried to think of things that would prop me up. P'r'aps, +I thought, my ancient ancestors came to this land with his'n; who +knows? An' I might 'a' been switched off on some female line, an' so +lost the name an' estates. At any rate, be brave! With such thoughts as +these I tried to stiffen my legs, figgeratively speakin'. We went +through two or three rooms (I hadn't time to count 'em) an' then I was +showed into the lofty presence of the earl. He was standin' by the +fire-place, an' the minnit my eyes lit upon him I knowed it was him." + +"Why, how was that?" cried Euphemia and myself almost in the same +breath. + +"I knowed him by his wax figger," continued Pomona, "which Jone and I +see at Madame Tussaud's wax-works. They've got all the head people of +these days there now, as well as the old kings and the pizeners. The +clothes wasn't exactly the same, though very good on each, an' there +was more of an air of shortenin' of the spine in the wax figger than in +the other one. But the likeness was awful strikin'. + +"'Well, my good woman,' says he, a-holdin' my open letter in his hand, +'so you want to see a lord, do you?'" + +"What on earth did you write to him?" exclaimed Euphemia. "You mustn't +go on a bit further until you have told what was in your letter." + +"Well," said Pomona, "as near as I can remember, it was like this: +'_William, Lord Cobden, Earl of Sorsetshire an' Derry. Dear Sir. Bein' +brought up under Republican institutions, in the land of the free--'_ I +left out '_the home of the brave_' because there wasn't no use crowin' +about that jus' then--'_I haven't had no oppertunity of meetin' with a +individual of lordly blood. Ever since I was a small girl takin' books +from the circulatin' libery, an' obliged to read out loud with divided +sillerbles, I've drank in every word of the tales of lords and other +nobles of high degree, that the little shops where I gen'rally got my +books, an' some with the pages out at the most excitin' parts, +contained. An' so I asks you now, Sir Lord--_' I did put _humbly_, but +I scratched that out, bein' an American woman--'_to do me the favor of +a short audience. Then, when I reads about noble earls an' dukes in +their brilliant lit halls an' castles, or mounted on their champin' +chargers, a-leadin' their trusty hordes to victory amid the glittering +minarets of fame, I'll know what they looks like._' An' then I signed +my name. + +"'Yes, sir,' says I, in answer to his earlship's question," said +Pomona, taking up her story, "'I did want to see one, upon my word.' + +"'An' now that you have seen him,' says he, 'what do you think of him?' + +"Now, I had made up my mind before I entered this ducal pile, or put my +foot on one ancestral stone, that I'd be square and honest through the +whole business, and not try no counterfeit presentiments with the earl. +So I says to him:-- + +"'The fust thing I thinks is, that you've got on the nicest suit of +clothes that I've ever seed yit, not bein' exactly Sunday clothes, and +yit fit for company, an' if money can buy 'em--an' men's clothes is +cheap enough here, dear only knows--I'm goin' to have a suit jus' like +it for Jone, my husband.' It was a kind o' brown mixed stuff, with a +little spot of red in it here an' there, an' was about as gay for plain +goods, an' as plain for gay goods, as anythin' could be, an' 'twas easy +enough to see that it was all wool. 'Of course,' says I, 'Jone'll have +his coat made different in front, for single-breasted, an' a buttonin' +so high up is a'most too stylish for him, 'specially as fashions 'ud +change afore the coat was wore out. But I needn't bother your earlship +about that.' + +"'An' so,' says he, an' I imagine I see an air of sadness steal over +his features, 'it's my clothes, after all, that interest you?' + +"'Oh, no,' says I, 'I mention them because they come up fust. There is, +no doubt, qualities of mind and body--' + +"'Well, we won't go into that,' said his earlship, 'an' I want to ask +you a question. I suppose you represent the middle class in your +country?' + +"'I don't know 'zactly where society splits with us,' says I, 'but I +guess I'm somewhere nigh the crack.' + +"'Now don't you really believe,' says he, 'that you and the people of +your class would be happier, an' feel safer, politically speakin', if +they had among 'em a aristocracy to which they could look up to in +times of trouble, as their nat'ral born gardeens? I ask yer this +because I want to know for myself what are the reel sentiments of yer +people.' + +"'Well, sir,' says I, 'when your work is done, an' your kitchen cleaned +up, an' your lamp lit, a lord or a duke is jus' tip-top to read about, +if the type aint too fine an' the paper mean beside, which it often is +in the ten-cent books; but, further than this, I must say, we aint got +no use for 'em.' At that he kind o' steps back, and looks as if he was +goin' to say somethin', but I puts in quick: 'But you mustn't think, my +earl,' says I, 'that we undervallers you. When we remembers the field +of Agincourt; and Chevy Chase; an' the Tower of London, with the block +on which three lords was beheaded, with the very cuts in it which the +headsman made when he chopped 'em off, as well as two crooked ones +a-showin' his bad licks, which little did he think history would +preserve forever; an' the old Guildhall, where down in the ancient +crypt is a-hangin' our Declaration of Independence along with the Roman +pots and kittles dug up in London streets; we can't forgit that if it +hadn't 'a' been for your old ancestral lines as roots, we'd never been +the flourishin' tree we is.' + +"'Well,' said his earlship, when I'd got through, an' he kind o' looked +as if he didn't know whether to laugh or not, 'if you represent the +feelin's of your class in your country, I reckon they're not just ready +for a aristocracy yit.' + +"An' with that he give me a little nod, an' walked off into another +room. It was pretty plain from this that the interview was brought to a +close, an' so I come away. The flunk was all ready to show me out, an' +he did it so expeditious, though quite polite, that I didn't git no +chance to take a good look at the furniter and carpets, which I'd 'a' +liked to have done. An' so I've talked to a real earl, an' if not in +his ancestral pile, at any rate in the gorgeousest house I ever see. +An' the brilliantest dream of my youth has come true." + +When she had finished I rose and looked upon her. + +"Pomona," said I, "we may yet visit many foreign countries. We may see +kings, queens, dukes, counts, sheikhs, beys, sultans, khedives, pashas, +rajahs, and I don't know what potentates besides, and I wish to say +just this one thing to you. If you don't want to get yourself and us +into some dreadful scrape, and perhaps bring our journeys to a sudden +close, you must put a curb on your longing for communing with beings of +noble blood." + +"That's true, sir," said Pomona, thoughtfully, "an' I made a pretty +close shave of it this time, for when I was talkin' to the earl, I was +just on the p'int of tellin' him that I had such a high opinion of his +kind o' folks that I once named a big black dog after one of 'em, but I +jus' remembered in time, an' slipped on to somethin' else. But I +trembled worse than a peanut woman with a hackman goin' round the +corner to ketch a train an' his hubs just grazin' the legs of her +stand. An' so I promise you, sir, that I'll put my heel on all +hankerin' after potentates." + +And so she made her promise. And, knowing Pomona, I felt sure that she +would keep it--if she could. + + + + +POMONA'S DAUGHTER. + + +In the pretty walk, bordered by bright flowers and low, overhanging +shrubbery, which lies back of the Albert Memorial, in Kensington +Gardens, London, Jonas sat on a green bench, with his baby on his knee. +A few nurses were pushing baby-carriages about in different parts of +the walk, and there were children playing not far away. It was drawing +toward the close of the afternoon, and Jonas was thinking it was nearly +time to go home, when Pomona came running to him from the gorgeous +monument, which she had been carefully inspecting. + +"Jone," she cried, "do you know I've been lookin' at all them great men +that's standin' round the bottom of the monnyment, an' though there's +over a hundred of 'em, I'm sure, I can't find a American among 'em! +There's poets, an' artists, an' leadin' men, scraped up from all parts, +an' not one of our illustrious dead. What d'ye think of that?" + +"I can't believe it," said Jonas. "If we go home with a tale like that +we'll hear the recruiting-drum from Newark to Texas, and, ten to one, +I'll be drafted." + +"You needn't be makin' fun," said Pomona; "you come an' see for +yourself. Perhaps you kin' find jus' one American, an' then I'll go +home satisfied." + +"All right," said Jonas. + +And, putting the child on the bench, he told her he'd be back in a +minute, and hurried after Pomona, to give a hasty look for the desired +American. + +Corinne, the offspring of Jonas and Pomona, had some peculiarities. One +of these was that she was accustomed to stay where she was put. Ever +since she had been old enough to be carried about, she had been carried +about by one parent or the other; and, as it was frequently necessary +to set her down, she had learned to sit and wait until she was taken up +again. She was now nearly two years old, very strong and active, and of +an intellect which had already begun to tower. She could walk very +well, but Jonas took such delight in carrying her that he seldom +appeared to recognize her ability to use her legs. She could also talk, +but how much her parents did not know. She was a taciturn child, and +preferred to keep her thoughts to herself, and, although she sometimes +astonished us all by imitating remarks she had heard, she frequently +declined to repeat the simplest words that had been taught her. + +Corinne remained on the bench about a minute after her father had left +her, and then, contrary to her usual custom, she determined to leave +the place where she had been put. Turning over on her stomach, after +the manner of babies, she lowered her feet to the ground. Having +obtained a foothold, she turned herself about and proceeded, with +sturdy steps, to a baby-carriage near by which had attracted her +attention. This carriage, which was unattended, contained a baby, +somewhat smaller and younger than Corinne, who sat up and gazed with +youthful interest at the visitor who stood by the side of her vehicle. +Corinne examined, with a critical eye, the carriage and its occupant. +She looked at the soft pillow at the baby's back, and regarded with +admiration the afghan crocheted in gay colors which was spread over its +lap, and the spacious gig-top which shielded it from the sun. She +stooped down and looked at the wheels, and stood up and gazed at the +blue eyes and canary hair of the little occupant. Then, in quiet but +decided tones, Corinne said:-- + +"Dit out!" + +The other baby looked at her, but made no movement to obey. After +waiting a few moments, an expression of stern severity spreading itself +the while over her countenance, Corinne reached over and put her arms +around the fair-haired child. Then, with all her weight and strength, +she threw herself backward and downward. The other baby, being light, +was thus drawn bodily out of its carriage, and Corinne sat heavily upon +the ground, her new acquaintance sprawling in her lap. Notwithstanding +that she bore the brunt of the fall upon the gravel, Corinne uttered no +cry; but, disengaging herself from her encumbrance, she rose to her +feet. The other baby imitated her, and Corinne, taking her by the hand, +led her to the bench where she herself had been left. + +"Dit up!" said Corinne. + +This, however, the other baby was unable to do; but she stood quite +still, evidently greatly interested in the proceedings. Corinne left +her and walked to the little carriage, into which she proceeded to +climb. After some extraordinary exertions, during which her fat legs +were frequently thrust through the spokes of the wheels and ruthlessly +drawn out again, she tumbled in. Arranging herself as comfortably as +she knew how, she drew the gay afghan over her, leaned back upon the +soft pillow, gazed up at the sheltering gig-top, and resigned herself +to luxurious bliss. At this supreme moment, the nurse who had had +charge of the carriage and its occupant came hurrying around a corner +of the path. She had been taking leave of some of her nurse-maid +friends, and had stayed longer than she had intended. It was necessary +for her to take a suitable leave of these ladies, for that night she +was going on a journey. She had been told to take the baby out for an +airing, and to bring it back early. Now, to her surprise, the afternoon +had nearly gone, and hurrying to the little carriage she seized the +handle at the back and rapidly pushed it home, without stopping to look +beneath the overhanging gig-top, or at the green bench, with which her +somewhat worried soul had no concern. If anything could add to +Corinne's ecstatic delight, it was this charming motion. Closing her +eyes contentedly, she dropped asleep. + +The baby with canary hair looked at the receding nurse and carriage +with widening eyes and reddening cheeks. Then, opening her mouth, she +uttered the cry of the deserted; but the panic-stricken nurse did not +hear her, and, if she had, what were the cries of other children to +her? Her only business was to get home quickly with her young charge. + +About five minutes after these events, Jonas and Pomona came hurrying +along the path. They, too, had stayed away much longer than they had +intended, and had suddenly given up their search for the American, whom +they had hoped to find in high relief upon the base of the Albert +Memorial. Stepping quickly to the child, who still stood sobbing by the +bench, Jonas exclaimed, "You poor itty--!" + +And then he stopped suddenly. Pomona also stood for a second, and then +she made a dash at the child, and snatched it up. Gazing sharply at its +tear-smeared countenance, she exclaimed, "What's this?" + +The baby did not seem able to explain what it was, and only answered by +a tearful sob. Jonas did not say a word; but, with the lithe quickness +of a dog after a rat, he began to search behind and under benches, in +the bushes, on the grass, here, there, and everywhere. + +About nine o'clock that evening, Pomona came to us with tears in her +eyes, and the canary-haired baby in her arms, and told us that Corinne +was lost. They had searched everywhere; they had gone to the police; +telegrams had been sent to every station; they had done everything that +could be done, but had found no trace of the child. + +"If I hadn't this," sobbed Pomona, holding out the child, "I believe +I'd go wild. It isn't that she can take the place of my dear baby, but +by a-keepin' hold of her I believe we'll git on the track of Corinne." + +We were both much affected by this news, and Euphemia joined Pomona in +her tears. + +"Jonas is scourin' the town yet," said Pomona. "He'll never give up +till he drops. But I felt you ought to know, and I couldn't keep this +little thing in the night-air no longer. It's a sweet child, and its +clothes are lovely. If it's got a mother, she's bound to want to see it +before long; an' if ever I ketch sight of her, she don't git away from +me till I have my child." + +"It is a very extraordinary case," I said. "Children are often stolen, +but it is seldom we hear of one being taken and another left in its +place, especially when the children are of different ages, and totally +unlike." + +"That's so," said Pomona. "At first, I thought that Corinne had been +changed off for a princess, or something like that, but nobody couldn't +make anybody believe that my big, black-haired baby was this +white-an'-yaller thing." + +"Can't you find any mark on her clothes," asked Euphemia, "by which you +could discover her parentage? If there are no initials, perhaps you can +find a coronet or a coat of arms." + +"No," said Pomona, "there aint nothin'. I've looked careful. But +there's great comfort to think that Corinne's well stamped." + +"Stamped!" we exclaimed. "What do you mean by that?" + +"Why, you see," answered Pomona, "when Jone an' I was goin' to bring +our baby over here among so many million people, we thought there might +be danger of its gittin' lost or mislaid, though we never really +believed any such thing would happen, or we wouldn't have come. An' so +we agreed to mark her, for I've often read about babies bein' stole an' +kept two or three years, and when found bein' so changed their own +mothers didn't know 'em. Jone said we'd better tattoo Corinne, for them +marks would always be there, but I wouldn't agree to have the little +creature's skin stuck with needles, not even after Jone said we might +give her chloryform; so we agreed to stamp initials on her with +Perkins's Indelible Dab. It is intended to mark sheep, but it don't +hurt, and it don't never come off. We put the letters on the back of +her heels, where they wouldn't show, for she's never to go barefoot, +an' where they'd be easy got at if we wanted to find 'em. We put R.G. +on one heel for the name of the place, and J.P. on the other heel for +Jonas an' me. If, twenty years from now," said Pomona, her tears +welling out afresh, "I should see a young woman with eyes like +Corinne's, an' that I felt was her, a-walking up to the bridal altar, +with all the white flowers, an' the floatin' veils, an' the crowds in +the church, an' the music playin', an' the minister all ready, I'd jist +jerk that young woman into the vestry-room, an' have off her shoes an' +stockin's in no time. An' if she had R.G. on one heel, an' J.P. on the +other, that bridegroom could go home alone." + +We confidently assured Pomona that with such means of identification, +and the united action of ourselves and the police, the child would +surely be found, and we accompanied her to her lodgings, which were now +in a house not far from our own. + +When the nurse reached home with the little carriage it was almost +dark, and, snatching up the child, she ran to the nursery without +meeting any one. The child felt heavy, but she was in such a hurry she +scarcely noticed that. She put it upon the bed, and then lighting the +gas she unwrapped the afghan, in which the little creature was now +almost entirely enveloped. When she saw the face, and the black hair, +from which the cap had fallen off, she was nearly frightened to death, +but, fortunately for herself, she did not scream. She was rather a +stupid woman, with but few ideas, but she could not fail to see that +some one had taken her charge, and put this child in its place. Her +first impulse was to run back to the gardens, but she felt certain that +her baby had been carried off; and, besides, she could not, without +discovery, leave the child here or take it with her; and while she +stood in dumb horror, her mistress sent for her. The lady was just +going out to dinner, and told the nurse that, as they were all to start +for the Continent by the tidal train, which left at ten o'clock that +night, she must be ready with the baby, well wrapped up for the +journey. The half-stupefied woman had no words nor courage with which +to declare, at this moment, the true state of the case. She said +nothing, and went back to the nursery and sat there in dumb +consternation, and without sense enough to make a plan of any kind. The +strange child soon awoke and began to cry, and then the nurse +mechanically fed it, and it went to sleep again. When the summons came +to her to prepare for the journey, in cowardly haste she wrapped the +baby, so carefully covering its head that she scarcely gave it a chance +to breathe; and she and the lady's waiting-maid were sent in a cab to +the Victoria Station. The lady was travelling with a party of friends, +and the nurse and the waiting-maid were placed in the adjoining +compartment of the railway-carriage. On the six hours' channel passage +from Newhaven to Dieppe the lady was extremely sick, and reached France +in such a condition that she had to be almost carried on shore. It had +been her intention to stop a few days at this fashionable +watering-place, but she declared that she must go straight on to Paris, +where she could be properly attended to, and, moreover, that she never +wanted to see the sea again. When she had been placed in the train for +Paris she sent for the nurse, and feebly asked how the baby was, and if +it had been seasick. On being told that it was all right, and had not +shown a sign of illness, she expressed her gratification, and lay back +among her rugs. + +The nurse and the waiting-maid travelled together, as before, but the +latter, wearied by her night's attendance upon her mistress, slept all +the way from Dieppe to Paris. When they reached that city, they went +into the waiting-room until a carriage could be procured for them, and +there the nurse, placing the baby on a seat, asked her companion to +take care of it for a few minutes. She then went out of the station +door, and disappeared into Paris. + +In this way, the brunt of the terrible disclosure, which came very +soon, was thrown upon the waiting-maid. No one, however, attached any +blame to her: of course, the absconding nurse had carried away the +fair-haired child. The waiting-maid had been separated from her during +the passage from the train to the station, and it was supposed that in +this way an exchange of babies had been easily made by her and her +confederates. When the mother knew of her loss, her grief was so +violent that for a time her life was in danger. All Paris was searched +by the police and her friends, but no traces could be found of the +wicked nurse and the fair-haired child. Money, which, of course, was +considered the object of the inhuman crime, was freely offered, but to +no avail. No one imagined for an instant that the exchange was made +before the party reached Paris. It seemed plain enough that the crime +was committed when the woman fled. + +Corinne, who had been placed in the charge of a servant until it was +determined what to do with her, was not at all satisfied with the new +state of affairs, and loudly demanded her papa and mamma, behaving for +a time in a very turbulent way. In a few days, the lady recovered her +strength, and asked to see this child. The initials upon Corinne's +heels had been discovered, and, when she was told of these, the lady +examined them closely. + +"The people who left this child," she exclaimed, "do not intend to lose +her! They know where she is, and they will keep a watch upon her, and +when they get a chance they will take her. I, too, will keep a watch +upon her, and when they come for her I shall see them." + +Her use of words soon showed Corinne to be of English parentage, and it +was generally supposed that she had been stolen from some travellers, +and had been used at the station as a means of giving time to the nurse +to get away with the other child. + +In accord with her resolution, the grief-stricken lady put Corinne in +the charge of a trusty woman, and, moreover, scarcely ever allowed her +to be out of her sight. + +It was suggested that advertisement be made for the parents of a child +marked with E.G. and J.P. But to this the lady decidedly objected. + +"If her parents find her," she said, "they will take her away; and I +want to keep her till the thieves come for her. I have lost my child, +and as this one is the only clue I shall ever have to her, I intend to +keep it. When I have found my child, it will be time enough to restore +this one." + +Thus selfish is maternal love. + +Pomona bore up better under the loss than did Jonas. Neither of them +gave up the search for a day; but Jonas, haggard and worn, wandered +aimlessly about the city, visiting every place into which he imagined a +child might have wandered, or might have been taken, searching even to +the crypt in the Guildhall and the Tower of London. Pomona's mind +worked quite as actively as her husband's body. She took great care of +"Little Kensington," as she called the strange child from the place +where she had been found; and therefore could not go about as Jonas +did. After days and nights of ceaseless supposition, she had come to +the conclusion that Corinne had been stolen by opera singers. + +"I suppose you never knew it," she said to us, "for I took pains not to +let it disturb you, but that child has notes in her voice about two +stories higher than any operer prymer donner that I ever heard, an' +I've heard lots of 'em, for I used to go into the top gallery of the +operer as often as into the theayter; an' if any operer singer ever +heard them high notes of Corinne's,--an' there was times when she'd let +'em out without the least bit of a notice,--it's them that's took her." + +"But, my poor Pomona," said Euphemia, "you don't suppose that little +child could be of any use to an opera singer; at least, not for years +and years." + +"Oh, yes, ma'am," replied Pomona; "she was none too little. Sopranners +is like mocking-birds; they've got to be took young." + +No arguments could shake Pomona's belief in this theory. And she daily +lamented the fact that there was no opera in London at that time that +she might go to the performances, and see if there was any one on the +stage who looked mean enough to steal a child. + +"If she was there," said Pomona, "I'd know it. She'd feel the scorn of +a mother's eye on her, an' her guilty heart would make her forget her +part." + +Pomona frequently went into Kensington Gardens, and laid traps for +opera singers who might be sojourning in London. She would take Little +Kensington into the gardens, and, placing her carefully in the corner +of a bench, would retire to a short distance and pretend to be absorbed +in a book, while her sharp eyes kept up the watch for a long-haired +tenor, or a beautifully dressed soprano, who should suddenly rush out +from the bushes and seize the child. + +"I wouldn't make no fuss if they was to come out," she said. "Little +Kensington would go under my arm, not theirn, an' I'd walk calmly with +'em to their home. Then I'd say: 'Give me my child, an' take yourn, +which, though she probably hasn't got no voice, is a lot too good for +you; and may the house hurl stools at you the next time you appear, is +the limit of a mother's curse.'" + +But, alas for Pomona, no opera singers ever showed themselves. + +These days of our stay in London were not pleasant. We went about +little, and enjoyed nothing. At last Pomona came to us, her face pale +but determined. + +"It's no use," she said, "for us to keep you here no longer, when I +know you've got through with the place, and want to go on, an' we'll +go, too, for I don't believe my child's in London. She's been took +away, an' we might as well look for her in one place as another. The +perlice tells us that if she's found here, they'll know it fust, an' +they'll telegraph to us wherever we is; an' if it wasn't fur nuthin' +else, it would be a mercy to git Jone out of this place. He goes about +like a cat after her drowned kittens. It's a-bringin' out them chills +of hisn, an' the next thing it'll kill him. I can't make him believe in +the findin' of Corinne as firm as I do, but I know as long as Perkins's +Indelible Dab holds out (an' there's no rubbin' nor washin' it off) +I'll git my child." + +I admitted, but not with Pomona's hopefulness, that the child might be +found as easily in Paris as here. + +"And we've seen everything about London," said Euphemia, "except +Windsor Castle. I did want, and still want, to see just how the Queen +keeps house, and perhaps get some ideas which might be useful; but Her +Majesty is away now, and, although they say that's the time to go +there, it is not the time for me. You'll not find me going about +inspecting domestic arrangements when the lady of the house is away." + +So we packed up and went to Paris, taking Little Kensington along. +Notwithstanding our great sympathy with Corinne's parents, Euphemia and +myself could not help becoming somewhat resigned to the affliction +which had befallen them, and we found ourselves obliged to enjoy the +trip very much. Euphemia became greatly excited and exhilarated as we +entered Paris. For weeks I knew she had been pining for this city. As +she stepped from the train she seemed to breathe a new air, and her +eyes sparkled as she knew by the prattle and cries about her that she +was really in France. + +We were obliged to wait some time in the station before we could claim +our baggage, and while we were standing there Euphemia drew my +attention to a placard on the wall. "Look at that!" she exclaimed. +"Even here, on our very entrance to the city, we see signs of that +politeness which is the very heart of the nation. I can't read the +whole of that notice from here, but those words in large letters show +that it refers to the observance of the ancient etiquettes. Think of +it! Here in a railroad station people are expected to behave to each +other with the old-time dignity and gallantry of our forefathers. I +tell you it thrills my very soul to think I am among such a people, and +I am glad they can't understand what I say, so that I may speak right +out." + +I never had the heart to throw cold water on Euphemia's noble emotions, +and so I did not tell her that the notice merely requested travellers +to remove from their trunks the _anciennes etiquettes_, or old railway +labels. + +We were not rich tourists, and we all took lodgings in a small hotel to +which we had been recommended. It was in the Latin Quarter, near the +river, and opposite the vast palace of the Louvre, into whose +labyrinth of picture-galleries Euphemia and I were eager to plunge. + +But first we all went to the office of the American Consul, and +consulted him in regard to the proper measures to be taken for +searching for the little Corinne in Paris. After that, for some days, +Jonas and Pomona spent all their time, and Euphemia and I part of ours, +in looking for the child. Euphemia's Parisian exhilaration continued to +increase, but there were some things that disappointed her. + +"I thought," said she, "that people in France took their morning coffee +in bed, but they do not bring it up to us." + +"But, my dear," said I, "I am sure you said before we came here that +you considered taking coffee in bed as an abominable habit, and that +nothing could ever make you like it." + +"I know," said she, "that I have always thought it a lazy custom, and +not a bit nice, and I think so yet. But still, when we are in a strange +country, I expect to live as other people do." + +It was quite evident that Euphemia had been looking forward for some +time to the novel experience of taking her coffee in bed. But the +gray-haired old gentleman who acted as our chambermaid never hinted +that he supposed we wanted anything of the kind. + +Nothing, however, excited Euphemia's indignation so much as the +practice of giving a _pourboire_ to cabmen and others. "It is simply +feeding the flames of intemperance," she said. When she had occasion to +take a cab by herself, she never conformed to this reprehensible +custom. When she paid the driver, she would add something to the +regular fare, but as she gave it to him she would say in her most +distinct French: "_Pour manger. Comprenezvous_?" The _cocher_ would +generally nod his head, and thank her very kindly, which he had good +reason to do, for she never forgot that it took more money to buy food +than drink. + +In spite of the attractions of the city, our sojourn in Paris was not +satisfactory. Apart from the family trouble which oppressed us, it +rained nearly all the time. We were told that in order to see Paris at +its best we should come in the spring. In the month of May it was +charming. Then everybody would be out-of-doors, and we would see a +whole city enjoying life. As we wished to enjoy life without waiting +for the spring, we determined to move southward, and visit during the +winter those parts of Europe which then lay under blue skies and a warm +sun. It was impossible, at present, for Pomona and Jonas to enjoy life +anywhere, and they would remain in Paris, and then, if they did not +find their child in a reasonable time, they would join us. Neither of +them understood French, but this did not trouble them in the slightest. +Early in their Paris wanderings they had met with a boy who had once +lived in New York, and they had taken him into pay as an interpreter. +He charged them a franc and a half a day, and I am sure they got their +money's worth. + +Soon after we had made up our minds to move toward the south, I came +home from a visit to the bankers, and joyfully told Euphemia that I had +met Baxter. + +"Baxter?" said she, inquiringly; "who is he?" + +"I used to go to school with him," I said; "and to think that I should +meet him here!" + +"I never heard you mention him before," she remarked. + +"No," I answered; "it must be fifteen or sixteen years since I have +seen him, and really it is a great pleasure to meet him here. He is a +capital fellow. He was very glad to see me." + +"I should think," said Euphemia, "if you like each other so much that +you would have exchanged visits in America, or, at least, have +corresponded." + +"Oh, it is a very different thing at home," I said; "but here it is +delightful to meet an old school friend like Baxter. He is coming to +see us this evening." + +That evening Baxter came. He was delighted to meet Euphemia, and +inquired with much solicitude about our plans and movements. He had +never heard of my marriage, and, for years, had not known whether I was +dead or alive. Now he took the keenest interest in me and mine. We were +a little sorry to find that this was not Baxter's first visit to +Europe. He had been here several times; and, as he expressed it, "had +knocked about a good deal over the Continent." He was dreadfully +familiar with everything, and talked about some places we were longing +to see in a way that considerably dampened our enthusiasm. In fact, +there was about him an air of superiority which, though tempered by +much kindliness, was not altogether agreeable. He highly approved our +idea of leaving Paris. "The city is nothing now," he said. "You ought +to see it in May." We said we had heard that, and then spoke of Italy. +"You mustn't go there in the winter," he said. "You don't see the +country at its best. May is the time for Italy. Then it is neither too +hot nor too cold, and you will find out what an Italian sky is." We +said that we hoped to be in England in the spring, and he agreed that +we were right there. "England is never so lovely as in May." + +"Well!" exclaimed Euphemia; "it seems to me, from all I hear, that we +ought to take about twelve years to see Europe. We should leave the +United States every April, spend May in some one place, and go back in +June. And this we ought to do each year until we have seen all the +places in May. This might do very well for any one who had plenty of +money, and who liked the ocean, but I don't think we could stand it. As +for me," she continued, "I would like to spend these months, so cold +and disagreeable here, in the sunny lands of Southern France. I want to +see the vineyards and the olive groves, and the dark-eyed maidens +singing in the fields. I long for the soft skies of Provence, and to +hear the musical dialect in which Frederic Mistral wrote his 'Miréio.'" + +"That sounds very well," said Baxter, "but in all those southern +countries you must be prepared in winter for the rigors of the climate. +The sun is pretty warm sometimes at this season, but as soon as you get +out of it you will freeze to death if you are not careful. The only way +to keep warm is to be in the sun, out of the wind, and that won't work +on rainy days, and winter is the rainy season, you know. In the houses +it is as cold as ice, and the fires don't amount to anything. You +might as well light a bundle of wooden tooth-picks and put it in the +fire-place. If you could sleep all the time you might be comfortable, +for they give you a feather-bed to cover yourself with. Outside you +may do well enough if you keep up a steady walking, but indoors you +will have hard work to keep warm. You must wear chest-protectors. They +sell them down there--great big ones, made of rabbit-skins; and a nice +thing for a man to have to wear in the house is a pair of cloth bags +lined with fur. They would keep his feet and legs warm when he isn't +walking. It is well, too, to have a pair of smaller fur bags for your +hands when you are in the house. You can have a little hole in the end +of one of them through which you can stick a pen-holder, and then you +can write letters. An india-rubber bag, filled with hot water, to lower +down your back, is a great comfort. You haven't any idea how cold your +spine gets in those warm countries. And, if I were you, I'd avoid a +place where you see them carting coal stoves around. Those are the +worst spots. And you need not expect to get one of the stoves, not +while they can sell you wood at two sticks for a franc. You had better +go to some place where they are not accustomed to having tourists. In +the regular resorts they are afraid to make any show of keeping warm, +for fear people will think they are in the habit of having cold +weather. And in Italy you've got to be precious careful, or you'll be +taken sick. And another thing. I suppose you brought a great deal of +baggage with you. You, for instance," said our friend, turning to me, +"packed up, I suppose, a heavy overcoat for cold weather, and a lighter +one, and a good winter suit, and a good summer one, besides another for +spring and fall, and an old suit to lie about in in the orange groves, +and a dress suit, besides such convenient articles as old boots for +tramping in, pocket-lanterns, and so forth." + +Strange to say, I had all these, besides many other things of a similar +kind, and I could not help admitting it. + +"Well," said Baxter, "you'd better get rid of the most of that as soon +as you can, for if you travel with that sort of heavy weight in the +Mediterranean countries, you might as well write home and get your +house mortgaged. All along the lines of travel, in the south of Europe, +you find the hotels piled up with American baggage left there by +travellers, who'll never send for it. It reminds one of the rows of ox +skeletons that used to mark out the roads to California. But I guess +you'll be able to stick it out. Good bye. Let me hear from you." + +When Baxter left us, we could not but feel a little down-hearted, and +Euphemia turned to her guide-book to see if his remarks were +corroborated there. + +"Well, there is one comfort," she exclaimed at last; "this book says +that in Naples epidemics are not so deadly as they are in some other +places, and if the traveller observes about a page of directions, which +are given here, and consults a physician the moment he feels himself +out of order, it is quite possible to ward off attacks of fever. That +is encouraging, and I think we might as well go on." + +"Yes," said I, "and here, in this newspaper, a hotel in Venice +advertises that its situation enables it to avoid the odors of the +Grand Canal; and an undertaker in Nice advertises that he will forward +the corpses of tourists to all parts of Europe and America. I think +there is a chance of our getting back, either dead or alive, and so I +also say, let us go on." + +But before we left Paris, we determined to go to the Grand Opera, which +we had not yet visited, and Euphemia proposed that we should take +Pomona with us. The poor girl was looking wretched and woe-begone, and +needed to have her mind diverted from her trouble. Jonas, at the best +of times, could not be persuaded to any amusement of this sort, but +Pomona agreed to go. We had no idea of dressing for the boxes, and we +took good front seats in the upper circle, where we could see the whole +interior of the splendid house. As soon as the performance commenced, +the old dramatic fire began to burn in Pomona. Her eyes sparkled as +they had not done for many a day, and she really looked like her own +bright self. The opera was "Le Prophète," and, as none of us had ever +seen anything produced on so magnificent a scale, we were greatly +interested, especially in the act which opens with that wonderful +winter scene in the forest, with hundreds of people scattered about +under the great trees, with horses and sleighs and the frozen river in +the background where the skaters came gliding on. The grouping was +picturesque and artistic; the scale of the scene was immense; there was +a vast concourse of people on the stage; the dances were beautiful; the +merry skaters graceful; the music was inspiring. + +Suddenly, above the voices of the chorus, above the drums and bass +strings of the orchestra, above the highest notes of the sopranos, +above the great chandelier itself, came two notes distinct and plain, +and the words to which they were set, were:-- + +"Ma-ma!" + +Like a shot Pomona was on her feet. With arms outspread and her whole +figure dilating until she seemed twice as large as usual, I thought she +was about to spring over the balcony into the house below. I clutched +her, and Euphemia and I, both upon our feet, followed her gaze and saw +upon the stage a little girl in gay array, and upturned face. It was +the lost Corinne. + +Without a word, Pomona made a sudden turn, sprang up the steps behind +her, and out upon the lobby, Euphemia and I close behind her. Around +and down the steps we swept, from lobby to lobby, amazing the +cloak-keepers and attendants, but stopping for nothing; down the grand +staircase like an avalanche, almost into the arms of the astonished +military sentinels, who, startled from their soldier-like propriety, +sprang, muskets in hand, toward us. It was only then that I was able to +speak to Pomona, and breathlessly ask her where she was going. + +"To the stage-door!" she cried, making a motion to hurl to the ground +the soldier before her. But there was no need to go to any stage-door. +In a moment there rushed along the corridor a lady, dressed apparently +in all the colors of the rainbow, and bearing in her arms a child. +There was a quick swoop, and in another moment Pomona had the child. +But clinging to its garments, the lady cried, in excellent English, but +with some foreign tinge:-- + +"Where is my child you stole?" + +"Stole your grandmother!" briefly ejaculated Pomona. And then, in grand +forgetfulness of everything but her great joy, she folded her arms +around her child, and standing like a statue of motherly content, she +seemed, in our eyes, to rise to the regions of the caryatides and the +ceiling frescos. Not another word she spoke, and amid the confusion of +questions and exclamations, and the wild demands of the lady, Euphemia +and I contrived to make her understand the true state of the case, and +that her child was probably at our lodgings. Then there were great +exclamations and quick commands; and, directly, four of us were in a +carriage whirling to our hotel. All the way, Pomona sat silent with her +child clasped tightly, while Euphemia and I kept up an earnest but +unsatisfactory conversation with the lady; for, as to this strange +affair, we could tell each other but little. We learned from the lady, +who was an assistant soprano at the Grand Opera, how Corinne came to +her in Paris, and how she had always kept her with her, even dressing +her up, and taking her on the stage in that great act where as many +men, women, and children as possible were brought upon the scene. When +she heard the cry of Corinne, she knew the child had seen its mother, +and then, whether the opera went on or not, it mattered not to her. + +When the carriage stopped, the three women sprang out at once, and how +they all got through the door, I cannot tell. There was such a +tremendous ring at the gate of the court that the old _concierge_, who +opened it by pulling a wire in his little den somewhere in the rear, +must have been dreadfully startled in his sleep. We rushed through the +court and up the stairs past our apartments to Pomona's room; and there +in the open doorway stood Jonas, his coat off, his sandy hair in wild +confusion, his face radiant, and in his hands Little Kensington in her +nightgown. + +"I knew by the row on the stairs you'd brought her home," he exclaimed, +as Little Kensington was snatched from him and Corinne was put into his +arms. + +We left Jonas and Pomona to their wild delight, and I accompanied the +equally happy lady to the opera house, where I took occasion to reclaim +the wraps which we had left behind in our sudden flight. + +When the police of Paris were told to give up their search for an +absconding nurse accompanied by a child, and to look for one without +such encumbrance, they found her. From this woman was obtained much of +the story I have told, and a good deal more was drawn out, little by +little, from Corinne, who took especial pleasure in telling, in brief +sentences, how she had ousted the lazy baby from the carriage, and how +she had scratched her own legs in getting in. + +"What I'm proud of," said Pomona, "is that she did it all herself. It +wasn't none of your common stealin's an' findin's; an' it aint +everywhere you'll see a child that kin git itself lost back of Prince +Albert's monnyment, an' git itself found at the operer in Paris, an' +attend to both ends of the case itself. An', after all, them two high +notes of hern was more good than Perkins's Indelible Dab." + + + + +DERELICT. + + +A TALE OF THE WAYWARD SEA. + + +I. + +On the 25th of May, 1887, I sat alone upon the deck of the _Sparhawk_, +a three-masted schooner, built, according to a description in the +cabin, at Sackport, Me. I was not only alone on the deck, but I was +alone on the ship. The _Sparhawk_ was a "derelict"; that is, if a +vessel with a man on board of her can be said to be totally abandoned. + +I had now been on board the schooner for eight days. How long before +that she had been drifting about at the mercy of the winds and currents +I did not then know, but I discovered afterward that during a cyclone +early in April she had been abandoned by her entire crew, and had since +been reported five times to the hydrographic office of the Navy +Department in Washington, and her positions and probable courses duly +marked on the pilot chart. + +She had now become one of that little fleet abandoned at sea for one +cause or another, and floating about this way and that, as the wild +winds blew or the ocean currents ran. Voyaging without purpose, as if +manned by the spirits of ignorant landsmen, sometimes backward and +forward over comparatively small ocean spaces, and sometimes drifting +for many months and over thousands of miles, these derelicts form, at +night and in fog, one of the dangers most to be feared by those who +sail upon the sea. + +As I said before, I came on board the abandoned _Sparhawk_ on the 17th +of May, and very glad indeed was I to get my feet again on solid +planking. Three days previously the small steamer _Thespia_, from +Havana to New York, on which I had been a passenger, had been burned +at sea, and all on board had left her in the boats. + +What became of the other boats I do not know, but the one in which I +found myself in company with five other men, all Cuban cigarmakers, was +nearly upset by a heavy wave during the second night we were out, and +we were all thrown into the sea. As none of the Cubans could swim, they +were all lost, but I succeeded in reaching the boat, which had righted +itself, though half full of water. + +There was nothing in the boat but two oars which had not slipped out of +their rowlocks, a leather scoop which had been tied to a thwart, and +the aforementioned water. + +Before morning I had nearly baled out the boat, and fortunate it was +for me that up to the time of the upset we had had enough to eat and +drink, for otherwise I should not have had strength for that work and +for what followed. + +Not long after daybreak I sighted the _Sparhawk_, and immediately began +to make such signals as I could. The vessel appeared to be but a few +miles distant, and I could not determine whether she was approaching me +or going away from me. I could see no sign that my signals had been +noticed, and began frantically to row toward her. After a quarter of an +hour of violent exertion, I did not appear to be much nearer to her; +but, observing her more closely, I could see, even with my landsman's +eyes, that something was the matter with her. Portions of her mast and +rigging were gone, and one large sail at her stern appeared to be +fluttering in the wind. + +But it mattered not to me what had happened to her. She was a ship +afloat, and I must reach her. Tired, hungry, and thirsty I rowed and +rowed, but it was not until long after noon that I reached her. She +must have been much farther from me than I had supposed. + +With a great deal of trouble I managed to clamber on board, and found +the ship deserted. I had suspected that this would be the case, for as +I had drawn near I would have seen some sign that my approach was +noticed had there been anybody on board to perceive it. But I found +food and water, and when I was no longer hungry or thirsty I threw +myself in a berth, and slept until the sun was high the next day. + +I had now been on the derelict vessel for eight days. Why she had been +deserted and left to her fate I was not seaman enough to know. It is +true that her masts and rigging were in a doleful condition, but she +did not appear to be leaking, and rode well upon the sea. There was +plenty of food and water on board, and comfortable accommodations. I +afterwards learned that during the terrible cyclone which had overtaken +her, she had been on her beam ends for an hour before the crew left her +in the boats. + +For the first day or two of my sojourn on the _Sparhawk_ I was as +happy as a man could be under the circumstances. I thought myself to +be perfectly safe, and believed it could not be long before I would be +picked up. Of course I did not know my latitude and longitude, but I +felt sure that the part of the Atlantic in which I was must be +frequently crossed by steamers and other vessels. + +About the fourth day I began to feel uneasy. I had seen but three +sails, and these had taken no notice of the signal which I had hung as +high in the mizzen-mast as I had dared to climb. It was, indeed, no +wonder that the signal had attracted no attention among the fluttering +shreds of sails about it. + +I believe that one ship must have approached quite near me. I had been +below some time, looking over the books in the captain's room, and when +I came on deck I saw the stern of the ship, perhaps a mile or two +distant, and sailing away. Of course my shouts and wavings were of no +avail. She had probably recognized the derelict _Sparhawk_ and had +made a note of her present position, in order to report to the +hydrographic office. + +The weather had been fair for the most part of the time, the sea +moderately smooth, and when the wind was strong, the great sail on the +mizzen-mast, which remained hoisted and which I had tightened up a +little, acted after the manner of the long end of a weather-vane, and +kept the ship's head to the sea. + +Thus it will be seen that I was not in a bad plight; but although I +appreciated this, I grew more and more troubled and uneasy. For several +days I had not seen a sail, and if I should see one how could I attract +attention? It must be that the condition of the vessel indicated that +there was no one on board. Had I known that the _Sparhawk_ was already +entered upon the list of derelicts, I should have been hopeless indeed. + +At first I hung out a lantern as a night signal, but on the second +night it was broken by the wind, and I could find only one other in +good condition. The ship's lights must have been blown away in the +storm, together with her boats and much of her rigging. I would not +hang out the only lantern left me, for fear it should come to grief, +and that I should be left in the dark at night in that great vessel. +Had I known that I was on a vessel which had been regularly relegated +to the ranks of the forsaken, I should better have appreciated the +importance of allowing passing vessels to see that there was a light on +board the _Sparhawk_, and, therefore, in all probability a life. + +As day after day had passed, I had become more and more disheartened. +It seemed to me that I was in a part of the great ocean avoided by +vessels of every kind, that I was not in the track of anything going +anywhere. Every day there seemed to be less and less wind, and when I +had been on board a week, the _Sparhawk_ was gently rising and falling +on a smooth sea in a dead calm. Hour after hour I swept the horizon +with the captain's glass, but only once did I see anything to encourage +me. This was what appeared like a long line of black smoke against the +distant sky, which might have been left by a passing steamer; but, +were this the case, I never saw the steamer. + +Happily, there were plenty of provisions on board of a plain kind. I +found spirits and wine, and even medicines, and in the captain's room +there were pipes, tobacco, and some books. + +This comparative comfort gave me a new and strange kind of despair. I +began to fear that I might become contented to live out my life alone +in the midst of this lonely ocean. In that case, what sort of a man +should I become? + +It was about 8.30 by the captain's chronometer, when I came on deck on +the morning of the 25th of May. I had become a late riser, for what was +the good of rising early when there was nothing to rise for? I had +scarcely raised my eyes above the rail of the ship when, to my utter +amazement, I perceived a vessel not a mile away. The sight was so +unexpected, and the surprise was so great, that my heart almost stopped +beating as I stood and gazed at her. + +She was a medium-sized iron steamer, and lay upon the sea in a peculiar +fashion, her head being much lower than her stern, the latter elevated +so much that I could see part of the blades of her motionless +propeller. She presented the appearance of a ship which was just about +to plunge, bow foremost, into the depths of the ocean, or which had +just risen, stern foremost, from those depths. + +With the exception of her position, and the fact that no smoke-stack +was visible, she seemed, to my eyes, to be in good enough trim. She had +probably been in collision with something, and her forward compartments +had filled. Deserted by her crew, she had become a derelict, and, +drifting about in her desolation, had fallen in with another derelict +as desolate as herself. The fact that I was on board the _Sparhawk_ +did not, in my eyes, make that vessel any the less forsaken and +forlorn. + +The coming of this steamer gave me no comfort. Two derelicts, in their +saddening effects upon the spirits, would be twice as bad as one, and, +more than that, there was danger, should a storm arise, that they would +dash into each other and both go to the bottom. Despairing as I had +become, I did not want to go to the bottom. + +As I gazed upon the steamer I could see that she was gradually +approaching me. There was a little breeze this morning, and so much of +her hull stood out of the water that it caught a good deal of the wind. +The _Sparhawk_, on the contrary, was but little affected by the breeze, +for apart from the fact that the great sail kept her head always to the +wind, she was heavily laden with sugar and molasses and sat deep in the +water. The other was not coming directly toward me, but would probably +pass at a considerable distance. I did not at all desire that she +should come near the _Sparhawk_. + +Suddenly my heart gave a jump. I could distinctly see on the stern of +the steamer the flutter of something white. It was waved! Somebody must +be waving it! + +Hitherto I had not thought of the spyglass, for with my naked eyes I +could see all that I cared to see of the vessel, but now I dashed below +to get it. When I brought it to bear upon the steamer I saw plainly +that the white object was waved by some one, and that some one was a +woman. I could see above the rail the upper part of her body, her +uncovered head, her uplifted arm wildly waving. + +Presently the waving ceased, and then the thought suddenly struck me +that, receiving no response, she had in despair given up signalling. +Cursing my stupidity, I jerked my handkerchief from my pocket, and, +climbing a little way into the rigging, I began to wave it madly. +Almost instantly her waving recommenced. I soon stopped signalling, and +so did she. No more of that was needed. I sprang to the deck and took +up the glass. + +The woman was gone, but in a few moments she reappeared armed with a +glass. This action filled me with amazement. Could it be possible that +the woman was alone on the steamer, and that there was no one else to +signal and to look out? The thing was incredible, and yet, if there +were men on board, why did they not show themselves? And why did not +one of them wave the signal and use the glass? + +The steamer was steadily but very slowly nearing the _Sparhawk_, when +the woman removed the glass and stood up waist high above the rail of +the steamer Now I could see her much better; I fancied I could almost +discern her features. She was not old; she was well shaped; her bluish +gray dress fitted her snugly. Holding the rail with one hand she stood +up very erect, which must have been somewhat difficult, considering the +inclination of the deck. For a moment I fancied I had seen or known +some one whose habit it was to stand up very erect as this woman stood +upon the steamer. The notion was banished as absurd. + +Wondering what I should do, what instant action I should take, I laid +down my glass, and as I did so the woman immediately put up hers. Her +object was plain enough; she wanted to observe me, which she could not +well do when a view of my face was obstructed by the glass and my +outstretched arms. I was sorry that I had not sooner given her that +opportunity, and for some moments I stood and faced her, waving my hat +as I did so. + +I was wild with excitement. What should I do? What could I do? There +were no boats on the _Sparhawk_, and what had become of the one in +which I reached her I did not know. Thinking of nothing but getting on +board the vessel, I had forgotten to make the boat fast, and when I +went to look for it a day or two afterward it was gone. On the steamer, +however, I saw a boat hanging from davits near the stern. There was +hope in that. + +But there might be no need for a boat. Under the influence of the +gentle breeze, the steamer was steadily drawing nearer to the +_Sparhawk_. Perhaps they might touch each other. But this idea was soon +dispelled, for I could see that the wind would carry the steamer past +me, although, perhaps, at no great distance. Then my hopes sprang back +to the boat hanging from her davits. + +But before these hopes could take shape the woman and her glass died +out of sight behind the rail of the steamer. In about a minute she +reappeared, stood up erect, and applied a speaking-trumpet to her +mouth. It was possible that a high, shrill voice might have been heard +from one vessel to the other, but it was plain enough that this was a +woman who took no useless chances. I, too, must be prepared to hail as +well as to be hailed. Quickly I secured a speaking-trumpet from the +captain's room, and stood up at my post. + +Across the water came the monosyllable, "Ho!" and back I shouted, +"Hallo!" + +Then came these words, as clear and distinct as any I ever heard in my +life: "Are you Mr. Rockwell?" + +This question almost took away my senses. Was this reality? or had a +spirit risen from this lonely ocean to summon me somewhere? Was this +the way people died? Rockwell? Yes, my name was Rockwell. At least it +had been. I was sure of nothing now. + +Again came the voice across the sea. "Why don't you answer?" it said. + +I raised my trumpet to my lips. At first I could make no sound, but, +controlling my agitation a little, I shouted: "Yes!" + +Instantly the woman disappeared, and for ten minutes I saw her no +more. During that time I did nothing but stand and look at the steamer, +which was moving more slowly than before, for the reason that the wind +was dying away. She was now, however, nearly opposite me, and so near +that if the wind should cease entirely, conversation might be held +without the aid of trumpets. I earnestly hoped this might be the case, +for I had now recovered the possession of my senses, and greatly +desired to hear the natural voice of that young woman on the steamer. + +As soon as she reappeared I made a trial of the power of my voice. +Laying down the trumpet I shouted: "Who are you?" + +Back came the answer, clear, high, and perfectly audible: "I am Mary +Phillips." + +Mary Phillips! it seemed to me that I remembered the name. I was +certainly familiar with the erect attitude, and I fancied I recognized +the features of the speaker. But this was all; I could not place her. + +Before I could say anything she hailed again: "Don't you remember me?" +she cried, "I lived in Forty-second Street." + +The middle of a wild and desolate ocean and a voice from Forty-second +Street! What manner of conjecture was this? I clasped my head in my +hands and tried to think. Suddenly a memory came to me: a wild, +surging, raging memory. + +"With what person did you live in Forty-second Street?" I yelled across +the water. + +"Miss Bertha Nugent," she replied. + +A fire seemed to blaze within me. Standing on tiptoe I fairly +screamed: "Bertha Nugent! Where is she?" + +The answer came back: "Here!" And when I heard it my legs gave way +beneath me and I fell to the deck. I must have remained for some +minutes half lying, half seated, on the deck. I was nearly stupefied by +the statement I had heard. + +I will now say a few words concerning Miss Bertha Nugent. She was a +lady whom I had known well in New York, and who, for more than a year, +I had loved well, although I never told her so. Whether or not she +suspected my passion was a question about which I had never been able +to satisfy myself. Sometimes I had one opinion; sometimes another. +Before I had taken any steps to assure myself positively in regard to +this point, Miss Nugent went abroad with a party of friends, and for +eight months I had neither seen nor heard from her. + +During that time I had not ceased to berate myself for my inexcusable +procrastination. As she went away without knowing my feelings toward +her, of course there could be no correspondence. Whatever she might +have suspected, or whatever she might have expected, there was nothing +between us. + +But on my part my love for Bertha had grown day by day. Hating the city +and even the country where I had seen her and loved her and where now +she was not, I travelled here and there, and during the winter went to +the West Indies. There I had remained until the weather had become too +warm for a longer sojourn, and then I had taken passage in the +_Thespia_ for New York. I knew that Bertha would return to the city in +the spring or summer, and I wished to be there when she arrived. If, +when I met her, I found her free, there would be no more delay. My life +thenceforth would be black or white. And now here she was near me in a +half-wrecked steamer on the wide Atlantic, with no companion, as I +knew, but her maid, Mary Phillips. + +I now had a very distinct recollection of Mary Phillips. In my visits +to the Nugent household in Forty-second Street I had frequently seen +this young woman. Two or three times when Miss Nugent had not been at +home, I had had slight interviews with her. She always treated me with +a certain cordiality, and I had some reason to think that if Miss +Nugent really suspected my feelings, Mary Phillips had given her some +hints on the subject. + +Mary Phillips was an exceedingly bright and quick young woman, and I am +quite sure that she could see into the state of a man's feelings as +well as any one. Bertha had given me many instances of her maid's +facilities for adapting herself to circumstances, and I was now +thankful from the bottom of my heart that Bertha had this woman with +her. + +I was recovering from the stupefaction into which my sudden emotions +had plunged me, when a hail came across the water, first in Mary +Phillips's natural voice, and then through a speaking-trumpet. I stood +up and answered. + +"I was wondering," cried Mary Phillips, "what had become of you; I +thought perhaps you had gone down to breakfast." In answer I called to +her to tell me where Miss Nugent was, how she was, how she came to be +in this surprising situation, and how many people there were on board +the steamer. + +"Miss Nugent has not been at all well," answered Mary, "but she +brightened up as soon as I told her you were here. She cannot come on +deck very well, because the pitch of the ship makes the stairs so +steep. But I am going to give her her breakfast now, and after she has +eaten something she may be stronger, and I will try to get her on +deck." + +Brightened up when she knew I was near! That was glorious! That +brightened up creation. + +By this time I needed food also, but I did not remain below to eat it. +I brought my breakfast on deck, keeping my eyes all the time fixed upon +Bertha's steamer. The distance between us did not seem to have varied. +How I longed for a little breeze that might bring us together! Bertha +was on that vessel, trusting, perhaps, entirely to me: and what could I +do if some breeze did not bring us together? I looked about for +something on which I might float to her; but if I made a raft I was not +sure that I could steer or propel it, and I might float away and become +a third derelict. Once I thought of boldly springing into the water, +and swimming to her; but the distance was considerable, my swimming +powers were only moderate, and there might be sharks. The risk was too +great. But surely we would come together. Even if no kind wind arose, +there was that strange attraction which draws to each other the bubbles +on a cup of tea. If bubbles, why not ships? + +It was not long before nearly one-half of Mary Phillips appeared above +the rail. "Miss Nugent aas come on deck," she cried, "and she wants to +see you. She can't stand up very long, because everything is so +sliding." + +Before my trembling lips could frame an answer, she had bobbed out of +sight, and presently reappeared supporting another person, and that +other person was Bertha Nugent. + +I could discern her features perfectly. She was thinner and paler than +when I had last seen her, but her beauty was all there. The same smile +which I had seen so often was upon her face as she waved her +handkerchief to me. I waved my hat in return, but I tried two or three +times before I could speak loud enough for her to hear me. Then I threw +into my words all the good cheer and hope that I could. + +She did not attempt to answer, but smiled more brightly than before. +Her expression seemed to indicate that, apart from the extraordinary +pleasure of meeting a friend on this waste of waters, she was glad that +I was that friend. + +"She can't speak loud enough for you to hear her," called out Mary +Phillips, "but she says that now you are here she thinks everything +will be all right. She wants to know if you are alone on your ship, and +if you can come to us." + +I explained my situation, but said I did not doubt but the two ships +would gradually drift together. "Is there no one to lower your boat?" I +asked. + +"No one but me," answered Mary, "and I don't believe I am up to that +sort of thing. Miss Nugent says I must not touch it for fear I might +fall overboard." + +"Do you mean to say," I cried, "that there is nobody but you two on +board that steamer?" + +"No other living soul!" said Mary, "and I'll tell you how it all +happened." + +Then she told their story. The friends with whom Miss Nugent had +travelled had determined to go to Egypt, but as she did not wish to +accompany them, she had remained in Spain and Algiers during the early +spring, and, eleven days before, she and Mary Phillips had started from +Marseilles for home in the steamer _La Fidélité_. Five days ago, the +steamer had collided in the night with something, Mary did not know +what, and her front part was filled with water. Everybody was sure that +the vessel would soon sink, and the captain, crew, and passengers--all +French--went away in boats. + +"Is it possible" I yelled, "that they deserted you two women?" + +Mary Phillips replied that this was not the case. They had been +implored to go in the boats, but the night was dark, the sea was rough +and pitchy, and she was sure the boat would upset before they had gone +a hundred yards. Miss Nugent and she both agreed that it was much safer +to remain on a large vessel like the _Fidélité_, even if she was half +full of water, than to go out on the dark and stormy water in a +miserable little shell of a boat. The captain got down on his knees and +implored them to go, but they were resolute. He then declared that he +would force them into the craft, but Mary Phillips declared that if he +tried that, she would shoot him; she had a pistol ready. Then, when +they had all got in the boats but the captain, two of the men jumped on +board again, threw their arms around him and carried him off, vowing +that he should not lose his life on account of a pair of senseless +Americans. A boat would be left, the men said, which they might use if +they chose; but, of course, this was more a piece of sentiment than +anything else. + +"And now you see," cried Mary Phillips, "I was right, and they were +wrong. This steamer has not sunk; and I have no manner of doubt that +every soul who went away in those boats is now at the bottom of the +sea." + +This was indeed a wonderful story; and the fact that Bertha Nugent was +on board a derelict vessel and should happen to fall in with me on +board of another, was one of those events which corroborate the trite +and hackneyed adage, that truth is stranger than fiction. + +It was surprising how plainly I could hear Mary Phillips across the +smooth, still water. The ships did not now seem to be moving at all; +but soon they would be nearer, and then I could talk with Bertha. And +soon after (it must be so) I would be with her. + +I inquired if they had food and whatever else they needed; and Mary +Phillips replied that, with the exception of the slanting position of +the ship, they were very comfortable; that she did the cooking; and +that Miss Nugent said that they lived a great deal better than when the +ship's cook cooked. + +Mary also informed me that she had arranged a very nice couch for Miss +Nugent on the afterdeck; that she was lying there now, and felt better; +that she wanted to know which I thought the safer ship of the two; and +that whenever a little wind arose, and the vessels were blown nearer +each other, she wished to get up and talk to me herself. + +I answered that I thought both the ships were safe enough, and should +be delighted to talk with Miss Nugent, but in my heart I could not +believe that a vessel with her bow as low as that of the _Fidélité_ +could be safe in bad weather, to say nothing of the possibility of, at +any time, the water bursting into other compartments of the ship. The +_Sparhawk_ I believed to be in much better condition. Despite the fact +that she was utterly helpless as far as sailing qualities were +concerned, the greater part of her masts and rigging being in a +wretched condition, and her rudder useless, she did not appear to be +damaged. I had no reason to believe that she leaked, and she floated +well, although, as I have said, she lay rather deep in the water. + +If the thing were possible, I intended to get Bertha on board the +_Sparhawk_, where there was hope that we could all remain safely until +we were rescued. With this purpose in view, the moment Mary Phillips +disappeared, I went below and prepared the captain's cabin for Bertha +and her maid. I carried to the forward part of the vessel all the +pipes, bottles, and glasses, and such other things as were not suitable +for a lady's apartment, and thoroughly aired the cabin, making it as +neat and comfortable as circumstances permitted. The very thought of +offering hospitality to Bertha was a joy. + +I proposed to myself several plans to be used in various contingencies. +If the two vessels approached near enough, I would throw a line to _La +Fidélité_, and Mary Phillips would make it fast, I knew. Then with a +windlass I might draw the two vessels together. Then I would spring on +board the steamer, and when I had transferred Bertha and Mary to the +_Sparhawk_, would cut loose _La Fidélité_ to drift where she pleased. + +It was possible that I might convey from one vessel to the other some +articles of luxury or necessity, but on this point I would not come to +any definite conclusion. I would consult Mary Phillips on the subject. + +Another plan was that if we did not approach very close, I would +endeavor to throw a long, light line to the steamer, and Mary Phillips +would attach it to the boat which hung from the davits. Into this she +would put a pair of oars and lower it as well as she could; then I +would haul it to the _Sparhawk_, row over to the steamer, and transfer +Bertha and Mary to my vessel. It was possible that we should not have +to be very near each other for me to carry out this plan. Had I been a +seaman, I might have thought of some other plan better than these. But +I was not a seaman. + +I did not waste any time in the cabin, although I was very desirous to +make it as pleasant as possible for the reception of Bertha, but when I +returned to the deck I was astonished to find that the steamer was +farther away than it had been when I went below. There was a slight +breeze from the east, which had nearly turned the _Sparhawk_ about with +her bow to the wind, but was gently carrying _La Fidélité_ before it. + +I seized the speaking-trumpet, and with all my power, hailed the +steamer; and in return there came to me a single sound, the sound of +the vowel O. I could see two handkerchiefs fluttering upon the stern. +In ten minutes these were scarcely discernible. + +Half-crazed, I stood and gazed, and gazed, and gazed at the distant +steamer. The wind died away, and I could perceive that she was not +becoming more distant. Then I began to hope. Another wind might spring +up which would bring her back. + +And in an hour or two the other wind did spring up; I felt it in my +face, and slowly the _Sparhawk_ turned her bow toward it, and, +enrapturing sight! the steamer, with my Bertha on board, began to move +slowly back to me! The wind which was now blowing came from the +southwest, and _La Fidélité_, which before had lain to the southward of +the _Sparhawk_, was passing to the north of my vessel. Nearer and +nearer she came, and my whole soul was engaged in the hope that she +might not pass too far north. + +But I soon saw that unless the wind changed, the steamer would probably +pass within hailing distance. + +Soon I could see Mary Phillips on deck, speaking-trumpet in hand; and +seizing my trumpet, I hailed when as I thought we were near enough. I +eagerly inquired after Bertha, and the high voice of Mary Phillips came +across the water, telling me that Miss Nugent was not feeling at all +well. This uncertain state of affairs was making her feel very nervous. +"Can she come on deck?" I cried. "Can she use a speaking-trumpet? If I +could talk to her, I might encourage her." + +"She needs it," answered Mary, "but she cannot speak through the +trumpet; she tried it, and it made her head ache. She is here on deck, +and I am going to help her stand up as soon as we get nearer. Perhaps +she may be able to speak to you." + +The two vessels were now near enough for a high-pitched conversation +without the assistance of trumpets, and Mary Phillips assisted Bertha +to the side of the steamer, where I could distinctly see her. I shouted +as hearty a greeting as ever was sent across the water, bidding her to +keep up a good heart, for help of some kind must surely come to us. She +tried to answer me, but her voice was not strong enough. Then she shook +her head, by which I understood that she did not agree with me in my +hopeful predictions. I called back to her that in all this drifting +about the two vessels must certainly come together, and then, with the +assistance of the steamer's boat, we could certainly devise some way of +getting out of this annoying plight. She smiled, apparently at the +mildness of this expression, and again shook her head. She now seemed +tired, for her position by the rail was not an easy one to maintain, +and her maid assisted her to her couch on the deck. Then stood, up Mary +Phillips, speaking loud and promptly:-- + +"She has a message for you," she said, "which she wanted to give to you +herself, but she cannot do it. She thinks--but I tell her it is of no +use thinking that way--that we are bound to be lost. You may be saved +because your ship seems in a better condition than ours, and she does +not believe that the two vessels will ever come together; so she wants +me to tell you that if you get home and she never does, that she wishes +her share in the Forty-second Street house to go to her married sister, +and to be used for the education of the children. She doesn't want it +divided up in the ordinary way, because each one will get so little, +and it will do no good. Do you think that will be a good will?" + +"Don't speak of wills!" I shouted; "there is no need of a will. She +will get home in safety and attend to her own affairs." + +"I think so, too," cried Mary Phillips; "but I had to tell you what she +said. And now she wants to know if you have any message to send to your +parents, for we might blow off somewhere and be picked up, while this +might not happen to you. But I don't believe in that sort of thing any +more than in the other." + +I shouted back my disbelief in the necessity of any such messages, when +Mary Phillips seized her trumpet and cried that she did not hear me. + +Alas! the breeze was still blowing, and the steamer was moving away to +the northeast. Through my trumpet I repeated my words, and then Mary +said something which I could not hear. The wind was against her. I +shouted to her to speak louder, and she must have screamed with all her +force, but I could only hear some words to the effect that we were +bound to come together again, and she waved her handkerchief cheerily. + +Then the steamer moved farther and farther away, and speaking-trumpets +were of no avail. I seized the glass, and watched _La Fidélité_, until +she was nothing but a black spot upon the sea. + +The wind grew lighter, and finally died away, and the black spot +remained upon the horizon. I did not take my eyes from it until night +drew on and blotted it out. I had not thought of advising Mary Phillips +to hang out a light, and she was probably not sufficiently accustomed +to the ways of ships to think of doing it herself, although there could +be no doubt that there were lanterns suitable for the purpose on the +steamer. Had there been a light upon that vessel, I should have watched +the glimmer all night. As it was, I slept upon the deck, waking +frequently to peer out into the darkness, and to listen for a hail from +a speaking-trumpet. + +In the morning there was a black spot upon the horizon. I fancied that +it was a little nearer than when I last saw it; but in the course of +the forenoon it faded away altogether. Then despair seized upon me, and +I cared not whether I lived or died. I forgot to eat, and threw myself +upon the deck, where I remained for several hours, upbraiding myself +for my monstrous, unpardonable folly in neglecting the opportunities +which were now lost. + +Over and over again I told myself bitterly, that when I had been near +enough to the vessel which bore Bertha Nugent to converse with Mary +Phillips without the aid of a speaking-trumpet, I should have tried to +reach that vessel, no matter what the danger or the difficulties. I +should have launched a raft--I should have tried to swim--I should have +done something. + +And more than that, even had it been impossible for me to reach the +steamer, I should have endeavored to reach Bertha's heart. I should +have told her that I loved her. Whether she were lost or I were lost, +or both of us, she should have known I loved her. She might not have +been able to answer me, but she could have heard me. For that terrible +mistake, that crime, there was no pardon. Now every chance was gone. +What reason was there to suppose that these two derelicts ever again +would drift together? + +In the afternoon I rose languidly and looked about me. I saw something +on the horizon, and seizing the glass, I knew it to be _La Fidélité_. I +could recognize the slant of the hull, of the masts. + +Now hope blazed up again. If she were nearer, she must come nearer +still. I recovered my ordinary state of mind sufficiently to know that +I was hungry, and that I must eat to be strong and ready for what might +happen. + +Upon one thing I was determined. If Bertha should ever again be brought +near enough to hear me, I would tell her that I loved her. The object +of life, however much of it might be left me, should be to make Bertha +know that I loved her. If I swam toward the vessel, or floated on a +plank, I must get near enough to tell her that I loved her. + +But there was no wind, and the apparent size of the steamer did not +increase. This was a region or season of calms or fitful winds. During +the rest of the day the distant vessel continued to be a black speck +upon the smooth and gently rolling sea. Again I spent the night on +deck, but I did not wake to listen or watch. I was worn out and slept +heavily. + +The day was bright when I was awakened by a chilly feeling: a strong +breeze was blowing over me. I sprang to my feet. There was quite a +heavy sea; the vessel was rolling and pitching beneath me, and not far +away, not more than a mile, _La Fidélité_ was coming straight toward +me. Lightly laden, and with a great part of her hull high out of water, +the high wind was driving her before it, while my vessel, her bow to +the breeze, was moving at a much slower rate. + +As I looked at the rapidly approaching steamer, it seemed as if she +certainly must run into the _Sparhawk_. But for that I cared not. All +that I now hoped for was that Bertha should come to me. Whether one +vessel sank or the other, or whether both went down together, I should +be with Bertha, I would live or die with her. Mary Phillips stood full +in view on the stern of the oncoming steamer, a speaking-trumpet in +her hand. I could now see that it was not probable that the two vessels +would collide. The steamer would pass me, but probably very near. +Before I could make up my mind what I should do in this momentous +emergency, Mary Phillips hailed me. + +"When we get near enough," she shouted, "throw me a rope. I'll tie it +to the boat and cut it loose." + +Wildly I looked about me for a line which I might throw. Cordage there +was in abundance, but it was broken or fastened to something, or too +heavy to handle. I remembered, however, seeing a coil of small rope +below, and hastening down, I brought it on deck, took the coil in my +right hand, and stood ready to hurl it when the proper moment should +come. + +That moment came quickly. The steamer was not a hundred feet from me +when I reached the deck. It passed me on the port side. + +"Be ready!" cried Mary Phillips, the instant she saw me. It was not now +necessary to use a trumpet. + +"Throw as soon as I get opposite to you!" she cried. + +"Is Bertha well?" I shouted. + +"Yes!" said Mary Phillips; "but what you've got to do is to throw that +rope. Give it a good heave. Throw now!" + +The two vessels were not fifty feet apart. With all my strength I +hurled the coil of rope. The steamer's stern was above me, and I aimed +high. The flying coil went over the deck of _La Fidélité_, but in my +excitement I forgot to grasp tightly the other end of it, and the whole +rope flew from me and disappeared beyond the steamer. Stupefied by this +deplorable accident, I staggered backward and a heave of the vessel +threw me against the rail. Recovering myself, I glared about for +another rope, but of course there was none. + +Then came a shout from Mary Phillips. But she had already passed me, +and as I was to the windward of her I did not catch her words. As I +remembered her appearance, she seemed to be tearing her hair. In a +flash I thought of my resolution. Rushing to the rail, I put the +trumpet to my mouth. The wind would carry my words to her if it would +not bring hers to me. + +"Tell Bertha to come on deck!" I shouted. Mary Phillips looked at me, +but did not move. I wished her to rush below and bring up Bertha. Not +an instant was to be lost. But she did not move. + +"Tell her I love her!" I yelled through the trumpet. "Tell her that I +love her now and shall love her forever. Tell her I love her, no matter +what happens. Tell her I love her, I love her, I love her!" And this I +continued to scream until it was plain I was no longer heard. Then I +threw down my useless trumpet and seized the glass. Madly I scanned the +steamer. No sign of Bertha was to be seen. Mary Phillips was there, and +now she waved her handkerchief. At all events she forgave me. At such a +terrible moment what could one do but forgive? + +I watched, and watched, and watched, but no figure but that of Mary +Phillips appeared upon the steamer, and at last I could not even +distinguish that. Now I became filled with desperate fury. I determined +to sail after Bertha and overtake her. A great sail was flapping from +one of my masts, and I would put my ship about, and the strong wind +should carry me to Bertha. + +I knew nothing of sailing, but even if I had known, all my efforts +would have been useless. I rushed to the wheel and tried to move it, +pulling it this way and that, but the rudder was broken or jammed,--I +know not what had happened to it. I seized the ropes attached to the +boom of the sail, I pulled, I jerked, I hauled; I did not know what I +was doing. I did nothing. At last, in utter despair and exhaustion, I +fell to the deck. + +But before the wind had almost died away, and in the afternoon the sea +was perfectly calm, and when the sun set I could plainly see the +steamer on the faroff edge of the glistening water. During the whole +of the next day I saw her. She neither disappeared nor came nearer. +Sometimes I was in the depths of despair; sometimes I began to hope a +little; but I had one great solace in the midst of my misery--Bertha +knew that I loved her. I was positively sure that my words had been +heard. + +It was a strange manner in which I had told my love. I had roared my +burning words of passion through a speaking-trumpet, and I had told +them not to Bertha herself, but to Mary Phillips. But the manner was of +no importance. Bertha now knew that I loved her. That was everything to +me. + +As long as light remained I watched _La Fidélité_ through the glass, +but I could see nothing but a black form with a slanting upper line. +She was becalmed as I was. Why could she not have been becalmed near +me? I dared not let my mind rest upon the opportunities I had lost when +she had been becalmed near me. During the night the wind must have +risen again, for the _Sparhawk_ rolled and dipped a good deal, +troubling my troubled slumbers. Very early in the morning I was +awakened by what sounded like a distant scream. I did not know whether +it was a dream or not; but I hurried on deck. The sun had not risen, +but as I looked about I saw something which took away my breath; which +made me wonder if I were awake, or dreaming, or mad. + +It was Bertha's steamer within hailing distance! + +Above the rail I saw the head and body of Mary Phillips, who was +screaming through the trumpet. I stood and gazed in petrified +amazement. + +I could not hear what Mary Phillips said. Perhaps my senses were +benumbed. Perhaps the wind was carrying away her words. That it was +blowing from me toward her soon became too evident. The steamer was +receding from the _Sparhawk_. The instant I became aware of this my +powers of perception and reasoning returned to me with a burning flash. + +Bertha was going away from me--she was almost gone. + +Snatching my trumpet, I leaned over the rail and shouted with all my +might: "Did you hear me say I loved her? Did you tell her?" + +Mary Phillips had put down her trumpet, but now she raised it again to +her mouth, and I could see that she was going to make a great effort. +The distance between us had increased considerably since I came on +deck, and she had to speak against the wind. + +With all the concentrated intensity which high-strung nerves could +give to a man who is trying to hear the one thing to him worth hearing +in the world, I listened. Had a wild beast fixed his claws and teeth +into me at the moment I would not have withdrawn my attention. + +I heard the voice of Mary Phillips, faint, far away. I heard the words, +"Yes, but--" and the rest was lost. She must have known from my aspect +that her message did not reach me, for she tried again and again to +make herself heard. + +The wind continued to blow, and the steamer continued to float and +float and float away. A wind had come up in the night. It had blown +Bertha near me; perhaps it had blown her very near me. She had not +known it, and I had not known it. Mary Phillips had not known it until +it was too late, and now that wind had blown her past me and was +blowing her away. For a time there was a flutter of a handkerchief, +but only one handkerchief, and then _La Fidélité_, with Bertha on +board, was blown away until she disappeared, and I never saw her +again. + +All night I sat upon the deck of the _Sparhawk_, thinking, wondering, +and conjecturing. I was in a strange state of mind. I did not wonder or +conjecture whether Bertha's vessel would come back to me again; I did +not think of what I should do if it did come back. I did not think of +what I should do if it never came back. All night I thought, wondered, +and conjectured what Mary Phillips had meant by the word "but." + +It was plain to me what "yes" had meant. My message had been heard, and +I knew Mary Phillips well enough to feel positively sure that having +received such a message under such circumstances she had given it to +Bertha. Therefore I had positive proof that Bertha knew that I loved +her. But what did the "but" mean? + +It seemed to me that there were a thousand things that this word might +mean. It might mean that she was already engaged to be married. It +might mean that she had vowed never to marry. It might mean that she +disapproved of such words at such a time. I cannot repeat the tenth of +the meanings which I thought I might attach to this word. But the worst +thing that it could purport, the most terrible signification of all, +recurred to me over and over again. It might mean that Bertha could not +return my affection. She knew that I loved her, but she could not love +me. + +In the morning I ate something and then lay down upon the deck to +sleep. It was well that I should do this, I thought, because if Bertha +came near me again in the daytime Mary Phillips would hail me if I were +not awake. All night long I would watch, and, as there was a moon, I +would see Bertha's vessel if it came again. + +I did watch all that afternoon and all that night, and during my +watching I never ceased to wonder and conjecture what Mary Phillips +meant by that word "but." + +About the middle of the next day I saw in the distance something upon +the water. I first thought it a bit of spray, for it was white, but as +there were now no waves there could be no spray. With the glass I could +only see that it was something white shining in the sun. It might be +the glistening body of a dead fish. After a time it became plainer to +me. It was such a little object that the faint breezes which +occasionally arose had more influence upon the _Sparhawk_ than upon +it, and so I gradually approached it. + +In about an hour I made out that it was something round, with something +white raised above it, and then I discovered that it was a +life-preserver, which supported a little stick, to which a white flag, +probably a handkerchief, was attached. Then I saw that on the +life-preserver lay a little yellow mass. + +Now I knew what it was that I saw. It was a message from Bertha. Mary +Phillips had devised the means of sending it. Bertha had sent it. + +The life-preserver was a circular one, filled with air. In the centre +of this, Mary, by means of many strings, had probably secured a stick +in an upright position; she had then fastened a handkerchief to the top +of the stick. Bertha had written a message and Mary had wrapped it in a +piece of oiled silk and fastened it to the life-preserver. She had +then lowered this contrivance to the surface of the water, hoping that +it would float to me or I would float to it. + +I was floating to it. It contained the solution of all my doubts, the +answer to all my conjectures. It was Bertha's reply to my declaration +of love, and I was drifting slowly but surely toward it. Soon I would +know. + +But after a time the course of the _Sparhawk_ or the course of the +message changed. I drifted to the north. Little by little my course +deviated from the line on which I might have met the message. At last I +saw that I should never meet it. When I became convinced of this, my +first impulse was to spring overboard and swim for it. But I restrained +this impulse, as I had restrained others like it. If Bertha came back, +I must be ready to meet her. I must run no risks, for her sake and my +sake. She must find me on the _Sparhawk_ if she should come back. She +had left me and she had come back; she might come back again. Even to +get her message I must not run the risk of missing her. And so with +yearning heart and perhaps tearful eyes I watched the little craft +disappear and become another derelict. + +I do not know how many days and nights I watched and waited for +Bertha's ship and wondered and conjectured what Mary Phillips meant by +"but." I was awake so much and ate so little and thought so hard that I +lost strength, both of mind and body. All I asked of my body was to +look out for Bertha's steamer, and all that I asked of my mind was to +resolve the meaning of the last words I had heard from that vessel. + +One day, I do not know whether it was in the morning or afternoon, I +raised my head, and on the horizon I saw a steamer. Quick as a flash my +glass was brought to bear upon it. In the next minute my arms dropped, +the telescope fell into my lap, my head dropped. It was not Bertha's +steamer; it was an ordinary steamer with its deck parallel with the +water and a long line of smoke coming out of its funnel. The shock of +the disappointment was very great. + +When I looked up again I could see that the steamer was headed directly +toward me, and was approaching with considerable rapidity. But this +fact affected me little. It would not bring me Bertha. It would not +bring me any message from her. It was an ordinary vessel of traffic. I +took no great interest in it, one way or the other. + +Before long it was so near that I could see people on board. I arose +and looked over the rail. Then some one on the steamer fired a gun or a +pistol. As this seemed to be a signal, I waved my hat. Then the steamer +began to move more slowly, and soon lay to and lowered a boat. + +In ten minutes three men stood on the deck of the _Sparhawk_. Some one +had hailed me in English to lower something. I had lowered nothing; but +here they were on deck. They asked me a lot of questions, but I +answered none of them. + +"Is your captain with you?" I said. They answered that he was not, +that he was on the steamer. "Then take me to him," said I. + +"Of course we will," said their leader, with a smile. And they took me. + +I was received on the steamer with much cordiality and much +questioning, but to none of it did I pay any attention. I addressed the +captain. + +"Sir," said I, "I will be obliged to you if you will immediately cruise +to the southwest and pick up for me a life-preserver with a little +white flag attached to it. It also carries a message for me, wrapped up +in a piece of oiled silk. It is very important that I should obtain +that message without delay." + +The captain laughed. "Why, man!" said he, "what are you thinking of? Do +you suppose that I can go out of my course to cruise after a +life-preserver?" + +I looked at him with scorn. "Unmanly fiend!" said I. + +Another officer now approached, whom I afterward knew to be the ship's +doctor. + +"Come, come now," he said, "don't let us have any hard words. The +captain is only joking. Of course he will steam after your +life-preserver, and no doubt will come up with it very soon. In the +mean-time you must come below and have something to eat and drink and +rest yourself." + +Satisfied with this assurance, I went below, was given food and +medicine, and was put into a berth, where I remained for four days in a +half-insensible condition, knowing nothing--caring for nothing. + +When I came on deck again I was very weak, but I had regained my +senses, and the captain and I talked rationally together. I told him +how I had come on board the _Sparhawk_, and how I had fallen in with +the _La Fidélité_, half wrecked, having on board only a dear friend of +mine. In answer to his questions I described the details of the +communications between the two vessels, and could not avoid mentioning +the wild hopes and heart-breaking disappointments of that terrible +time. And, somewhat to my languid surprise, the captain asked no +questions regarding these subjects. I finished by thanking him for +having taken me from the wreck, but added that I felt like a +false-hearted coward for having deserted upon the sea the woman I +loved, who now would never know my fate nor I hers. + +"Don't be too sure of that," said the captain, "for you are about to +hear from her now." + +I gazed at him in blank amazement. "Yes," said the captain, "I have +seen her, and she has sent me to you. But I see you are all knocked +into a heap, and I will make the story as short as I can. This vessel +of mine is bound from Liverpool to La Guayra, and on the way down we +called at Lisbon. On the morning of the day I was to sail from there, +there came into port the _Glanford_, a big English merchantman, from +Buenos Ayres to London. I knew her skipper, Captain Guy Chesters, as +handsome a young English sailor as ever stood upon a deck. + +"In less than an hour from the time we dropped anchor, Captain Guy was +on my vessel. He was on the lookout, he said, for some craft bound for +South America or the West Indies, and was delighted to find me there. +Then he told me that, ten days before, he had taken two ladies from a +half-wrecked French steamer, and that they had prayed and besought him +to cruise about and look for the _Sparhawk_, a helpless ship, with a +friend of theirs alone on board. + +"'You know,' said Captain Guy to me, 'I couldn't do that, for I'd lost +time enough already, and the wind was very light and variable; so all I +could do was to vow to the ladies that when we got to Lisbon we'd be +bound to find a steamer going south, and that she could easily keep a +lookout for the _Sparhawk_, and take off the friend.' 'That was a +pretty big contract you marked out for the steamer going south,' I +said, 'and as for the _Sparhawk_, she's an old derelict, and I sighted +her on my voyage north, and sent in a report of her position, and there +couldn't have been anybody on board of her then.' 'Can't say,' said +Captain Guy; 'from what I can make out, this fellow must have boarded +her a good while after she was abandoned, and seems to have been lying +low after that.' Was that so, sir? Did you lie low?" + +I made no answer. My whole soul was engaged in the comprehension of the +fact that Bertha had sent for me. "Go on!" I cried. + +"All right," said he. "I ought not to keep you waiting. I promised +Captain Guy I would keep a lookout for the _Sparhawk_, and take you off +if you were on board. I promised the quicker, because my conscience was +growling at me for having, perhaps, passed a fellow-being on an +abandoned vessel. But I had heard of the _Sparhawk_ before. I had +sighted her, and so didn't keep a very sharp lookout for living beings +aboard. Then Captain Guy took me on board his ship to see the two +ladies, for they wanted to give me instructions themselves. And I tell +you what, sir, you don't often see two prettier women on board ship, +nor anywhere else, for that matter. Captain Guy told me that before I +saw them. He was in great spirits about his luck. He is the luckiest +fellow in the merchant service. Now, if I had picked up two people that +way, it would have been two old men. But he gets a couple of lovely +ladies; that's the way the world goes. The ladies made me pretty nigh +swear that I'd never set foot on shore till I found you. I would have +been glad enough to stay there all day and make promises to those +women; but my time was short, and I had to leave them to Captain Guy. +So I did keep a lookout for the _Sparhawk_, and heard of her from two +vessels coming north, and finally fell in with you. And a regular +lunatic you were when I took you on board; but that's not to be +wondered at; and you seem to be all right now." + +"Did you not bring me any message from them?" I asked. + +"Oh, yes; lots," said the captain. "Let me see if I can remember some +of them." And then he knit his brows and tapped his head, and repeated +some very commonplace expressions of encouragement and sympathy. + +The effect of these upon me was very different from what the captain +had expected. I had hoped for a note, a line--anything direct from +Bertha. If she had written something which would explain the meaning of +those last words from Mary Phillips, whether that explanation were +favorable or otherwise, I would have been better satisfied; but now my +terrible suspense must continue. + +"Well," said the captain, "you don't seem cheered up much by word from +your friends. I was too busy looking at them to rightly catch +everything they said, but I know they told me they were going to London +in the _Glanford_. This I remembered, because it struck me what a jolly +piece of good luck it all was for Captain Guy." + +"And for what port are you bound?" I asked. "La Guayra," he said. "It +isn't a very good time of the year to be there; but I don't doubt that +you can find some vessel or other there that will take you north, so +you're all right." + +I was not all right. Bertha was saved. I was saved; but I had received +no message. I knew nothing; and I was going away from her. + +Two or three days after this, the captain came to me and said: "Look +here, young man; you seem to be in the worst kind of doleful dumps. +People who have been picked up in the middle of the ocean don't +generally look like that. I wonder if you're not a little love-sick on +account of a young woman on the _Glanford_." + +I made no answer; I would not rebuke him, for he had saved my life; but +this was a subject which I did not wish to discuss with a sea-captain. + +"If that's really what's the matter with you," said he, "I can give you +a piece of advice which will do you good if you take it. I think you +told me that you are not engaged to this lady," (I nodded) "and that +you never proposed to her except through a speaking-trumpet." I +allowed silence to make assent. "Well, now, my advice is to give her +up, to drop all thoughts of her, and to make up your mind to tackle +onto some other girl when you find one that is good enough. You haven't +the least chance in the world with this one. Captain Guy is mad in love +with her. He told me so himself, and when he's out and out in love with +a girl he's bound to get her. When I was with him he might have been +married once a month if he'd chosen to; but he didn't choose. Now he +does choose, and I can tell you that he's not going to make love +through a speaking-trumpet. He'll go straight at it, and he'll win, +too. There's every reason why he should win. In the first place, he's +one of the handsomest fellows, and I don't doubt one of the best +love-makers that you would be likely to meet on land or sea. And then +again, she has every reason to be grateful to him and to look on him as +a hero." + +I listened without a word. The captain's reasoning seemed to me very +fallacious. + +"You don't know it," said he, "but Captain Guy did a good deal more +than pick up those two women from an abandoned vessel. You see he was +making his way north with a pretty fair wind from the south-west, the +first they'd had for several days, and when his lookout sighted _La +Fidélité_ nobody on board thought for a minute that he would try to +beat up to her, for she lay a long way to the west of his course, +though pretty well in sight. + +"But Captain Guy has sharp eyes and a good glass, and he vowed that he +could see something on the wreck that looked like a handkerchief waved +by a woman. He told me this himself as we were walking from my ship to +his. Everybody laughed at him and wanted to know if women waved +handkerchiefs different from other people. + +"They said that any bit of canvas might wave like that, and that it was +plain enough that the vessel was abandoned. If it was not, it could be, +for there was a boat still hanging to one of its davits. Captain Guy +paid no attention to this, but spied a little longer; then he vowed +that he was going to make for that vessel. There was one of the owners +on board, and he up and forbid Captain Guy to do it. He told him that +they had been delayed enough on the voyage by light winds, and now that +they would be over-due at their port a good many days before they got +there. Every day lost, he said, was money lost to the owners. He had +never heard of any skipper undertaking a piece of tomfoolery like this. +It would take all day to beat up to that wreck, and when they reached +it they would find an old derelict, which was no more than they could +see now. And as for there being a woman on board, that was all stuff. +The skipper had woman on the brain. + +"To this Captain Guy answered that he didn't own the ship, but he +commanded her, and as long as he commanded this vessel or any other, he +was not going to pass a wreck when there were good reasons to believe +that there was a human being on board of it, and in spite of what +anybody said, his eyes told him that there was reason to believe that +there was somebody waving on that wreck. So he ordered the ship put +about, paying no attention to the cursing and swearing of the owner, +and beat against a wind that was getting lighter and lighter for over +four hours until he reached the French steamer and took off the two +ladies. + +"There was nobody on board the _Glanford_ that thinks that Captain Guy +will ever sail that ship again. And in fact he don't think so himself. +But said he to me: "If I can marry that girl, the ship can go. If I +can't get another ship, I can sail under a skipper. But there's no +other girl in the world like this one." + +"And so you see, sir," he continued, "there isn't the least chance in +the world for you. Captain Guy's got her on board his ship; he's with +her by sunlight and starlight. He's lost his ship for her and he wants +to marry her. And on the other hand, it'll be weeks and weeks and +perhaps months before you can see her, or write to her either, as like +as not, and long before that Captain Guy will have his affair settled, +and there isn't any reason in my mind to doubt which way it will +settle. And so you just take my advice, sir, and stop drawing that long +face. There are plenty of good girls in the world; no reason why you +shouldn't get one; but if you are moping for the one that Captain +Guy's got his heart set on, I'm afraid you'll end by being as much out +of your head as you were when I found you." + +To all this I made no answer, but walked gloomily toward the stern and +looked down into the foaming wake. I think I heard the captain tell one +of the men to keep an eye on me. + +When we reached La Guayra--and the voyage seemed to me a never-ending +one--I immediately set about finding a vessel bound for England. My +captain advised me to go up on the mountains and wait until a steamer +should sail for New York, which event might be expected in two or three +weeks. America would be much better for me, he thought, than would +England. But I paid no attention to him, and as there was nothing in +port that would sail for England, I took passage in a Spanish steamer +bound for Barcelona. Arriving there, after a passage long enough to +give me plenty of time for the consideration of the last two words I +heard from Mary Phillips, and of the value of the communications I had +received regarding Captain Guy Chesters, I immediately started by rail +for London. On this journey I found that what I had heard concerning +the rescue of my Bertha had had a greater effect upon me than I had +supposed. Trains could not go fast enough for me. I was as restless as +a maniac; I may have looked like one. + +Over and over I tried to quiet myself by comforting reflections, saying +to myself, for instance, that if the message which Bertha had sent +floating on the sea to me had not been a good one, she would not have +sent it. Feel as she might, she could not have been so hard-hearted as +to crush the hopes of a man who, like herself, might soon lie in a +watery grave. But then, there was that terrible word "but." Looked at +in certain lights, what could be more crushing or heart-breaking than +that? + +And then again, Mary Phillips may not have understood what I said to +her through the speaking-trumpet. A grim humor of despair suggested +that at that distance, and in that blustering wind, the faithful +maid-servant might have thought that instead of shouting that I loved +my Bertha, I was asking her if they had plenty of salt pork and +hardtack. It was indeed a time of terrible suspense. + +I did not know Bertha's address in England. I knew that she had friends +in London and others in the country; but I was sure that I would find +her if she were on the island. I arrived in London very early in the +morning, too early to expect to find open any of the banking-houses or +other places where Americans would be likely to register. Unable to +remain inactive, I took a cab and drove to the London docks. + +I went to inquire the whereabouts of Captain Guy Chesters. + +This plan of action was almost repulsive to me, but I felt that it +offered an opportunity which I should not neglect. I would certainly +learn about Bertha if I saw him, and whether it would be anything good +or anything bad I ought to know it. + +In making my inquiries the cabman was of much assistance to me. And +after having been referred from one person to another, I at last found +a man, first mate of a vessel in the docks, who knew Captain Chesters, +and could tell me all about him. + +"Yes, sir," said he, "I can tell you where to find Captain Chesters. +He's on shore, for he doesn't command the _Glanford_ now, and as far as +I know he hasn't signed articles yet either as skipper or mate in any +other craft. The fact is, he's engaged in business, which I suppose he +thinks better than sailing the sea. He was married about a month ago. +It's only two or three days since he's got back from a little land trip +they took on the Continent. I saw him yesterday; he's the happiest man +alive. But it's as like as not that he's ready for business now that +he's got through with his honeymoon, and if it's a skipper you're +looking for you can't find a better man than Captain Guy, not about +these docks." + +I stood and looked at the man without seeing him, and then in a hollow +voice asked: "Where does he live?" + +"A hundred and nine Lisbury Street, Calistoy Road, East. Now that I've +told you, I wish I hadn't. You look as though you were going to measure +him for a coffin." + +"Thank you," said I, and walked away. + +I told the cabman to drive me to the address I had received, and in due +time we arrived in front of a very good-looking house, in a quiet and +respectable street. + +I was in a peculiar state of mind. I had half expected the terrible +shock, and I had received it. But I had not been stunned; I had been +roused to an unusual condition of mental activity. My senses were +sharpened by the torment of my soul, and I observed everything,--the +quarter of the city, the street, the house. + +The woman who opened the door started a little when she saw me. I asked +for Mrs. Captain Chesters, and walked in without waiting to be told +whether the lady was in or not. The woman showed me into a little +parlor, and left me. Her manner plainly indicated that she suspected +something was the matter with me. + +In a very short time a tall, well-made man, with curly brown hair, a +handsome, sun-browned face, and that fine presence which command at sea +frequently gives, entered the room. + +"I understand, sir," said he, "that you asked for my wife, but I +thought it better to come to you myself. What is your business with +her, sir, and what is your name?" + +"My name is Charles Rockwell," I said, "and my business is to see her. +If she has already forgotten my name, you can tell her that I kept +company with her for a while on the Atlantic Ocean, when she was in one +wreck and I was in another." + +"Good heavens!" cried the young sailor; "do you mean to say that you +are the man who was on the derelict _Sparhawk_? And were you picked up +by Captain Stearns, whom I sent after you? I supposed he would have +written to me about you." + +"I came faster than a letter would come," I answered. "Can I see her?" + +"Of course you can!" cried Captain Guy. "I never knew a man so talked +about as you have been since I fell in with the wreck of that French +steamer! By George! sir, there was a time when I was dead jealous of +you. But I'm married tight and fast now, and that sort of thing is done +with. Of course you shall see her." + +He left the room, and presently I heard the sound of running footsteps. +The door was opened, and Mary Phillips entered, closely followed by the +captain. I started back; I shouted as if I had a speaking-trumpet to +my mouth:-- + +"What!" I cried; "is this your wife?" + +"Yes," said Captain Guy, stepping forward, "of course she is. Why not?" +I made no answer, but with open arms I rushed upon Mary Phillips and +folded her in a wild embrace. I heard a burst of nautical oaths, and +probably would have been felled by a nautical fist, had not Mary +screamed to her husband:-- + +"Stop, Guy!" she cried; "I understand him. It's all right. He's so glad +to see me." + +I released her from my embrace, and, staggering back, sank upon a +chair. + +"Go get him a glass of sherry, Guy," she said, and wheeling up a great +easy-chair, she told me to sit in it, for I looked dreadfully tired. I +took the chair, and when the wine was brought I drank it. + +"Where is Miss Nugent?" I asked. + +"Miss Nugent is all right," said Mary Phillips, "but I'm not going to +tell you a word about her or anything else until you've had some +breakfast. I know you have not tasted food this day." + +I admitted that I had not. I would eat, I would do anything, so that +afterward she would tell me about Bertha. + +When I had a cup of coffee and some toast which Mary brought to me upon +a tray, I arose from my chair. + +"Now tell me quickly," I said, "where is Bertha?" + +"Not a bit of it," said Mary Phillips--I call her so, for I shall never +know her by any other name. + +"Sit down again, Mr. Rockwell, and eat these two eggs. When you have +done that I will talk to you about her. You needn't be in a hurry to go +to see her, because in the house where she is the people are not up +yet." + +"Might as well sit down and eat," said the captain, laughing. "When +you're under command of this skipper you will find that her orders are +orders, and the quicker you step up and obey them, the better. So I +would advise you to eat your eggs." + +I began to do so, and Captain Guy laughed a mighty laugh. "She's a +little thing," he said, "but she does know how to make men stand about. +I didn't believe there was a person in this world who could have kept +my hands off you when I saw you hugging my wife. But she did it, and I +tell you, sir, I was never worse cut up in my whole life than I was +when I saw you do that." + +"Sir," said I, looking at him steadfastly, "if I have caused you any +pain, any misery, any torment of the soul, any anguish of heart, any +agony of jealousy, or mental torture of any kind, I am heartily glad of +it, for all of these things you have brought on me." + +"Good!" cried Mary Phillips; "you must be feeling better, sir, and +when you have entirely finished breakfast we will go on and talk." + +In a few moments I pushed away the tray, and Mary, looking at it, +declared herself satisfied, and placed it on a side table. + +"So you really supposed, sir," she said, sitting near me, "that Captain +Chesters married Miss Nugent?" + +"I certainly did," I answered. + +"No doubt, thinking," said Mary, with a smile, "that no man in his +senses would marry anybody else when Miss Nugent was about, which was a +very proper opinion, of course, considering your state of mind." + +"And let me say, sir," said Captain Guy, "if I had married Miss Nugent, +more people than you would have been dissatisfied. I would have been +one of them, and I am sure Miss Nugent would have been another." + +"Count me as one of that party," said Mary Phillips. "And now, Mr. +Rockwell, you shall not be kept waiting a moment longer." + +"Of course she is safe and well," I said, "or you would not be +here, and before you say anything more about her, please tell me what +you meant by that terrible word 'but.'" + +"But?" repeated Mary Phillips, with a puzzled expression. And Captain +Guy echoed, "But? What but?" + +"It was the last word I heard from you," said I; "you shouted it to me +when your vessel was going away for the last time. It has caused me a +world of misery. It may have been followed by other words, but I did +not catch them. I asked you if you had told her that I loved her, and +you answered, 'Yes, but--'" + +Captain Guy slapped his leg, "By George!" he said; "that was enough to +put a man on the rack. Mary, you should have told him more than that." + +Mary Phillips wrinkled her forehead and gazed steadfastly into her lap. +Suddenly she looked up. + +"I remember it," she said; "I remember exactly what I answered or tried +to answer. I said, 'Yes, but she knew it before.'" + +I sprang to my feet. "What do you mean?" I cried. + +"Of course she knew it," she cried: "we must both have been very stupid +if we hadn't known that. We knew it before we left New York; and, for +my part, I wondered why you didn't tell her. But as you never mentioned +it, of course it wasn't for us to bring up the subject." + +"Bertha knew I loved her?" I ejaculated. "And what--and how--what did +she say of it? What did she think of it?" + +"Well," said Mary Phillips, laughing, "I could never see that she +doubted it; I could never see that she objected to it. In fact, from +what she said, and, being just us two, of course she had to say a good +many things to me, I think she was very glad to find out that you knew +it as well as we did." + +"Mary Phillips!" I cried; "where is she? Tell me this moment!" + +"Look here," said Captain Guy, "you're leaving me out of this business +altogether. This is Mrs. Mary Chesters." + +"Mr. Rockwell will be all right when he gets over this flurry," said +Mary to her husband. + +I acknowledged the correction with a nod, for I had no time then for +words on the subject. + +"Don't get yourself flustered, sir," said Mary. "You can't go to her +yet; it's too early. You must give the family time to come down and +have breakfast. I am not going to be party to a scene before breakfast +nor in the middle of a meal. I know the ways and manners of that house, +and I'll send you at exactly the right time." + +I sat down. "Mary--Mrs.--" + +"Don't bother about names just now," she interrupted; "I know who +you're speaking to." + +"Do you believe," I continued, looking steadfastly at her, "that Bertha +Nugent loves me?" + +"I don't know," she said, "that it's exactly my business to give this +information, but under the circumstances I take it on myself to say +that she most certainly does. And I tell you, and you may tell her if +you like, that I would not have said this to you if I hadn't believed +this thing ought to be clinched the minute there was a chance to do it. +It's been hanging off and on long enough. Love you? Why, bless my +soul, sir, she's been thinking of nothing else for the past two or +three days but the coming of the postman, expecting a letter from you, +not considering that you didn't know where to address her, or that it +was rather scant time for a letter to come from La Guayra, where +Captain Stearns would take you if he succeeded in picking you up." + +"The whole affair had a scanty air about it," said Captain Guy. "At +least, that's the way I look at it." + +"You've never said anything like that before," said Mary, rather +sharply. + +"Of course not," replied the captain. "I wanted to keep you as merry +and cheerful as I could. And besides, I didn't say I had thought there +was no chance of Mr. Rockwell's turning up. I only said I considered it +a little scantish." + +"Love you?" continued Mary Phillips; "I should say so. I should have +brought her on deck to wave her handkerchief to you and kiss her +hand--perhaps, when you blew the state of your feelings through a +trumpet; but she wasn't strong enough. She was a pretty weak woman in +body and mind about that time. But from the moment I told her, and she +knew that you not only loved her, but were willing to say so, she began +to mend. And how she did talk about you, and how she did long that the +two ships might come together again! She kept asking me what I thought +about the condition of your vessel and whether it would be like to sink +if a storm came on. I could not help thinking that, as far as I knew +anything about ships, you'd be likely to float for weeks after we'd +gone down, but I didn't say that to her. And then she began to wonder +if you had understood that she had received your message and was glad +to get it. And I told her over and over and over again that you must +have heard me, for I screamed my very loudest. I am very glad that I +didn't know that you only caught those two words." + +"Dear girl!" I ejaculated. "And did she send me a message on a +life-preserver?" + +"You mean to say that you got it?" cried Mary Phillips. + +"No," said I; "it floated away from me. What was it?" + +"I got up that little scheme," said Mary Phillips, "to quiet her. I +told her that a letter might be floated to you that way, and that, +anyway, it would do no harm to try. I don't know what she wrote, but +she must have said a good deal, for she took a long time about it. I +wrapped it up perfectly water-tight. She made the flag herself out of +one of her own handkerchiefs with her initial in the corner. She said +she thought you would like that." + +"Oh, that it had come to me!" I cried. + +"I wish from the bottom of my soul that it had," said Mary, +compassionately. "It would have done you a lot of good on that lonely +ship." + +"Instead of which," observed Captain Guy, "some shark probably +swallowed it, and little good it did him." + +"It put a lot of affection and consideration into him," said Mary, a +little brusquely, "and there are other creatures connected with the sea +who wouldn't be hurt by that sort of thing." + +"There's a shot into me!" cried the captain. "Don't do it again. I cry +quarter!" + +"I must go," I said, rising; "I can wait no longer." + +"Well," said Mary, "you may not be much too soon, if you go slowly." + +"But before I go," I said, "tell me this: Why did she not send me some +word from Lisbon? Why did she not give Captain Stearns a line on a +piece of paper or some message?" + +"A line! a message!" exclaimed Mary. "She sent you a note; she sent you +a dozen messages by Captain Stearns." + +"And I'll wager a month's pay," said Captain Guy, "that he never +delivered one of them." + +"He gave me no note," I cried. + +"It's in the pocket of his pea-jacket now," said Captain Chesters. + +"He did deliver some messages," I said, "after I questioned him; but +they were such as these: Keep up a good heart; everything's bound to be +right in the end; the last to get back gets the heartiest welcome. +Now, anybody could have sent such words as those." + +"Upon my word," cried Mary Phillips, "those were the messages I sent. I +remember particularly the one about the last one back and the heartiest +welcome." + +"Confound that Stearns!" cried Captain Guy; "what did he mean by giving +all his attention to you, and none to the lady that he was sent for to +see?" + +"Good bye, Mrs. Chesters," I said, taking her by the hand. "I can never +thank you enough for what you have done for her and for me. But how you +could leave her I really do not understand." + +"Well," said Mary, coloring a little, "I can scarcely understand it +myself; but that man would have it so, and he's terribly obstinate. But +I don't feel that I've left her. She's in the best of hands, and I see +her nearly every day. Here's her address, and when you meet her, Mr. +Rockwell, you'll find that in every way I've told you truly." I took a +hearty leave of Captain Guy, shook Mary by the hand once more, rushed +down stairs, roused the sleeping cabby, and glancing at the card, +ordered him to gallop to 9 Ravisdock Terrace, Parmley Square. + +I do not know how I got into the house, what I said nor what I asked, +nor whether the family had had their breakfast or not; but the moment +my eyes fell upon my beloved Bertha I knew that in everything Mary +Phillips had told me truly. She came into the room with beaming eyes +and both hands extended. With outstretched arms I rushed to meet her, +and folded her to my breast. This time there was no one to object. For +some moments we were speechless with joyful emotion, but there was no +need of our saying anything, no need of statements nor explanations. +Mary Phillips had attended to all that. + +When we had cooled down to the point of speech, I was surprised to find +that I had been expected, that Bertha knew I was coming. When Mary +Phillips had left me that morning to prepare my breakfast, she had sent +a message to Bertha, and then she had detained me until she thought it +had been received and Bertha was prepared to meet me. + +"I did not want any slips or misses," she said, when she explained the +matter to me afterward. "I don't want to say anything about your +personal appearance, Mr. Rockwell, but there are plenty of servants in +London who, if they hadn't had their orders, would shut the door in the +face of a much less wild-eyed person than you were, sir, that morning." + +Bertha and I were married in London, and two weeks afterward we +returned to America in the new ship _Glaucus_, commanded by Captain Guy +Chesters and his wife. + +Our marriage in England instead of America was largely due to the +influence of Mary Phillips, who thought it would be much safer and more +prudent for us to be married before we again undertook the risks of a +sea-voyage. + +"Nobody knows what may happen on the ocean," she said; "but if you're +once fairly married, that much is accomplished, anyway." + +Our choice of a sailing-vessel in which to make the passage was due in +a great part to our desire to keep company as long as possible with +Captain Chesters and his wife, to whom we truly believed we owed each +other. + +When we reached New York, and Bertha and I were about to start for the +Catskill Mountains, where we proposed to spend the rest of the summer, +we took leave of Captain Guy and his wife with warmest expressions of +friendship, with plans for meeting again. + +Everything seemed to have turned out in the best possible way. + +We had each other, and Mary Phillips had some one to manage. + +We should have been grieved if we had been obliged to leave her without +occupation. + +At the moment of parting I drew her aside. "Mary," I said, "we have had +some strange experiences together, and I shall never forget them." + +"Nor shall I, sir," she answered. "Some of them were so harrowing and +close-shaved, and such heart-breaking disappointments I never had. The +worst of all was when you threw that rope clean over our ship without +holding on to your end of it. I had been dead sure that the rope was +going to bring us all together." + +"That was a terrible mishap," I answered; "what did Bertha think of +it?" + +"Bless my soul!" ejaculated Mary Phillips; "she wasn't on deck, and she +never knew anything about it. When I am nursing up a love match I don't +mention that sort of thing." + + + + +THE BAKER OF BARNBURY. + + +A CHRISTMAS STORY. + +It was three days before Christmas, and the baker of the little village +of Barnbury sat in the room behind his shop. He was a short and sturdy +baker, a good fellow, and ordinarily of a jolly demeanor, but this day +he sat grim in his little back room. + +"Christmas, indeed," he said to himself, "and what of Christmas? 'Thank +you, baker, and a merry Christmas to you,' and every one of them goes +away with the present of a raisin-cake, or a horse ginger-cake, if +they like that better. All this for the good of the trade, of course. +Confound the trade, I'm tired of trade. Is there no good in this world, +but the good of the trade? 'Oh, yes,' they'll say, 'there's Christmas, +and that's good.'--'But what is the good of it to me?' say I. Christmas +day is a family day, and to a man without a family it's no day at all. +I'm not even fourth cousin to a soul in the town. Nobody asks me to a +family dinner. 'Bake! baker!' they cry, 'that we may eat and love each +other.' Confound them! I am tired of it. What is Christmas to me? I +have a mind to skip it." + +As he said this, a smile broke out on his face. "Skip Christmas," said +he; "that is a good idea. They did not think of me last year; this +would make them think of me this year." + +As he said this he opened his order-book and ran his eye over the +names. "Here's orders from every one of them," said he, "from the +doctor down to Cobbler John. All have families, all give orders. It's +pastry, cake, or sweetmeats, or it's meat or fowl to be baked. What a +jolly Christmas they will have without me! Orders from all of them, +every one; all sent in good time for fear of being crowded out." + +Here he stopped and ran his eye again over the list. + +"No, not all," he said; "the Widow Monk is not here. What is the matter +with her, I wonder. The only person in Barnbury who has not ordered +either pastry, cakes, or sweetmeats; or fowls or meat to be baked. If I +skip Christmas, she'll not mind it, she'll be the only one--the only +one in all Barnbury. Ha! ha!" + +The baker wanted some fresh air, and, as this was supper-time for the +whole village, he locked up his shop and went out for a walk. The night +was clear and frosty. He liked this; the air was so different from that +in his bakery. + +He walked to the end of the village, and at the last house he stopped. + +"It's very odd," said he to himself; "no cakes, pastry, or sweetmeats; +not even poultry or meat to be baked. I'll look in and see about this," +and he knocked at the door. + +The Widow Monk was at supper. She was a plump little body, bright and +cheerful to look upon, and not more than thirty. + +"Good evening, baker," said she; "will you sit down and have a cup of +tea?" + +The baker put down his hat, unwound his long woollen comforter, took +off his overcoat, and had a cup of tea. + +"Now, then," said he to himself, as he put down his cup, "if she'd ask +me to dinner, I wouldn't skip Christmas, and the whole village might +rise up and bless her." + +"We are like to have a fine Christmas," he said to her. + +"Fine enough for the rest of you," she said, with a smile, "but I shall +not have any Christmas this year." + +"How's that?" cried the baker; "no Christmas, Widow Monk?" + +"Not this year, baker," said she, and she poured him another cup of +tea. "You see that horse-blanket?" said she, pointing to one thrown +over a chair. + +"Bless me, Widow Monk," cried the baker, "you're not intending to set +up a horse?" + +"Hardly that," she answered, with a smile, "but that's the very last +horse-blanket that I can get to bind. They don't put them on horses, +but they have them bound with red, and use them for door curtains. +That's all the fashion now, and all the Barnbury folks who can afford +them, have sent them to me to be bound with red. That one is nearly +finished, and there are no more to be bound." + +"But haven't the Barnbury folks any more work for you?" cried the +baker; "haven't they shirts or gowns, or some other sort of needling?" + +"Those things they make themselves," answered the widow; "but this +binding is heavy work, and they give it to me. The blankets are coarse, +you see, but they hang well in the doorway." + +"Confound the people of Barnbury!" cried the baker. "Every one of them +would hang well in a doorway, if I had the doing of it. And so you +can't afford a Christmas, Widow Monk?" + +"No," said she, setting herself to work on her horse-blanket, "not this +year. When I came to Barnbury, baker, I thought I might do well, but I +have not done well." + +"Did not your husband leave you anything?" he asked. + +"My husband was a sailor," said she, "and he went down with his brig, +the _Mistletoe_, three years ago, and all that he left me is gone, +baker." + +It was time for the baker to open his shop, and he went away, and as he +walked home snow-drops and tear-drops were all mixed together on his +face. + +"I couldn't do this sort of thing before her," he said, "and I am glad +it was time to go and open my shop." + +That night the baker did all his regular work, but not a finger did he +put to any Christmas order. The next day, at supper-time, he went out +for a walk. + +On the way he said to himself, "If she is going to skip Christmas, and +I am going to skip Christmas, why should we not skip it together? That +would truly be most fit and gladsome, and it would serve Barnbury +aright. I'll go in and lay it before her." + +The Widow Monk was at supper, and when she asked him to take a cup of +tea, he put down his hat, unwound his woollen comforter, and took off +his overcoat. When he set down his empty cup he told her that he, too, +had made up his mind to skip Christmas, and he told her why, and then +he proposed that they should skip it together. + +Now, the Widow Monk forgot to ask him to take a second cup of tea, and +she turned as red as the binding she had put on the horse-blankets. +The baker pushed aside the teacups, leaned over the table, and pressed +his suit very hard. + +When the time came for him to open his shop she said that she would +think about the matter, and that he might come again. + +The next day the sun shone golden, the snow shone silvery, and Barnbury +was like a paradise to the good baker. For the Widow Monk had told him +he might come again, and that was almost the same thing as telling him +that he and she would skip Christmas together! And not a finger, so +far, had he put to any Christmas order. + +About noon of that day, he was so happy, was that good baker, that he +went into the village inn to have a taste of something hot. In the inn +he found a tall man, with rings in his ears. A sun-browned man he was +and a stranger, who had just arrived and wanted his dinner. He was also +a handsome man, and a sailor, as any one could see. + +As the baker entered, the tall man said to the inn-keeper:-- + +"Is there a Mrs. Monk now living in this village?" + +"Truly there is," said the inn-keeper, "and I will show you her house. +But you'll have your dinner first?" + +"Aye, aye," said the stranger, "for I'll not go to her hungry." + +The baker asked for nothing hot, but turned him and went out into the +cold, bleak world. As he closed the door behind him he heard the +stranger say:-- + +"On the brig _Mistletoe_." + +It was not needed that the baker should hear these words; already he +knew everything. His soul had told him everything in the moment he saw +the sun-browned man with the rings in his ears! + +On went the baker, his head bowed on his breast, the sun shining like +tawdry brass, the snow glistening like a slimy, evil thing. He knew not +where he was going; he knew not what he intended to do, but on he went. + +Presently a door opened, and he was called. + +"I saw you coming," said the Widow Monk, "and I did not wish to keep +you waiting in the cold," and she held open the door for him. + +When he had entered, and had seated himself before the fire, she said +to him:-- + +"Truly, you look chilled; you need something hot"; and she prepared it +for him. + +The baker took the hot beverage. This much of good he might at least +allow himself. He drank it, and he felt warmed. + +"And now," said the Widow Monk, seating herself on the other side of +the fire-place, "I shall speak as plainly to you as you spoke to me. +You spoke very well yesterday, and I have been thinking about it ever +since, and have made up my mind. You are alone in the world, and I am +alone; and if you don't wish to be alone any longer, why, I don't wish +to be either, and so--perhaps--it will not be necessary to skip +Christmas this year." + +Alas for the poor baker! Here was paradise seen through a barred gate! +But the baker's heart was moved; even in the midst of his misery he +could not but be grateful for the widow's words. There flashed into his +eyes a sudden brightness. He held out his hands. He would thank her +first, and tell her afterwards. + +The widow took his hands, lowered her bright eyes and blushed. Then she +suddenly withdrew herself and stood up. + +"Now," she said, with a pretty smile, "let me do the talking. Don't +look so downcast. When I tell you that you have made me very, very +happy, you should look happy too. When you came to me yesterday, and +said what you said, I thought you were in too much of a hurry; but now +I think that perhaps you were right, and that when people of our age +have anything important to do it is well to do it at once; for in this +world there are all sorts of things continually springing up to prevent +people from being happy." + +The whole body of the baker was filled with a great groan, but he +denied it utterance. He must hear what she would say. + +"And so I was going to suggest," she continued, "that instead of +skipping Christmas together, we keep it together. That is all the +change I propose to your plan." + +Up sprang the baker, so suddenly, that he overset his chair. Now he +must speak. The widow stepped quickly toward the door, and, turning +with a smile, held up her hand. + +"Now, good friend," said she, "stop there! At any moment some one might +come in. Hasten back to your shop. At three o'clock I will meet you at +the parson's. That will surely be soon enough, even for such a hasty +man as you." + +The baker came forward, and gasped, "Your husband!" + +"Not yet," said the widow, with a laugh, and, kissing the tips of her +fingers to him, she closed the door behind her. + +Out into the cold went the baker. His head was dazed, but he walked +steadfastly to his shop. There was no need for him to go anywhere; to +tell anybody anything. The man with the earrings would settle matters +for himself soon enough. + +The baker put up his shutters and locked his shop door. He would do +nothing more for the good of trade; nothing more for the good of +anything. Skip Christmas! Indeed would he! And, moreover, every holiday +and every happy day would now be skipped straight on for the rest of +his life. He put his house in order; he arranged his affairs; he +attired himself in his best apparel; locked his door behind him; and +went out into the cold world. + +He longed now to get far away from the village. Before the sun set +there would not be one soul there who would care for him. + +As he hurried on, he saw before him the parson's house. + +"I will take but one thing away with me," he said; "I will ask the good +old man to give me his blessing. That will I take with me." + +"Of course he is in," said the parson's maid; "there, in the parlor." + +As the baker entered the parson's parlor, some one hastened to meet +him. It was the Widow Monk. + +"You wicked man," she whispered, "you are a quarter of an hour late. +The parson is waiting." + +The parson was a little man with white hair. He stepped toward the +couple standing together, and the widow took the baker's hand. Then the +parson began the little speech he always made on such occasions. It +was full of good sense and very touching, and the widow's eyes were dim +with tears. The baker would have spoken, but he had never interrupted a +clergyman, and he could not do it now. + +Then the parson began his appointed work, and the heart of the baker +swelled, as the widow's hand trembled in his own. + +"Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife?" asked the parson. + +"Now for this," quoth the poor baker to himself, "I may bake forever, +but I cannot draw back nor keep the good man waiting." And he said, +"Yes." + +Then it was that the baker received what he had come for,--the parson's +blessing; and, immediately, his fair companion, brimming with tears, +threw herself into his arms. + +"Now," said the baker to himself, "when I leave this house, may the +devil take me, and right welcome shall he be!" + +"Dearest," she exclaimed, as she looked into his face, "you cannot know +how happy I am. My wedding day, and my brother back from the cruel +seas!" + +Struck by a sudden blast of bewildering ecstasy, the baker raised his +eyes, and beheld the tall form of the sun-browned stranger who had been +standing behind them. + +"You are not a sailor-man," quoth the jovial brother, "like my old +mate, who went down in the brig _Mistletoe_, but my sister tells me you +are a jolly good fellow, and I wish you fair winds and paying cargoes." +And after giving the baker a powerful handshake, the sailor kissed the +bride, the parson's wife, the parson's daughter, and the parson's maid, +and wished the family were larger, having just returned from the cruel +seas. + +The only people in the village of Barnbury, who thoroughly enjoyed the +Christmas of that year, were the baker, his wife, and the sailor +brother. And a rare good time they had; for a big sea-chest arrived, +and there were curious presents, and a tall flask of rare old wine, and +plenty of time for three merry people to cook for themselves. + +The baker told his wife of his soul-harrowing plight of the day before. + +"Now, then," said he, "don't you think that by rights I should bake all +the same?" + +"Oh, that will be skipped," she said, with a laugh; "and now go you and +make ready for the cakes, pastry, and sweetmeats, the baked meats and +the poultry, with which the people of Barnbury are to be made right +happy on New Year's day." + + + + +THE WATER-DEVIL + + +A MARINE TALE. + +In the village of Riprock there was neither tavern nor inn, for it was +but a small place through which few travellers passed; but it could not +be said to be without a place of entertainment, for if by chance a +stranger--or two or three of them, for that matter--wished to stop at +Riprock for a meal, or to pass the night, there was the house of +blacksmith Fryker, which was understood to be always open to decent +travellers. + +The blacksmith was a prominent man in the village, and his house was a +large one, with several spare bedrooms, and it was said by those who +had had an opportunity of judging, that nobody in the village lived +better than blacksmith Fryker and his family. + +Into the village there came, late one autumn afternoon, a tall man, who +was travelling on foot, with a small valise hanging from his shoulder. +He had inquired for lodging for the night, had been directed to the +blacksmith's house, had arranged to stop there, had had his supper, +which greatly satisfied him, and was now sitting before the fire in the +large livingroom, smoking blacksmith Fryker's biggest pipe. + +This stranger was a red-haired man, with a cheery expression, and a +pair of quick, bright eyes. He was slenderly but strongly built, and +was a good fellow, who would stand by, with his hands in the pockets of +his short pea-jacket, and right willingly tell one who was doing +something how the thing ought to be done. + +But the traveller did not sit alone before the crackling fire of logs, +for the night being cool, a table was drawn near to one side of the +fire-place, and by this sat Mistress Fryker and her daughter Joanna, +both engaged in some sort of needle-work. The blacksmith sat between +the corner of the fire-place and this table, so that when he had +finished smoking his after-supper pipe, he might put on his spectacles +and read the weekly paper by the light of the big lamp. On the other +side of the stranger, whose chair was in front of the middle of the +fire-place, sat the school-master, Andrew Cardly by name; a middle-aged +man of sober and attentive aspect, and very glad when chance threw in +his way a book he had not read, or a stranger who could reinforce his +stock of information. At the other corner of the fire-place, in a +cushioned chair, which was always given to him when he dropped in to +spend an evening with the blacksmith, sat Mr. Harberry, an elderly man, +a man of substance, and a man in whom all Riprock, not excluding +himself, placed unqualified confidence as to his veracity, his +financial soundness, and his deep insight into the causes, the +influences, and the final issue of events and conditions. + +"On a night like this," said the stranger, stretching his long legs +toward the blaze, "there is nothing I like better than a fire of wood, +except indeed it be the society of ladies who do not object to a little +tobacco smoke," and he glanced with a smile toward the table with a +lamp upon it. + +Now blacksmith Fryker was a prudent man, and he did not consider that +the privileges of his hearthstone--always freely granted to a decent +stranger--included an acquaintance with his pretty daughter; and so, +without allowing his women-folk a chance to enter into the +conversation, he offered the stranger a different subject to hammer +upon. + +"In the lower country," said he, "they don't need fires as early in the +season as we do. What calling do you follow, sir? Some kind of trade, +perhaps?" + +"No," said the traveller, "I follow no trade; I follow the sea." + +At this the three men looked at him, as also the two women. His +appearance no more suggested that he was a seaman than the appearance +of Mr. Harberry suggested that he was what the village of Riprock +believed him to be. "I should not have taken you for a sailor," said +the blacksmith. + +"I am not a sailor," said the other; "I am a soldier; a sea-soldier--in +fact, a marine." + +"I should say, sir," remarked the school-master, in a manner intended +rather to draw out information than to give it, "that the position of a +soldier on a ship possessed advantages over that of a soldier on land. +The former is not required to make long marches, nor to carry heavy +baggage. He remains at rest, in fact, while traversing great distances. +Nor is he called on to resist the charges of cavalry, nor to form +hollow squares on the deadly battle-field." + +The stranger smiled. "We often find it hard enough," said he, "to +resist the charges made against us by our officers; the hollow squares +form themselves in our stomachs when we are on short rations; and I +have known many a man who would rather walk twenty miles than sail one, +especially when the sea chops." + +"I am very sure, sir," said school-master Cardly, "that there is +nothing to be said against the endurance and the courage of marines. We +all remember how they presented arms, and went down with the _Royal +George_." + +The marine smiled. + +"I suppose," said the blacksmith, "that you never had to do anything of +that sort?" + +The stranger did not immediately answer, but sat looking into the fire. +Presently he said: "I have done things of nearly every sort, although +not exactly that; but I have thought my ship was going down with all on +board, and that's the next worst thing to going down, you know." + +"And how was that?" inquired Fryker. + +"Well," said the other, "it happened more times than I can tell you of, +or even remember. Yes," said he, meditatively, "more times than I can +remember." + +"I am sure," said the school-master, "that we should all like to hear +some of your experiences." + +The marine shrugged his shoulders. "These things," said he, "come to a +man, and then if he lives through them, they pass on, and he is ready +for the next streak of luck, good or bad. That's the way with us +followers of the sea, especially if we happen to be marines, and have +to bear, so to speak, the responsibility of two professions. But +sometimes a mischance or a disaster does fix itself upon a man's mind +so that he can tell about it if he is called upon; and just now there +comes to my mind a very odd thing which once happened to me, and I can +give you the points of that, if you like." + +The three men assured him that they would very much like it, and the +two women looked as if they were of the same opinion. + +Before he began the marine glanced about him, with a certain +good-natured wistfulness which might have indicated, to those who +understood the countenances of the sea-going classes, a desire to wet +his whistle; but if this expression were so intended it was thrown +away, for blacksmith Fryker took no spirits himself, nor furnished them +to anybody else. Giving up all hope in this direction, the marine took +a long pull at his pipe and began. + +"It was in the winter of 1878 that I was on the Bay of Bengal, on my +way to Calcutta, and about five hundred miles distant from that city. I +was not on my own ship, but was returning from a leave of absence on an +American steamer from San Francisco to Calcutta, where my vessel, the +United States frigate _Apache_, was then lying. My leave of absence +would expire in three days; but although the _General Brooks_, the +vessel I was aboard of, was more of a freight than a passenger vessel, +and was heavily laden, we would have been in port in good time if, two +days before, something had not happened to the machinery. I am not a +machinist myself, and don't know exactly what it was that was out of +order, but the engine stopped, and we had to proceed under sail. That +sounds like a slow business; but the _Brooks_ was a clipper-built +vessel with three masts and a lot of sails--square sails, fore-and-aft +sails, jib sails, and all that sort of thing. I am not a regular sailor +myself, and don't know the names of all the sails; but whatever sails +she could have she did have, and although she was an iron vessel, and +heavily freighted, she was a good sailer. We had a strong, steady wind +from the south, and the captain told me that at the rate we were going +he didn't doubt that he would get me aboard my vessel before my leave +ran out, or at least so soon afterward that it wouldn't make any +difference. + +"Well, as I said, the wind blew strong and steady behind us, the sails +were full, and the spray dashed up at our bow in a way calculated to +tickle the soul of any one anxious to get to the end of his voyage; and +I was one of that sort, I can tell you. + +"In the afternoon of the second day after our engine stopped, I was +standing at the bow, and looking over, when suddenly I noticed that +there wasn't any spray dashing up in front of the vessel. I thought we +must have struck a sudden calm, but, glancing up, I saw the sails were +full, and the wind blew fair in my face as I turned toward the stern. I +walked aft to the skipper, and touching my cap, I said, 'Captain, how +is it that when a ship is dashing along at this rate she doesn't throw +up any spray with her cutwater?' He grinned a little, and said, 'But +she does, you know.' 'If you will come forward,' said I, 'I'll show you +that she doesn't,' and then we walked forward, and I showed him that +she didn't. I never saw a man so surprised. At first he thought that +somebody had been squirting oil in front, but even if that had been the +case, there would have been some sort of a ripple on each side of the +bow, and there wasn't anything of the kind. The skipper took off his +cap and scratched his head. Then he turned and sang out, 'Mr. Rogers, +throw the log.' + +"Now the log," said the marine, turning to Mrs. Fryker and her +daughter, "is a little piece of wood with a long line to it, that they +throw out behind a vessel to see how fast she is going. I am not a +regular Jack Tar myself, and don't understand the principle of the +thing, but it tells you exactly how many miles an hour the ship is +going. + +"In about two minutes Mr. Rogers stepped up, with his eyes like two +auger-holes, and said he, 'Captain, we're makin' no knots an hour. +We're not sailing at all.' + +"'Get out,' roared the captain, 'don't you see the sails? Don't you +feel the wind? Throw that log again, sir.' + +"Well, they threw the log again, the captain saw it done, and sure +enough Mr. Rogers was right. The vessel wasn't moving. With a wind that +ought to have carried her spinning along, miles and miles in an hour, +she was standing stock-still. The skipper here let out one of the +strongest imprecations used in navigation, and said he, 'Mr. Rogers, is +it possible that there is a sand-bar in the middle of the Bay of +Bengal, and that we've stuck on it? Cast the lead.' + +"I will just state to the ladies," said the marine, turning toward the +table, "that the lead is a heavy weight that is lowered to the bottom +of a body of water to see how deep it is, and this operation is called +sounding. Well, they sounded and they sounded, but everywhere--fore, +aft, and midship--they found plenty of water; in fact, not having a +line for deep-sea sounding they couldn't touch bottom at all. + +"I can tell you, ladies and gentlemen," said the marine, looking from +one to the other of the party, "that things now began to feel creepy. I +am not afraid of storms, nor fires at sea, nor any of the common +accidents of the ocean; but for a ship to stand still with plenty of +water under her, and a strong wind filling her sails, has more of the +uncanny about it than I fancy. Pretty near the whole of the crew was on +deck by this time, and I could see that they felt very much as I did, +but nobody seemed to know what to say about it. + +"Suddenly the captain thought that some unknown current was setting +against us, and forcing the vessel back with the same power that the +wind was forcing her forward, and he tried to put the ship about so as +to have the wind on her starboard quarter; but as she hadn't any +headway, or for some other reason, this didn't work. Then it struck him +that perhaps one of the anchors had been accidentally dropped, but they +were all in their places, and if one of them had dropped, its cable +would not have been long enough to touch bottom. + +"Now I could see that he began to look scared. 'Mr. Browser,' said he, +to the chief engineer, 'for some reason or other this ship does not +make headway under sail. You must go to work and get the engine +running.' And for the rest of that day everybody on board who +understood that sort of thing was down below, hard at work with the +machinery, hammering and banging like good fellows. + +"The chief officer ordered a good many of the sails to be taken in, for +they were only uselessly straining the masts, but there were enough +left to move her in case the power of the current, or whatever it was +that stopped her, had slackened, and she steadily kept her position +with the breeze abaft. + +"All the crew, who were not working below, were crowded together on +deck, talking about this strange thing. I joined them, and soon found +that they thought it was useless to waste time and labor on the +machinery. They didn't believe it could be mended, and if it should be, +how could an engine move a vessel that the wind couldn't stir? + +"These men were of many nationalities--Dutch, Scandinavian, Spanish, +Italian, South American, and a lot more. Like many other American +vessels that sail from our ports, nearly all the officers and crew were +foreigners. The captain was a Finlander, who spoke very good English. +And the only man who called himself an American was the chief officer; +and he was only half a one; for he was born in Germany, came to the +United States when he was twenty years old, stayed there five years, +which didn't count either way, and had now been naturalized for twenty +years. + +"The consequence of this variety in nationality was that the men had +all sorts of ideas and notions regarding the thing that was happening. +They had thrown over chips and bits of paper to see if the vessel had +begun to move, and had found that she didn't budge an inch, and now +they seemed afraid to look over the sides. + +"They were a superstitious lot, as might be expected, and they all +believed that, in some way or other, the ship was bewitched; and in +fact I felt like agreeing with them, although I did not say so. + +"There was an old Portuguese sailor on board, an ugly-looking, +weather-beaten little fellow, and when he had listened to everything +the others had to say, he shuffled himself into the middle of the +group. 'Look here, mates,' said he, in good enough English, 'it's no +use talking no more about this. I know what's the matter; I've sailed +these seas afore, and I've been along the coast of this bay all the way +from Negapatam to Jellasore on the west coast, and from Chittagong to +Kraw on the other; and I have heard stories of the strange things that +are in this Bay of Bengal, and what they do, and the worst of them all +is the Water-devil--and he's got us!' + +"When the old rascal said this, there wasn't a man on deck who didn't +look pale, in spite of his dirt and his sunburn. The chief officer +tried to keep his knees stiff, but I could see him shaking. 'What's a +Water-devil?' said he, trying to make believe he thought it all stuff +and nonsense. The Portuguese touched his forelock. 'Do you remember, +sir,' said he, 'what was the latitude and longitude when you took your +observation to-day?' 'Yes,' said the other, 'it was 15° north and 90° +east.' The Portuguese nodded his head. 'That's just about the spot, +sir, just about. I can't say exactly where the spot is, but it's just +about here, and we've struck it. There isn't a native seaman on any of +these coasts that would sail over that point if he knowed it and could +help it, for that's the spot where the Water-devil lives.' + +"It made me jump to hear the grunt that went through that crowd when he +said this, but nobody asked any questions, and he went on. 'This here +Water-devil,' said he, 'is about as big as six whales, and in shape +very like an oyster without its shell, and he fastens himself to the +rocks at the bottom with a million claws. Right out of the middle of +him there grows up a long arm that reaches to the top of the water, and +at the end of this arm is a fist about the size of a yawl-boat, with +fifty-two fingers to it, with each one of them covered with little +suckers that will stick fast to anything--iron, wood, stone, or flesh. +All that this Water-devil gets to eat is what happens to come swimmin' +or sailin' along where he can reach it, and it doesn't matter to him +whether it's a shark, or a porpoise, or a shipful of people, and when +he takes a grab of anything, that thing never gets away.' + +"About this time there were five or six men on their knees saying their +prayers, such as they were, and a good many others looked as if they +were just about to drop. + +"'Now, when this Water-devil gets hold of a ship,' the old fellow went +on, 'he don't generally pull her straight down to the bottom, but holds +on to it till he counts his claws, and sees that they are all fastened +to the rocks; for if a good many of them wasn't fastened he might pull +himself loose, instead of pulling the ship down, and then he'd be a +goner, for he'd be towed away, and like as not put in a museum. But +when he is satisfied that he is moored fast and strong, then he hauls +on his arm, and down comes the ship, no matter how big she is. As the +ship is sinkin' he turns her over, every now and then, keel uppermost, +and gives her a shake, and when the people drop out, he sucks them into +a sort of funnel, which is his mouth.' + +"'Does he count fast?' asked one of the men, this being the first +question that had been asked. + +"'I've heard,' said the Portuguese, 'that he's a rapid calculator, and +the minute he's got to his millionth claw, and finds it's hooked tight +and fast, he begins to haul down the ship.'" + +At this point the marine stopped and glanced around at the little +group. The blacksmith's wife and daughter had put down their work, and +were gazing at him with an air of horrified curiosity. The blacksmith +held his pipe in his hand, and regarded the narrator with the +steadiness and impassiveness of an anvil. The school-master was +listening with the greatest eagerness. He was an enthusiast on Natural +History and Mythology, and had written an article for a weekly paper on +the reconciliation of the beasts of tradition with the fauna of to-day. +Mr. Harberry was not looking at the marine. His eyes were fixed upon +the school-master. + +"Mr. Cardly," said he, "did you ever read of an animal like that?" + +"I cannot say that I have," was his reply; "but it is certain that +there are many strange creatures, especially in the sea, of which +scientists are comparatively ignorant." + +"Such as the sea-serpent," added the marine, quickly, "and a great many +other monsters who are not in the books, but who have a good time at +the bottom of the sea, all the same. Well, to go on with my story, you +must understand that, though this Portuguese spoke broken English, +which I haven't tried to give you, he made himself perfectly plain to +all of us, and I can assure you that when he got through talking there +was a shaky lot of men on that deck. + +"The chief officer said he would go below and see how the captain was +getting on, and the crew huddled together in the bow, and began +whispering among themselves, as if they were afraid the Water-devil +would hear them. I turned to walk aft, feeling pretty queer, I can tell +you, when I saw Miss Minturn just coming up from the cabin below. + +"I haven't said anything about Miss Minturn, but she and her father, +who was an elderly English gentleman and an invalid, who had never +left his berth since we took him up at Singapore, were our only +passengers, except, of course, myself. She was a beautiful girl, with +soft blue eyes and golden hair, and a little pale from constantly +staying below to nurse her father. + +"Of course I had had little or nothing to say to her, for her father +was a good deal of a swell and I was only a marine; but now she saw me +standing there by myself, and she came right up to me. 'Can you tell +me, sir,' she said, 'if anything else has happened? They are making a +great din in the engine-room. I have been looking out of our port, and +the vessel seems to me to be stationary.' She stopped at that, and +waited to hear what I had to say, but I assure you I would have liked +to have had her go on talking for half an hour. Her voice was rich and +sweet, like that of so many Englishwomen, although, I am happy to say, +a great many of my countrywomen have just as good voices; and when I +meet any of them for the first time, I generally give them the credit +of talking in soft and musical notes, even though I have not had the +pleasure of hearing them speak." + +"Look here," said the blacksmith, "can't you skip the girl and get back +to the Devil?" + +"No," said the marine, "I couldn't do that. The two are mixed together, +so to speak, so that I have to tell you of both of them." + +"You don't mean to say," exclaimed Mrs. Fryker, speaking for the first +time, and by no means in soft and musical tones, "that he swallowed +her?" + +"I'll go on with the story," said the marine; "that's the best way, and +everything will come up in its place. Now, of course, I wasn't going to +tell this charming young woman, with a sick father, anything about the +Water-devil, though what reason to give her for our standing still here +I couldn't imagine; but of course I had to speak, and I said, 'Don't be +alarmed, miss, we have met with an unavoidable detention; that sort of +thing often happens in navigation. I can't explain it to you, but you +see the ship is perfectly safe and sound, and she is merely under sail +instead of having her engines going.' + +"'I understood about that,' said she, 'and father and I were both +perfectly satisfied; for he said that if we had a good breeze we would +not be long in reaching Calcutta; but we seem to have a breeze, and +yet we don't go.' 'You'll notice,' said I, 'that the sails are not all +set, and for some reason the wind does not serve. When the engines are +mended, we shall probably go spinning along.' She looked as if she was +trying to appear satisfied. 'Thank you, sir,' she said. 'I hope we may +shortly proceed on our way, but in the meantime I shall not say +anything to my father about this detention. I think he has not noticed +it.' 'That would be very wise,' I replied, and as she turned toward the +companionway I was wild to say to her that it would be a lot better for +her to stay on deck, and get some good fresh air, instead of cooping +herself up in that close cabin; but I didn't know her well enough for +that." + +"Now that you are through with the girl," said the blacksmith, "what +did the Devil do?" + +"I haven't got to him yet," said the marine, "but after Miss Minturn +went below I began to think of him, and the more I thought of him, the +less I liked him. I think the chief officer must have told the men +below about the Water-devil, for pretty soon the whole kit and boodle +of them left their work and came on deck, skipper and all. They told me +they had given up the engine as a bad job, and I thought to myself that +most likely they were all too nervous to rightly know what they were +about. The captain threw out the log again, but it floated alongside +like a cork on a fishing-line, and at this he turned pale and walked +away from the ship's side, forgetting to pull it in again. + +"It was now beginning to grow dark, and as nobody seemed to think about +supper, I went below to look into that matter. It wouldn't do for Miss +Minturn. and her father to go without their regular meal, for that +would be sure to scare them to death; and if I'm to have a big scare I +like to take it on a good square meal, so I went below to see about it. +But I wasn't needed, for Miss Minturn's maid, who was an elderly woman, +and pretty sharp set in her temper, was in the cook's galley +superintending supper for her people, and after she got through I +superintended some for myself. + +"After that I felt a good deal bolder, and I lighted a pipe and went on +deck. There I found the whole ship's company, officers and crew, none +of them doing anything, and most of them clustered together in little +groups, whispering or grunting. + +"I went up to the captain and asked him what he was going to do next. +'Do?' said he; 'there is nothing to do; I've done everything that I can +do. I'm all upset; I don't know whether I am myself or some other man'; +and then he walked away. + +"I sat there and smoked and looked at them, and I can tell you the +sight wasn't cheerful. There was the ship, just as good and sound, as +far as anybody could see, as anything that floated on the ocean, and +here were all her people, shivering and shaking and not speaking above +their breath, looking for all the world, under the light of the stars +and the ship's lamps, which some of them had had sense enough to light, +as if they expected in the course of the next half-hour, to be made to +walk the plank; and, to tell the truth, what they were afraid of would +come to pretty much the same thing." + +"Mr. Cardly," here interrupted Mr. Harberry, "how long does it take to +count a million?" + +"That depends," said the school-master, "on the rapidity of the +calculator; some calculators count faster than others. An ordinary boy, +counting two hundred a minute, would require nearly three days and a +half to count a million." + +"Very good," said Mr. Harberry; "please go on with your story, sir." + +"Of course," said the marine, "there is a great difference between a +boy and a Water-devil, and it is impossible for anybody to know how +fast the latter can count, especially as he may be supposed to be used +to it. Well, I couldn't stand it any longer on deck, and having +nothing else to do, I turned in and went to sleep." + +"To sleep! Went to sleep!" exclaimed Mrs. Fryker. "I don't see how you +could have done that." + +"Ah, madam," said the marine, "we soldiers of the sea are exposed to +all sorts of dangers,--combination dangers, you might call them,--and +in the course of time we get used to it; if we didn't we couldn't do +our duty. + +"As the ship had been in its present predicament for six or seven +hours, and nothing had happened, there was no reason to suppose that +things would not remain as they were for six or seven hours more, in +which time I might get a good sleep, and be better prepared for what +might come. There's nothing like a good meal and a good sleep as a +preparation for danger. + +"It was daylight when I awakened, and rapidly glancing about me, I saw +that everything appeared to be all right. Looking out of the port-hole, +I could see that the vessel was still motionless. I hurried on deck, +and was greatly surprised to find nobody there--no one on watch, no +one at the wheel, no one anywhere. I ran down into the fo'castle, which +is the sailors' quarters, but not a soul could I see. I called, I +whistled, I searched everywhere, but no one answered; I could find no +one. Then I dashed up on deck, and glared, around me. Every boat was +gone. + +"Now I knew what had happened: the cowardly rascals, from captain to +cook, had deserted the ship in the night, and I had been left behind! + +"For some minutes I stood motionless, wondering how men could be so +unfeeling as to do such a thing. I soon became convinced, from what I +had seen of the crew, that they had not all gone off together, that +there had been no concerted action. A number of them had probably +quietly lowered a boat and sneaked away; then another lot had gone off, +hoping their mates would not hear them and therefore crowd into their +boat. And so they had all departed, not one boat-load thinking of +anybody but themselves; or if they thought at all about others, +quieting their consciences by supposing that there were enough boats +on the vessel, and that the other people were as likely to get off as +they were. + +"Suddenly I thought of the other passengers. Had they been left behind? +I ran down below, and I had scarcely reached the bottom of the steps +when I met Miss Minturn's maid. 'It seems to me,' she said, sharply, +'that the people on this ship are neglecting their duty. There's nobody +in the kitchen, and I want some gruel.' 'My good woman,' said I, 'who +do you want it for?' 'Who!' she replied; 'why, for Mr. Minturn, of +course; and Miss Minturn may like some, too.' + +"Then I knew that all the passengers had been left behind! + +"'If you want any gruel,' said I, 'you will have to go into the galley +and make it yourself'; and then in a low tone I told her what had +happened, for I knew that it would be much better for me to do this +than for her to find it out for herself. Without a word she sat right +down on the floor, and covered her head with her apron. 'Now don't make +a row,' said I, 'and frighten your master and mistress to death; we're +all right so far, and all you've got to do is to take care of Mr. and +Miss Minturn, and cook their meals. The steamer is tight and sound, and +it can't be long before some sort of a craft will come by and take us +off.' I left her sniffling with her apron over her head, but when I +came back, ten minutes afterward, she was in the galley making gruel. + +"I don't think you will be surprised, my friends," continued the +marine, "when I tell you that I now found myself in a terrible state of +mind. Of course I hadn't felt very jovial since the steamer had been so +wonderfully stopped; but when the captain and all the crew were aboard, +I had that sort of confidence which comes from believing that when +there are people about whose duty it is to do things, when the time +comes to do the things, they will do them; but now, practically +speaking, there was nobody but me. The others on board were not to be +counted, except as encumbrances. In truth, I was alone,--alone with +the Water-devil! + +"The moment I found no one to depend upon but myself, and that I was +deserted in the midst of this lonely mass of water, in that moment did +my belief in the Water-devil begin to grow. When I first heard of the +creature, I didn't consider that it was my business either to believe +in it, or not to believe in it, and I could let the whole thing drop +out of my mind, if I chose; but now it was a different matter. I was +bound to think for myself, and the more I thought, the more I believed +in the Water-devil. + +"The fact was, there wasn't anything else to believe in. I had gone +over the whole question, and the skipper had gone all over it, and +everybody else had gone all over it, and no one could think of anything +but a Water-devil that could stop a steamer in this way in the middle +of the Bay of Bengal, and hold her there hour after hour, in spite of +wind and wave and tide. It could not be anything but the monster the +Portuguese had told us of, and all I now could do was to wonder +whether, when he was done counting his million claws, he would be able +to pull down a vessel of a thousand tons, for that was about the size +of the _General Brooks_. + +"I think I should now have begun to lose my wits if it had not been for +one thing, and that was the coming of Miss Minturn on deck. The moment +I saw her lovely face I stiffened up wonderfully. 'Sir,' said she, 'I +would like to see the captain.' 'I am representing the captain, miss,' +I said, with a bow; 'what is it that I can do for you?' 'I want to +speak to him about the steward,' she said; 'I think he is neglecting +his duty.' 'I also represent the steward,' I replied; 'tell me what you +wish of him.' She made no answer to this, but looked about her in a +startled way. 'Where are all the men?' she said. 'Miss Minturn, 'said +I, 'I represent the crew--in fact, I represent the whole ship's company +except the cook, and his place must be taken by your maid.' 'What do +you mean?' she asked, looking at me with her wide-opened, beautiful +eyes. + +"Then, as there was no help for it, I told her everything, except that +I did not mention the Water-devil in connection with our marvellous +stoppage. I only said that that was caused by something which nobody +understood. + +"She did not sit down and cover her head, nor did she scream or faint. +She turned pale, but looked steadily at me, and her voice did not shake +as she asked me what was to be done. 'There is nothing to be done,' I +answered, 'but to keep up good hearts, eat three meals a day, and wait +until a ship comes along and takes us off.' + +"She stood silent for about three minutes. 'I think,' she then said, +'that I will not yet tell my father what has happened'; and she went +below. + +"Now, strange to say, I walked up and down the deck with my hat cocked +on one side and my hands in my pockets, feeling a great deal better. I +did not like Water-devils any more than I did before, and I did not +believe in this one any less than I did before, but, after all, there +was some good about him. It seems odd, but the arm of this submarine +monster, over a mile long for all that I knew, was a bond of union +between the lovely Miss Minturn and me. She was a lady; I was a marine. +So far as I knew anything about bonds of union, there wasn't one that +could have tackled itself to us two, except this long, slippery arm of +the Water-devil, with one end in the monstrous flob at the bottom, and +the other fast to our ship. + +"There was no doubt about it, if it hadn't been for that Water-devil +she would have been no more to me than the Queen of Madagascar was; but +under the circumstances, if I wasn't everything to her, who could be +anything--that is, if one looked at the matter from a practical point +of view?" + +The blacksmith made a little movement of impatience. "Suppose you cut +all that," said he. "I don't care about the bond of union; I want to +know what happened to the ship." + +"It is likely," said the marine, "if I could have cut the bond of union +that I spoke of, that is to say, the Water-devil's arm, that I would +have done it, hoping that I might safely float off somewhere with Miss +Minturn; but I couldn't cut it then, and I can't cut it now. That bond +is part of my story, and it must all go on together. + +"I now set myself to work to do what I thought ought to be done under +the circumstances, but, of course, that wasn't very much. I hoisted a +flag upside down, and after considering the matter I concluded to take +in all the sails that had been set. I thought that a steamer without +smoke coming from her funnel, and no sails set, would be more likely to +attract attention from distant vessels than if she appeared to be under +sail. + +"I am not a regular sailor, as I said before, but I got out on the +yard, and cut the square sail loose and let it drop on the deck, and I +let the jib come down on a run, and managed to bundle it up some way on +the bowsprit. This sort of thing took all the nautical gymnastics that +I was master of, and entirely occupied my mind, so that I found myself +whistling while I worked. I hoped Miss Minturn heard me whistle, +because it would not only give her courage, but would let her see that +I was not a man who couldn't keep up his spirits in a case like this. + +"When that work was over, I began to wonder what I should do next, and +then an idea struck me. 'Suppose,' thought I, 'that we are not +stationary, but that we are in some queer kind of a current, and that +the water, ship and all are steadily moving on together, so that after +awhile we shall come in sight of land, or into the track of vessels!' + +"I instantly set about to find out if this was the case. It was about +noon, and it so happened that on the day before, when the chief officer +took his observation, I was seized with a desire to watch him and see +how he did it. I don't see why I should have had this notion, but I had +it, and I paid the strictest attention to the whole business, +calculation part and all, and I found out exactly how it was done. + +"Well, then, I went and got the quadrant,--that's the thing they do it +with,--and I took an observation, and I found that we were in latitude +15° north, 90° east, exactly where we had been twenty-four hours +before! + +"When I found out this, I turned so faint that I wanted to sit down and +cover up my head. The Water-devil had us, there was no mistake about +it, and no use trying to think of anything else. I staggered along the +deck, went below, and cooked myself a meal. In a case like this there's +nothing like a square meal to keep a man up. + +"I know you don't like to hear her mentioned," said the marine, turning +to the blacksmith, "but I am bound to say that in course of the +afternoon Miss Minturn came on deck several times, to ask if anything +new had happened, and if I had seen a vessel. I showed her all that I +had done, and told her I was going to hang out lights at night, and did +everything I could to keep her on deck as long as possible; for it was +easy to see that she needed fresh air, and I needed company. As long as +I was talking to her I didn't care a snap of my finger for the +Water-devil. It is queer what an influence a beautiful woman has on a +man, but it's so, and there's no use arguing about it. She said she had +been puzzling her brains to find out what had stopped us, and she +supposed it must be that we had run onto a shallow place and stuck fast +in the mud, but thought it wonderful that there should be such a place +so far from land. I agreed with her that it was wonderful, and added +that that was probably the reason the captain and the crew had been +seized with a panic. But sensible people like herself and her father, I +said, ought not to be troubled by such an occurrence, especially as the +vessel remained in a perfectly sound condition. + +"She said that her father was busily engaged in writing his memoirs, +and that his mind was so occupied, he had not concerned himself at all +about our situation, that is, if he had noticed that we were not +moving. 'If he wants to see the steward, or anybody else,' I said, +'please call upon me. You know I represent the whole ship's company, +and I shall be delighted to do anything for him or for you.' She +thanked me very much and went below. + +"She came up again, after this, but her maid came with her, and the two +walked on deck for a while. I didn't have much to say to them that +time; but just before dark Miss Minturn came on deck alone, and walked +forward, where I happened to be. 'Sir,' said she, and her voice +trembled a little as she spoke, 'if anything should happen, will you +promise me that you will try to save my father?' You can't imagine how +these touching words from this beautiful woman affected me. 'My dear +lady,' said I, and I hope she did not take offence at the warmth of my +expression, 'I don't see how anything can happen; but I promise you, on +the word of a sea-soldier, that if danger should come upon us, I will +save not only your father, but yourself and your maid. Trust me for +that.' + +"The look she gave me when I said these words, and especially the flash +of her eye when I spoke of my being a sea-soldier, made me feel strong +enough to tear that sea-monster's arm in twain, and to sail away with +the lovely creature for whom my heart was beginning to throb." + +"It's a pity," said the blacksmith, "that you hadn't jumped into the +water while the fit was on you, and done the tearing." + +"A man often feels strong enough to do a thing," said the marine, "and +yet doesn't care to try to do it, and that was my case at that time; +but I vowed to myself that if the time came when there was any saving +to be done, I'd attend to Miss Minturn, even if I had to neglect the +rest of the family. + +"She didn't make any answer, but she gave me her hand; and she couldn't +have done anything I liked better than that. I held it as long as I +could, which wasn't very long, and then she went down to her father." + +"Glad of it," said the blacksmith. + +"When I had had my supper, and had smoked my pipe, and everything was +still, and I knew I shouldn't see anybody any more that night, I began +to have the quakes and the shakes. If even I had had the maid to talk +to, it would have been a comfort; but in the way of faithfully +attending to her employers that woman was a trump. She cooked for them, +and did for them, and stuck by them straight along, so she hadn't any +time for chats with me. + +"Being alone, I couldn't help all the time thinking about the +Water-devil, and although it seems a foolish thing now that I look back +on it, I set to work to calculate how long it would take him to count +his feet. I made it about the same time as you did, sir," nodding to +the schoolmaster, "only I considered that if he counted twelve hours, +and slept and rested twelve hours, that would make it seven days, which +would give me a good long time with Miss Minturn, and that would be the +greatest of joys to me, no matter what happened afterward. + +"But then nobody could be certain that the monster at the bottom of +the bay needed rest or sleep. He might be able to count without +stopping, and how did I know that he couldn't check off four hundred +claws a minute? If that happened to be the case, our time must be +nearly up. + +"When that idea came into my head, I jumped up and began to walk about. +What could I do? I certainly ought to be ready to do something when +the time came. I thought of getting life-preservers, and strapping one +on each of us, so that if the Water-devil turned over the vessel and +shook us out, we shouldn't sink down to him, but would float on the +surface. + +"But then the thought struck me that if he should find the vessel empty +of live creatures, and should see us floating around on the top, all he +had to do was to let go of the ship and grab us, one at a time. When I +thought of a fist as big as a yawl-boat, clapping its fifty-two fingers +on me, it sent a shiver through my bones. The fact was there wasn't +anything to do, and so after a while I managed to get asleep, which was +a great comfort." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the schoolmaster, "what reason can +you assign why a seamonster, such as has been described to us, should +neglect to seize upon several small boats filled with men who were +escaping from a vessel which it held in custody?" + +"I do not precisely see," answered Mr. Cardly, "why these men should +have been allowed this immunity, but I--" + +"Oh, that is easily explained," interrupted the marine, "for of course +the Water-devil could not know that a lot more people were not left in +the ship, and if he let go his hold on her, to try and grab a boat that +was moving as fast as men could row it, the steamer might get out of +his reach, and he mightn't have another chance for a hundred years to +make fast to a vessel. No, sir, a creature like that isn't apt to take +any wild chances, when he's got hold of a really good thing. Anyway, we +were held tight and fast, for at twelve o'clock the next day I took +another observation, and there we were, in the same latitude and +longitude that we had been in for two days. I took the captain's glass, +and I looked all over the water of that bay, which, as I think I have +said before, was all the same as the ocean, being somewhere about a +thousand miles wide. Not a sail, not a puff of smoke could I see. It +must have been a slack season for navigation, or else we were out of +the common track of vessels; I had never known that the Bay of Bengal +was so desperately lonely. + +"It seems unnatural, and I can hardly believe it, when I look back on +it, but it's a fact, that I was beginning to get used to the situation. +We had plenty to eat, the weather was fine--in fact, there was now only +breeze enough to make things cool and comfortable. I was head-man on +that vessel, and Miss Minturn might come on deck at any moment, and as +long as I could forget that there was a Water-devil fastened to the +bottom of the vessel, there was no reason why I should not be perfectly +satisfied with things as they were. And if things had stayed as they +were, for two or three months, I should have been right well pleased, +especially since Miss Minturn's maid, by order of her mistress, had +begun to cook my meals, which she did in a manner truly first-class. I +believed then, and I stand to it now, that there is do better proof of +a woman's good feeling toward a man, than for her to show an interest +in his meals. That's the sort of sympathy that comes home to a man, and +tells on him, body and soul." + +As the marine made this remark, he glanced at the blacksmith's +daughter; but that young lady had taken up her sewing and appeared to +be giving it her earnest attention. He then went on with his story. + +"But things did not remain as they were. The next morning, about half +an hour after breakfast, I was walking up and down the upper deck, +smoking my pipe, and wondering when Miss Minturn would be coming up to +talk to me about the state of affairs, when suddenly I felt the deck +beneath me move with a quick, sharp jerk, something like, I imagine, a +small shock of an earthquake. + +"Never, in all my life, did the blood run so cold in my veins; my legs +trembled so that I could scarcely stand. I knew what had happened,--the +Water-devil had begun to haul upon the ship! + +"I was in such a state of collapse that I did not seem to have any +power over my muscles; but for all that, I heard Miss Minturn's voice +at the foot of the companion-way, and knew that she was coming on deck. +In spite of the dreadful awfulness of that moment, I felt it would +never do for her to see me in the condition I was in, and so, shuffling +and half-tumbling, I got forward, went below, and made my way to the +steward's room, where I had already discovered some spirits, and I took +a good dram; for although I am not by any means an habitual drinker, +being principled against that sort of thing, there are times when a +man needs the support of some good brandy or whiskey. + +"In a few minutes I felt more like myself, and went on deck, and there +was Miss Minturn, half-scared to death. 'What is the meaning of that +shock?' she said; 'have we struck anything?' 'My dear lady,' said I, +with as cheerful a front as I could put on, 'I do not think we have +struck anything. There is nothing to strike.' She looked at me for a +moment like an angel ready to cry, and clasping her hands, she said, +'Oh, tell me, sir, I pray you, sir, tell me what has happened. My +father felt that shock. He sent me to inquire about it. His mind is +disturbed.' At that moment, before I could make an answer, there was +another jerk of the ship, and we both went down on our knees, and I +felt as if I had been tripped. I was up in a moment, however, but she +continued on her knees. I am sure she was praying, but very soon up +she sprang. 'Oh, what is it, what is it?' she cried; 'I must go to my +father.' + +"'I cannot tell you,' said I; 'I do not know, but don't be frightened; +how can such a little shock hurt so big a ship?' + +"It was all very well to tell her not to be frightened, but when she +ran below she left on deck about as frightened a man as ever stood in +shoes. There could be no doubt about it; that horrible beast was +beginning to pull upon the ship. Whether or not it would be able to +draw us down below, was a question which must soon be solved. + +"I had had a small opinion of the maid, who, when I told her the crew +had deserted the ship, had sat down and covered her head; but now I did +pretty much the same thing; I crouched on the deck and pulled my cap +over my eyes. I felt that I did not wish to see, hear, or feel +anything. + +"I had sat in this way for about half an hour, and had felt no more +shocks, when a slight gurgling sound came to my ears. I listened for a +moment, then sprang to my feet. Could we be moving? I ran to the side +of the ship. The gurgle seemed to be coming from the stern. I hurried +there and looked over. The wheel had been lashed fast, and the rudder +stood straight out behind us. On each side of it there was a ripple in +the quiet water. We were moving, and we were moving backward! + +"Overpowered by horrible fascination, I stood grasping the rail, and +looking over at the water beneath me, as the vessel moved slowly and +steadily onward, stern foremost. In spite of the upset condition of my +mind, I could not help wondering why the Vessel should move in this +way. + +"There was only one explanation possible: The Water-devil was walking +along the bottom, and towing us after him! Why he should pull us along +in this way I could not imagine, unless he was making for his home in +some dreadful cave at the bottom, into which he would sink, dragging us +down after him. + +"While my mind was occupied with these horrible subjects, some one +touched me on the arm, and turning, I saw Miss Minturn. 'Are we not +moving?' she said. 'Yes,' I answered, 'we certainly are.' 'Do you not +think,' she then asked, 'that we may have been struck by a powerful +current, which is now carrying us onward?' I did not believe this, for +there was no reason to suppose that there were currents which wandered +about, starting off vessels with a jerk, but I was glad to think that +this idea had come into her head, and said that it was possible that +this might be the case. 'And now we are going somewhere' she said, +speaking almost cheerfully. 'Yes, we are,' I answered, and I had to try +hard not to groan as I said the words. 'And where do you think we are +going?' she asked. It was altogether out of my power to tell that sweet +creature that in my private opinion she, at least, was going to heaven, +and so I answered that I really did not know. 'Well,' she said, 'if we +keep moving, we're bound at last to get near land, or to some place +where ships would pass near us.' + +"There is nothing in this world," said the marine, "which does a man so +much good in time of danger as to see a hopeful spirit in a woman--that +is, a woman that he cares about. Some of her courage comes to him, and +he is better and stronger for having her alongside of him." + +Having made this remark, the speaker again glanced at the blacksmith's +daughter. She had put down her work and was looking at him with an +earnest brightness in her eyes. + +"Yes," he continued, "it is astonishing what a change came over me, as +I stood by the side of that noble girl. She was a born lady, I was a +marine, just the same as we had been before, but there didn't seem to +be the difference between us that there had been. Her words, her +spirits, everything about her, in fact, seemed to act on me, to elevate +me, to fill my soul with noble sentiments, to make another man of me. +Standing there beside her, I felt myself her equal. In life or death I +would not be ashamed to say, 'Here I am, ready to stand by you, +whatever happens.'" + +Having concluded this sentiment, the marine again glanced toward the +blacksmith's daughter. Her eyes were slightly moist, and her face was +glowing with a certain enthusiasm. + +"Look here," said the blacksmith, "I suppose that woman goes along with +you into the very maw of the sunken Devil, but I do wish you could take +her more for granted, and get on faster with the real part of the +story." + +"One part is as real as another," said the marine; "but on we go, and +on we did go for the whole of the rest of that day, at the rate of +about half a knot an hour, as near as I could guess at it. The weather +changed, and a dirty sort of fog came down on us, so that we couldn't +see far in any direction. + +"Why that Water-devil should keep on towing us, and where he was going +to take us, were things I didn't dare to think about. The fog did not +prevent me from seeing the water about our stern, and I leaned over the +rail, watching the ripples that flowed on each side of the rudder, +which showed that we were still going at about the same uniform rate. + +"But toward evening the gurgling beneath me ceased, and I could see +that the rudder no longer parted the quiet water, and that we had +ceased to move. A flash of hope blazed up within me. Had the +Water-devil found the ship too heavy a load, and had he given up the +attempt to drag it to its under-ocean cave? I went below and had my +supper; I was almost a happy man. When Miss Minturn came to ask me how +we were getting along, I told her that I thought we were doing very +well indeed. I did not mention that we had ceased to move, for she +thought that a favorable symptom. She went back to her quarters greatly +cheered up. Not so much, I think, from my words, as from my joyful +aspect; for I did feel jolly, there was no doubt about it. If that +Water-devil had let go of us, I was willing to take all the other +chances that might befall a ship floating about loose on the Bay of +Bengal. + +"The fog was so thick that night that it was damp and unpleasant on +deck, and so, having hung out and lighted a couple of lanterns, I went +below for a comfortable smoke in the captain's room. I was puffing +away here at my ease, with my mind filled with happy thoughts of two or +three weeks with Miss Minturn on this floating paradise, where she was +bound to see a good deal of me, and couldn't help liking me better, and +depending on me more and more every day, when I felt a little jerking +shock. It was the same thing that we had felt before. The Water-devil +still had hold of us! + +"I dropped my pipe, my chin fell upon my breast, I shivered all over. +In a few moments I heard the maid calling to me, and then she ran into +the room. 'Miss Minturn wants to know, sir,' she said, 'if you think +that shock is a sudden twist in the current which is carrying us on?' I +straightened myself up as well as I could, and in the dim light I do +not think she noticed my condition. I answered that I thought it was +something of that sort, and she went away. + +"More likely, a twist of the Devil's arm, I thought, as I sat there +alone in my misery. + +"In ten or fifteen minutes there came two shocks, not very far apart. +This showed that the creature beneath us was at work in some way or +another. Perhaps he had reached the opening of his den, and was +shortening up his arm before he plunged down into it with us after him. +I couldn't stay any longer in that room alone. I looked for the maid, +but she had put out the galley light, and had probably turned in for +the night. + +"I went up, and looked out on deck, but everything was horribly dark +and sticky and miserable there. I noticed that my lanterns were not +burning, and then I remembered that I had not filled them. But this did +not trouble me. If a vessel came along and saw our lights she would +probably keep away from us, and I would have been glad to have a vessel +come to us, even if she ran into us. Our steamer would probably float +long enough for us to get on board the other one, and almost anything +would be better than being left alone in this dreadful place, at the +mercy of the Water-devil. + +"Before I left the deck I felt another shock. This took out of me +whatever starch was left, and I shuffled below and got to my bunk, +where I tumbled in and covered myself up, head and all. If there had +been any man to talk to, it would have been different, but I don't know +when I ever felt more deserted than I did at that time. + +"I tried to forget the awful situation in which I was; I tried to think +of other things; to imagine that I was drilling with the rest of my +company, with Tom Rogers on one side of me, and old Humphrey Peters on +the other. You may say, perhaps, that this wasn't exactly the way of +carrying out my promise of taking care of Miss Minturn and the others. +But what was there to do? When the time came to do anything, and I +could see what to do, I was ready to do it; but there was no use of +waking them up now and setting their minds on edge, when they were all +comfortable in their beds, thinking that every jerk of the Devil's arm +was a little twist in the current that was carrying them to Calcutta or +some other desirable port. + +"I felt some shocks after I got into bed, but whether or not there were +many in the night, I don't know, for I went to sleep. It was daylight +when I awoke, and jumping out of my bunk I dashed on deck. Everything +seemed pretty much as it had been, and the fog was as thick as ever. I +ran to the stern and looked over, and I could scarcely believe my eyes +when I saw that we were moving again, still stern foremost, but a +little faster than before. That beastly Water-devil had taken a rest +for the night, and had probably given us the shocks by turning over in +his sleep, and now he was off again, making up for lost time. + +"Pretty soon Miss Minturn came on deck, and bade me good morning, and +then she went and looked over the stern. 'We are still moving on,' she +said, with a smile, 'and the fog doesn't seem to make any difference. +It surely cannot be long before we get somewhere.' 'No, miss,' said I, +'it cannot be very long.' 'You look tired,' she said, 'and I don't +wonder, for you must feel the heavy responsibility on you. I have told +my maid to prepare breakfast for you in our cabin. I want my father to +know you, and I think it is a shame that you, the only protector that +we have, should be shut off so much by yourself; so after this we shall +eat together.' 'After this,' I groaned to myself, 'we shall be eaten +together.' At that moment I did not feel that I wanted to breakfast +with Miss Minturn." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the school-master, "have you ever +read, in any of your scientific books, that the Bay of Bengal is +subject to heavy fogs that last day after day?" + +"I cannot say," answered the school-master, "that my researches into +the geographical distribution of fogs have resulted--" + +"As to fogs," interrupted the marine, "you can't get rid of them, you +know. If you had been in the habit of going to sea, you would know that +you are likely to run into a fog at any time, and in any weather; and +as to lasting, they are just as likely to last for days as for hours. +It wasn't the fog that surprised me. I did not consider that of any +account at all. I had enough other things to occupy my mind." And +having settled this little matter, he went on with his story. + +"Well, my friends, I did not breakfast with Miss Minturn and her +father. Before that meal was ready, and while I was standing alone at +the stern, I saw coming out of the water, a long way off in the fog, +which must have been growing thinner about this time, a dark and +mysterious object, apparently without any shape or form. This sight +made the teeth chatter in my head. I had expected to be pulled down to +the Water-devil, but I had never imagined that he would come up to us! + +"While my eyes were glued upon this apparition, I could see that we +were approaching it. When I perceived this, I shut my eyes and turned +my back--I could look upon it no longer. My mind seemed to forsake me; +I did not even try to call out and give the alarm to the others. Why +should I? What could they do?" + +"If it had been me," said Mrs. Fryker, in a sort of gasping whisper, "I +should have died right there." The marine turned his eyes in the +direction of the blacksmith's daughter. She was engaged with her work, +and was not looking at him. + +"I cannot say," he continued, "that, had Miss Minturn been there at +that moment, that I would not have declared that I was ready to die for +her or with her; but there was no need of trying to keep up her +courage, that was all right. She knew nothing of our danger. That +terrible knowledge pressed on me alone. Is it wonderful that a human +soul should sink a little under such an awful load?" Without turning to +observe the effect of these last words, the marine went on. "Suddenly I +heard behind me a most dreadful sound. 'Good Heavens,' I exclaimed, +'can a Water-devil bray?' + +"The sound was repeated. Without knowing what I did, I turned. I heard +what sounded like words; I saw in the fog the stern of a vessel, with a +man above it, shouting to me through a speaking-trumpet. + +"I do not know what happened next; my mind must have become confused. +When I regained my senses, Miss Minturn, old Mr. Minturn, and the maid +were standing by me. The man had stopped shouting from his trumpet, and +a boat was being lowered from the other ship. In about ten minutes +there were half-a-dozen men on board of us, all in the uniform of the +British navy. I was stiff enough now, and felt myself from top to toe +a regular marine in the service of my country. I stepped up to the +officer in command and touched my cap. + +"He looked at me and my companions in surprise, and then glancing along +the deck, said, 'What has happened to this vessel? Who is in command?' +I informed him, that, strictly speaking, no one was in command, but +that I represented the captain, officers, and crew of this steamer, the +_General Brooks_, from San Francisco to Calcutta, and I then proceeded +to tell him the whole story of our misfortunes; and concluded by +telling the officer, that if we had not moved since his vessel had come +in sight, it was probably because the Water-devil had let go of us, and +was preparing to make fast to the other ship; and therefore it would +be advisable for us all to get on board his vessel, and steam away as +quickly as possible. + +"The Englishmen looked at me in amazement. 'Drunk!' ejaculated the +officer I had addressed. 'Cracked, I should say,' suggested another. +'Now,' spoke up Mr. Minturn, 'I do not understand what I have just +heard,' he said. 'What is a Water-devil? I am astounded.' 'You never +said a word of this to me!' exclaimed Miss Minturn. 'You never told me +that we were in the grasp of a Water-devil, and that that was the +reason the captain and the crew ran away.' 'No,' said I, 'I never +divulged the dreadful danger we were in. I allowed you to believe that +we were in the influence of a current, and that the shocks we felt were +the sudden twists of that current. The terrible truth I kept to myself. +Not for worlds would I have made known to a tenderly nurtured lady, to +her invalid father, and devoted servant, what might have crushed their +souls, driven them to the borders of frenzy; in which case the relief +which now has come to us would have been of no avail.' + +"The officer stood and steadily stared at me. 'I declare,' he said, +'you do not look like a crazy man. At what time did this Water-devil +begin to take you in tow?' + +"'Yesterday morning,' I answered. 'And he stopped during last night?' +he asked. I replied that that was the case. Then he took off his cap, +rubbed his head, and stood silent for a minute. 'We'll look into this +matter!' he suddenly exclaimed, and turning, he and his party left us +to ourselves. The boat was now sent back with a message to the English +vessel, and the officers and men who remained scattered themselves over +our steamer, examining the engine-room, hold, and every part of her. + +"I was very much opposed to all this delay; for although the Englishmen +might doubt the existence of the Water-devil, I saw no reason to do so, +and in any case I was very anxious to be on the safe side by getting +away as soon as possible; but, of course, British officers would not be +advised by me, and as I was getting very hungry I went down to +breakfast. I ate this meal alone, for my fellow-passengers seemed to +have no desire for food. + +"I cannot tell all that happened during the next hour, for, to tell the +truth, I did not understand everything that was done. The boat passed +several times between the two vessels, bringing over a number of +men--two of them scientific fellows, I think. Another was a diver, +whose submarine suit and air-pumping machines came over with him. He +was lowered over the side, and after he had been down about fifteen +minutes he was hauled up again, and down below was the greatest +hammering and hauling that ever you heard. The _General Brooks_ was put +in charge of an officer and some men; a sail was hoisted to keep her in +hand, so that she wouldn't drift into the other ship; and in the midst +of all the rowdy-dow we were told that if we liked we might go on board +the English vessel immediately. + +"Miss Minturn and her party instantly accepted this invitation, and +although under ordinary circumstances I would have remained to see for +myself what these people found out, I felt a relief in the thought of +leaving that vessel which is impossible for me to express, and I got +into the boat with the others. + +"We were treated very handsomely on board the English vessel, which was +a mail steamship, at that time in the employment of the English +Government. I told my story at least half-a-dozen times, sometimes to +the officers and sometimes to the men, and whether they believed me or +not, I don't think any one ever created a greater sensation with a +story of the sea. + +"In an hour or so the officer in charge of the operations on the +_General Brooks_ came aboard. As he passed me on his way to the +captain, he said, 'We found your Water-devil, my man.' 'And he truly +had us in tow?' I cried. 'Yes, you are perfectly correct,' he said, and +went on to make his report to the captain." + +"Now, then," said the blacksmith, "I suppose we are going to get to the +pint. What did he report?" + +"I didn't hear his report," said the marine, "but everybody soon knew +what had happened to our unlucky vessel, and I can give you the whole +story of it. The _General Brooks_ sailed from San Francisco to Calcutta, +with a cargo of stored electricity, contained in large, strongly made +boxes. This I knew nothing about, not being in the habit of inquiring +into cargoes. Well, in some way or other, which I don't understand, +not being a scientific man myself, a magnetic connection was formed +between these boxes, and also, if I got the story straight, between +them and the iron hull of our vessel, so that it became, in fact, an +enormous floating magnet, one of the biggest things of the kind on +record. I have an idea that this magnetic condition was the cause of +the trouble to our machinery; every separate part of it was probably +turned to a magnet, and they all stuck together." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the school-master, "I do not +suppose you have given much attention to the study of commerce, and +therefore are not prepared to give us any information in regard to +stored electricity as an article of export from this country; but +perhaps you can tell us what stored electricity is, and how it is put +into boxes." + +"In regard to the transportation," answered the school-master, speaking +a little slowly, "of encased electric potency, I cannot--" + +"Oh, bless me!" interrupted the marine; "that is all simple enough; you +can store electricity and send it all over the world, if you like; in +places like Calcutta, I think it must be cheaper to buy it than to make +it. They use it as a motive power for sewing-machines, apple-parers, +and it can be used in a lot of ways, such as digging post-holes and +churning butter. When the stored electricity in a box is all used up, +all you have to do is to connect a fresh box with your machinery, and +there you are, ready to start again. There was nothing strange about +our cargo. It was the electricity leaking out and uniting itself and +the iron ship into a sort of conglomerate magnet that was out of the +way." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry, "if an iron ship were magnetized in +that manner, wouldn't it have a deranging effect upon the needle of the +compass?" + +The marine did not give the school-master time to make answer. +"Generally speaking," said he, "that sort of thing would interfere with +keeping the vessel on its proper course, but with us it didn't make any +difference at all. The greater part of the ship was in front of the +binnacle where they keep the compass, and so the needle naturally +pointed that way, and as we were going north before a south wind, it +was all right. + +"Being a floating magnet, of course, did not prevent our sailing, so +we went along well enough until we came to longitude 90°, latitude 15° +north. Now it so happened that a telegraphic cable which had been laid +down by the British Government to establish communication between +Madras and Rangoon, had broken some time before, and not very far from +this point. + +"Now you can see for yourselves that when an enormous mass of magnetic +iron, in the shape of the _General Brooks_, came sailing along there, +the part of that cable which lay under us was so attracted by such a +powerful and irresistible force that its broken end raised itself from +the bottom of the bay and reached upward until it touched our ship, +when it laid itself along our keel, to which it instantly became +fastened as firmly as if it had been bolted and riveted there. Then, as +the rest of this part of the cable was on the bottom of the bay all the +way to Madras, of course we had to stop; that's simple enough. That's +the way the Water-devil held us fast in one spot for two days. + +"The British Government determined not to repair this broken cable, but +to take it up and lay down a better one; so they chartered a large +steamer, and fitted her up with engines, and a big drum that they use +for that sort of thing, and set her to work to wind up the Madras end +of the broken cable. She had been at this business a good while before +we were caught by the other end, and when they got near enough to us +for their engines to be able to take up the slack from the bottom +between us and them, then of course they pulled upon us, and we began +to move. And when they lay to for the night, and stopped the winding +business, of course we stopped, and the stretch of cable between the +two ships had no effect upon us, except when the big mail steamer +happened to move this way or that, as they kept her head to the wind; +and that's the way we lay quiet all night except when we got our +shocks. + +"When they set the drum going again in the morning, it wasn't long +before they wound us near enough for them to see us, which they would +have done sooner if my lights hadn't gone out so early in the evening." + +"And that," said the blacksmith, with a somewhat severe expression on +his face, "is all that you have to tell about your wonderful +Water-devil!" + +"All!" said the marine; "I should say it was quite enough, and nothing +could be more wonderful than what really happened. A Water-devil is one +of two things: he is real, or he's not real. If he's not real, he's no +more than an ordinary spook or ghost, and is not to be practically +considered. If he's real, then he's an alive animal, and can be put in +a class with other animals, and described in books, because even if +nobody sees him, the scientific men know how he must be constructed, +and then he's no more than a great many other wonderful things, which +we can see alive, stuffed, or in plaster casts. + +"But if you want to put your mind upon something really wonderful, just +think of a snake-like rope of wire, five or six hundred miles long, +lying down at the very bottom of the great Bay of Bengal, with no more +life in it than there is in a ten-penny nail. + +"Then imagine that long, dead wire snake to be suddenly filled with +life, and to know that there was something far up above it, on the +surface of the water, that it wants to reach up to and touch. Think of +it lifting and flapping its broken end, and then imagine it raising +yard after yard of itself up and up, through the solemn water, more and +more of it lifting itself from the bottom, curling itself backward and +forward as it rises higher and higher, until at last, with a sudden +jump that must have ripped a mile or more of it from the bottom, it +claps its end against the thing it wants to touch, and which it can +neither see, nor hear, nor smell, but which it knows is there. Could +there be anything in this world more wonderful than that? + +"And then, if that isn't enough of a wonder, think of the Rangoon end +of that cable squirming and wriggling and stretching itself out toward +our ship, but not being able to reach us on account of a want of slack; +just as alive as the Madras part of the cable, and just as savage and +frantic to get up to us and lay hold of us; and then, after our vessel +had been gradually pulled away from it, think of this other part +getting weaker and weaker, minute by minute, until it falls flat on +the bay, as dead as any other iron thing!" + +The marine ceased to speak, and Mrs. Fryker heaved a sigh. + +"It makes me shiver to think of all that down so deep," she said; "but +I must say I am disappointed." + +"In what way?" asked the marine. + +"A Water-devil," said she, "as big as six whales, and with a funnelly +mouth to suck in people, is different; but, of course, after all, it +was better as it was." + +"Look here," said the blacksmith, "what became of the girl? I wanted +her finished up long ago, and you haven't done it yet." + +"Miss Minturn, you mean," said the marine. "Well, there is not much to +say about her. Things happened in the usual way. When the danger was +all over, when she had other people to depend upon besides me, and we +were on board a fine steamer, with a lot of handsomely dressed naval +officers, and going comfortably to Madras, of course she thought no +more of the humble sea-soldier who once stood between her and--nobody +knew what. In fact, the only time she spoke to me after we got on board +the English steamer, she made me feel, although she didn't say it in +words, that she was not at all obliged to me for supposing that she +would have been scared to death if I had told her about the +Water-devil." + +"I suppose," said the blacksmith, "by the time you got back to your +ship you had overstayed your leave of absence a good while. Did your +captain let you off when you told him this story of the new-fashioned +Water-devil?" + +The marine smiled. "I never went back to the _Apache_," he said. "When +I arrived at Madras I found that she had sailed from Calcutta. It was, +of course, useless for me to endeavor to follow her, and I therefore +concluded to give up the marine service for a time and go into another +line of business, about which it is too late to tell you now." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the school-master, "have you ever +read that the British Government has a submarine cable from Madras to +Rangoon?" + +The marine took it upon himself to answer this question. "The cable of +which I spoke to you," he said, "was taken up, as I told you, and I +never heard that another one was laid. But it is getting late, and I +think I will go to bed; I have a long walk before me to-morrow." So +saying he rose, put his pipe upon the mantel-piece, and bade the +company good night. As he did so, he fixed his eyes on the blacksmith's +daughter, but that young lady did not look at him; she was busily +reading the weekly newspaper, which her father had left upon the table. + +Mr. Harberry now rose, preparatory to going home; and as he buttoned up +his coat, he looked from one to another of the little group, and +remarked, "I have often heard that marines are a class of men who are +considered as fit subjects to tell tough stories to, but it strikes me +that the time has come when the tables are beginning to be turned." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rudder Grangers Abroad and Other +Stories, by Frank R. Stockton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11671 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8da02b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11671 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11671) diff --git a/old/11671-8.txt b/old/11671-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ea35a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11671-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5907 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rudder Grangers Abroad and Other Stories +by Frank R. Stockton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Rudder Grangers Abroad and Other Stories + +Author: Frank R. Stockton + +Release Date: March 22, 2004 [EBook #11671] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RUDDER GRANGERS ABROAD *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, GF Untermeyer and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + +THE RUDDER GRANGERS ABROAD AND OTHER STORIES + + + + +BY + +FRANK R. STOCKTON + + +1891, 1894 + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. EUPHEMIA AMONG THE PELICANS + II. THE RUDDER GRANGERS IN ENGLAND +III. POMONA'S DAUGHTER + IV. DERELICT + V. THE BAKER OF BARNBURY + VI. THE WATER-DEVIL + + + + +EUPHEMIA AMONG THE PELICANS. + + +The sun shone warm and soft, as it shines in winter time in the +semi-tropics. The wind blew strong, as it blows whenever and wherever +it listeth. Seven pelicans labored slowly through the air. A flock of +ducks rose from the surface of the river. A school of mullet, disturbed +by a shark, or some other unscrupulous pursuer, sprang suddenly out of +the water just before us, and fell into it again like the splashing of +a sudden shower. + +I lay upon the roof of the cabin of a little yacht. Euphemia stood +below, her feet upon the mess-chest, and her elbows resting on the edge +of the cabin roof. A sudden squall would have unshipped her; still, if +one would be happy, there are risks that must be assumed. At the open +entrance of the cabin, busily writing on a hanging-shelf that served as +a table, sat a Paying Teller. On the high box which during most of the +day covered our stove was a little lady, writing in a note-book. On the +forward deck, at the foot of the mast, sat a young man in a state of +placidness. His feet stuck out on the bowsprit, while his mildly +contemplative eyes went forth unto the roundabout. + +At the tiller stood our guide and boatman, his sombre eye steady on the +south-by-east. Around the horizon of his countenance there spread a +dark and six-days' beard, like a slowly rising thunder-cloud; ever and +anon there was a gleam of white teeth, like a bright break in the sky, +but it meant nothing. During all our trip, the sun never shone in that +face. It never stormed, but it was always cloudy. But he was the best +boatman on those waters, and when he stood at the helm we knew we +sailed secure. We wanted a man familiar with storms and squalls, and if +this familiarity had developed into facial sympathy, it mattered not. +We could attend to our own sunshine. At his feet sat humbly his boy of +twelve, whom we called "the crew." He was making fancy knots in a bit +of rope. This and the occupation of growing up were the only labors in +which he willingly engaged. + +Euphemia and I had left Rudder Grange, to spend a month or two in +Florida, and we were now on a little sloop-yacht on the bright waters +of the Indian River. It must not be supposed that, because we had a +Paying Teller with us, we had set up a floating bank. With this Paying +Teller, from a distant State, we had made acquaintance on our first +entrance into Florida. He was travelling in what Euphemia called "a +group," which consisted of his wife,--the little lady with the +note-book,--the contemplative young man on the forward deck, and +himself. + +This Paying Teller had worked so hard and so rapidly at his business +for several years, and had paid out so much of his health and strength, +that it was necessary for him to receive large deposits of these +essentials before he could go to work again. But the peculiar habits of +his profession never left him. He was continually paying out something. +If you presented a conversational check to him in the way of a remark, +he would, figuratively speaking, immediately jump to his little window +and proceed to cash it, sometimes astonishing you by the amount of +small change he would spread out before you. + +When he heard of our intention to cruise on Indian River he wished to +join his group to our party, and as he was a good fellow we were glad +to have him do so. His wife had been, or was still, a schoolteacher. +Her bright and cheerful face glistened with information. + +The contemplative young man was a distant connection of the Teller, and +his first name being Quincy, was commonly called Quee. If he had wanted +to know any of the many things the little teacher wished to tell he +would have been a happy youth; but his contemplation seldom +crystallized into a knowledge of what he did want to know. + +"And how can I," she once said to Euphemia and myself, "be expected +ever to offer him any light when he can never bring himself to actually +roll up a question?" + +This was said while I was rolling a cigarette. + +The group was greatly given to writing in journals, and making +estimates. Euphemia and I did little of this, as it was our holiday, +but it was often pleasant to see the work going on. The business in +which the Paying Teller was now engaged was the writing of his journal, +and his wife held a pencil in her kidded fingers and a little +blank-book on her knees. + +This was our first day upon the river. + +"Where are we?" asked Euphemia. "I know we are on the Indian River, but +where is the Indian River?" + +"It is here," I said. + +"But where is here?" reiterated Euphemia. + +"There are only three places in the world," said the teacher, looking +up from her book,--"here, there, and we don't know where. Every spot on +earth is in one or the other of those three places." + +"As far as I am concerned," said Euphemia, "the Indian River is in the +last place." + +"Then we must hasten to take it out," said the teacher, and she dived +into the cabin, soon reappearing with a folding map of Florida. "Here," +she said, "do you see that wide river running along part of the +Atlantic coast of the State, and extending down as far as Jupiter +Inlet? That is Indian River, and we are on it. Its chief +characteristics are that it is not a river, but an arm of the sea, and +that it is full of fish." + +"It seems to me to be so full," said I, "that there is not room for +them all--that is, if we are to judge by the way the mullet jump out." + +"I think," said the teacher, making a spot with her pencil on the map, +"that just now we are about here." + +"It is the first time," said Euphemia, "that I ever looked upon an +unknown region on the map, and felt I was there." + +Our plans for travel and living were very simple. We had provided +ourselves on starting with provisions for several weeks, and while on +the river we cooked and ate on board our little vessel. When we reached +Jupiter Inlet we intended to go into camp. Every night we anchored near +the shore. Euphemia and I occupied the cabin of the boat; a tent was +pitched on shore for the Teller and his wife; there was another tent +for the captain and his boy, and this was shared by the contemplative +young man. + +Our second night on the river was tinged with incident. We had come to +anchor near a small settlement, and our craft had been moored to a rude +wharf. About the middle of the night a wind-storm arose, and Euphemia +and I were awakened by the bumping of the boat against the wharf-posts. +Through the open end of the cabin I could see that the night was very +dark, and I began to consider the question whether or not it would be +necessary for me to get up, much preferring, however, that the wind +should go down. Before I had made up my mind we heard a step on the +cabin above us, and then a quick and hurried tramping. I put my head +out of the little window by me, and cried-- + +"Who's there?" + +The voice of the boatman replied out of the darkness:-- + +"She'll bump herself to pieces against this pier! I'm going to tow you +out into the stream." And so he cast us loose, and getting into the +little boat which was fastened to our stern, and always followed us as +a colt its mother, he towed us far out into the stream. There he +anchored us, and rowed away. The bumps now ceased, but the wind still +blew violently, the waves ran high, and the yacht continually wobbled +up and down, tugging and jerking at her anchor. Neither of us was +frightened, but we could not sleep. + +"I know nothing can happen," said Euphemia, "for he would not have left +us here if everything had not been all right, but one might as well try +to sleep in a corn-popper as in this bed." + +After a while the violent motion ceased, and there was nothing but a +gentle surging up and down. + +"I am so glad the wind has lulled," said Euphemia, from the other side +of the centre-board partition which partially divided the cabin. + +Although I could still hear the wind blowing strongly outside, I too +was glad that its force had diminished so far that we felt no more the +violent jerking that had disturbed us, and I soon fell asleep. + +In the morning, when I awoke, I saw that the sun was shining brightly, +and that a large sea-grape bush was hanging over our stern. I sprang +out of bed, and found that we had run, stern foremost, upon a sandy +beach. About forty feet away, upon the shore, stood two 'possums, +gazing with white, triangular faces upon our stranded craft. Except +these, and some ducks swimming near us, with seven pelicans flying +along on the other side of the river, there was no sign of life within +the range of my sight. I was not long in understanding the situation. +It had not been the lulling of the storm, but the parting of our cable +which had caused the uneasy jerking of our little yacht to cease. We +had been blown I knew not how far down the river, for the storm had +come from the north, and had stranded I knew not where. Taking out my +pocket-compass I found that we were on the eastern shore of the river, +and that the wind had changed completely, and was now blowing, not very +strong, from the southeast. I made up my mind what must be done. We +were probably far from the settlement and the rest of the party, and we +must go back. The wind was in our favor, and I knew I could sail the +boat. I had never sailed a boat in my life, and was only too glad to +have the opportunity, untrammelled by any interference. + +I awoke Euphemia and told her what had happened. The two 'possums stood +upon the shore, and listened to our conversation. Euphemia was much +impressed by the whole affair, and for a time said nothing. + +"We must sail her back, I suppose," she remarked at length, "but do you +know how to start her?" + +"The hardest thing to do is to get her off the beach," I answered, "but +I think I can do that." + +I rolled up my trousers, and with bare feet jumped out upon the sand. +The two 'possums retired a little, but still watched my proceedings. +After a great deal of pushing and twisting and lifting, I got the yacht +afloat, and then went on board to set the sail. After much pulling and +tugging, and making myself very warm, I hoisted the main-sail. I did +not trouble myself about the jib, one sail being enough for me to begin +with. As the wind was blowing in the direction in which we wished to +go, I let the sail out until it stood nearly at right angles with the +vessel, and was delighted to see that we immediately began to move +through the water. I took the tiller, and steered gradually toward the +middle of the river. The wind blew steadily, and the yacht moved +bravely on. I was as proud as a man drawn by a conquered lion, and as +happy as one who did not know that conquered lions may turn and rend. +Sometimes the vessel rolled so much that the end of the boom skimmed +the surface of the water, and sometimes the sail gave a little jerk and +flap, but I saw no necessity for changing our course, and kept our bow +pointed steadily up the river. I was delighted that the direction of +the wind enabled me to sail with what might be called a horizontal +deck. Of course, as the boatman afterward informed me, this was the +most dangerous way I could steer, for if the sail should suddenly +"jibe," there would be no knowing what would happen. Euphemia sat near +me, perfectly placid and cheerful, and her absolute trust in me gave +me renewed confidence and pleasure. "There is one great comfort," she +remarked, as she sat gazing into the water,--"if anything should happen +to the boat, we can get out and walk." + +There was force in this remark, for the Indian River in some of its +widest parts is very shallow, and we could now plainly see the bottom, +a few feet below us. + +"Is that the reason you have seemed so trustful and content?" I asked. + +"That is the reason," said Euphemia. On we went and on, the yacht +seeming sometimes a little restive and impatient, and sometimes rolling +more than I could see any necessity for, but still it proceeded. +Euphemia sat in the shadow of the cabin, serene and thoughtful, and I, +holding the tiller steadily amidship, leaned back and gazed up into the +clear blue sky. + +In the midst of my gazing there came a shock that knocked the tiller +out of my hand. Euphemia sprang to her feet and screamed; there were +screams and shouts on the other side of the sail, which seemed to be +wrapping itself about some object I could not see. In an instant +another mast beside our own appeared above the main-sail, and then a +man with a red face jumped on the forward deck. With a quick, +determined air, and without saying a word, or seeming to care for my +permission, he proceeded to lower our sail; then he stepped up on top +of the cabin, and looking down at me, inquired what in thunder I was +trying to do. + +I made no answer, but looked steadily before me. Now that the sail was +down, I could see what had happened. I had collided with a yacht which +we had seen before. It was larger than ours, and contained a +grandfather and a grandmother, a father and a mother, several aunts, +and a great many children. They had started on the river the same day +as ourselves, but did not intend to take so extended a trip as ours was +to be. The whole party was now in the greatest confusion. I did not +understand what they said, nor did I attend to it. I was endeavoring, +for myself, to grasp the situation. Euphemia was calling to me from the +cabin, into which she had retreated; the man was still talking to me +from the cabin roof, and the people in the other boat were vociferating +and screaming; but I paid no attention to any one until I had satisfied +myself that nothing serious had happened. I had not run into them head +on, but had come up diagonally, and the side of our bow had struck the +side of their stern. The collision, as I afterward learned, had +happened in this wise: I had not seen the other boat because, lying +back as I had been, the sail concealed her from me, and they had not +seen us because their boatman was in the forward part of their cabin, +collecting materials for breakfast, and the tiller was left in charge +of one of the boys, who, like all the rest of his party who sat +outside, had discreetly turned his back to the sun. + +The grandfather stood up in the stern. He wore a black silk hat, and +carried a heavy grape-vine cane. Unsteadily balancing himself on his +legs, and shaking his cane at me, he cried:-- + +"What is the meaning of this, sir? Are you trying to drown a whole +family, sir?" + +"If he'd run his bowsprit in among you," said the boatman from the +cabin roof, "he'd 'a' killed a lot of you before you'd been drowned." + +Euphemia screamed to me to come to her; the father was standing on his +cabin roof, shouting something to me; the women in the other boat were +violently talking among themselves; some of the little children were +crying; the girls were hanging to the ladies, and all the boys were +clambering on board our boat. It was a time of great excitement, and +something must be instantly said by me. My decision was quick. + +"Have you any tea?" I said, addressing the old gentleman. + +"Tea!" he roared. "What do you mean by that?" + +"We have plenty of coffee on board," I answered, "but some of our party +can't drink it. If you have any tea, I should like to borrow some. I +can send it to you when we reach a store." + +From every person of the other party came, as in a chorus, the one +word, "Tea?" And Euphemia put her pale face out of the cabin, and said, +in a tone of wondering inquiry, "Tea?" + +"Did you bang into us this way to borrow tea?" roared the old +gentleman. + +"I did not intend, of course, to strike you so hard," I said, "and I am +sorry I did so, but I should like to borrow some tea." + +Euphemia whispered to me:-- + +"We have tea." + +I looked at her, and she locked her lips. + +"Of course we can give you some tea, if you want some," said the +red-faced boatman, "but I never heerd of a thing like this since I was +first born, nor ever shall again, I hope." + +"I don't want you to give me any tea," I said. "I shall certainly +return it, and a very little will do--just a handful." + +The two boats had not drifted apart, for the father, standing on the +cabin roof, had held tightly to our rigging, and the boatman, still +muttering, went on board his vessel to get the tea. He brought it, +wrapped in a piece of a newspaper. + +"Here comes your man," he said, pointing to a little boat which was +approaching us. "We told him we'd look out for you, but we didn't think +you'd come smashing into us like this." + +In a few moments our boatman had pulled alongside, his face full of a +dark inquiry. He looked at me for authoritative information. + +"I came here," I said to him, "after tea." + +"Before breakfast, I should say!" cried the old gentleman. And every +one of his party burst out laughing. + +Much was now said, chiefly by the party of the other part, but our +boatman paid little attention to any of it. The boys scrambled on board +their own vessel. We pushed apart, hoisted sail, and were soon speeding +away. + +"Good bye!" shouted the father, a genial man. "Let us know if you want +any more groceries, and we'll send them to you." + +For six days from our time of starting we sailed down the Indian River. +Sometimes the banks were miles apart, and sometimes they were very near +each other; sometimes we would come upon a solitary house, or little +cluster of dwellings; and then there would be many, many miles of +wooded shore before another human habitation was to be seen. Inland, to +the west, stretched a vast expanse of lonely forest where panthers, +bears, and wild-cats prowled. To the east lay a long strip of land, +through whose tall palmettoes came the roar of the great ocean. The +blue sky sparkled over us every day; now and then we met a little +solitary craft; countless water-fowl were scattered about on the +surface of the stream; a school of mullet was usually jumping into the +air; an alligator might sometimes be seen steadily swimming across the +river, with only his nose and back exposed; and nearly always, either +to the right or to the left, going north or going south, were seven +pelicans, slowly flopping through the air. + +A portion of the river, far southward, called "The Narrows," presented +a very peculiar scene. The banks were scarcely fifty feet apart, and +yet there were no banks. The river was shut in to the right by the +inland shore, and to the left by a far-reaching island, and yet there +was no inland shore, nor any island to the left. On either side were +great forests of mangrove trees, standing tiptoe on their myriad +down-dropping roots, each root midleg in the water. As far as we could +see among the trees, there was no sign of ground of any kind--nothing +but a grotesque network of roots, on which the forest stood. In this +green-bordered avenue of water, which extended nine or ten miles, the +thick foliage shut out the breeze, and our boatman was obliged to go +ahead in his little boat and tow us along. + +"There are Indians out West," said Euphemia, as she sat gazing into the +mangroves, "who live on roots, but I don't believe they could live on +these. The pappooses would certainly fall through." + +At Jupiter Inlet, about a hundred and fifty miles from our point of +starting, we went into camp, in which delightful condition we proposed +to remain for a week or more. There was no trouble whatever in finding +a suitable place for a camp. The spot selected was a point of land +swept by cool breezes, with a palmetto forest in the rear of it. On two +sides of the point stretched the clear waters of the river, while half +a mile to the east was Jupiter Inlet, on each side of which rolled and +tumbled the surf of the Atlantic. About a mile away was Jupiter +Light-house, the only human habitation within twenty miles. We built a +palmetto hut for a kitchen; we set up the tents in a permanent way; we +constructed a little pier for the yacht; we built a wash-stand, a +table, and a bench. And then, considering that we had actually gone +into camp, we got out our fishing-lines. + +Fishing was to be the great work here. Near the Inlet, through which +the waters of the ocean poured into and out of our river, on a long, +sandy beach, we stood in line, two or three hours every day except +Sunday, and fished. Such fishing we had never imagined!--there were so +many fishes, and they were so big. The Paying Teller had never fished +in his life before he came to Florida. He had tried at St. Augustine, +with but little success. "If the sport had been to chuck fish into the +river," he had said, "that would be more in my line of business; but +getting them out of it did not seem to suit me." But here it was quite +a different thing. It was a positive delight to him, he said, to be +obliged so often to pay out his line. + +One day, when tired of struggling with gamy blue-fish and powerful +cavalios (if that is the way to spell it), I wound up my line, and +looked about to see what the others were doing. The Paying Teller stood +near, on tiptoe, as usual, with his legs wide apart, his hat thrown +back, his eyes flashing over the water, and his right arm stretched far +out, ready for a jerk. Quee was farther along the beach. He had just +landed a fish, and was standing gazing meditatively upon it as it lay +upon the sand. The hook was still in its mouth, and every now and then +he would give the line a little pull, as if to see if there really was +a connection between it and the fish. Then he would stand a little +longer, and meditate a little more, still looking alternately at the +line and the fish. Having made up his mind, at last, that the two +things must be separated, he kneeled down upon his flopping prize and +proceeded meditatively to extract the hook. The teacher was struggling +at her line. Hand over hand she pulled it in. As it came nearer and +nearer, her fish swam wildly from side to side, making the tightened +line fairly hiss as it swept through the water. But still she pulled +and pulled, until, red and breathless, she landed her prize upon the +sand. + +"Hurrah!" shouted the Paying Teller. "That's the biggest blue-fish +yet!" But he did not come to take the fish from the hook. He was +momentarily expecting a bite. + +Euphemia was not to be seen. This did not surprise me, as she +frequently gave up fishing long before the others, and went to stroll +upon the sea-beach, a few hundred yards away. She was fond of fishing, +but it soon tired her. "If you want to know what it is like," she wrote +to a friend in the North, "just tie a long string around your boy +Charlie, and try to haul him out of the back yard into the house." + +But Euphemia was not upon the sea-beach to-day. I walked a mile or so +along the sand, but did not find her. She had gone around the little +bluff to our shark-line. This was a long rope, like a clothes-line, +with a short chain at the end and a great hook, which was baited with a +large piece of fish. It was thrown out every day, the land end tied to +a stout stake driven into the sand, and the whole business given into +the charge of "the crew," who was to report if a shark should bite. But +to-day the little rascal had wandered away, and Euphemia was managing +the line. + +"I thought I would try to catch a shark all by myself," she said. "I +wonder if there's one on the hook now. Would you mind feeling the +line?" + +I laughed as I took the rope from her hand. + +"If you had a shark on the hook, my dear," said I, "you would have no +doubt upon the subject." + +"It would be a splendid thing to catch the first one," she said, "and +there must be lots of them in here, for we have seen their back fins so +often." + +I was about to answer this remark when I began to walk out into the +water. I did not at the time know exactly why I did this, but it seemed +as if some one had taken me by the hand and was leading me into the +depths. But the water splashing above my ankles and a scream from +Euphemia made me drop the line, which immediately spun out to its full +length, making the stake creak and move in the sand. + +"Goodness gracious!" cried Euphemia, her face pale as the beach. "Isn't +it horrible? We've got one!" + +"Horrible!" I cried. "Didn't you want to get one?" and seizing the axe, +which lay near by, I drove the stake deep down into the sand. "Now it +will hold him!" I cried. "He can't pull that out!" + +"But how are we to pull him in?" exclaimed Euphemia. "This line is as +tight as a guitar-string." + +This was true. I took hold of the rope, but could make no impression on +it. Suddenly it slackened in my hand. + +"Hurrah!" I cried, "we may have him yet! But we must play him." + +"Play him!" exclaimed Euphemia. "You can never play a huge creature +like that. Let me go and call some of the others to help." + +"No, no!" I said. "Perhaps we can do it all by ourselves. Wind the line +quickly around the top of the stake as I pull it in." + +Euphemia knelt down and rapidly wound several yards of the slack cord +around the stake. In a few moments it tightened again, jerking itself +out of my hand. + +"There, now!" said Euphemia. "He is off again! You can never haul him +in, now." + +"Just wait," I said. "When he finds that he cannot break away he rushes +toward shore, trying to bite the line above the chain. Then I must haul +it in and you must wind it up. If you and I and the shark continue to +act in this way, perhaps, after a time, we may get him into shallow +water. But don't scream or shout. I don't want the others to know +anything about it." + +Sure enough, in a minute or two the line slackened again, when it was +rapidly drawn in and wound around the stake. + +"There he is!" exclaimed Euphemia. "I can see him just under the water, +out there." + +The dark form of the shark, appearing at first like the shadow of a +little cloud, could be seen near the surface, about fifteen yards away. +Then his back fin rose, his tail splashed violently for an instant, and +he disappeared. Again the line was loosened, and again the slack was +hauled in and wound up. This was repeated, I don't know how many times, +when suddenly the shark in his desperation rushed into shallow water +and grounded himself. He would have floundered off in a few moments, +however, had we not quickly tightened the line. Now we could see him +plainly. He was eight or nine feet long and struggled violently, +exciting Euphemia so much that it was only by clapping her hand over +her mouth that she prevented herself from screaming. I would have +pulled the shark farther in shore, but this was impossible, and it was +needless to expect him to move himself into shallower water. So, +quickly rolling up my trousers, I seized the axe and waded in toward +the floundering creature. + +"You needn't be afraid to go right up to him," said Euphemia. "So long +as he don't turn over on his back he can't bite you." + +I had heard this bit of natural history before, but, nevertheless, I +went no nearer to the shark than was necessary in order to whack him +over the head with the axe. This I did several times, with such effect +that he soon became a dead shark. + +When I came out triumphant, Euphemia seized me in her arms and kissed +me. + +"This is perfectly splendid!" she said. "Who can show as big a fish as +this one? None of the others can ever crow over you again." + +"Until one of them catches a bigger shark," I said. + +"Which none of them ever will," said Euphemia, decidedly. "It isn't in +them." + +The boatman was now seen approaching in his boat to take the party back +to camp, and the "crew," having returned to his duty, was sent off in a +state of absolute amazement to tell the others to come and look at our +prize. Our achievement certainly created a sensation. Even the boatman +could find no words to express his astonishment. He waded in and +fastened a rope to the shark's tail, and then we all took hold and +hauled the great fish ashore. + +"What is the good of it now you have got it?" asked Quee. + +"Glory is some good!" exclaimed Euphemia. + +"And I'm going to have you a belt made from a strip of its skin," I +said. + +This seemed to Euphemia a capital idea. She would be delighted to have +such a trophy of our deed, and the boatman was set to work to cut a +suitable strip from the fish. And this belt, having been properly +tanned, lined, and fitted with buckles, is now one of her favorite +adornments, and cost, I am bound to add, about three times as much as +any handsome leathern belt to be bought in the stores. + +Every day the Paying Teller, his wife, and Quee carefully set down in +their note-books the weight of fish each individual had caught, with +all necessary details and specifications relating thereunto; every day +we wandered on the beach, or explored the tropical recesses of the +palmetto woods; every evening the boatman rowed over to the light-house +to have a bit of gossip, and to take thither the fish we did not need; +every day the sun was soft and warm, and the sky was blue; and every +morning, going oceanward, and every evening, going landward, seven +pelicans flew slowly by our camp. + +My greatest desire at this time was to shoot a pelican, to have him +properly prepared, and to take him to Rudder Grange, where, suitably +set up, with his wings spread out, full seven feet from tip to tip, he +would be a grand trophy and reminder of these Indian River days. This +was the reason why, nearly every morning and every evening, I took a +shot at these seven pelicans. But I never hit one of them. We had only +a shot-gun, and the pelicans flew at a precautionary distance; but, +being such big birds, they always looked to me much nearer than they +were. Euphemia earnestly desired that I should have a pelican, and +although she always wished I should hit one of these, she was always +glad when I did not. + +"Think how mournful it would be," she said, "if they should take their +accustomed flights, morning and evening, with one of their number +missing." + +"Repeating Wordsworth's verses, I suppose," remarked the little +teacher. + +I had been disappointed in the number of pelicans we had seen. I knew +that Florida was one of the homes of the pelican, and I had not +expected to see these birds merely in small detachments. But our +boatman assured me that on our return trip he would give me a chance of +seeing and shooting as many pelicans as I could desire. We would +touch at Pelican Island, which was inhabited entirely by these birds, +and whence the parties of seven were evidently sent out. + +When we had had all the fishing we wanted, we broke up our camp, and +started northward. We had all been very happy and contented during our +ten days' sojourn in this delightful place; but when at last our +departure was determined upon, the Paying Teller became possessed with +a wild desire to go, go, go. There was some reason, never explained nor +fully expressed, why no day, hour, minute, or second should be lost in +speeding to the far Northwest. The boatman, too, impelled by what +impulse I know not, seemed equally anxious to get home. As for the +Paying Teller's "group," it always did exactly as he wished. Therefore, +although Euphemia and I would have been glad to linger here and there +upon our homeward way, we could not gainsay the desire of the majority +of the party, and consequently we sailed northward as fast as wind and +sometimes oars would take us. + +Only one cause for delay seemed tolerable to the Paying Teller. This +was to stop at every post-office. We had received but one mail while in +camp, which had been brought in a sail-boat from an office twenty miles +away. But the Paying Teller had given and written the most intricate +and complex directions for the retention or forwarding of his mail to +every postmaster in the country we had passed through, and these +directions, as we afterward found, had so puzzled and unsettled the +minds of these postmasters that for several weeks his letters had been +moving like shuttlecocks up and down the St. John's and Indian +rivers--never stopping anywhere, never being delivered, but crossing +and recrossing each other as if they were imbued with their owner's +desire to go, go, go. Some of the post-offices where we stopped were +lonely little buildings with no other habitation near. These we usually +found shut up, being opened only on mail-days, and in such cases +nothing could be done but to slip a protesting postal into the little +slit in the wall apparently intended for letters. Whether these postals +were eaten by rats or read by the P.M.'s, we never discovered. Wherever +an office was found open, we left behind us an irate postmaster +breathing all sorts of contemplated vengeance upon the disturbers of +his peace. We heard of letters that had been sent north and sent south, +but there never were any at the particular place where we happened to +be, and I suppose that the accumulated mail of the Paying Teller may +for several years drop gradually upon him through the meshes of the +Dead-Letter Office. + +There were a great many points of interest which we had passed on our +downward trip, the boatman assuring us that, with the wind we had, and +which might cease at any moment, the great object was to reach Jupiter +as soon as possible, and that we would stop at the interesting places +on the way up. But now the wind, according to his reasoning, made it +necessary that we should again push forward as fast as we could; and, +as I said before, the irresistible attraction of the Northwest so +worked upon the Paying Teller that he was willing to pause nowhere, +during the daytime, but at a post-office. At one place, however, I was +determined to land. This was Pelican Island. The boatman, paying no +attention to his promise to stop here and give me an opportunity to +shoot one of these birds, declared, when near the place, that it would +never do, with such a wind, to drop anchor for a trifle like a pelican. +The Paying Teller and Quee also strongly objected to a stop; and, while +the teacher had a great desire to investigate the subject of +ornithology, especially when exemplified by such a subject as a +pelican, she felt herself obliged to be loyal to her "group," and so +quietly gave her voice to go on. But I, supported by Euphemia, remained +so firm that we anchored a short distance from Pelican Island. + +None of the others had any desire to go ashore, and so I, with the gun +and Euphemia, took the boat and rowed to the island. While we were here +the others determined to sail to the opposite side of the river to look +for a little post-office, the existence of which the boatman had not +mentioned until it had been determined to make this stoppage here. + +As we approached the island we saw hundreds of pelicans, some flying +about, some sitting on trunks and branches of dead trees, and some +waddling about on the shore. + +"You might as well shoot two of them," said Euphemia, "and then we +will select the better one to take to Rudder Grange." + +The island was very boggy and muddy, and, before I had found a good +place to land, and had taken up the gun from the bow of the boat, every +pelican in sight took wing and flew away. I stood up and fired both +barrels at the retreating flock. They swerved and flew oceanward, but +not one of them fell. I helped Euphemia on shore, and then, gun in +hand, I made my way as well as I could to the other end of the island. +There might be some deaf old fellows left who had not made up their +minds to fly. The ground was very muddy, and drift-wood and under-brush +obstructed my way. Still, I pressed on, and went nearly half around the +island, finding, however, not a single pelican. + +Soon I heard Euphemia's voice, calling loud. She seemed to be about the +centre of the island, and I ran toward her. + +"I've got one!" I heard her cry, before I came in sight of her. She was +sitting at the root of a crooked, dead tree. In front of her she held, +one hand grasping each leg, what seemed to me to be an ungainly and +wingless goose. All about her the ground was soft and boggy. Her +clothes were muddy, her face was red, and the creature she held was +struggling violently. + +"What on earth have you got?" I exclaimed, approaching as near as I +could, "and how did you get out there?" + +"Don't you come any closer!" she cried. "You'll sink up to your waist! +I got here by treading on the little hummocks and holding on to that +dead branch; but don't you take hold of it, for you'll break it off, +and then I can't get back." + +"But what is that thing?" I repeated. + +"It's a young pelican," she replied. "I found a lot of nests on the +ground over there, and this was in one of them. I chased it all about, +until it flopped out here and hid itself on the other side of this +tree. Then I came out quietly and caught it. But how am I going to get +it to you?" + +This seemed, indeed, a problem. Euphemia declared that she needed both +hands to work her way back by the means of the long, horizontal limb +which had assisted her passage to the place where she sat, and she also +needed both hands to hold her prize. It was likewise plain that I could +not get to her. Indeed, I could not see how her light steps had taken +her over the soft and marshy ground that lay between us. I suggested +that she should throw the pelican to me. This she declined to do. + +"I could never throw it so far," she said, "and it would surely get +away. I don't want to lose this pelican, for I believe it is the last +one on the island. If there are other young ones, they have scuttled +off by this time, and I should dreadfully hate to go back to the yacht +without any pelican at all." + +"I don't call that much of one," I said. + +"It's a real pelican for all that," she replied, "and about as curious +a bird as I ever saw. Its wings won't stretch out seven feet, to be +sure." + +"About seven inches," I suggested. + +"But it is a great deal easier to carry a young one like this," she +persisted, "and I expect a baby pelican is a much more uncommon sight +in the North than a grown one." + +"No doubt of it," I said. "We must keep him now you've got him. Can't +you kill him?" + +"I've no way of killing him," returned Euphemia. "I wonder if you could +shoot him if I were to hold him out." + +This, with a shot-gun, I positively declined to do. Even if I had had a +rifle, I suggested that she might swerve. For a few moments we remained +nonplussed. I could not get to Euphemia at all, and she could not get +to me unless she released her bird, and this she was determined not to +do. + +"Euphemia," I said, presently, "the ground seems hard a little way in +front of you. If you step over there, I will go out on this strip, +which seems pretty solid. Then I'll be near enough to you for you to +swing the bird to me, and I'll catch hold of him." + +Euphemia arose and did as I told her, and we soon found ourselves about +six feet apart. She took the bird by one leg and swung it toward me. +With outstretched arm I caught it by the other foot, but as I did so I +noticed that Euphemia was growing shorter, and also felt myself sinking +in the bog. Instantly I entreated Euphemia to stand perfectly still, +for, if we struggled or moved, there was no knowing into what more +dreadful depths we might get. Euphemia obeyed me, and stood quite +still, but I could feel that she clutched the pelican with desperate +vigor. + +"How much farther down do you think we shall sink?" she asked, her +voice trembling a little. + +"Not much farther," I said. "I am sure there is firm ground beneath us, +but it will not do to move. If we should fall down, we might not be +able to get up again." + +"How glad I am," she said, "that we are not entirely separated, even if +it is only a baby pelican that joins us!" + +"Indeed, I am glad!" I said, giving the warm pressure to the pelican's +leg that I would have given to Euphemia's hand, if I could have reached +her. Euphemia looked up at me so confidently that I could but believe +that in some magnetic way that pressure had been transmitted through +the bird. + +"Do you think they will come back?" she said, directly. + +"Oh, yes," I replied, "there's no manner of doubt of that." + +"They'll be dreadfully cross," she said. + +"I shouldn't wonder," I replied. "But it makes very little difference +to me whether they are or not." + +"It ought to make a difference to you," said Euphemia. "They might +injure us very much." + +"If they tried anything of the kind," I replied, "they'd find it worse +for them than for us." + +"That is boasting," said Euphemia, a little reproachfully, "and it +does not sound like you." + +I made no answer to this, and then she asked:-- + +"What do you think they will do when they come?" + +"I think they will put a plank out here and pull us out." + +Euphemia looked at me an instant, and then her eyes filled with tears. + +"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, "it's dreadful! You know they couldn't do +it. Your mind is giving way!" + +She sobbed, and I could feel the tremor run through the pelican. + +"What do you mean?" I cried, anxiously. "My mind giving way?" + +"Yes--yes," she sobbed. "If you were in your right senses--you'd never +think--that pelicans could bring a plank." + +I looked at her in astonishment. + +"Pelicans!" I exclaimed. "Did you think I meant the pelicans were +coming back?" + +"Of course," she said. "That's what I was asking you about." + +"I wasn't thinking of pelicans at all," I answered "I was talking of +the people in the yacht." + +Euphemia looked at me, and then the little pelican between us began to +shake violently as we laughed. + +"I know people sometimes do lose their minds when they get into great +danger," she said, apologetically. + +"Hello!" came a voice from the water. "What are you laughing about?" + +"Come and see," I shouted back, "and perhaps you will laugh, too." + +The three men came; they had to wade ashore; and when they came they +laughed. They brought a plank, and with a good deal of trouble they +drew us out, but Euphemia would not let go of her leg of the little +pelican until she was sure I had a tight hold of mine. + +Day after day we now sailed northward, until we reached the little town +at which we had embarked. Here we discarded our blue flannels and three +half-grown beards, and slowly made our way through woods and lakes and +tortuous streams to the upper waters of the St. John's. In this region +the population of the river shores seemed to consist entirely of +alligators, in which monsters Euphemia was greatly interested. But she +seldom got a near view of one, for the sportsmen on our little steamer +blazed away at every alligator as soon as it came into distant sight; +and, although the ugly creatures were seldom hit, they made haste to +tumble into the water or disappear among the tall reeds. Euphemia was +very much annoyed at this. + +"I shall never get a good close look at an alligator at all," she said. +"I am going to speak to the captain." + +The captain, a big, good-natured man, listened to her, and entirely +sympathized with her. + +"Tom," said he to the pilot, "when you see another big 'gator on shore, +don't sing out to nobody, but call me, and slow up." + +It was not long before chocolate-colored Tom called to the captain, and +rang the bell to lessen speed. + +"Gentlemen," said the captain, walking forward to the group of +sportsmen, "there's a big 'gator ahead there, but don't none of you +fire at him. He's copyrighted." + +The men with the guns did not understand him, but none of them fired, +and Euphemia and the other ladies soon had the satisfaction of seeing +an enormous alligator lying on the bank, within a dozen yards of the +boat. The great creature raised its head, and looked at us in apparent +amazement at not being shot at. Then, probably considering that we did +not know the customs of the river, or were out of ammunition, he slowly +slipped away among the reeds with an air as if, like Mr. Turveydrop, he +had done his duty in showing himself, and if we did not take advantage +of it, it was no affair of his. + +"If we only had a fellow like that for a trophy!" ejaculated Euphemia. + +"He'd do very well for a trophy," I answered, "but if, in order to get +him, I had to hold him by one leg while you held him by another, I +should prefer a baby pelican." + +Our trip down the St. John's met with no obstacles except those +occasioned by the Paying Teller's return tickets. He had provided +himself and his group with all sorts of return tickets from the various +points he had expected to visit in Florida. These were good only on +particular steamboats, and could be used only to go from one particular +point to another. Fortunately he had lost several of them, but there +were enough left to give us a good deal of trouble. We did not wish to +break up the party, and consequently we embarked and disembarked +whenever the Paying Teller's group did so; and thus, in time, we all +reached that widespread and sandy city which serves for the gate of +Florida. + +From here, the Paying Teller and his group, with complicated tickets, +the determinate scope and purpose of which no one man living could be +expected to understand, hurried wildly toward the far Northwest; while +we, in slower fashion, returned to Rudder Grange. + +There, in a place of honor over the dining-room door, stands the baby +pelican, its little flippers wide outstretched. + +"How often I think," Euphemia sometimes says, "of that moment of peril, +when the only actual bond of union between us was that little pelican!" + + + + +THE RUDDER GRANGERS IN ENGLAND. + + +It was mainly due to Pomona that we went to Europe at all. For years +Euphemia and I had been anxious to visit the enchanted lands on the +other side of the Atlantic, but the obstacles had always been very +great, and the matter had been indefinitely postponed. Pomona and Jonas +were still living with us, and their little girl was about two years +old. Pomona continued to read a great deal, but her husband's influence +had diverted her mind toward works of history and travel, and these she +devoured with eager interest. But she had not given up her old fancy +for romance. Nearly everything she read was mingled in her mind with +Middle Age legends and tales of strange adventure. Euphemia's frequent +reference to a trip to Europe had fired Pomona's mind, and she was now +more wildly anxious for the journey than any of us. She believed that +it would entirely free Jonas from the chills and fever that still +seemed to permeate his being. And besides this, what unutterable joy to +tread the sounding pavements of those old castles of which she had so +often read! Pomona further perceived that my mental and physical +systems required the rest and change of scene which could be given only +by a trip to Europe. When this impression had been produced upon +Euphemia's mind, the matter, to all intents and purposes, was settled. +A tenant, who I suspect was discovered and urged forward by the +indefatigable Pomona, made an application for a year's lease of our +house and farm. In a business view I found I could make the journey +profitable, and there seemed to be no reason why we should not go, and +go now. + +It appeared to be accepted as a foregone conclusion by Euphemia and +Pomona that the latter, with her husband and child, should accompany +us; but of this I could not, at first, see the propriety. + +"We shall not want servants on a trip like that," I said; "and although +I like Jonas and Pomona very much, they are not exactly the people I +should prefer as travelling companions." + +"If you think you are going to leave Pomona behind," said Euphemia, +"you are vastly mistaken. Oceans and continents are free to her, and +she will follow us at a distance if we don't let her go with us. She +was quite content not to go with us to Florida, but she is just one +tingle from head to foot to go to Europe. We have talked the whole +thing over, and I know that she will be of the greatest possible use +and comfort to me in ever so many ways; and Jonas will be needed to +take care of the baby. Jonas has money, and they will pay a great part +of their own expenses, and will not cost us much, and you needn't be +afraid that Pomona will make us ashamed of ourselves, if we happen to +be talking to the Dean of Westminster or the Archbishop of Canterbury, +by pushing herself into the conversation." + +"Indeed," said I, "if we ever happen to be inveigled into a confab with +those dignitaries, I hope Pomona will come to the front and take my +place." + +The only person not entirely satisfied with the proposed journey was +Jonas. + +"I don't like trapsin' round," said he, "from place to place, and never +did. If I could go to some one spot and stay there with the child, +while the rest of you made trips, I'd be satisfied, but I don't like +keepin' on the steady go." + +This plan was duly considered, and the suitability of certain points +was discussed. London was not believed sufficiently accessible for +frequent return trips; Paris could scarcely be called very central; +Naples would not be suitable at all times of the year, and Cairo was a +little too far eastward. A number of minor places were suggested, but +Jonas announced that he had thought of a capital location, and being +eagerly asked to name it, he mentioned Newark, New Jersey. + +"I'd feel at home there," he said, "and it's about as central as any +place, when you come to look on the map of the world." + +But he was not allowed to remain in his beloved New Jersey, and we took +him with us to Europe. + +We did not, like the rest of the passengers on the steamer, go directly +from Liverpool to London, but stopped for a couple of days in the +quaint old town of Chester. "If we don't see it now," said Euphemia, +"we never shall see it. When we once start back we shall be raving +distracted to get home, and I wouldn't miss Chester for anything." + +"There is an old wall there," said the enthusiastic Pomona to her +husband, "built by Julius Caesar before the Romans became Catholics, +that you kin walk on all round the town; an' a tower on it which the +king of England stood on to see his army defeated, though of course it +wasn't put up for that purpose; besides, more old-timenesses which the +book tells of than we can see in a week." + +"I hope," said Jonas, wearily shifting the child from one arm to the +other, "that there'll be some good place there to sit down." + +When we reached Chester, we went directly to the inn called "The Gentle +Boar," which was selected by Euphemia entirely on account of its name, +and we found it truly a quaint and cosey little house. Everything was +early English and delightful. The coffee-rooms, the bar-maids, the +funny little apartments, the old furniture, and "a general air of the +Elizabethan era," as Euphemia remarked. + +"I should almost call it Henryan," said Pomona, gazing about her in +rapt wonderment. + +We soon set out on our expeditions of sight-seeing, but we did not keep +together. Euphemia and I made our way to the old cathedral. The ancient +verger who took us about the edifice was obliged to show us everything, +Euphemia being especially anxious to see the stall in the choir which +had belonged to Charles Kingsley, and was much disturbed to find that +under the seat the monks of the fifteenth century had carved the +subject of one of Baron Munchausen's most improbable tales. + +"Of course," said she, "they did not know that Charles Kingsley was to +have this stall, or they would have cut something more appropriate." + +"Those old monks 'ad a good deal of fun in them," said the verger, +"hand they were particular fond of showing up quarrels between men and +their wives, which they could do, you see, without 'urting each other's +feelings. These queer carvings are hunder the seats, which turn hup in +this way, and I've no doubt they looked at them most of the time they +were kneeling on the cold floor saying their long, Latin prayers." + +"Yes, indeed!" said Euphemia. "It must have been a great comfort to the +poor fellows." + +"We went all through that cathedral," exclaimed Pomona, when she came +in the next day. "The old virgin took us everywhere." + +"Verger," exclaimed Euphemia. + +"Well, he looked so like a woman in his long gown," said Pomona, "I +don't wonder I mixed him. We put two shillin's in his little box, +though one was enough, as I told Jonas, and then he took us round and +pointed out all the beautiful carvin's and things on the choir, the +transits, and the nave, but when Jonas stopped before the carved figger +of the devil chawin' up a sinner, and asked if that was the transit of +a knave, the old feller didn't know what he meant. An' then we wandered +alone through them ruined cloisters and subterraneal halls, an' old +tombstones of the past, till I felt I don't know how. There was a girl +in New Jersey who used to put on airs because her family had lived in +one place for a hundred years. When I git back I'll laugh that girl to +scorn." + +After two days of delight in this quaint old town we took the train +Londonward. Without consultation Jonas bought tickets for himself and +wife, while I bought Euphemia's and mine. Consequently our servants +travelled first-class, while we went in a second-class carriage. We +were all greatly charmed with the beautiful garden country through +which we passed. It was harvest time, and Jonas was much impressed by +the large crops gathered from the little fields. + +"I might try to do something of that kind when I go back," he afterward +said, "but I expect I'd have to dig a little hole for each grain of +wheat, and hoe it, and water it, and tie the blade to a stick if it was +weakly." + +"An' a nice easy time you'd have of it," said Pomona; "for you might +plant your wheat field round a stump, and set there, and farm all +summer, without once gettin' up." + +"And that is Windsor!" exclaimed Euphemia, as we passed within view of +that royal castle. "And there lives the Sovereign of our Mother +Country!" + +I was trying to puzzle out in what relationship to the Sovereign this +placed us, when Euphemia continued:-- + +"I am bound to go to Windsor Castle! I have examined into every style +of housekeeping, French flats and everything, and I must see how the +Queen lives. I expect to get ever so many ideas." + +"All right," said I; "and we will visit the royal stables, too, for I +intend to get a new buggy when we get back." + +We determined that on reaching London we would go directly to lodgings, +not only because this was a more economical way of living, but because +it was the way in which many of Euphemia's favorite heroes and heroines +had lived in London. + +"I want to keep house," she said, "in the same way that Charles and +Mary Lamb did. We will toast a bit of muffin or a potted sprat, and +we'll have a hamper of cheese and a tankard of ale, just like those old +English poets and writers." + +"I think you are wrong about the hamper of cheese," I said. "It +couldn't have been as much as that, but I have no doubt we'll have a +jolly time." + +We got into a four-wheeled cab, Jonas on the seat with the driver, and +the luggage on top. I gave the man a card with the address of the house +to which we had been recommended. There was a number, the name of a +street, the name of a place, the name of a square, and initials +denoting the quarter of the town. + +"It will confuse the poor man dreadfully," said Euphemia. "It would +have been a great deal better just to have said where the house was." + +The man, however, drove to the given address without mistake. The house +was small, but as there were no other lodgers, there was room enough +for us. Euphemia was much pleased with the establishment. The house was +very well furnished, and she had expected to find things old and +stuffy, as London lodgings always were in the books she had read. + +"But if the landlady will only steal our tea," she said, "it will make +it seem more like the real thing." + +As we intended to stay some time in London, where I had business to +transact for the firm with which I was engaged, we immediately began to +make ourselves as much at home as possible. Pomona, assisted by Jonas, +undertook at once the work of the house. To this the landlady, who kept +a small servant, somewhat objected, as it had been her custom to attend +to the wants of her lodgers. + +"But what's the good of Jonas an' me bein' here," said Pomona to us, +"if we don't do the work? Of course, if there was other lodgers, that +would be different, but as there's only our own family, where's the +good of that woman and her girl doin' anything?" + +And so, as a sort of excuse for her being in Europe, she began to get +the table ready for supper, and sent Jonas out to see if there was any +place where he could buy provisions. Euphemia and I were not at all +certain that the good woman of the house would be satisfied with this +state of things; but still, as Jonas and Pomona were really our +servants, it seemed quite proper that they should do our work. And so +we did not interfere, although Euphemia found it quite sad, she said, +to see the landlady standing idly about, gazing solemnly upon Pomona +as she dashed from place to place engaged with her household duties. + +After we had been in the house for two or three days, Pomona came into +our sitting-room one evening and made a short speech. + +"I've settled matters with the woman here," she said, "an' I think +you'll like the way I've done it. I couldn't stand her follerin' me +about, an' sayin' 'ow they did things in Hingland, while her red-faced +girl was a-spendin' the days on the airy steps, a-lookin' through the +railin's. 'Now, Mrs. Bowlin',' says I, 'it'll just be the ruin of you +an' the death of me if you keep on makin' a picter of yourself like +that lonely Indian a-sittin' on a pinnacle in the jographys, watchin' +the inroads of civilization, with a locomotive an' a cog-wheel in +front, an' the buffalo an' the grisly a-disappearin' in the distance. +Now it'll be much better for all of us,' says I, 'if you'll git down +from your peak, and try to make up your mind that the world has got to +move. Aint there some place where you kin go an' be quiet an' +comfortable, an' not a-woundin' your proud spirit a-watchin' me bake +hot rolls for breakfast an' sich?' An' then she says she'd begun to +think pretty much that way herself, an' that she had a sister a-livin' +down in the Sussex Mews, back of Gresham Terrace, Camberwell Square, +Hankberry Place, N.W. by N., an' she thought she might as well go there +an' stay while we was here. An' so I says that was just the thing, and +the sooner done the happier she'd be. An' I went up stairs and helped +her pack her trunk, which is a tin one, which she calls her box, an' I +got her a cab, an' she's gone." + +"What!" I cried; "gone! Has she given up her house entirely to us?" + +"For the time bein' she has," answered Pomona, "for she saw very well +it was better thus, an' she's comin' every week to git her money, an' +to see when we're goin' to give notice. An' the small girl has been +sent back to the country." + +It was impossible for Euphemia and myself to countenance this +outrageous piece of eviction; but in answer to our exclamations of +surprise and reproach, Pomona merely remarked that she had done it for +the woman's own good, and, as she was perfectly satisfied, she didn't +suppose there was any harm done; and, at any rate, it would be "lots +nicer" for us. And then she asked Euphemia what she was going to have +for breakfast the next morning, so that Jonas could go out to the +different mongers and get the things. + +"Now," said Euphemia, when Pomona had gone down stairs, "I really feel +as if I had a foothold on British soil. It doesn't seem as if it was +quite right, but it is perfectly splendid." + +And so it was. From that moment we set up an English Rudder Grange in +the establishment which Pomona had thus rudely wrenched, as it were, +from the claws of the British Lion. We endeavored to live as far as +possible in the English style, because we wanted to try the manners and +customs of every country. We had tea for breakfast and ale for +luncheon, and we ate shrimps, prawns, sprats, saveloys, and Yarmouth +bloaters. We "took in the Times," and, to a certain extent, we +endeavored to cultivate the broad vowels. Some of these things we did +not like, but we felt bound to allow them a fair trial. + +We did not give ourselves up to sight-seeing as we had done at Chester, +because now there was plenty of time to see London at our leisure. In +the mornings I attended to my business, and in the afternoons Euphemia +and I generally went out to visit some of the lions of the grand old +city. + +Pomona and Jonas also went out whenever a time could be conveniently +arranged, which was done nearly every day, for Euphemia was anxious +they should see everything. They almost always took their child, and to +this Euphemia frequently objected. + +"What's the good," she said, "of carrying a baby not two years old to +the Tower of London, the British Museum, and the Chapel of Henry VII.? +She can't take any interest in the smothered princes, or the Assyrian +remnants. If I am at home, I can look after her as well as not." + +"But you see, ma'am," said Pomona, "we don't expect the baby'll ever +come over here ag'in, an' when she gits older, I'll tell her all about +these things, an' it'll expan' her intelleck a lot more when she feels +she's seed 'em all without knowin' it. To be sure, the monnyments of +bygone days don't always agree with her; for Jone set her down on the +tomb of Chaucer the other day, an' her little legs got as cold as the +tomb itself, an' I told him that there was too big a difference between +a tomb nigh four hundred years old an' a small baby which don't date +back two years, for them to be sot together that way; an' he promised +to be more careful after that. He gouged a little piece out of +Chaucer's tomb, an' as we went home we bought a copy of the old +gentleman's poems, so as we could see what reason there was for keepin' +him so long, an' at night I read Jone two of the Canterbury Tales. 'You +wouldn't 'a' thought,' says Jone, 'jus' by lookin' at that little piece +of plaster, that the old fellow could 'a' got up such stories as +them.'" + +"What I want to see more'n anything else," said Pomona to us one day, +"is a real lord, or some kind of nobleman of high degree. I've allers +loved to read about 'em in books, and I'd rather see one close to, than +all the tombs and crypts and lofty domes you could rake together; an' I +don't want to see 'em neither in the streets, nor yet in a House of +Parliament, which aint in session; for there, I don't believe, dressin' +in common clothes as they do, that I could tell 'em from other people. +What I want is to penetrate into the home of one of 'em, and see him as +he really is. It's only there that his noble blood'll come out." + +"Pomona," cried Euphemia, in accents of alarm, "don't you try +penetrating into any nobleman's home. You will get yourself into +trouble, and the rest of us, too." + +"Oh, I'm not a-goin' to git you into any trouble, ma'am," said Pomona; +"you needn't be afeard of that." And she went about her household +duties. + +A few days after this, as Euphemia and I were going to the Tower of +London in a Hansom cab--and it was one of Euphemia's greatest delights +to be bowled over the smooth London pavements in one of these vehicles, +with the driver out of sight, and the horse in front of us just as if +we were driving ourselves, only without any of the trouble, and on +every corner one of the names of the streets we had read about in +Dickens and Thackeray, and with the Sampson Brasses, and the +Pecksniffs, and the Mrs. Gamps, and the Guppys, and the Sir Leicester +Dedlocks, and the Becky Sharps, and the Pendennises, all walking about +just as natural as in the novels--we were surprised to see Pomona +hurrying along the sidewalk alone. The moment our eyes fell upon her a +feeling of alarm arose within us. Where was she going with such an +intent purpose in her face, and without Jonas? She was walking +westward, and we were going to the east. At Euphemia's request I +stopped the cab, jumped out, and ran after her, but she had disappeared +in the crowd. + +"She is up to mischief," said Euphemia. + +But it was of no use to worry our minds on the subject, and we soon +forgot, in the ancient wonders of the Tower, the probable +eccentricities of our modern handmaid. + +We returned; night came on; but Pomona was still absent. Jonas did not +know where she was, and was very much troubled; and the baby, which had +been so skilfully kept in the background by its mother that, so far, it +had never annoyed us at all, now began to cry, and would not be +comforted. Euphemia, with the assistance of Jonas, prepared the evening +meal, and when we had nearly eaten it, Pomona came home. Euphemia asked +no questions, although she was burning with curiosity to know where +Pomona had been, considering that it was that young woman's duty to +inform her without being asked. + +When Pomona came in to wait on us, she acted as if she expected to be +questioned, and was perfectly willing to answer, but Euphemia stood +upon her dignity, and said nothing. At last Pomona could endure it no +longer, and standing with a tray in her hand, she exclaimed:-- + +"I'm sorry I made you help git the dinner, ma'am, and I wouldn't 'a' +done it for anything, but the fact is I've been to see a lord, an' was +kep' late." + +"What!" cried Euphemia, springing to her feet; "you don't mean that!" + +And I was so amazed that I sat and looked at Pomona without saying a +word. + +"Yes," cried Pomona, her eyes sparkling with excitement, "I've seen a +lord, and trod his floors, and I'll tell you all about it. You know I +was boun' to do it, and I wanted to go alone, for if Jone was with me +he'd be sure to put in some of his queer sayin's an' ten to one hurt +the man's feelin's, and cut off the interview. An' as Jone said this +afternoon he felt tired, with some small creeps in his back, an' didn't +care to go out, I knew my time had come, and said I'd go for a walk. +Day before yesterday I went up to a policeman an' I asked him if he +could tell me if a lord, or a earl, or a duke lived anywhere near here. +First he took me for crazy, an' then he began to ask questions which he +thought was funny, but I kep' stiff to the mark, an' I made him tell me +where a lord did live,--about five blocks from here. So I fixed things +all ready an' today I went there." + +"You didn't have the assurance to suppose he'd see you?" cried +Euphemia. + +"No, indeed, I hadn't," said Pomona, "at least under common +circumstances. You may be sure I racked my brains enough to know what I +should do to meet him face to face. It wouldn't do to go in the common +way, such as ringin' at the front door and askin' for him, an' then +offerin' to sell him furniter-polish for his pianner-legs. I knowed +well enough that any errand like that would only bring me face to face +with his bailiff, or his master of hounds, or something of that kind. +So, at last, I got a plan of my own, an' I goes up the steps and rings +the bell, an' when the flunkey, with more of an air of gen'ral +upliftedness about him than any one I'd seen yet, excep' Nelson on top +of his pillar, opened the door an' looked at me, I asked him,-- + +"'Is Earl Cobden in?' + +"At this the man opened his eyes, an' remarked:-- + +"'What uv it if he is?' + +"Then I answers, firmly:-- + +"'If he's in, I want yer to take him this letter, an' I'll wait here.'" + +"You don't mean to say," cried Euphemia, "that you wrote the earl a +letter?" + +"Yes, I did," continued Pomona, "and at first the man didn't seem +inclined to take it. But I held it out so steady that he took it an' +put it on a little tray, whether nickel-plated or silver I couldn't +make out, and carried it up the widest and splendidest pair o' stairs +that I ever see in a house jus' intended to be lived in. When he got to +the fust landin' he met a gentleman, and give him the letter. When I +saw this I was took aback, for I thought it was his lordship a-comin' +down, an' I didn't want to have no interview with a earl at his front +door. But the second glance I took at him showed me that it wasn't him. +He opened it, notwithstanding', an' read it all through from beginnin' +to end. When he had done it he looked down at me, and then he went back +up stairs a-follered by the flunk, which last pretty soon came down +ag'in an' told me I was to go up. I don't think I ever felt so much +like a wringed-out dish-cloth as I did when I went up them palatial +stairs. But I tried to think of things that would prop me up. P'r'aps, +I thought, my ancient ancestors came to this land with his'n; who +knows? An' I might 'a' been switched off on some female line, an' so +lost the name an' estates. At any rate, be brave! With such thoughts as +these I tried to stiffen my legs, figgeratively speakin'. We went +through two or three rooms (I hadn't time to count 'em) an' then I was +showed into the lofty presence of the earl. He was standin' by the +fire-place, an' the minnit my eyes lit upon him I knowed it was him." + +"Why, how was that?" cried Euphemia and myself almost in the same +breath. + +"I knowed him by his wax figger," continued Pomona, "which Jone and I +see at Madame Tussaud's wax-works. They've got all the head people of +these days there now, as well as the old kings and the pizeners. The +clothes wasn't exactly the same, though very good on each, an' there +was more of an air of shortenin' of the spine in the wax figger than in +the other one. But the likeness was awful strikin'. + +"'Well, my good woman,' says he, a-holdin' my open letter in his hand, +'so you want to see a lord, do you?'" + +"What on earth did you write to him?" exclaimed Euphemia. "You mustn't +go on a bit further until you have told what was in your letter." + +"Well," said Pomona, "as near as I can remember, it was like this: +'_William, Lord Cobden, Earl of Sorsetshire an' Derry. Dear Sir. Bein' +brought up under Republican institutions, in the land of the free--'_ I +left out '_the home of the brave_' because there wasn't no use crowin' +about that jus' then--'_I haven't had no oppertunity of meetin' with a +individual of lordly blood. Ever since I was a small girl takin' books +from the circulatin' libery, an' obliged to read out loud with divided +sillerbles, I've drank in every word of the tales of lords and other +nobles of high degree, that the little shops where I gen'rally got my +books, an' some with the pages out at the most excitin' parts, +contained. An' so I asks you now, Sir Lord--_' I did put _humbly_, but +I scratched that out, bein' an American woman--'_to do me the favor of +a short audience. Then, when I reads about noble earls an' dukes in +their brilliant lit halls an' castles, or mounted on their champin' +chargers, a-leadin' their trusty hordes to victory amid the glittering +minarets of fame, I'll know what they looks like._' An' then I signed +my name. + +"'Yes, sir,' says I, in answer to his earlship's question," said +Pomona, taking up her story, "'I did want to see one, upon my word.' + +"'An' now that you have seen him,' says he, 'what do you think of him?' + +"Now, I had made up my mind before I entered this ducal pile, or put my +foot on one ancestral stone, that I'd be square and honest through the +whole business, and not try no counterfeit presentiments with the earl. +So I says to him:-- + +"'The fust thing I thinks is, that you've got on the nicest suit of +clothes that I've ever seed yit, not bein' exactly Sunday clothes, and +yit fit for company, an' if money can buy 'em--an' men's clothes is +cheap enough here, dear only knows--I'm goin' to have a suit jus' like +it for Jone, my husband.' It was a kind o' brown mixed stuff, with a +little spot of red in it here an' there, an' was about as gay for plain +goods, an' as plain for gay goods, as anythin' could be, an' 'twas easy +enough to see that it was all wool. 'Of course,' says I, 'Jone'll have +his coat made different in front, for single-breasted, an' a buttonin' +so high up is a'most too stylish for him, 'specially as fashions 'ud +change afore the coat was wore out. But I needn't bother your earlship +about that.' + +"'An' so,' says he, an' I imagine I see an air of sadness steal over +his features, 'it's my clothes, after all, that interest you?' + +"'Oh, no,' says I, 'I mention them because they come up fust. There is, +no doubt, qualities of mind and body--' + +"'Well, we won't go into that,' said his earlship, 'an' I want to ask +you a question. I suppose you represent the middle class in your +country?' + +"'I don't know 'zactly where society splits with us,' says I, 'but I +guess I'm somewhere nigh the crack.' + +"'Now don't you really believe,' says he, 'that you and the people of +your class would be happier, an' feel safer, politically speakin', if +they had among 'em a aristocracy to which they could look up to in +times of trouble, as their nat'ral born gardeens? I ask yer this +because I want to know for myself what are the reel sentiments of yer +people.' + +"'Well, sir,' says I, 'when your work is done, an' your kitchen cleaned +up, an' your lamp lit, a lord or a duke is jus' tip-top to read about, +if the type aint too fine an' the paper mean beside, which it often is +in the ten-cent books; but, further than this, I must say, we aint got +no use for 'em.' At that he kind o' steps back, and looks as if he was +goin' to say somethin', but I puts in quick: 'But you mustn't think, my +earl,' says I, 'that we undervallers you. When we remembers the field +of Agincourt; and Chevy Chase; an' the Tower of London, with the block +on which three lords was beheaded, with the very cuts in it which the +headsman made when he chopped 'em off, as well as two crooked ones +a-showin' his bad licks, which little did he think history would +preserve forever; an' the old Guildhall, where down in the ancient +crypt is a-hangin' our Declaration of Independence along with the Roman +pots and kittles dug up in London streets; we can't forgit that if it +hadn't 'a' been for your old ancestral lines as roots, we'd never been +the flourishin' tree we is.' + +"'Well,' said his earlship, when I'd got through, an' he kind o' looked +as if he didn't know whether to laugh or not, 'if you represent the +feelin's of your class in your country, I reckon they're not just ready +for a aristocracy yit.' + +"An' with that he give me a little nod, an' walked off into another +room. It was pretty plain from this that the interview was brought to a +close, an' so I come away. The flunk was all ready to show me out, an' +he did it so expeditious, though quite polite, that I didn't git no +chance to take a good look at the furniter and carpets, which I'd 'a' +liked to have done. An' so I've talked to a real earl, an' if not in +his ancestral pile, at any rate in the gorgeousest house I ever see. +An' the brilliantest dream of my youth has come true." + +When she had finished I rose and looked upon her. + +"Pomona," said I, "we may yet visit many foreign countries. We may see +kings, queens, dukes, counts, sheikhs, beys, sultans, khedives, pashas, +rajahs, and I don't know what potentates besides, and I wish to say +just this one thing to you. If you don't want to get yourself and us +into some dreadful scrape, and perhaps bring our journeys to a sudden +close, you must put a curb on your longing for communing with beings of +noble blood." + +"That's true, sir," said Pomona, thoughtfully, "an' I made a pretty +close shave of it this time, for when I was talkin' to the earl, I was +just on the p'int of tellin' him that I had such a high opinion of his +kind o' folks that I once named a big black dog after one of 'em, but I +jus' remembered in time, an' slipped on to somethin' else. But I +trembled worse than a peanut woman with a hackman goin' round the +corner to ketch a train an' his hubs just grazin' the legs of her +stand. An' so I promise you, sir, that I'll put my heel on all +hankerin' after potentates." + +And so she made her promise. And, knowing Pomona, I felt sure that she +would keep it--if she could. + + + + +POMONA'S DAUGHTER. + + +In the pretty walk, bordered by bright flowers and low, overhanging +shrubbery, which lies back of the Albert Memorial, in Kensington +Gardens, London, Jonas sat on a green bench, with his baby on his knee. +A few nurses were pushing baby-carriages about in different parts of +the walk, and there were children playing not far away. It was drawing +toward the close of the afternoon, and Jonas was thinking it was nearly +time to go home, when Pomona came running to him from the gorgeous +monument, which she had been carefully inspecting. + +"Jone," she cried, "do you know I've been lookin' at all them great men +that's standin' round the bottom of the monnyment, an' though there's +over a hundred of 'em, I'm sure, I can't find a American among 'em! +There's poets, an' artists, an' leadin' men, scraped up from all parts, +an' not one of our illustrious dead. What d'ye think of that?" + +"I can't believe it," said Jonas. "If we go home with a tale like that +we'll hear the recruiting-drum from Newark to Texas, and, ten to one, +I'll be drafted." + +"You needn't be makin' fun," said Pomona; "you come an' see for +yourself. Perhaps you kin' find jus' one American, an' then I'll go +home satisfied." + +"All right," said Jonas. + +And, putting the child on the bench, he told her he'd be back in a +minute, and hurried after Pomona, to give a hasty look for the desired +American. + +Corinne, the offspring of Jonas and Pomona, had some peculiarities. One +of these was that she was accustomed to stay where she was put. Ever +since she had been old enough to be carried about, she had been carried +about by one parent or the other; and, as it was frequently necessary +to set her down, she had learned to sit and wait until she was taken up +again. She was now nearly two years old, very strong and active, and of +an intellect which had already begun to tower. She could walk very +well, but Jonas took such delight in carrying her that he seldom +appeared to recognize her ability to use her legs. She could also talk, +but how much her parents did not know. She was a taciturn child, and +preferred to keep her thoughts to herself, and, although she sometimes +astonished us all by imitating remarks she had heard, she frequently +declined to repeat the simplest words that had been taught her. + +Corinne remained on the bench about a minute after her father had left +her, and then, contrary to her usual custom, she determined to leave +the place where she had been put. Turning over on her stomach, after +the manner of babies, she lowered her feet to the ground. Having +obtained a foothold, she turned herself about and proceeded, with +sturdy steps, to a baby-carriage near by which had attracted her +attention. This carriage, which was unattended, contained a baby, +somewhat smaller and younger than Corinne, who sat up and gazed with +youthful interest at the visitor who stood by the side of her vehicle. +Corinne examined, with a critical eye, the carriage and its occupant. +She looked at the soft pillow at the baby's back, and regarded with +admiration the afghan crocheted in gay colors which was spread over its +lap, and the spacious gig-top which shielded it from the sun. She +stooped down and looked at the wheels, and stood up and gazed at the +blue eyes and canary hair of the little occupant. Then, in quiet but +decided tones, Corinne said:-- + +"Dit out!" + +The other baby looked at her, but made no movement to obey. After +waiting a few moments, an expression of stern severity spreading itself +the while over her countenance, Corinne reached over and put her arms +around the fair-haired child. Then, with all her weight and strength, +she threw herself backward and downward. The other baby, being light, +was thus drawn bodily out of its carriage, and Corinne sat heavily upon +the ground, her new acquaintance sprawling in her lap. Notwithstanding +that she bore the brunt of the fall upon the gravel, Corinne uttered no +cry; but, disengaging herself from her encumbrance, she rose to her +feet. The other baby imitated her, and Corinne, taking her by the hand, +led her to the bench where she herself had been left. + +"Dit up!" said Corinne. + +This, however, the other baby was unable to do; but she stood quite +still, evidently greatly interested in the proceedings. Corinne left +her and walked to the little carriage, into which she proceeded to +climb. After some extraordinary exertions, during which her fat legs +were frequently thrust through the spokes of the wheels and ruthlessly +drawn out again, she tumbled in. Arranging herself as comfortably as +she knew how, she drew the gay afghan over her, leaned back upon the +soft pillow, gazed up at the sheltering gig-top, and resigned herself +to luxurious bliss. At this supreme moment, the nurse who had had +charge of the carriage and its occupant came hurrying around a corner +of the path. She had been taking leave of some of her nurse-maid +friends, and had stayed longer than she had intended. It was necessary +for her to take a suitable leave of these ladies, for that night she +was going on a journey. She had been told to take the baby out for an +airing, and to bring it back early. Now, to her surprise, the afternoon +had nearly gone, and hurrying to the little carriage she seized the +handle at the back and rapidly pushed it home, without stopping to look +beneath the overhanging gig-top, or at the green bench, with which her +somewhat worried soul had no concern. If anything could add to +Corinne's ecstatic delight, it was this charming motion. Closing her +eyes contentedly, she dropped asleep. + +The baby with canary hair looked at the receding nurse and carriage +with widening eyes and reddening cheeks. Then, opening her mouth, she +uttered the cry of the deserted; but the panic-stricken nurse did not +hear her, and, if she had, what were the cries of other children to +her? Her only business was to get home quickly with her young charge. + +About five minutes after these events, Jonas and Pomona came hurrying +along the path. They, too, had stayed away much longer than they had +intended, and had suddenly given up their search for the American, whom +they had hoped to find in high relief upon the base of the Albert +Memorial. Stepping quickly to the child, who still stood sobbing by the +bench, Jonas exclaimed, "You poor itty--!" + +And then he stopped suddenly. Pomona also stood for a second, and then +she made a dash at the child, and snatched it up. Gazing sharply at its +tear-smeared countenance, she exclaimed, "What's this?" + +The baby did not seem able to explain what it was, and only answered by +a tearful sob. Jonas did not say a word; but, with the lithe quickness +of a dog after a rat, he began to search behind and under benches, in +the bushes, on the grass, here, there, and everywhere. + +About nine o'clock that evening, Pomona came to us with tears in her +eyes, and the canary-haired baby in her arms, and told us that Corinne +was lost. They had searched everywhere; they had gone to the police; +telegrams had been sent to every station; they had done everything that +could be done, but had found no trace of the child. + +"If I hadn't this," sobbed Pomona, holding out the child, "I believe +I'd go wild. It isn't that she can take the place of my dear baby, but +by a-keepin' hold of her I believe we'll git on the track of Corinne." + +We were both much affected by this news, and Euphemia joined Pomona in +her tears. + +"Jonas is scourin' the town yet," said Pomona. "He'll never give up +till he drops. But I felt you ought to know, and I couldn't keep this +little thing in the night-air no longer. It's a sweet child, and its +clothes are lovely. If it's got a mother, she's bound to want to see it +before long; an' if ever I ketch sight of her, she don't git away from +me till I have my child." + +"It is a very extraordinary case," I said. "Children are often stolen, +but it is seldom we hear of one being taken and another left in its +place, especially when the children are of different ages, and totally +unlike." + +"That's so," said Pomona. "At first, I thought that Corinne had been +changed off for a princess, or something like that, but nobody couldn't +make anybody believe that my big, black-haired baby was this +white-an'-yaller thing." + +"Can't you find any mark on her clothes," asked Euphemia, "by which you +could discover her parentage? If there are no initials, perhaps you can +find a coronet or a coat of arms." + +"No," said Pomona, "there aint nothin'. I've looked careful. But +there's great comfort to think that Corinne's well stamped." + +"Stamped!" we exclaimed. "What do you mean by that?" + +"Why, you see," answered Pomona, "when Jone an' I was goin' to bring +our baby over here among so many million people, we thought there might +be danger of its gittin' lost or mislaid, though we never really +believed any such thing would happen, or we wouldn't have come. An' so +we agreed to mark her, for I've often read about babies bein' stole an' +kept two or three years, and when found bein' so changed their own +mothers didn't know 'em. Jone said we'd better tattoo Corinne, for them +marks would always be there, but I wouldn't agree to have the little +creature's skin stuck with needles, not even after Jone said we might +give her chloryform; so we agreed to stamp initials on her with +Perkins's Indelible Dab. It is intended to mark sheep, but it don't +hurt, and it don't never come off. We put the letters on the back of +her heels, where they wouldn't show, for she's never to go barefoot, +an' where they'd be easy got at if we wanted to find 'em. We put R.G. +on one heel for the name of the place, and J.P. on the other heel for +Jonas an' me. If, twenty years from now," said Pomona, her tears +welling out afresh, "I should see a young woman with eyes like +Corinne's, an' that I felt was her, a-walking up to the bridal altar, +with all the white flowers, an' the floatin' veils, an' the crowds in +the church, an' the music playin', an' the minister all ready, I'd jist +jerk that young woman into the vestry-room, an' have off her shoes an' +stockin's in no time. An' if she had R.G. on one heel, an' J.P. on the +other, that bridegroom could go home alone." + +We confidently assured Pomona that with such means of identification, +and the united action of ourselves and the police, the child would +surely be found, and we accompanied her to her lodgings, which were now +in a house not far from our own. + +When the nurse reached home with the little carriage it was almost +dark, and, snatching up the child, she ran to the nursery without +meeting any one. The child felt heavy, but she was in such a hurry she +scarcely noticed that. She put it upon the bed, and then lighting the +gas she unwrapped the afghan, in which the little creature was now +almost entirely enveloped. When she saw the face, and the black hair, +from which the cap had fallen off, she was nearly frightened to death, +but, fortunately for herself, she did not scream. She was rather a +stupid woman, with but few ideas, but she could not fail to see that +some one had taken her charge, and put this child in its place. Her +first impulse was to run back to the gardens, but she felt certain that +her baby had been carried off; and, besides, she could not, without +discovery, leave the child here or take it with her; and while she +stood in dumb horror, her mistress sent for her. The lady was just +going out to dinner, and told the nurse that, as they were all to start +for the Continent by the tidal train, which left at ten o'clock that +night, she must be ready with the baby, well wrapped up for the +journey. The half-stupefied woman had no words nor courage with which +to declare, at this moment, the true state of the case. She said +nothing, and went back to the nursery and sat there in dumb +consternation, and without sense enough to make a plan of any kind. The +strange child soon awoke and began to cry, and then the nurse +mechanically fed it, and it went to sleep again. When the summons came +to her to prepare for the journey, in cowardly haste she wrapped the +baby, so carefully covering its head that she scarcely gave it a chance +to breathe; and she and the lady's waiting-maid were sent in a cab to +the Victoria Station. The lady was travelling with a party of friends, +and the nurse and the waiting-maid were placed in the adjoining +compartment of the railway-carriage. On the six hours' channel passage +from Newhaven to Dieppe the lady was extremely sick, and reached France +in such a condition that she had to be almost carried on shore. It had +been her intention to stop a few days at this fashionable +watering-place, but she declared that she must go straight on to Paris, +where she could be properly attended to, and, moreover, that she never +wanted to see the sea again. When she had been placed in the train for +Paris she sent for the nurse, and feebly asked how the baby was, and if +it had been seasick. On being told that it was all right, and had not +shown a sign of illness, she expressed her gratification, and lay back +among her rugs. + +The nurse and the waiting-maid travelled together, as before, but the +latter, wearied by her night's attendance upon her mistress, slept all +the way from Dieppe to Paris. When they reached that city, they went +into the waiting-room until a carriage could be procured for them, and +there the nurse, placing the baby on a seat, asked her companion to +take care of it for a few minutes. She then went out of the station +door, and disappeared into Paris. + +In this way, the brunt of the terrible disclosure, which came very +soon, was thrown upon the waiting-maid. No one, however, attached any +blame to her: of course, the absconding nurse had carried away the +fair-haired child. The waiting-maid had been separated from her during +the passage from the train to the station, and it was supposed that in +this way an exchange of babies had been easily made by her and her +confederates. When the mother knew of her loss, her grief was so +violent that for a time her life was in danger. All Paris was searched +by the police and her friends, but no traces could be found of the +wicked nurse and the fair-haired child. Money, which, of course, was +considered the object of the inhuman crime, was freely offered, but to +no avail. No one imagined for an instant that the exchange was made +before the party reached Paris. It seemed plain enough that the crime +was committed when the woman fled. + +Corinne, who had been placed in the charge of a servant until it was +determined what to do with her, was not at all satisfied with the new +state of affairs, and loudly demanded her papa and mamma, behaving for +a time in a very turbulent way. In a few days, the lady recovered her +strength, and asked to see this child. The initials upon Corinne's +heels had been discovered, and, when she was told of these, the lady +examined them closely. + +"The people who left this child," she exclaimed, "do not intend to lose +her! They know where she is, and they will keep a watch upon her, and +when they get a chance they will take her. I, too, will keep a watch +upon her, and when they come for her I shall see them." + +Her use of words soon showed Corinne to be of English parentage, and it +was generally supposed that she had been stolen from some travellers, +and had been used at the station as a means of giving time to the nurse +to get away with the other child. + +In accord with her resolution, the grief-stricken lady put Corinne in +the charge of a trusty woman, and, moreover, scarcely ever allowed her +to be out of her sight. + +It was suggested that advertisement be made for the parents of a child +marked with E.G. and J.P. But to this the lady decidedly objected. + +"If her parents find her," she said, "they will take her away; and I +want to keep her till the thieves come for her. I have lost my child, +and as this one is the only clue I shall ever have to her, I intend to +keep it. When I have found my child, it will be time enough to restore +this one." + +Thus selfish is maternal love. + +Pomona bore up better under the loss than did Jonas. Neither of them +gave up the search for a day; but Jonas, haggard and worn, wandered +aimlessly about the city, visiting every place into which he imagined a +child might have wandered, or might have been taken, searching even to +the crypt in the Guildhall and the Tower of London. Pomona's mind +worked quite as actively as her husband's body. She took great care of +"Little Kensington," as she called the strange child from the place +where she had been found; and therefore could not go about as Jonas +did. After days and nights of ceaseless supposition, she had come to +the conclusion that Corinne had been stolen by opera singers. + +"I suppose you never knew it," she said to us, "for I took pains not to +let it disturb you, but that child has notes in her voice about two +stories higher than any operer prymer donner that I ever heard, an' +I've heard lots of 'em, for I used to go into the top gallery of the +operer as often as into the theayter; an' if any operer singer ever +heard them high notes of Corinne's,--an' there was times when she'd let +'em out without the least bit of a notice,--it's them that's took her." + +"But, my poor Pomona," said Euphemia, "you don't suppose that little +child could be of any use to an opera singer; at least, not for years +and years." + +"Oh, yes, ma'am," replied Pomona; "she was none too little. Sopranners +is like mocking-birds; they've got to be took young." + +No arguments could shake Pomona's belief in this theory. And she daily +lamented the fact that there was no opera in London at that time that +she might go to the performances, and see if there was any one on the +stage who looked mean enough to steal a child. + +"If she was there," said Pomona, "I'd know it. She'd feel the scorn of +a mother's eye on her, an' her guilty heart would make her forget her +part." + +Pomona frequently went into Kensington Gardens, and laid traps for +opera singers who might be sojourning in London. She would take Little +Kensington into the gardens, and, placing her carefully in the corner +of a bench, would retire to a short distance and pretend to be absorbed +in a book, while her sharp eyes kept up the watch for a long-haired +tenor, or a beautifully dressed soprano, who should suddenly rush out +from the bushes and seize the child. + +"I wouldn't make no fuss if they was to come out," she said. "Little +Kensington would go under my arm, not theirn, an' I'd walk calmly with +'em to their home. Then I'd say: 'Give me my child, an' take yourn, +which, though she probably hasn't got no voice, is a lot too good for +you; and may the house hurl stools at you the next time you appear, is +the limit of a mother's curse.'" + +But, alas for Pomona, no opera singers ever showed themselves. + +These days of our stay in London were not pleasant. We went about +little, and enjoyed nothing. At last Pomona came to us, her face pale +but determined. + +"It's no use," she said, "for us to keep you here no longer, when I +know you've got through with the place, and want to go on, an' we'll +go, too, for I don't believe my child's in London. She's been took +away, an' we might as well look for her in one place as another. The +perlice tells us that if she's found here, they'll know it fust, an' +they'll telegraph to us wherever we is; an' if it wasn't fur nuthin' +else, it would be a mercy to git Jone out of this place. He goes about +like a cat after her drowned kittens. It's a-bringin' out them chills +of hisn, an' the next thing it'll kill him. I can't make him believe in +the findin' of Corinne as firm as I do, but I know as long as Perkins's +Indelible Dab holds out (an' there's no rubbin' nor washin' it off) +I'll git my child." + +I admitted, but not with Pomona's hopefulness, that the child might be +found as easily in Paris as here. + +"And we've seen everything about London," said Euphemia, "except +Windsor Castle. I did want, and still want, to see just how the Queen +keeps house, and perhaps get some ideas which might be useful; but Her +Majesty is away now, and, although they say that's the time to go +there, it is not the time for me. You'll not find me going about +inspecting domestic arrangements when the lady of the house is away." + +So we packed up and went to Paris, taking Little Kensington along. +Notwithstanding our great sympathy with Corinne's parents, Euphemia and +myself could not help becoming somewhat resigned to the affliction +which had befallen them, and we found ourselves obliged to enjoy the +trip very much. Euphemia became greatly excited and exhilarated as we +entered Paris. For weeks I knew she had been pining for this city. As +she stepped from the train she seemed to breathe a new air, and her +eyes sparkled as she knew by the prattle and cries about her that she +was really in France. + +We were obliged to wait some time in the station before we could claim +our baggage, and while we were standing there Euphemia drew my +attention to a placard on the wall. "Look at that!" she exclaimed. +"Even here, on our very entrance to the city, we see signs of that +politeness which is the very heart of the nation. I can't read the +whole of that notice from here, but those words in large letters show +that it refers to the observance of the ancient etiquettes. Think of +it! Here in a railroad station people are expected to behave to each +other with the old-time dignity and gallantry of our forefathers. I +tell you it thrills my very soul to think I am among such a people, and +I am glad they can't understand what I say, so that I may speak right +out." + +I never had the heart to throw cold water on Euphemia's noble emotions, +and so I did not tell her that the notice merely requested travellers +to remove from their trunks the _anciennes etiquettes_, or old railway +labels. + +We were not rich tourists, and we all took lodgings in a small hotel to +which we had been recommended. It was in the Latin Quarter, near the +river, and opposite the vast palace of the Louvre, into whose +labyrinth of picture-galleries Euphemia and I were eager to plunge. + +But first we all went to the office of the American Consul, and +consulted him in regard to the proper measures to be taken for +searching for the little Corinne in Paris. After that, for some days, +Jonas and Pomona spent all their time, and Euphemia and I part of ours, +in looking for the child. Euphemia's Parisian exhilaration continued to +increase, but there were some things that disappointed her. + +"I thought," said she, "that people in France took their morning coffee +in bed, but they do not bring it up to us." + +"But, my dear," said I, "I am sure you said before we came here that +you considered taking coffee in bed as an abominable habit, and that +nothing could ever make you like it." + +"I know," said she, "that I have always thought it a lazy custom, and +not a bit nice, and I think so yet. But still, when we are in a strange +country, I expect to live as other people do." + +It was quite evident that Euphemia had been looking forward for some +time to the novel experience of taking her coffee in bed. But the +gray-haired old gentleman who acted as our chambermaid never hinted +that he supposed we wanted anything of the kind. + +Nothing, however, excited Euphemia's indignation so much as the +practice of giving a _pourboire_ to cabmen and others. "It is simply +feeding the flames of intemperance," she said. When she had occasion to +take a cab by herself, she never conformed to this reprehensible +custom. When she paid the driver, she would add something to the +regular fare, but as she gave it to him she would say in her most +distinct French: "_Pour manger. Comprenezvous_?" The _cocher_ would +generally nod his head, and thank her very kindly, which he had good +reason to do, for she never forgot that it took more money to buy food +than drink. + +In spite of the attractions of the city, our sojourn in Paris was not +satisfactory. Apart from the family trouble which oppressed us, it +rained nearly all the time. We were told that in order to see Paris at +its best we should come in the spring. In the month of May it was +charming. Then everybody would be out-of-doors, and we would see a +whole city enjoying life. As we wished to enjoy life without waiting +for the spring, we determined to move southward, and visit during the +winter those parts of Europe which then lay under blue skies and a warm +sun. It was impossible, at present, for Pomona and Jonas to enjoy life +anywhere, and they would remain in Paris, and then, if they did not +find their child in a reasonable time, they would join us. Neither of +them understood French, but this did not trouble them in the slightest. +Early in their Paris wanderings they had met with a boy who had once +lived in New York, and they had taken him into pay as an interpreter. +He charged them a franc and a half a day, and I am sure they got their +money's worth. + +Soon after we had made up our minds to move toward the south, I came +home from a visit to the bankers, and joyfully told Euphemia that I had +met Baxter. + +"Baxter?" said she, inquiringly; "who is he?" + +"I used to go to school with him," I said; "and to think that I should +meet him here!" + +"I never heard you mention him before," she remarked. + +"No," I answered; "it must be fifteen or sixteen years since I have +seen him, and really it is a great pleasure to meet him here. He is a +capital fellow. He was very glad to see me." + +"I should think," said Euphemia, "if you like each other so much that +you would have exchanged visits in America, or, at least, have +corresponded." + +"Oh, it is a very different thing at home," I said; "but here it is +delightful to meet an old school friend like Baxter. He is coming to +see us this evening." + +That evening Baxter came. He was delighted to meet Euphemia, and +inquired with much solicitude about our plans and movements. He had +never heard of my marriage, and, for years, had not known whether I was +dead or alive. Now he took the keenest interest in me and mine. We were +a little sorry to find that this was not Baxter's first visit to +Europe. He had been here several times; and, as he expressed it, "had +knocked about a good deal over the Continent." He was dreadfully +familiar with everything, and talked about some places we were longing +to see in a way that considerably dampened our enthusiasm. In fact, +there was about him an air of superiority which, though tempered by +much kindliness, was not altogether agreeable. He highly approved our +idea of leaving Paris. "The city is nothing now," he said. "You ought +to see it in May." We said we had heard that, and then spoke of Italy. +"You mustn't go there in the winter," he said. "You don't see the +country at its best. May is the time for Italy. Then it is neither too +hot nor too cold, and you will find out what an Italian sky is." We +said that we hoped to be in England in the spring, and he agreed that +we were right there. "England is never so lovely as in May." + +"Well!" exclaimed Euphemia; "it seems to me, from all I hear, that we +ought to take about twelve years to see Europe. We should leave the +United States every April, spend May in some one place, and go back in +June. And this we ought to do each year until we have seen all the +places in May. This might do very well for any one who had plenty of +money, and who liked the ocean, but I don't think we could stand it. As +for me," she continued, "I would like to spend these months, so cold +and disagreeable here, in the sunny lands of Southern France. I want to +see the vineyards and the olive groves, and the dark-eyed maidens +singing in the fields. I long for the soft skies of Provence, and to +hear the musical dialect in which Frederic Mistral wrote his 'Miréio.'" + +"That sounds very well," said Baxter, "but in all those southern +countries you must be prepared in winter for the rigors of the climate. +The sun is pretty warm sometimes at this season, but as soon as you get +out of it you will freeze to death if you are not careful. The only way +to keep warm is to be in the sun, out of the wind, and that won't work +on rainy days, and winter is the rainy season, you know. In the houses +it is as cold as ice, and the fires don't amount to anything. You +might as well light a bundle of wooden tooth-picks and put it in the +fire-place. If you could sleep all the time you might be comfortable, +for they give you a feather-bed to cover yourself with. Outside you +may do well enough if you keep up a steady walking, but indoors you +will have hard work to keep warm. You must wear chest-protectors. They +sell them down there--great big ones, made of rabbit-skins; and a nice +thing for a man to have to wear in the house is a pair of cloth bags +lined with fur. They would keep his feet and legs warm when he isn't +walking. It is well, too, to have a pair of smaller fur bags for your +hands when you are in the house. You can have a little hole in the end +of one of them through which you can stick a pen-holder, and then you +can write letters. An india-rubber bag, filled with hot water, to lower +down your back, is a great comfort. You haven't any idea how cold your +spine gets in those warm countries. And, if I were you, I'd avoid a +place where you see them carting coal stoves around. Those are the +worst spots. And you need not expect to get one of the stoves, not +while they can sell you wood at two sticks for a franc. You had better +go to some place where they are not accustomed to having tourists. In +the regular resorts they are afraid to make any show of keeping warm, +for fear people will think they are in the habit of having cold +weather. And in Italy you've got to be precious careful, or you'll be +taken sick. And another thing. I suppose you brought a great deal of +baggage with you. You, for instance," said our friend, turning to me, +"packed up, I suppose, a heavy overcoat for cold weather, and a lighter +one, and a good winter suit, and a good summer one, besides another for +spring and fall, and an old suit to lie about in in the orange groves, +and a dress suit, besides such convenient articles as old boots for +tramping in, pocket-lanterns, and so forth." + +Strange to say, I had all these, besides many other things of a similar +kind, and I could not help admitting it. + +"Well," said Baxter, "you'd better get rid of the most of that as soon +as you can, for if you travel with that sort of heavy weight in the +Mediterranean countries, you might as well write home and get your +house mortgaged. All along the lines of travel, in the south of Europe, +you find the hotels piled up with American baggage left there by +travellers, who'll never send for it. It reminds one of the rows of ox +skeletons that used to mark out the roads to California. But I guess +you'll be able to stick it out. Good bye. Let me hear from you." + +When Baxter left us, we could not but feel a little down-hearted, and +Euphemia turned to her guide-book to see if his remarks were +corroborated there. + +"Well, there is one comfort," she exclaimed at last; "this book says +that in Naples epidemics are not so deadly as they are in some other +places, and if the traveller observes about a page of directions, which +are given here, and consults a physician the moment he feels himself +out of order, it is quite possible to ward off attacks of fever. That +is encouraging, and I think we might as well go on." + +"Yes," said I, "and here, in this newspaper, a hotel in Venice +advertises that its situation enables it to avoid the odors of the +Grand Canal; and an undertaker in Nice advertises that he will forward +the corpses of tourists to all parts of Europe and America. I think +there is a chance of our getting back, either dead or alive, and so I +also say, let us go on." + +But before we left Paris, we determined to go to the Grand Opera, which +we had not yet visited, and Euphemia proposed that we should take +Pomona with us. The poor girl was looking wretched and woe-begone, and +needed to have her mind diverted from her trouble. Jonas, at the best +of times, could not be persuaded to any amusement of this sort, but +Pomona agreed to go. We had no idea of dressing for the boxes, and we +took good front seats in the upper circle, where we could see the whole +interior of the splendid house. As soon as the performance commenced, +the old dramatic fire began to burn in Pomona. Her eyes sparkled as +they had not done for many a day, and she really looked like her own +bright self. The opera was "Le Prophète," and, as none of us had ever +seen anything produced on so magnificent a scale, we were greatly +interested, especially in the act which opens with that wonderful +winter scene in the forest, with hundreds of people scattered about +under the great trees, with horses and sleighs and the frozen river in +the background where the skaters came gliding on. The grouping was +picturesque and artistic; the scale of the scene was immense; there was +a vast concourse of people on the stage; the dances were beautiful; the +merry skaters graceful; the music was inspiring. + +Suddenly, above the voices of the chorus, above the drums and bass +strings of the orchestra, above the highest notes of the sopranos, +above the great chandelier itself, came two notes distinct and plain, +and the words to which they were set, were:-- + +"Ma-ma!" + +Like a shot Pomona was on her feet. With arms outspread and her whole +figure dilating until she seemed twice as large as usual, I thought she +was about to spring over the balcony into the house below. I clutched +her, and Euphemia and I, both upon our feet, followed her gaze and saw +upon the stage a little girl in gay array, and upturned face. It was +the lost Corinne. + +Without a word, Pomona made a sudden turn, sprang up the steps behind +her, and out upon the lobby, Euphemia and I close behind her. Around +and down the steps we swept, from lobby to lobby, amazing the +cloak-keepers and attendants, but stopping for nothing; down the grand +staircase like an avalanche, almost into the arms of the astonished +military sentinels, who, startled from their soldier-like propriety, +sprang, muskets in hand, toward us. It was only then that I was able to +speak to Pomona, and breathlessly ask her where she was going. + +"To the stage-door!" she cried, making a motion to hurl to the ground +the soldier before her. But there was no need to go to any stage-door. +In a moment there rushed along the corridor a lady, dressed apparently +in all the colors of the rainbow, and bearing in her arms a child. +There was a quick swoop, and in another moment Pomona had the child. +But clinging to its garments, the lady cried, in excellent English, but +with some foreign tinge:-- + +"Where is my child you stole?" + +"Stole your grandmother!" briefly ejaculated Pomona. And then, in grand +forgetfulness of everything but her great joy, she folded her arms +around her child, and standing like a statue of motherly content, she +seemed, in our eyes, to rise to the regions of the caryatides and the +ceiling frescos. Not another word she spoke, and amid the confusion of +questions and exclamations, and the wild demands of the lady, Euphemia +and I contrived to make her understand the true state of the case, and +that her child was probably at our lodgings. Then there were great +exclamations and quick commands; and, directly, four of us were in a +carriage whirling to our hotel. All the way, Pomona sat silent with her +child clasped tightly, while Euphemia and I kept up an earnest but +unsatisfactory conversation with the lady; for, as to this strange +affair, we could tell each other but little. We learned from the lady, +who was an assistant soprano at the Grand Opera, how Corinne came to +her in Paris, and how she had always kept her with her, even dressing +her up, and taking her on the stage in that great act where as many +men, women, and children as possible were brought upon the scene. When +she heard the cry of Corinne, she knew the child had seen its mother, +and then, whether the opera went on or not, it mattered not to her. + +When the carriage stopped, the three women sprang out at once, and how +they all got through the door, I cannot tell. There was such a +tremendous ring at the gate of the court that the old _concierge_, who +opened it by pulling a wire in his little den somewhere in the rear, +must have been dreadfully startled in his sleep. We rushed through the +court and up the stairs past our apartments to Pomona's room; and there +in the open doorway stood Jonas, his coat off, his sandy hair in wild +confusion, his face radiant, and in his hands Little Kensington in her +nightgown. + +"I knew by the row on the stairs you'd brought her home," he exclaimed, +as Little Kensington was snatched from him and Corinne was put into his +arms. + +We left Jonas and Pomona to their wild delight, and I accompanied the +equally happy lady to the opera house, where I took occasion to reclaim +the wraps which we had left behind in our sudden flight. + +When the police of Paris were told to give up their search for an +absconding nurse accompanied by a child, and to look for one without +such encumbrance, they found her. From this woman was obtained much of +the story I have told, and a good deal more was drawn out, little by +little, from Corinne, who took especial pleasure in telling, in brief +sentences, how she had ousted the lazy baby from the carriage, and how +she had scratched her own legs in getting in. + +"What I'm proud of," said Pomona, "is that she did it all herself. It +wasn't none of your common stealin's an' findin's; an' it aint +everywhere you'll see a child that kin git itself lost back of Prince +Albert's monnyment, an' git itself found at the operer in Paris, an' +attend to both ends of the case itself. An', after all, them two high +notes of hern was more good than Perkins's Indelible Dab." + + + + +DERELICT. + + +A TALE OF THE WAYWARD SEA. + + +I. + +On the 25th of May, 1887, I sat alone upon the deck of the _Sparhawk_, +a three-masted schooner, built, according to a description in the +cabin, at Sackport, Me. I was not only alone on the deck, but I was +alone on the ship. The _Sparhawk_ was a "derelict"; that is, if a +vessel with a man on board of her can be said to be totally abandoned. + +I had now been on board the schooner for eight days. How long before +that she had been drifting about at the mercy of the winds and currents +I did not then know, but I discovered afterward that during a cyclone +early in April she had been abandoned by her entire crew, and had since +been reported five times to the hydrographic office of the Navy +Department in Washington, and her positions and probable courses duly +marked on the pilot chart. + +She had now become one of that little fleet abandoned at sea for one +cause or another, and floating about this way and that, as the wild +winds blew or the ocean currents ran. Voyaging without purpose, as if +manned by the spirits of ignorant landsmen, sometimes backward and +forward over comparatively small ocean spaces, and sometimes drifting +for many months and over thousands of miles, these derelicts form, at +night and in fog, one of the dangers most to be feared by those who +sail upon the sea. + +As I said before, I came on board the abandoned _Sparhawk_ on the 17th +of May, and very glad indeed was I to get my feet again on solid +planking. Three days previously the small steamer _Thespia_, from +Havana to New York, on which I had been a passenger, had been burned +at sea, and all on board had left her in the boats. + +What became of the other boats I do not know, but the one in which I +found myself in company with five other men, all Cuban cigarmakers, was +nearly upset by a heavy wave during the second night we were out, and +we were all thrown into the sea. As none of the Cubans could swim, they +were all lost, but I succeeded in reaching the boat, which had righted +itself, though half full of water. + +There was nothing in the boat but two oars which had not slipped out of +their rowlocks, a leather scoop which had been tied to a thwart, and +the aforementioned water. + +Before morning I had nearly baled out the boat, and fortunate it was +for me that up to the time of the upset we had had enough to eat and +drink, for otherwise I should not have had strength for that work and +for what followed. + +Not long after daybreak I sighted the _Sparhawk_, and immediately began +to make such signals as I could. The vessel appeared to be but a few +miles distant, and I could not determine whether she was approaching me +or going away from me. I could see no sign that my signals had been +noticed, and began frantically to row toward her. After a quarter of an +hour of violent exertion, I did not appear to be much nearer to her; +but, observing her more closely, I could see, even with my landsman's +eyes, that something was the matter with her. Portions of her mast and +rigging were gone, and one large sail at her stern appeared to be +fluttering in the wind. + +But it mattered not to me what had happened to her. She was a ship +afloat, and I must reach her. Tired, hungry, and thirsty I rowed and +rowed, but it was not until long after noon that I reached her. She +must have been much farther from me than I had supposed. + +With a great deal of trouble I managed to clamber on board, and found +the ship deserted. I had suspected that this would be the case, for as +I had drawn near I would have seen some sign that my approach was +noticed had there been anybody on board to perceive it. But I found +food and water, and when I was no longer hungry or thirsty I threw +myself in a berth, and slept until the sun was high the next day. + +I had now been on the derelict vessel for eight days. Why she had been +deserted and left to her fate I was not seaman enough to know. It is +true that her masts and rigging were in a doleful condition, but she +did not appear to be leaking, and rode well upon the sea. There was +plenty of food and water on board, and comfortable accommodations. I +afterwards learned that during the terrible cyclone which had overtaken +her, she had been on her beam ends for an hour before the crew left her +in the boats. + +For the first day or two of my sojourn on the _Sparhawk_ I was as +happy as a man could be under the circumstances. I thought myself to +be perfectly safe, and believed it could not be long before I would be +picked up. Of course I did not know my latitude and longitude, but I +felt sure that the part of the Atlantic in which I was must be +frequently crossed by steamers and other vessels. + +About the fourth day I began to feel uneasy. I had seen but three +sails, and these had taken no notice of the signal which I had hung as +high in the mizzen-mast as I had dared to climb. It was, indeed, no +wonder that the signal had attracted no attention among the fluttering +shreds of sails about it. + +I believe that one ship must have approached quite near me. I had been +below some time, looking over the books in the captain's room, and when +I came on deck I saw the stern of the ship, perhaps a mile or two +distant, and sailing away. Of course my shouts and wavings were of no +avail. She had probably recognized the derelict _Sparhawk_ and had +made a note of her present position, in order to report to the +hydrographic office. + +The weather had been fair for the most part of the time, the sea +moderately smooth, and when the wind was strong, the great sail on the +mizzen-mast, which remained hoisted and which I had tightened up a +little, acted after the manner of the long end of a weather-vane, and +kept the ship's head to the sea. + +Thus it will be seen that I was not in a bad plight; but although I +appreciated this, I grew more and more troubled and uneasy. For several +days I had not seen a sail, and if I should see one how could I attract +attention? It must be that the condition of the vessel indicated that +there was no one on board. Had I known that the _Sparhawk_ was already +entered upon the list of derelicts, I should have been hopeless indeed. + +At first I hung out a lantern as a night signal, but on the second +night it was broken by the wind, and I could find only one other in +good condition. The ship's lights must have been blown away in the +storm, together with her boats and much of her rigging. I would not +hang out the only lantern left me, for fear it should come to grief, +and that I should be left in the dark at night in that great vessel. +Had I known that I was on a vessel which had been regularly relegated +to the ranks of the forsaken, I should better have appreciated the +importance of allowing passing vessels to see that there was a light on +board the _Sparhawk_, and, therefore, in all probability a life. + +As day after day had passed, I had become more and more disheartened. +It seemed to me that I was in a part of the great ocean avoided by +vessels of every kind, that I was not in the track of anything going +anywhere. Every day there seemed to be less and less wind, and when I +had been on board a week, the _Sparhawk_ was gently rising and falling +on a smooth sea in a dead calm. Hour after hour I swept the horizon +with the captain's glass, but only once did I see anything to encourage +me. This was what appeared like a long line of black smoke against the +distant sky, which might have been left by a passing steamer; but, +were this the case, I never saw the steamer. + +Happily, there were plenty of provisions on board of a plain kind. I +found spirits and wine, and even medicines, and in the captain's room +there were pipes, tobacco, and some books. + +This comparative comfort gave me a new and strange kind of despair. I +began to fear that I might become contented to live out my life alone +in the midst of this lonely ocean. In that case, what sort of a man +should I become? + +It was about 8.30 by the captain's chronometer, when I came on deck on +the morning of the 25th of May. I had become a late riser, for what was +the good of rising early when there was nothing to rise for? I had +scarcely raised my eyes above the rail of the ship when, to my utter +amazement, I perceived a vessel not a mile away. The sight was so +unexpected, and the surprise was so great, that my heart almost stopped +beating as I stood and gazed at her. + +She was a medium-sized iron steamer, and lay upon the sea in a peculiar +fashion, her head being much lower than her stern, the latter elevated +so much that I could see part of the blades of her motionless +propeller. She presented the appearance of a ship which was just about +to plunge, bow foremost, into the depths of the ocean, or which had +just risen, stern foremost, from those depths. + +With the exception of her position, and the fact that no smoke-stack +was visible, she seemed, to my eyes, to be in good enough trim. She had +probably been in collision with something, and her forward compartments +had filled. Deserted by her crew, she had become a derelict, and, +drifting about in her desolation, had fallen in with another derelict +as desolate as herself. The fact that I was on board the _Sparhawk_ +did not, in my eyes, make that vessel any the less forsaken and +forlorn. + +The coming of this steamer gave me no comfort. Two derelicts, in their +saddening effects upon the spirits, would be twice as bad as one, and, +more than that, there was danger, should a storm arise, that they would +dash into each other and both go to the bottom. Despairing as I had +become, I did not want to go to the bottom. + +As I gazed upon the steamer I could see that she was gradually +approaching me. There was a little breeze this morning, and so much of +her hull stood out of the water that it caught a good deal of the wind. +The _Sparhawk_, on the contrary, was but little affected by the breeze, +for apart from the fact that the great sail kept her head always to the +wind, she was heavily laden with sugar and molasses and sat deep in the +water. The other was not coming directly toward me, but would probably +pass at a considerable distance. I did not at all desire that she +should come near the _Sparhawk_. + +Suddenly my heart gave a jump. I could distinctly see on the stern of +the steamer the flutter of something white. It was waved! Somebody must +be waving it! + +Hitherto I had not thought of the spyglass, for with my naked eyes I +could see all that I cared to see of the vessel, but now I dashed below +to get it. When I brought it to bear upon the steamer I saw plainly +that the white object was waved by some one, and that some one was a +woman. I could see above the rail the upper part of her body, her +uncovered head, her uplifted arm wildly waving. + +Presently the waving ceased, and then the thought suddenly struck me +that, receiving no response, she had in despair given up signalling. +Cursing my stupidity, I jerked my handkerchief from my pocket, and, +climbing a little way into the rigging, I began to wave it madly. +Almost instantly her waving recommenced. I soon stopped signalling, and +so did she. No more of that was needed. I sprang to the deck and took +up the glass. + +The woman was gone, but in a few moments she reappeared armed with a +glass. This action filled me with amazement. Could it be possible that +the woman was alone on the steamer, and that there was no one else to +signal and to look out? The thing was incredible, and yet, if there +were men on board, why did they not show themselves? And why did not +one of them wave the signal and use the glass? + +The steamer was steadily but very slowly nearing the _Sparhawk_, when +the woman removed the glass and stood up waist high above the rail of +the steamer Now I could see her much better; I fancied I could almost +discern her features. She was not old; she was well shaped; her bluish +gray dress fitted her snugly. Holding the rail with one hand she stood +up very erect, which must have been somewhat difficult, considering the +inclination of the deck. For a moment I fancied I had seen or known +some one whose habit it was to stand up very erect as this woman stood +upon the steamer. The notion was banished as absurd. + +Wondering what I should do, what instant action I should take, I laid +down my glass, and as I did so the woman immediately put up hers. Her +object was plain enough; she wanted to observe me, which she could not +well do when a view of my face was obstructed by the glass and my +outstretched arms. I was sorry that I had not sooner given her that +opportunity, and for some moments I stood and faced her, waving my hat +as I did so. + +I was wild with excitement. What should I do? What could I do? There +were no boats on the _Sparhawk_, and what had become of the one in +which I reached her I did not know. Thinking of nothing but getting on +board the vessel, I had forgotten to make the boat fast, and when I +went to look for it a day or two afterward it was gone. On the steamer, +however, I saw a boat hanging from davits near the stern. There was +hope in that. + +But there might be no need for a boat. Under the influence of the +gentle breeze, the steamer was steadily drawing nearer to the +_Sparhawk_. Perhaps they might touch each other. But this idea was soon +dispelled, for I could see that the wind would carry the steamer past +me, although, perhaps, at no great distance. Then my hopes sprang back +to the boat hanging from her davits. + +But before these hopes could take shape the woman and her glass died +out of sight behind the rail of the steamer. In about a minute she +reappeared, stood up erect, and applied a speaking-trumpet to her +mouth. It was possible that a high, shrill voice might have been heard +from one vessel to the other, but it was plain enough that this was a +woman who took no useless chances. I, too, must be prepared to hail as +well as to be hailed. Quickly I secured a speaking-trumpet from the +captain's room, and stood up at my post. + +Across the water came the monosyllable, "Ho!" and back I shouted, +"Hallo!" + +Then came these words, as clear and distinct as any I ever heard in my +life: "Are you Mr. Rockwell?" + +This question almost took away my senses. Was this reality? or had a +spirit risen from this lonely ocean to summon me somewhere? Was this +the way people died? Rockwell? Yes, my name was Rockwell. At least it +had been. I was sure of nothing now. + +Again came the voice across the sea. "Why don't you answer?" it said. + +I raised my trumpet to my lips. At first I could make no sound, but, +controlling my agitation a little, I shouted: "Yes!" + +Instantly the woman disappeared, and for ten minutes I saw her no +more. During that time I did nothing but stand and look at the steamer, +which was moving more slowly than before, for the reason that the wind +was dying away. She was now, however, nearly opposite me, and so near +that if the wind should cease entirely, conversation might be held +without the aid of trumpets. I earnestly hoped this might be the case, +for I had now recovered the possession of my senses, and greatly +desired to hear the natural voice of that young woman on the steamer. + +As soon as she reappeared I made a trial of the power of my voice. +Laying down the trumpet I shouted: "Who are you?" + +Back came the answer, clear, high, and perfectly audible: "I am Mary +Phillips." + +Mary Phillips! it seemed to me that I remembered the name. I was +certainly familiar with the erect attitude, and I fancied I recognized +the features of the speaker. But this was all; I could not place her. + +Before I could say anything she hailed again: "Don't you remember me?" +she cried, "I lived in Forty-second Street." + +The middle of a wild and desolate ocean and a voice from Forty-second +Street! What manner of conjecture was this? I clasped my head in my +hands and tried to think. Suddenly a memory came to me: a wild, +surging, raging memory. + +"With what person did you live in Forty-second Street?" I yelled across +the water. + +"Miss Bertha Nugent," she replied. + +A fire seemed to blaze within me. Standing on tiptoe I fairly +screamed: "Bertha Nugent! Where is she?" + +The answer came back: "Here!" And when I heard it my legs gave way +beneath me and I fell to the deck. I must have remained for some +minutes half lying, half seated, on the deck. I was nearly stupefied by +the statement I had heard. + +I will now say a few words concerning Miss Bertha Nugent. She was a +lady whom I had known well in New York, and who, for more than a year, +I had loved well, although I never told her so. Whether or not she +suspected my passion was a question about which I had never been able +to satisfy myself. Sometimes I had one opinion; sometimes another. +Before I had taken any steps to assure myself positively in regard to +this point, Miss Nugent went abroad with a party of friends, and for +eight months I had neither seen nor heard from her. + +During that time I had not ceased to berate myself for my inexcusable +procrastination. As she went away without knowing my feelings toward +her, of course there could be no correspondence. Whatever she might +have suspected, or whatever she might have expected, there was nothing +between us. + +But on my part my love for Bertha had grown day by day. Hating the city +and even the country where I had seen her and loved her and where now +she was not, I travelled here and there, and during the winter went to +the West Indies. There I had remained until the weather had become too +warm for a longer sojourn, and then I had taken passage in the +_Thespia_ for New York. I knew that Bertha would return to the city in +the spring or summer, and I wished to be there when she arrived. If, +when I met her, I found her free, there would be no more delay. My life +thenceforth would be black or white. And now here she was near me in a +half-wrecked steamer on the wide Atlantic, with no companion, as I +knew, but her maid, Mary Phillips. + +I now had a very distinct recollection of Mary Phillips. In my visits +to the Nugent household in Forty-second Street I had frequently seen +this young woman. Two or three times when Miss Nugent had not been at +home, I had had slight interviews with her. She always treated me with +a certain cordiality, and I had some reason to think that if Miss +Nugent really suspected my feelings, Mary Phillips had given her some +hints on the subject. + +Mary Phillips was an exceedingly bright and quick young woman, and I am +quite sure that she could see into the state of a man's feelings as +well as any one. Bertha had given me many instances of her maid's +facilities for adapting herself to circumstances, and I was now +thankful from the bottom of my heart that Bertha had this woman with +her. + +I was recovering from the stupefaction into which my sudden emotions +had plunged me, when a hail came across the water, first in Mary +Phillips's natural voice, and then through a speaking-trumpet. I stood +up and answered. + +"I was wondering," cried Mary Phillips, "what had become of you; I +thought perhaps you had gone down to breakfast." In answer I called to +her to tell me where Miss Nugent was, how she was, how she came to be +in this surprising situation, and how many people there were on board +the steamer. + +"Miss Nugent has not been at all well," answered Mary, "but she +brightened up as soon as I told her you were here. She cannot come on +deck very well, because the pitch of the ship makes the stairs so +steep. But I am going to give her her breakfast now, and after she has +eaten something she may be stronger, and I will try to get her on +deck." + +Brightened up when she knew I was near! That was glorious! That +brightened up creation. + +By this time I needed food also, but I did not remain below to eat it. +I brought my breakfast on deck, keeping my eyes all the time fixed upon +Bertha's steamer. The distance between us did not seem to have varied. +How I longed for a little breeze that might bring us together! Bertha +was on that vessel, trusting, perhaps, entirely to me: and what could I +do if some breeze did not bring us together? I looked about for +something on which I might float to her; but if I made a raft I was not +sure that I could steer or propel it, and I might float away and become +a third derelict. Once I thought of boldly springing into the water, +and swimming to her; but the distance was considerable, my swimming +powers were only moderate, and there might be sharks. The risk was too +great. But surely we would come together. Even if no kind wind arose, +there was that strange attraction which draws to each other the bubbles +on a cup of tea. If bubbles, why not ships? + +It was not long before nearly one-half of Mary Phillips appeared above +the rail. "Miss Nugent aas come on deck," she cried, "and she wants to +see you. She can't stand up very long, because everything is so +sliding." + +Before my trembling lips could frame an answer, she had bobbed out of +sight, and presently reappeared supporting another person, and that +other person was Bertha Nugent. + +I could discern her features perfectly. She was thinner and paler than +when I had last seen her, but her beauty was all there. The same smile +which I had seen so often was upon her face as she waved her +handkerchief to me. I waved my hat in return, but I tried two or three +times before I could speak loud enough for her to hear me. Then I threw +into my words all the good cheer and hope that I could. + +She did not attempt to answer, but smiled more brightly than before. +Her expression seemed to indicate that, apart from the extraordinary +pleasure of meeting a friend on this waste of waters, she was glad that +I was that friend. + +"She can't speak loud enough for you to hear her," called out Mary +Phillips, "but she says that now you are here she thinks everything +will be all right. She wants to know if you are alone on your ship, and +if you can come to us." + +I explained my situation, but said I did not doubt but the two ships +would gradually drift together. "Is there no one to lower your boat?" I +asked. + +"No one but me," answered Mary, "and I don't believe I am up to that +sort of thing. Miss Nugent says I must not touch it for fear I might +fall overboard." + +"Do you mean to say," I cried, "that there is nobody but you two on +board that steamer?" + +"No other living soul!" said Mary, "and I'll tell you how it all +happened." + +Then she told their story. The friends with whom Miss Nugent had +travelled had determined to go to Egypt, but as she did not wish to +accompany them, she had remained in Spain and Algiers during the early +spring, and, eleven days before, she and Mary Phillips had started from +Marseilles for home in the steamer _La Fidélité_. Five days ago, the +steamer had collided in the night with something, Mary did not know +what, and her front part was filled with water. Everybody was sure that +the vessel would soon sink, and the captain, crew, and passengers--all +French--went away in boats. + +"Is it possible" I yelled, "that they deserted you two women?" + +Mary Phillips replied that this was not the case. They had been +implored to go in the boats, but the night was dark, the sea was rough +and pitchy, and she was sure the boat would upset before they had gone +a hundred yards. Miss Nugent and she both agreed that it was much safer +to remain on a large vessel like the _Fidélité_, even if she was half +full of water, than to go out on the dark and stormy water in a +miserable little shell of a boat. The captain got down on his knees and +implored them to go, but they were resolute. He then declared that he +would force them into the craft, but Mary Phillips declared that if he +tried that, she would shoot him; she had a pistol ready. Then, when +they had all got in the boats but the captain, two of the men jumped on +board again, threw their arms around him and carried him off, vowing +that he should not lose his life on account of a pair of senseless +Americans. A boat would be left, the men said, which they might use if +they chose; but, of course, this was more a piece of sentiment than +anything else. + +"And now you see," cried Mary Phillips, "I was right, and they were +wrong. This steamer has not sunk; and I have no manner of doubt that +every soul who went away in those boats is now at the bottom of the +sea." + +This was indeed a wonderful story; and the fact that Bertha Nugent was +on board a derelict vessel and should happen to fall in with me on +board of another, was one of those events which corroborate the trite +and hackneyed adage, that truth is stranger than fiction. + +It was surprising how plainly I could hear Mary Phillips across the +smooth, still water. The ships did not now seem to be moving at all; +but soon they would be nearer, and then I could talk with Bertha. And +soon after (it must be so) I would be with her. + +I inquired if they had food and whatever else they needed; and Mary +Phillips replied that, with the exception of the slanting position of +the ship, they were very comfortable; that she did the cooking; and +that Miss Nugent said that they lived a great deal better than when the +ship's cook cooked. + +Mary also informed me that she had arranged a very nice couch for Miss +Nugent on the afterdeck; that she was lying there now, and felt better; +that she wanted to know which I thought the safer ship of the two; and +that whenever a little wind arose, and the vessels were blown nearer +each other, she wished to get up and talk to me herself. + +I answered that I thought both the ships were safe enough, and should +be delighted to talk with Miss Nugent, but in my heart I could not +believe that a vessel with her bow as low as that of the _Fidélité_ +could be safe in bad weather, to say nothing of the possibility of, at +any time, the water bursting into other compartments of the ship. The +_Sparhawk_ I believed to be in much better condition. Despite the fact +that she was utterly helpless as far as sailing qualities were +concerned, the greater part of her masts and rigging being in a +wretched condition, and her rudder useless, she did not appear to be +damaged. I had no reason to believe that she leaked, and she floated +well, although, as I have said, she lay rather deep in the water. + +If the thing were possible, I intended to get Bertha on board the +_Sparhawk_, where there was hope that we could all remain safely until +we were rescued. With this purpose in view, the moment Mary Phillips +disappeared, I went below and prepared the captain's cabin for Bertha +and her maid. I carried to the forward part of the vessel all the +pipes, bottles, and glasses, and such other things as were not suitable +for a lady's apartment, and thoroughly aired the cabin, making it as +neat and comfortable as circumstances permitted. The very thought of +offering hospitality to Bertha was a joy. + +I proposed to myself several plans to be used in various contingencies. +If the two vessels approached near enough, I would throw a line to _La +Fidélité_, and Mary Phillips would make it fast, I knew. Then with a +windlass I might draw the two vessels together. Then I would spring on +board the steamer, and when I had transferred Bertha and Mary to the +_Sparhawk_, would cut loose _La Fidélité_ to drift where she pleased. + +It was possible that I might convey from one vessel to the other some +articles of luxury or necessity, but on this point I would not come to +any definite conclusion. I would consult Mary Phillips on the subject. + +Another plan was that if we did not approach very close, I would +endeavor to throw a long, light line to the steamer, and Mary Phillips +would attach it to the boat which hung from the davits. Into this she +would put a pair of oars and lower it as well as she could; then I +would haul it to the _Sparhawk_, row over to the steamer, and transfer +Bertha and Mary to my vessel. It was possible that we should not have +to be very near each other for me to carry out this plan. Had I been a +seaman, I might have thought of some other plan better than these. But +I was not a seaman. + +I did not waste any time in the cabin, although I was very desirous to +make it as pleasant as possible for the reception of Bertha, but when I +returned to the deck I was astonished to find that the steamer was +farther away than it had been when I went below. There was a slight +breeze from the east, which had nearly turned the _Sparhawk_ about with +her bow to the wind, but was gently carrying _La Fidélité_ before it. + +I seized the speaking-trumpet, and with all my power, hailed the +steamer; and in return there came to me a single sound, the sound of +the vowel O. I could see two handkerchiefs fluttering upon the stern. +In ten minutes these were scarcely discernible. + +Half-crazed, I stood and gazed, and gazed, and gazed at the distant +steamer. The wind died away, and I could perceive that she was not +becoming more distant. Then I began to hope. Another wind might spring +up which would bring her back. + +And in an hour or two the other wind did spring up; I felt it in my +face, and slowly the _Sparhawk_ turned her bow toward it, and, +enrapturing sight! the steamer, with my Bertha on board, began to move +slowly back to me! The wind which was now blowing came from the +southwest, and _La Fidélité_, which before had lain to the southward of +the _Sparhawk_, was passing to the north of my vessel. Nearer and +nearer she came, and my whole soul was engaged in the hope that she +might not pass too far north. + +But I soon saw that unless the wind changed, the steamer would probably +pass within hailing distance. + +Soon I could see Mary Phillips on deck, speaking-trumpet in hand; and +seizing my trumpet, I hailed when as I thought we were near enough. I +eagerly inquired after Bertha, and the high voice of Mary Phillips came +across the water, telling me that Miss Nugent was not feeling at all +well. This uncertain state of affairs was making her feel very nervous. +"Can she come on deck?" I cried. "Can she use a speaking-trumpet? If I +could talk to her, I might encourage her." + +"She needs it," answered Mary, "but she cannot speak through the +trumpet; she tried it, and it made her head ache. She is here on deck, +and I am going to help her stand up as soon as we get nearer. Perhaps +she may be able to speak to you." + +The two vessels were now near enough for a high-pitched conversation +without the assistance of trumpets, and Mary Phillips assisted Bertha +to the side of the steamer, where I could distinctly see her. I shouted +as hearty a greeting as ever was sent across the water, bidding her to +keep up a good heart, for help of some kind must surely come to us. She +tried to answer me, but her voice was not strong enough. Then she shook +her head, by which I understood that she did not agree with me in my +hopeful predictions. I called back to her that in all this drifting +about the two vessels must certainly come together, and then, with the +assistance of the steamer's boat, we could certainly devise some way of +getting out of this annoying plight. She smiled, apparently at the +mildness of this expression, and again shook her head. She now seemed +tired, for her position by the rail was not an easy one to maintain, +and her maid assisted her to her couch on the deck. Then stood, up Mary +Phillips, speaking loud and promptly:-- + +"She has a message for you," she said, "which she wanted to give to you +herself, but she cannot do it. She thinks--but I tell her it is of no +use thinking that way--that we are bound to be lost. You may be saved +because your ship seems in a better condition than ours, and she does +not believe that the two vessels will ever come together; so she wants +me to tell you that if you get home and she never does, that she wishes +her share in the Forty-second Street house to go to her married sister, +and to be used for the education of the children. She doesn't want it +divided up in the ordinary way, because each one will get so little, +and it will do no good. Do you think that will be a good will?" + +"Don't speak of wills!" I shouted; "there is no need of a will. She +will get home in safety and attend to her own affairs." + +"I think so, too," cried Mary Phillips; "but I had to tell you what she +said. And now she wants to know if you have any message to send to your +parents, for we might blow off somewhere and be picked up, while this +might not happen to you. But I don't believe in that sort of thing any +more than in the other." + +I shouted back my disbelief in the necessity of any such messages, when +Mary Phillips seized her trumpet and cried that she did not hear me. + +Alas! the breeze was still blowing, and the steamer was moving away to +the northeast. Through my trumpet I repeated my words, and then Mary +said something which I could not hear. The wind was against her. I +shouted to her to speak louder, and she must have screamed with all her +force, but I could only hear some words to the effect that we were +bound to come together again, and she waved her handkerchief cheerily. + +Then the steamer moved farther and farther away, and speaking-trumpets +were of no avail. I seized the glass, and watched _La Fidélité_, until +she was nothing but a black spot upon the sea. + +The wind grew lighter, and finally died away, and the black spot +remained upon the horizon. I did not take my eyes from it until night +drew on and blotted it out. I had not thought of advising Mary Phillips +to hang out a light, and she was probably not sufficiently accustomed +to the ways of ships to think of doing it herself, although there could +be no doubt that there were lanterns suitable for the purpose on the +steamer. Had there been a light upon that vessel, I should have watched +the glimmer all night. As it was, I slept upon the deck, waking +frequently to peer out into the darkness, and to listen for a hail from +a speaking-trumpet. + +In the morning there was a black spot upon the horizon. I fancied that +it was a little nearer than when I last saw it; but in the course of +the forenoon it faded away altogether. Then despair seized upon me, and +I cared not whether I lived or died. I forgot to eat, and threw myself +upon the deck, where I remained for several hours, upbraiding myself +for my monstrous, unpardonable folly in neglecting the opportunities +which were now lost. + +Over and over again I told myself bitterly, that when I had been near +enough to the vessel which bore Bertha Nugent to converse with Mary +Phillips without the aid of a speaking-trumpet, I should have tried to +reach that vessel, no matter what the danger or the difficulties. I +should have launched a raft--I should have tried to swim--I should have +done something. + +And more than that, even had it been impossible for me to reach the +steamer, I should have endeavored to reach Bertha's heart. I should +have told her that I loved her. Whether she were lost or I were lost, +or both of us, she should have known I loved her. She might not have +been able to answer me, but she could have heard me. For that terrible +mistake, that crime, there was no pardon. Now every chance was gone. +What reason was there to suppose that these two derelicts ever again +would drift together? + +In the afternoon I rose languidly and looked about me. I saw something +on the horizon, and seizing the glass, I knew it to be _La Fidélité_. I +could recognize the slant of the hull, of the masts. + +Now hope blazed up again. If she were nearer, she must come nearer +still. I recovered my ordinary state of mind sufficiently to know that +I was hungry, and that I must eat to be strong and ready for what might +happen. + +Upon one thing I was determined. If Bertha should ever again be brought +near enough to hear me, I would tell her that I loved her. The object +of life, however much of it might be left me, should be to make Bertha +know that I loved her. If I swam toward the vessel, or floated on a +plank, I must get near enough to tell her that I loved her. + +But there was no wind, and the apparent size of the steamer did not +increase. This was a region or season of calms or fitful winds. During +the rest of the day the distant vessel continued to be a black speck +upon the smooth and gently rolling sea. Again I spent the night on +deck, but I did not wake to listen or watch. I was worn out and slept +heavily. + +The day was bright when I was awakened by a chilly feeling: a strong +breeze was blowing over me. I sprang to my feet. There was quite a +heavy sea; the vessel was rolling and pitching beneath me, and not far +away, not more than a mile, _La Fidélité_ was coming straight toward +me. Lightly laden, and with a great part of her hull high out of water, +the high wind was driving her before it, while my vessel, her bow to +the breeze, was moving at a much slower rate. + +As I looked at the rapidly approaching steamer, it seemed as if she +certainly must run into the _Sparhawk_. But for that I cared not. All +that I now hoped for was that Bertha should come to me. Whether one +vessel sank or the other, or whether both went down together, I should +be with Bertha, I would live or die with her. Mary Phillips stood full +in view on the stern of the oncoming steamer, a speaking-trumpet in +her hand. I could now see that it was not probable that the two vessels +would collide. The steamer would pass me, but probably very near. +Before I could make up my mind what I should do in this momentous +emergency, Mary Phillips hailed me. + +"When we get near enough," she shouted, "throw me a rope. I'll tie it +to the boat and cut it loose." + +Wildly I looked about me for a line which I might throw. Cordage there +was in abundance, but it was broken or fastened to something, or too +heavy to handle. I remembered, however, seeing a coil of small rope +below, and hastening down, I brought it on deck, took the coil in my +right hand, and stood ready to hurl it when the proper moment should +come. + +That moment came quickly. The steamer was not a hundred feet from me +when I reached the deck. It passed me on the port side. + +"Be ready!" cried Mary Phillips, the instant she saw me. It was not now +necessary to use a trumpet. + +"Throw as soon as I get opposite to you!" she cried. + +"Is Bertha well?" I shouted. + +"Yes!" said Mary Phillips; "but what you've got to do is to throw that +rope. Give it a good heave. Throw now!" + +The two vessels were not fifty feet apart. With all my strength I +hurled the coil of rope. The steamer's stern was above me, and I aimed +high. The flying coil went over the deck of _La Fidélité_, but in my +excitement I forgot to grasp tightly the other end of it, and the whole +rope flew from me and disappeared beyond the steamer. Stupefied by this +deplorable accident, I staggered backward and a heave of the vessel +threw me against the rail. Recovering myself, I glared about for +another rope, but of course there was none. + +Then came a shout from Mary Phillips. But she had already passed me, +and as I was to the windward of her I did not catch her words. As I +remembered her appearance, she seemed to be tearing her hair. In a +flash I thought of my resolution. Rushing to the rail, I put the +trumpet to my mouth. The wind would carry my words to her if it would +not bring hers to me. + +"Tell Bertha to come on deck!" I shouted. Mary Phillips looked at me, +but did not move. I wished her to rush below and bring up Bertha. Not +an instant was to be lost. But she did not move. + +"Tell her I love her!" I yelled through the trumpet. "Tell her that I +love her now and shall love her forever. Tell her I love her, no matter +what happens. Tell her I love her, I love her, I love her!" And this I +continued to scream until it was plain I was no longer heard. Then I +threw down my useless trumpet and seized the glass. Madly I scanned the +steamer. No sign of Bertha was to be seen. Mary Phillips was there, and +now she waved her handkerchief. At all events she forgave me. At such a +terrible moment what could one do but forgive? + +I watched, and watched, and watched, but no figure but that of Mary +Phillips appeared upon the steamer, and at last I could not even +distinguish that. Now I became filled with desperate fury. I determined +to sail after Bertha and overtake her. A great sail was flapping from +one of my masts, and I would put my ship about, and the strong wind +should carry me to Bertha. + +I knew nothing of sailing, but even if I had known, all my efforts +would have been useless. I rushed to the wheel and tried to move it, +pulling it this way and that, but the rudder was broken or jammed,--I +know not what had happened to it. I seized the ropes attached to the +boom of the sail, I pulled, I jerked, I hauled; I did not know what I +was doing. I did nothing. At last, in utter despair and exhaustion, I +fell to the deck. + +But before the wind had almost died away, and in the afternoon the sea +was perfectly calm, and when the sun set I could plainly see the +steamer on the faroff edge of the glistening water. During the whole +of the next day I saw her. She neither disappeared nor came nearer. +Sometimes I was in the depths of despair; sometimes I began to hope a +little; but I had one great solace in the midst of my misery--Bertha +knew that I loved her. I was positively sure that my words had been +heard. + +It was a strange manner in which I had told my love. I had roared my +burning words of passion through a speaking-trumpet, and I had told +them not to Bertha herself, but to Mary Phillips. But the manner was of +no importance. Bertha now knew that I loved her. That was everything to +me. + +As long as light remained I watched _La Fidélité_ through the glass, +but I could see nothing but a black form with a slanting upper line. +She was becalmed as I was. Why could she not have been becalmed near +me? I dared not let my mind rest upon the opportunities I had lost when +she had been becalmed near me. During the night the wind must have +risen again, for the _Sparhawk_ rolled and dipped a good deal, +troubling my troubled slumbers. Very early in the morning I was +awakened by what sounded like a distant scream. I did not know whether +it was a dream or not; but I hurried on deck. The sun had not risen, +but as I looked about I saw something which took away my breath; which +made me wonder if I were awake, or dreaming, or mad. + +It was Bertha's steamer within hailing distance! + +Above the rail I saw the head and body of Mary Phillips, who was +screaming through the trumpet. I stood and gazed in petrified +amazement. + +I could not hear what Mary Phillips said. Perhaps my senses were +benumbed. Perhaps the wind was carrying away her words. That it was +blowing from me toward her soon became too evident. The steamer was +receding from the _Sparhawk_. The instant I became aware of this my +powers of perception and reasoning returned to me with a burning flash. + +Bertha was going away from me--she was almost gone. + +Snatching my trumpet, I leaned over the rail and shouted with all my +might: "Did you hear me say I loved her? Did you tell her?" + +Mary Phillips had put down her trumpet, but now she raised it again to +her mouth, and I could see that she was going to make a great effort. +The distance between us had increased considerably since I came on +deck, and she had to speak against the wind. + +With all the concentrated intensity which high-strung nerves could +give to a man who is trying to hear the one thing to him worth hearing +in the world, I listened. Had a wild beast fixed his claws and teeth +into me at the moment I would not have withdrawn my attention. + +I heard the voice of Mary Phillips, faint, far away. I heard the words, +"Yes, but--" and the rest was lost. She must have known from my aspect +that her message did not reach me, for she tried again and again to +make herself heard. + +The wind continued to blow, and the steamer continued to float and +float and float away. A wind had come up in the night. It had blown +Bertha near me; perhaps it had blown her very near me. She had not +known it, and I had not known it. Mary Phillips had not known it until +it was too late, and now that wind had blown her past me and was +blowing her away. For a time there was a flutter of a handkerchief, +but only one handkerchief, and then _La Fidélité_, with Bertha on +board, was blown away until she disappeared, and I never saw her +again. + +All night I sat upon the deck of the _Sparhawk_, thinking, wondering, +and conjecturing. I was in a strange state of mind. I did not wonder or +conjecture whether Bertha's vessel would come back to me again; I did +not think of what I should do if it did come back. I did not think of +what I should do if it never came back. All night I thought, wondered, +and conjectured what Mary Phillips had meant by the word "but." + +It was plain to me what "yes" had meant. My message had been heard, and +I knew Mary Phillips well enough to feel positively sure that having +received such a message under such circumstances she had given it to +Bertha. Therefore I had positive proof that Bertha knew that I loved +her. But what did the "but" mean? + +It seemed to me that there were a thousand things that this word might +mean. It might mean that she was already engaged to be married. It +might mean that she had vowed never to marry. It might mean that she +disapproved of such words at such a time. I cannot repeat the tenth of +the meanings which I thought I might attach to this word. But the worst +thing that it could purport, the most terrible signification of all, +recurred to me over and over again. It might mean that Bertha could not +return my affection. She knew that I loved her, but she could not love +me. + +In the morning I ate something and then lay down upon the deck to +sleep. It was well that I should do this, I thought, because if Bertha +came near me again in the daytime Mary Phillips would hail me if I were +not awake. All night long I would watch, and, as there was a moon, I +would see Bertha's vessel if it came again. + +I did watch all that afternoon and all that night, and during my +watching I never ceased to wonder and conjecture what Mary Phillips +meant by that word "but." + +About the middle of the next day I saw in the distance something upon +the water. I first thought it a bit of spray, for it was white, but as +there were now no waves there could be no spray. With the glass I could +only see that it was something white shining in the sun. It might be +the glistening body of a dead fish. After a time it became plainer to +me. It was such a little object that the faint breezes which +occasionally arose had more influence upon the _Sparhawk_ than upon +it, and so I gradually approached it. + +In about an hour I made out that it was something round, with something +white raised above it, and then I discovered that it was a +life-preserver, which supported a little stick, to which a white flag, +probably a handkerchief, was attached. Then I saw that on the +life-preserver lay a little yellow mass. + +Now I knew what it was that I saw. It was a message from Bertha. Mary +Phillips had devised the means of sending it. Bertha had sent it. + +The life-preserver was a circular one, filled with air. In the centre +of this, Mary, by means of many strings, had probably secured a stick +in an upright position; she had then fastened a handkerchief to the top +of the stick. Bertha had written a message and Mary had wrapped it in a +piece of oiled silk and fastened it to the life-preserver. She had +then lowered this contrivance to the surface of the water, hoping that +it would float to me or I would float to it. + +I was floating to it. It contained the solution of all my doubts, the +answer to all my conjectures. It was Bertha's reply to my declaration +of love, and I was drifting slowly but surely toward it. Soon I would +know. + +But after a time the course of the _Sparhawk_ or the course of the +message changed. I drifted to the north. Little by little my course +deviated from the line on which I might have met the message. At last I +saw that I should never meet it. When I became convinced of this, my +first impulse was to spring overboard and swim for it. But I restrained +this impulse, as I had restrained others like it. If Bertha came back, +I must be ready to meet her. I must run no risks, for her sake and my +sake. She must find me on the _Sparhawk_ if she should come back. She +had left me and she had come back; she might come back again. Even to +get her message I must not run the risk of missing her. And so with +yearning heart and perhaps tearful eyes I watched the little craft +disappear and become another derelict. + +I do not know how many days and nights I watched and waited for +Bertha's ship and wondered and conjectured what Mary Phillips meant by +"but." I was awake so much and ate so little and thought so hard that I +lost strength, both of mind and body. All I asked of my body was to +look out for Bertha's steamer, and all that I asked of my mind was to +resolve the meaning of the last words I had heard from that vessel. + +One day, I do not know whether it was in the morning or afternoon, I +raised my head, and on the horizon I saw a steamer. Quick as a flash my +glass was brought to bear upon it. In the next minute my arms dropped, +the telescope fell into my lap, my head dropped. It was not Bertha's +steamer; it was an ordinary steamer with its deck parallel with the +water and a long line of smoke coming out of its funnel. The shock of +the disappointment was very great. + +When I looked up again I could see that the steamer was headed directly +toward me, and was approaching with considerable rapidity. But this +fact affected me little. It would not bring me Bertha. It would not +bring me any message from her. It was an ordinary vessel of traffic. I +took no great interest in it, one way or the other. + +Before long it was so near that I could see people on board. I arose +and looked over the rail. Then some one on the steamer fired a gun or a +pistol. As this seemed to be a signal, I waved my hat. Then the steamer +began to move more slowly, and soon lay to and lowered a boat. + +In ten minutes three men stood on the deck of the _Sparhawk_. Some one +had hailed me in English to lower something. I had lowered nothing; but +here they were on deck. They asked me a lot of questions, but I +answered none of them. + +"Is your captain with you?" I said. They answered that he was not, +that he was on the steamer. "Then take me to him," said I. + +"Of course we will," said their leader, with a smile. And they took me. + +I was received on the steamer with much cordiality and much +questioning, but to none of it did I pay any attention. I addressed the +captain. + +"Sir," said I, "I will be obliged to you if you will immediately cruise +to the southwest and pick up for me a life-preserver with a little +white flag attached to it. It also carries a message for me, wrapped up +in a piece of oiled silk. It is very important that I should obtain +that message without delay." + +The captain laughed. "Why, man!" said he, "what are you thinking of? Do +you suppose that I can go out of my course to cruise after a +life-preserver?" + +I looked at him with scorn. "Unmanly fiend!" said I. + +Another officer now approached, whom I afterward knew to be the ship's +doctor. + +"Come, come now," he said, "don't let us have any hard words. The +captain is only joking. Of course he will steam after your +life-preserver, and no doubt will come up with it very soon. In the +mean-time you must come below and have something to eat and drink and +rest yourself." + +Satisfied with this assurance, I went below, was given food and +medicine, and was put into a berth, where I remained for four days in a +half-insensible condition, knowing nothing--caring for nothing. + +When I came on deck again I was very weak, but I had regained my +senses, and the captain and I talked rationally together. I told him +how I had come on board the _Sparhawk_, and how I had fallen in with +the _La Fidélité_, half wrecked, having on board only a dear friend of +mine. In answer to his questions I described the details of the +communications between the two vessels, and could not avoid mentioning +the wild hopes and heart-breaking disappointments of that terrible +time. And, somewhat to my languid surprise, the captain asked no +questions regarding these subjects. I finished by thanking him for +having taken me from the wreck, but added that I felt like a +false-hearted coward for having deserted upon the sea the woman I +loved, who now would never know my fate nor I hers. + +"Don't be too sure of that," said the captain, "for you are about to +hear from her now." + +I gazed at him in blank amazement. "Yes," said the captain, "I have +seen her, and she has sent me to you. But I see you are all knocked +into a heap, and I will make the story as short as I can. This vessel +of mine is bound from Liverpool to La Guayra, and on the way down we +called at Lisbon. On the morning of the day I was to sail from there, +there came into port the _Glanford_, a big English merchantman, from +Buenos Ayres to London. I knew her skipper, Captain Guy Chesters, as +handsome a young English sailor as ever stood upon a deck. + +"In less than an hour from the time we dropped anchor, Captain Guy was +on my vessel. He was on the lookout, he said, for some craft bound for +South America or the West Indies, and was delighted to find me there. +Then he told me that, ten days before, he had taken two ladies from a +half-wrecked French steamer, and that they had prayed and besought him +to cruise about and look for the _Sparhawk_, a helpless ship, with a +friend of theirs alone on board. + +"'You know,' said Captain Guy to me, 'I couldn't do that, for I'd lost +time enough already, and the wind was very light and variable; so all I +could do was to vow to the ladies that when we got to Lisbon we'd be +bound to find a steamer going south, and that she could easily keep a +lookout for the _Sparhawk_, and take off the friend.' 'That was a +pretty big contract you marked out for the steamer going south,' I +said, 'and as for the _Sparhawk_, she's an old derelict, and I sighted +her on my voyage north, and sent in a report of her position, and there +couldn't have been anybody on board of her then.' 'Can't say,' said +Captain Guy; 'from what I can make out, this fellow must have boarded +her a good while after she was abandoned, and seems to have been lying +low after that.' Was that so, sir? Did you lie low?" + +I made no answer. My whole soul was engaged in the comprehension of the +fact that Bertha had sent for me. "Go on!" I cried. + +"All right," said he. "I ought not to keep you waiting. I promised +Captain Guy I would keep a lookout for the _Sparhawk_, and take you off +if you were on board. I promised the quicker, because my conscience was +growling at me for having, perhaps, passed a fellow-being on an +abandoned vessel. But I had heard of the _Sparhawk_ before. I had +sighted her, and so didn't keep a very sharp lookout for living beings +aboard. Then Captain Guy took me on board his ship to see the two +ladies, for they wanted to give me instructions themselves. And I tell +you what, sir, you don't often see two prettier women on board ship, +nor anywhere else, for that matter. Captain Guy told me that before I +saw them. He was in great spirits about his luck. He is the luckiest +fellow in the merchant service. Now, if I had picked up two people that +way, it would have been two old men. But he gets a couple of lovely +ladies; that's the way the world goes. The ladies made me pretty nigh +swear that I'd never set foot on shore till I found you. I would have +been glad enough to stay there all day and make promises to those +women; but my time was short, and I had to leave them to Captain Guy. +So I did keep a lookout for the _Sparhawk_, and heard of her from two +vessels coming north, and finally fell in with you. And a regular +lunatic you were when I took you on board; but that's not to be +wondered at; and you seem to be all right now." + +"Did you not bring me any message from them?" I asked. + +"Oh, yes; lots," said the captain. "Let me see if I can remember some +of them." And then he knit his brows and tapped his head, and repeated +some very commonplace expressions of encouragement and sympathy. + +The effect of these upon me was very different from what the captain +had expected. I had hoped for a note, a line--anything direct from +Bertha. If she had written something which would explain the meaning of +those last words from Mary Phillips, whether that explanation were +favorable or otherwise, I would have been better satisfied; but now my +terrible suspense must continue. + +"Well," said the captain, "you don't seem cheered up much by word from +your friends. I was too busy looking at them to rightly catch +everything they said, but I know they told me they were going to London +in the _Glanford_. This I remembered, because it struck me what a jolly +piece of good luck it all was for Captain Guy." + +"And for what port are you bound?" I asked. "La Guayra," he said. "It +isn't a very good time of the year to be there; but I don't doubt that +you can find some vessel or other there that will take you north, so +you're all right." + +I was not all right. Bertha was saved. I was saved; but I had received +no message. I knew nothing; and I was going away from her. + +Two or three days after this, the captain came to me and said: "Look +here, young man; you seem to be in the worst kind of doleful dumps. +People who have been picked up in the middle of the ocean don't +generally look like that. I wonder if you're not a little love-sick on +account of a young woman on the _Glanford_." + +I made no answer; I would not rebuke him, for he had saved my life; but +this was a subject which I did not wish to discuss with a sea-captain. + +"If that's really what's the matter with you," said he, "I can give you +a piece of advice which will do you good if you take it. I think you +told me that you are not engaged to this lady," (I nodded) "and that +you never proposed to her except through a speaking-trumpet." I +allowed silence to make assent. "Well, now, my advice is to give her +up, to drop all thoughts of her, and to make up your mind to tackle +onto some other girl when you find one that is good enough. You haven't +the least chance in the world with this one. Captain Guy is mad in love +with her. He told me so himself, and when he's out and out in love with +a girl he's bound to get her. When I was with him he might have been +married once a month if he'd chosen to; but he didn't choose. Now he +does choose, and I can tell you that he's not going to make love +through a speaking-trumpet. He'll go straight at it, and he'll win, +too. There's every reason why he should win. In the first place, he's +one of the handsomest fellows, and I don't doubt one of the best +love-makers that you would be likely to meet on land or sea. And then +again, she has every reason to be grateful to him and to look on him as +a hero." + +I listened without a word. The captain's reasoning seemed to me very +fallacious. + +"You don't know it," said he, "but Captain Guy did a good deal more +than pick up those two women from an abandoned vessel. You see he was +making his way north with a pretty fair wind from the south-west, the +first they'd had for several days, and when his lookout sighted _La +Fidélité_ nobody on board thought for a minute that he would try to +beat up to her, for she lay a long way to the west of his course, +though pretty well in sight. + +"But Captain Guy has sharp eyes and a good glass, and he vowed that he +could see something on the wreck that looked like a handkerchief waved +by a woman. He told me this himself as we were walking from my ship to +his. Everybody laughed at him and wanted to know if women waved +handkerchiefs different from other people. + +"They said that any bit of canvas might wave like that, and that it was +plain enough that the vessel was abandoned. If it was not, it could be, +for there was a boat still hanging to one of its davits. Captain Guy +paid no attention to this, but spied a little longer; then he vowed +that he was going to make for that vessel. There was one of the owners +on board, and he up and forbid Captain Guy to do it. He told him that +they had been delayed enough on the voyage by light winds, and now that +they would be over-due at their port a good many days before they got +there. Every day lost, he said, was money lost to the owners. He had +never heard of any skipper undertaking a piece of tomfoolery like this. +It would take all day to beat up to that wreck, and when they reached +it they would find an old derelict, which was no more than they could +see now. And as for there being a woman on board, that was all stuff. +The skipper had woman on the brain. + +"To this Captain Guy answered that he didn't own the ship, but he +commanded her, and as long as he commanded this vessel or any other, he +was not going to pass a wreck when there were good reasons to believe +that there was a human being on board of it, and in spite of what +anybody said, his eyes told him that there was reason to believe that +there was somebody waving on that wreck. So he ordered the ship put +about, paying no attention to the cursing and swearing of the owner, +and beat against a wind that was getting lighter and lighter for over +four hours until he reached the French steamer and took off the two +ladies. + +"There was nobody on board the _Glanford_ that thinks that Captain Guy +will ever sail that ship again. And in fact he don't think so himself. +But said he to me: "If I can marry that girl, the ship can go. If I +can't get another ship, I can sail under a skipper. But there's no +other girl in the world like this one." + +"And so you see, sir," he continued, "there isn't the least chance in +the world for you. Captain Guy's got her on board his ship; he's with +her by sunlight and starlight. He's lost his ship for her and he wants +to marry her. And on the other hand, it'll be weeks and weeks and +perhaps months before you can see her, or write to her either, as like +as not, and long before that Captain Guy will have his affair settled, +and there isn't any reason in my mind to doubt which way it will +settle. And so you just take my advice, sir, and stop drawing that long +face. There are plenty of good girls in the world; no reason why you +shouldn't get one; but if you are moping for the one that Captain +Guy's got his heart set on, I'm afraid you'll end by being as much out +of your head as you were when I found you." + +To all this I made no answer, but walked gloomily toward the stern and +looked down into the foaming wake. I think I heard the captain tell one +of the men to keep an eye on me. + +When we reached La Guayra--and the voyage seemed to me a never-ending +one--I immediately set about finding a vessel bound for England. My +captain advised me to go up on the mountains and wait until a steamer +should sail for New York, which event might be expected in two or three +weeks. America would be much better for me, he thought, than would +England. But I paid no attention to him, and as there was nothing in +port that would sail for England, I took passage in a Spanish steamer +bound for Barcelona. Arriving there, after a passage long enough to +give me plenty of time for the consideration of the last two words I +heard from Mary Phillips, and of the value of the communications I had +received regarding Captain Guy Chesters, I immediately started by rail +for London. On this journey I found that what I had heard concerning +the rescue of my Bertha had had a greater effect upon me than I had +supposed. Trains could not go fast enough for me. I was as restless as +a maniac; I may have looked like one. + +Over and over I tried to quiet myself by comforting reflections, saying +to myself, for instance, that if the message which Bertha had sent +floating on the sea to me had not been a good one, she would not have +sent it. Feel as she might, she could not have been so hard-hearted as +to crush the hopes of a man who, like herself, might soon lie in a +watery grave. But then, there was that terrible word "but." Looked at +in certain lights, what could be more crushing or heart-breaking than +that? + +And then again, Mary Phillips may not have understood what I said to +her through the speaking-trumpet. A grim humor of despair suggested +that at that distance, and in that blustering wind, the faithful +maid-servant might have thought that instead of shouting that I loved +my Bertha, I was asking her if they had plenty of salt pork and +hardtack. It was indeed a time of terrible suspense. + +I did not know Bertha's address in England. I knew that she had friends +in London and others in the country; but I was sure that I would find +her if she were on the island. I arrived in London very early in the +morning, too early to expect to find open any of the banking-houses or +other places where Americans would be likely to register. Unable to +remain inactive, I took a cab and drove to the London docks. + +I went to inquire the whereabouts of Captain Guy Chesters. + +This plan of action was almost repulsive to me, but I felt that it +offered an opportunity which I should not neglect. I would certainly +learn about Bertha if I saw him, and whether it would be anything good +or anything bad I ought to know it. + +In making my inquiries the cabman was of much assistance to me. And +after having been referred from one person to another, I at last found +a man, first mate of a vessel in the docks, who knew Captain Chesters, +and could tell me all about him. + +"Yes, sir," said he, "I can tell you where to find Captain Chesters. +He's on shore, for he doesn't command the _Glanford_ now, and as far as +I know he hasn't signed articles yet either as skipper or mate in any +other craft. The fact is, he's engaged in business, which I suppose he +thinks better than sailing the sea. He was married about a month ago. +It's only two or three days since he's got back from a little land trip +they took on the Continent. I saw him yesterday; he's the happiest man +alive. But it's as like as not that he's ready for business now that +he's got through with his honeymoon, and if it's a skipper you're +looking for you can't find a better man than Captain Guy, not about +these docks." + +I stood and looked at the man without seeing him, and then in a hollow +voice asked: "Where does he live?" + +"A hundred and nine Lisbury Street, Calistoy Road, East. Now that I've +told you, I wish I hadn't. You look as though you were going to measure +him for a coffin." + +"Thank you," said I, and walked away. + +I told the cabman to drive me to the address I had received, and in due +time we arrived in front of a very good-looking house, in a quiet and +respectable street. + +I was in a peculiar state of mind. I had half expected the terrible +shock, and I had received it. But I had not been stunned; I had been +roused to an unusual condition of mental activity. My senses were +sharpened by the torment of my soul, and I observed everything,--the +quarter of the city, the street, the house. + +The woman who opened the door started a little when she saw me. I asked +for Mrs. Captain Chesters, and walked in without waiting to be told +whether the lady was in or not. The woman showed me into a little +parlor, and left me. Her manner plainly indicated that she suspected +something was the matter with me. + +In a very short time a tall, well-made man, with curly brown hair, a +handsome, sun-browned face, and that fine presence which command at sea +frequently gives, entered the room. + +"I understand, sir," said he, "that you asked for my wife, but I +thought it better to come to you myself. What is your business with +her, sir, and what is your name?" + +"My name is Charles Rockwell," I said, "and my business is to see her. +If she has already forgotten my name, you can tell her that I kept +company with her for a while on the Atlantic Ocean, when she was in one +wreck and I was in another." + +"Good heavens!" cried the young sailor; "do you mean to say that you +are the man who was on the derelict _Sparhawk_? And were you picked up +by Captain Stearns, whom I sent after you? I supposed he would have +written to me about you." + +"I came faster than a letter would come," I answered. "Can I see her?" + +"Of course you can!" cried Captain Guy. "I never knew a man so talked +about as you have been since I fell in with the wreck of that French +steamer! By George! sir, there was a time when I was dead jealous of +you. But I'm married tight and fast now, and that sort of thing is done +with. Of course you shall see her." + +He left the room, and presently I heard the sound of running footsteps. +The door was opened, and Mary Phillips entered, closely followed by the +captain. I started back; I shouted as if I had a speaking-trumpet to +my mouth:-- + +"What!" I cried; "is this your wife?" + +"Yes," said Captain Guy, stepping forward, "of course she is. Why not?" +I made no answer, but with open arms I rushed upon Mary Phillips and +folded her in a wild embrace. I heard a burst of nautical oaths, and +probably would have been felled by a nautical fist, had not Mary +screamed to her husband:-- + +"Stop, Guy!" she cried; "I understand him. It's all right. He's so glad +to see me." + +I released her from my embrace, and, staggering back, sank upon a +chair. + +"Go get him a glass of sherry, Guy," she said, and wheeling up a great +easy-chair, she told me to sit in it, for I looked dreadfully tired. I +took the chair, and when the wine was brought I drank it. + +"Where is Miss Nugent?" I asked. + +"Miss Nugent is all right," said Mary Phillips, "but I'm not going to +tell you a word about her or anything else until you've had some +breakfast. I know you have not tasted food this day." + +I admitted that I had not. I would eat, I would do anything, so that +afterward she would tell me about Bertha. + +When I had a cup of coffee and some toast which Mary brought to me upon +a tray, I arose from my chair. + +"Now tell me quickly," I said, "where is Bertha?" + +"Not a bit of it," said Mary Phillips--I call her so, for I shall never +know her by any other name. + +"Sit down again, Mr. Rockwell, and eat these two eggs. When you have +done that I will talk to you about her. You needn't be in a hurry to go +to see her, because in the house where she is the people are not up +yet." + +"Might as well sit down and eat," said the captain, laughing. "When +you're under command of this skipper you will find that her orders are +orders, and the quicker you step up and obey them, the better. So I +would advise you to eat your eggs." + +I began to do so, and Captain Guy laughed a mighty laugh. "She's a +little thing," he said, "but she does know how to make men stand about. +I didn't believe there was a person in this world who could have kept +my hands off you when I saw you hugging my wife. But she did it, and I +tell you, sir, I was never worse cut up in my whole life than I was +when I saw you do that." + +"Sir," said I, looking at him steadfastly, "if I have caused you any +pain, any misery, any torment of the soul, any anguish of heart, any +agony of jealousy, or mental torture of any kind, I am heartily glad of +it, for all of these things you have brought on me." + +"Good!" cried Mary Phillips; "you must be feeling better, sir, and +when you have entirely finished breakfast we will go on and talk." + +In a few moments I pushed away the tray, and Mary, looking at it, +declared herself satisfied, and placed it on a side table. + +"So you really supposed, sir," she said, sitting near me, "that Captain +Chesters married Miss Nugent?" + +"I certainly did," I answered. + +"No doubt, thinking," said Mary, with a smile, "that no man in his +senses would marry anybody else when Miss Nugent was about, which was a +very proper opinion, of course, considering your state of mind." + +"And let me say, sir," said Captain Guy, "if I had married Miss Nugent, +more people than you would have been dissatisfied. I would have been +one of them, and I am sure Miss Nugent would have been another." + +"Count me as one of that party," said Mary Phillips. "And now, Mr. +Rockwell, you shall not be kept waiting a moment longer." + +"Of course she is safe and well," I said, "or you would not be +here, and before you say anything more about her, please tell me what +you meant by that terrible word 'but.'" + +"But?" repeated Mary Phillips, with a puzzled expression. And Captain +Guy echoed, "But? What but?" + +"It was the last word I heard from you," said I; "you shouted it to me +when your vessel was going away for the last time. It has caused me a +world of misery. It may have been followed by other words, but I did +not catch them. I asked you if you had told her that I loved her, and +you answered, 'Yes, but--'" + +Captain Guy slapped his leg, "By George!" he said; "that was enough to +put a man on the rack. Mary, you should have told him more than that." + +Mary Phillips wrinkled her forehead and gazed steadfastly into her lap. +Suddenly she looked up. + +"I remember it," she said; "I remember exactly what I answered or tried +to answer. I said, 'Yes, but she knew it before.'" + +I sprang to my feet. "What do you mean?" I cried. + +"Of course she knew it," she cried: "we must both have been very stupid +if we hadn't known that. We knew it before we left New York; and, for +my part, I wondered why you didn't tell her. But as you never mentioned +it, of course it wasn't for us to bring up the subject." + +"Bertha knew I loved her?" I ejaculated. "And what--and how--what did +she say of it? What did she think of it?" + +"Well," said Mary Phillips, laughing, "I could never see that she +doubted it; I could never see that she objected to it. In fact, from +what she said, and, being just us two, of course she had to say a good +many things to me, I think she was very glad to find out that you knew +it as well as we did." + +"Mary Phillips!" I cried; "where is she? Tell me this moment!" + +"Look here," said Captain Guy, "you're leaving me out of this business +altogether. This is Mrs. Mary Chesters." + +"Mr. Rockwell will be all right when he gets over this flurry," said +Mary to her husband. + +I acknowledged the correction with a nod, for I had no time then for +words on the subject. + +"Don't get yourself flustered, sir," said Mary. "You can't go to her +yet; it's too early. You must give the family time to come down and +have breakfast. I am not going to be party to a scene before breakfast +nor in the middle of a meal. I know the ways and manners of that house, +and I'll send you at exactly the right time." + +I sat down. "Mary--Mrs.--" + +"Don't bother about names just now," she interrupted; "I know who +you're speaking to." + +"Do you believe," I continued, looking steadfastly at her, "that Bertha +Nugent loves me?" + +"I don't know," she said, "that it's exactly my business to give this +information, but under the circumstances I take it on myself to say +that she most certainly does. And I tell you, and you may tell her if +you like, that I would not have said this to you if I hadn't believed +this thing ought to be clinched the minute there was a chance to do it. +It's been hanging off and on long enough. Love you? Why, bless my +soul, sir, she's been thinking of nothing else for the past two or +three days but the coming of the postman, expecting a letter from you, +not considering that you didn't know where to address her, or that it +was rather scant time for a letter to come from La Guayra, where +Captain Stearns would take you if he succeeded in picking you up." + +"The whole affair had a scanty air about it," said Captain Guy. "At +least, that's the way I look at it." + +"You've never said anything like that before," said Mary, rather +sharply. + +"Of course not," replied the captain. "I wanted to keep you as merry +and cheerful as I could. And besides, I didn't say I had thought there +was no chance of Mr. Rockwell's turning up. I only said I considered it +a little scantish." + +"Love you?" continued Mary Phillips; "I should say so. I should have +brought her on deck to wave her handkerchief to you and kiss her +hand--perhaps, when you blew the state of your feelings through a +trumpet; but she wasn't strong enough. She was a pretty weak woman in +body and mind about that time. But from the moment I told her, and she +knew that you not only loved her, but were willing to say so, she began +to mend. And how she did talk about you, and how she did long that the +two ships might come together again! She kept asking me what I thought +about the condition of your vessel and whether it would be like to sink +if a storm came on. I could not help thinking that, as far as I knew +anything about ships, you'd be likely to float for weeks after we'd +gone down, but I didn't say that to her. And then she began to wonder +if you had understood that she had received your message and was glad +to get it. And I told her over and over and over again that you must +have heard me, for I screamed my very loudest. I am very glad that I +didn't know that you only caught those two words." + +"Dear girl!" I ejaculated. "And did she send me a message on a +life-preserver?" + +"You mean to say that you got it?" cried Mary Phillips. + +"No," said I; "it floated away from me. What was it?" + +"I got up that little scheme," said Mary Phillips, "to quiet her. I +told her that a letter might be floated to you that way, and that, +anyway, it would do no harm to try. I don't know what she wrote, but +she must have said a good deal, for she took a long time about it. I +wrapped it up perfectly water-tight. She made the flag herself out of +one of her own handkerchiefs with her initial in the corner. She said +she thought you would like that." + +"Oh, that it had come to me!" I cried. + +"I wish from the bottom of my soul that it had," said Mary, +compassionately. "It would have done you a lot of good on that lonely +ship." + +"Instead of which," observed Captain Guy, "some shark probably +swallowed it, and little good it did him." + +"It put a lot of affection and consideration into him," said Mary, a +little brusquely, "and there are other creatures connected with the sea +who wouldn't be hurt by that sort of thing." + +"There's a shot into me!" cried the captain. "Don't do it again. I cry +quarter!" + +"I must go," I said, rising; "I can wait no longer." + +"Well," said Mary, "you may not be much too soon, if you go slowly." + +"But before I go," I said, "tell me this: Why did she not send me some +word from Lisbon? Why did she not give Captain Stearns a line on a +piece of paper or some message?" + +"A line! a message!" exclaimed Mary. "She sent you a note; she sent you +a dozen messages by Captain Stearns." + +"And I'll wager a month's pay," said Captain Guy, "that he never +delivered one of them." + +"He gave me no note," I cried. + +"It's in the pocket of his pea-jacket now," said Captain Chesters. + +"He did deliver some messages," I said, "after I questioned him; but +they were such as these: Keep up a good heart; everything's bound to be +right in the end; the last to get back gets the heartiest welcome. +Now, anybody could have sent such words as those." + +"Upon my word," cried Mary Phillips, "those were the messages I sent. I +remember particularly the one about the last one back and the heartiest +welcome." + +"Confound that Stearns!" cried Captain Guy; "what did he mean by giving +all his attention to you, and none to the lady that he was sent for to +see?" + +"Good bye, Mrs. Chesters," I said, taking her by the hand. "I can never +thank you enough for what you have done for her and for me. But how you +could leave her I really do not understand." + +"Well," said Mary, coloring a little, "I can scarcely understand it +myself; but that man would have it so, and he's terribly obstinate. But +I don't feel that I've left her. She's in the best of hands, and I see +her nearly every day. Here's her address, and when you meet her, Mr. +Rockwell, you'll find that in every way I've told you truly." I took a +hearty leave of Captain Guy, shook Mary by the hand once more, rushed +down stairs, roused the sleeping cabby, and glancing at the card, +ordered him to gallop to 9 Ravisdock Terrace, Parmley Square. + +I do not know how I got into the house, what I said nor what I asked, +nor whether the family had had their breakfast or not; but the moment +my eyes fell upon my beloved Bertha I knew that in everything Mary +Phillips had told me truly. She came into the room with beaming eyes +and both hands extended. With outstretched arms I rushed to meet her, +and folded her to my breast. This time there was no one to object. For +some moments we were speechless with joyful emotion, but there was no +need of our saying anything, no need of statements nor explanations. +Mary Phillips had attended to all that. + +When we had cooled down to the point of speech, I was surprised to find +that I had been expected, that Bertha knew I was coming. When Mary +Phillips had left me that morning to prepare my breakfast, she had sent +a message to Bertha, and then she had detained me until she thought it +had been received and Bertha was prepared to meet me. + +"I did not want any slips or misses," she said, when she explained the +matter to me afterward. "I don't want to say anything about your +personal appearance, Mr. Rockwell, but there are plenty of servants in +London who, if they hadn't had their orders, would shut the door in the +face of a much less wild-eyed person than you were, sir, that morning." + +Bertha and I were married in London, and two weeks afterward we +returned to America in the new ship _Glaucus_, commanded by Captain Guy +Chesters and his wife. + +Our marriage in England instead of America was largely due to the +influence of Mary Phillips, who thought it would be much safer and more +prudent for us to be married before we again undertook the risks of a +sea-voyage. + +"Nobody knows what may happen on the ocean," she said; "but if you're +once fairly married, that much is accomplished, anyway." + +Our choice of a sailing-vessel in which to make the passage was due in +a great part to our desire to keep company as long as possible with +Captain Chesters and his wife, to whom we truly believed we owed each +other. + +When we reached New York, and Bertha and I were about to start for the +Catskill Mountains, where we proposed to spend the rest of the summer, +we took leave of Captain Guy and his wife with warmest expressions of +friendship, with plans for meeting again. + +Everything seemed to have turned out in the best possible way. + +We had each other, and Mary Phillips had some one to manage. + +We should have been grieved if we had been obliged to leave her without +occupation. + +At the moment of parting I drew her aside. "Mary," I said, "we have had +some strange experiences together, and I shall never forget them." + +"Nor shall I, sir," she answered. "Some of them were so harrowing and +close-shaved, and such heart-breaking disappointments I never had. The +worst of all was when you threw that rope clean over our ship without +holding on to your end of it. I had been dead sure that the rope was +going to bring us all together." + +"That was a terrible mishap," I answered; "what did Bertha think of +it?" + +"Bless my soul!" ejaculated Mary Phillips; "she wasn't on deck, and she +never knew anything about it. When I am nursing up a love match I don't +mention that sort of thing." + + + + +THE BAKER OF BARNBURY. + + +A CHRISTMAS STORY. + +It was three days before Christmas, and the baker of the little village +of Barnbury sat in the room behind his shop. He was a short and sturdy +baker, a good fellow, and ordinarily of a jolly demeanor, but this day +he sat grim in his little back room. + +"Christmas, indeed," he said to himself, "and what of Christmas? 'Thank +you, baker, and a merry Christmas to you,' and every one of them goes +away with the present of a raisin-cake, or a horse ginger-cake, if +they like that better. All this for the good of the trade, of course. +Confound the trade, I'm tired of trade. Is there no good in this world, +but the good of the trade? 'Oh, yes,' they'll say, 'there's Christmas, +and that's good.'--'But what is the good of it to me?' say I. Christmas +day is a family day, and to a man without a family it's no day at all. +I'm not even fourth cousin to a soul in the town. Nobody asks me to a +family dinner. 'Bake! baker!' they cry, 'that we may eat and love each +other.' Confound them! I am tired of it. What is Christmas to me? I +have a mind to skip it." + +As he said this, a smile broke out on his face. "Skip Christmas," said +he; "that is a good idea. They did not think of me last year; this +would make them think of me this year." + +As he said this he opened his order-book and ran his eye over the +names. "Here's orders from every one of them," said he, "from the +doctor down to Cobbler John. All have families, all give orders. It's +pastry, cake, or sweetmeats, or it's meat or fowl to be baked. What a +jolly Christmas they will have without me! Orders from all of them, +every one; all sent in good time for fear of being crowded out." + +Here he stopped and ran his eye again over the list. + +"No, not all," he said; "the Widow Monk is not here. What is the matter +with her, I wonder. The only person in Barnbury who has not ordered +either pastry, cakes, or sweetmeats; or fowls or meat to be baked. If I +skip Christmas, she'll not mind it, she'll be the only one--the only +one in all Barnbury. Ha! ha!" + +The baker wanted some fresh air, and, as this was supper-time for the +whole village, he locked up his shop and went out for a walk. The night +was clear and frosty. He liked this; the air was so different from that +in his bakery. + +He walked to the end of the village, and at the last house he stopped. + +"It's very odd," said he to himself; "no cakes, pastry, or sweetmeats; +not even poultry or meat to be baked. I'll look in and see about this," +and he knocked at the door. + +The Widow Monk was at supper. She was a plump little body, bright and +cheerful to look upon, and not more than thirty. + +"Good evening, baker," said she; "will you sit down and have a cup of +tea?" + +The baker put down his hat, unwound his long woollen comforter, took +off his overcoat, and had a cup of tea. + +"Now, then," said he to himself, as he put down his cup, "if she'd ask +me to dinner, I wouldn't skip Christmas, and the whole village might +rise up and bless her." + +"We are like to have a fine Christmas," he said to her. + +"Fine enough for the rest of you," she said, with a smile, "but I shall +not have any Christmas this year." + +"How's that?" cried the baker; "no Christmas, Widow Monk?" + +"Not this year, baker," said she, and she poured him another cup of +tea. "You see that horse-blanket?" said she, pointing to one thrown +over a chair. + +"Bless me, Widow Monk," cried the baker, "you're not intending to set +up a horse?" + +"Hardly that," she answered, with a smile, "but that's the very last +horse-blanket that I can get to bind. They don't put them on horses, +but they have them bound with red, and use them for door curtains. +That's all the fashion now, and all the Barnbury folks who can afford +them, have sent them to me to be bound with red. That one is nearly +finished, and there are no more to be bound." + +"But haven't the Barnbury folks any more work for you?" cried the +baker; "haven't they shirts or gowns, or some other sort of needling?" + +"Those things they make themselves," answered the widow; "but this +binding is heavy work, and they give it to me. The blankets are coarse, +you see, but they hang well in the doorway." + +"Confound the people of Barnbury!" cried the baker. "Every one of them +would hang well in a doorway, if I had the doing of it. And so you +can't afford a Christmas, Widow Monk?" + +"No," said she, setting herself to work on her horse-blanket, "not this +year. When I came to Barnbury, baker, I thought I might do well, but I +have not done well." + +"Did not your husband leave you anything?" he asked. + +"My husband was a sailor," said she, "and he went down with his brig, +the _Mistletoe_, three years ago, and all that he left me is gone, +baker." + +It was time for the baker to open his shop, and he went away, and as he +walked home snow-drops and tear-drops were all mixed together on his +face. + +"I couldn't do this sort of thing before her," he said, "and I am glad +it was time to go and open my shop." + +That night the baker did all his regular work, but not a finger did he +put to any Christmas order. The next day, at supper-time, he went out +for a walk. + +On the way he said to himself, "If she is going to skip Christmas, and +I am going to skip Christmas, why should we not skip it together? That +would truly be most fit and gladsome, and it would serve Barnbury +aright. I'll go in and lay it before her." + +The Widow Monk was at supper, and when she asked him to take a cup of +tea, he put down his hat, unwound his woollen comforter, and took off +his overcoat. When he set down his empty cup he told her that he, too, +had made up his mind to skip Christmas, and he told her why, and then +he proposed that they should skip it together. + +Now, the Widow Monk forgot to ask him to take a second cup of tea, and +she turned as red as the binding she had put on the horse-blankets. +The baker pushed aside the teacups, leaned over the table, and pressed +his suit very hard. + +When the time came for him to open his shop she said that she would +think about the matter, and that he might come again. + +The next day the sun shone golden, the snow shone silvery, and Barnbury +was like a paradise to the good baker. For the Widow Monk had told him +he might come again, and that was almost the same thing as telling him +that he and she would skip Christmas together! And not a finger, so +far, had he put to any Christmas order. + +About noon of that day, he was so happy, was that good baker, that he +went into the village inn to have a taste of something hot. In the inn +he found a tall man, with rings in his ears. A sun-browned man he was +and a stranger, who had just arrived and wanted his dinner. He was also +a handsome man, and a sailor, as any one could see. + +As the baker entered, the tall man said to the inn-keeper:-- + +"Is there a Mrs. Monk now living in this village?" + +"Truly there is," said the inn-keeper, "and I will show you her house. +But you'll have your dinner first?" + +"Aye, aye," said the stranger, "for I'll not go to her hungry." + +The baker asked for nothing hot, but turned him and went out into the +cold, bleak world. As he closed the door behind him he heard the +stranger say:-- + +"On the brig _Mistletoe_." + +It was not needed that the baker should hear these words; already he +knew everything. His soul had told him everything in the moment he saw +the sun-browned man with the rings in his ears! + +On went the baker, his head bowed on his breast, the sun shining like +tawdry brass, the snow glistening like a slimy, evil thing. He knew not +where he was going; he knew not what he intended to do, but on he went. + +Presently a door opened, and he was called. + +"I saw you coming," said the Widow Monk, "and I did not wish to keep +you waiting in the cold," and she held open the door for him. + +When he had entered, and had seated himself before the fire, she said +to him:-- + +"Truly, you look chilled; you need something hot"; and she prepared it +for him. + +The baker took the hot beverage. This much of good he might at least +allow himself. He drank it, and he felt warmed. + +"And now," said the Widow Monk, seating herself on the other side of +the fire-place, "I shall speak as plainly to you as you spoke to me. +You spoke very well yesterday, and I have been thinking about it ever +since, and have made up my mind. You are alone in the world, and I am +alone; and if you don't wish to be alone any longer, why, I don't wish +to be either, and so--perhaps--it will not be necessary to skip +Christmas this year." + +Alas for the poor baker! Here was paradise seen through a barred gate! +But the baker's heart was moved; even in the midst of his misery he +could not but be grateful for the widow's words. There flashed into his +eyes a sudden brightness. He held out his hands. He would thank her +first, and tell her afterwards. + +The widow took his hands, lowered her bright eyes and blushed. Then she +suddenly withdrew herself and stood up. + +"Now," she said, with a pretty smile, "let me do the talking. Don't +look so downcast. When I tell you that you have made me very, very +happy, you should look happy too. When you came to me yesterday, and +said what you said, I thought you were in too much of a hurry; but now +I think that perhaps you were right, and that when people of our age +have anything important to do it is well to do it at once; for in this +world there are all sorts of things continually springing up to prevent +people from being happy." + +The whole body of the baker was filled with a great groan, but he +denied it utterance. He must hear what she would say. + +"And so I was going to suggest," she continued, "that instead of +skipping Christmas together, we keep it together. That is all the +change I propose to your plan." + +Up sprang the baker, so suddenly, that he overset his chair. Now he +must speak. The widow stepped quickly toward the door, and, turning +with a smile, held up her hand. + +"Now, good friend," said she, "stop there! At any moment some one might +come in. Hasten back to your shop. At three o'clock I will meet you at +the parson's. That will surely be soon enough, even for such a hasty +man as you." + +The baker came forward, and gasped, "Your husband!" + +"Not yet," said the widow, with a laugh, and, kissing the tips of her +fingers to him, she closed the door behind her. + +Out into the cold went the baker. His head was dazed, but he walked +steadfastly to his shop. There was no need for him to go anywhere; to +tell anybody anything. The man with the earrings would settle matters +for himself soon enough. + +The baker put up his shutters and locked his shop door. He would do +nothing more for the good of trade; nothing more for the good of +anything. Skip Christmas! Indeed would he! And, moreover, every holiday +and every happy day would now be skipped straight on for the rest of +his life. He put his house in order; he arranged his affairs; he +attired himself in his best apparel; locked his door behind him; and +went out into the cold world. + +He longed now to get far away from the village. Before the sun set +there would not be one soul there who would care for him. + +As he hurried on, he saw before him the parson's house. + +"I will take but one thing away with me," he said; "I will ask the good +old man to give me his blessing. That will I take with me." + +"Of course he is in," said the parson's maid; "there, in the parlor." + +As the baker entered the parson's parlor, some one hastened to meet +him. It was the Widow Monk. + +"You wicked man," she whispered, "you are a quarter of an hour late. +The parson is waiting." + +The parson was a little man with white hair. He stepped toward the +couple standing together, and the widow took the baker's hand. Then the +parson began the little speech he always made on such occasions. It +was full of good sense and very touching, and the widow's eyes were dim +with tears. The baker would have spoken, but he had never interrupted a +clergyman, and he could not do it now. + +Then the parson began his appointed work, and the heart of the baker +swelled, as the widow's hand trembled in his own. + +"Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife?" asked the parson. + +"Now for this," quoth the poor baker to himself, "I may bake forever, +but I cannot draw back nor keep the good man waiting." And he said, +"Yes." + +Then it was that the baker received what he had come for,--the parson's +blessing; and, immediately, his fair companion, brimming with tears, +threw herself into his arms. + +"Now," said the baker to himself, "when I leave this house, may the +devil take me, and right welcome shall he be!" + +"Dearest," she exclaimed, as she looked into his face, "you cannot know +how happy I am. My wedding day, and my brother back from the cruel +seas!" + +Struck by a sudden blast of bewildering ecstasy, the baker raised his +eyes, and beheld the tall form of the sun-browned stranger who had been +standing behind them. + +"You are not a sailor-man," quoth the jovial brother, "like my old +mate, who went down in the brig _Mistletoe_, but my sister tells me you +are a jolly good fellow, and I wish you fair winds and paying cargoes." +And after giving the baker a powerful handshake, the sailor kissed the +bride, the parson's wife, the parson's daughter, and the parson's maid, +and wished the family were larger, having just returned from the cruel +seas. + +The only people in the village of Barnbury, who thoroughly enjoyed the +Christmas of that year, were the baker, his wife, and the sailor +brother. And a rare good time they had; for a big sea-chest arrived, +and there were curious presents, and a tall flask of rare old wine, and +plenty of time for three merry people to cook for themselves. + +The baker told his wife of his soul-harrowing plight of the day before. + +"Now, then," said he, "don't you think that by rights I should bake all +the same?" + +"Oh, that will be skipped," she said, with a laugh; "and now go you and +make ready for the cakes, pastry, and sweetmeats, the baked meats and +the poultry, with which the people of Barnbury are to be made right +happy on New Year's day." + + + + +THE WATER-DEVIL + + +A MARINE TALE. + +In the village of Riprock there was neither tavern nor inn, for it was +but a small place through which few travellers passed; but it could not +be said to be without a place of entertainment, for if by chance a +stranger--or two or three of them, for that matter--wished to stop at +Riprock for a meal, or to pass the night, there was the house of +blacksmith Fryker, which was understood to be always open to decent +travellers. + +The blacksmith was a prominent man in the village, and his house was a +large one, with several spare bedrooms, and it was said by those who +had had an opportunity of judging, that nobody in the village lived +better than blacksmith Fryker and his family. + +Into the village there came, late one autumn afternoon, a tall man, who +was travelling on foot, with a small valise hanging from his shoulder. +He had inquired for lodging for the night, had been directed to the +blacksmith's house, had arranged to stop there, had had his supper, +which greatly satisfied him, and was now sitting before the fire in the +large livingroom, smoking blacksmith Fryker's biggest pipe. + +This stranger was a red-haired man, with a cheery expression, and a +pair of quick, bright eyes. He was slenderly but strongly built, and +was a good fellow, who would stand by, with his hands in the pockets of +his short pea-jacket, and right willingly tell one who was doing +something how the thing ought to be done. + +But the traveller did not sit alone before the crackling fire of logs, +for the night being cool, a table was drawn near to one side of the +fire-place, and by this sat Mistress Fryker and her daughter Joanna, +both engaged in some sort of needle-work. The blacksmith sat between +the corner of the fire-place and this table, so that when he had +finished smoking his after-supper pipe, he might put on his spectacles +and read the weekly paper by the light of the big lamp. On the other +side of the stranger, whose chair was in front of the middle of the +fire-place, sat the school-master, Andrew Cardly by name; a middle-aged +man of sober and attentive aspect, and very glad when chance threw in +his way a book he had not read, or a stranger who could reinforce his +stock of information. At the other corner of the fire-place, in a +cushioned chair, which was always given to him when he dropped in to +spend an evening with the blacksmith, sat Mr. Harberry, an elderly man, +a man of substance, and a man in whom all Riprock, not excluding +himself, placed unqualified confidence as to his veracity, his +financial soundness, and his deep insight into the causes, the +influences, and the final issue of events and conditions. + +"On a night like this," said the stranger, stretching his long legs +toward the blaze, "there is nothing I like better than a fire of wood, +except indeed it be the society of ladies who do not object to a little +tobacco smoke," and he glanced with a smile toward the table with a +lamp upon it. + +Now blacksmith Fryker was a prudent man, and he did not consider that +the privileges of his hearthstone--always freely granted to a decent +stranger--included an acquaintance with his pretty daughter; and so, +without allowing his women-folk a chance to enter into the +conversation, he offered the stranger a different subject to hammer +upon. + +"In the lower country," said he, "they don't need fires as early in the +season as we do. What calling do you follow, sir? Some kind of trade, +perhaps?" + +"No," said the traveller, "I follow no trade; I follow the sea." + +At this the three men looked at him, as also the two women. His +appearance no more suggested that he was a seaman than the appearance +of Mr. Harberry suggested that he was what the village of Riprock +believed him to be. "I should not have taken you for a sailor," said +the blacksmith. + +"I am not a sailor," said the other; "I am a soldier; a sea-soldier--in +fact, a marine." + +"I should say, sir," remarked the school-master, in a manner intended +rather to draw out information than to give it, "that the position of a +soldier on a ship possessed advantages over that of a soldier on land. +The former is not required to make long marches, nor to carry heavy +baggage. He remains at rest, in fact, while traversing great distances. +Nor is he called on to resist the charges of cavalry, nor to form +hollow squares on the deadly battle-field." + +The stranger smiled. "We often find it hard enough," said he, "to +resist the charges made against us by our officers; the hollow squares +form themselves in our stomachs when we are on short rations; and I +have known many a man who would rather walk twenty miles than sail one, +especially when the sea chops." + +"I am very sure, sir," said school-master Cardly, "that there is +nothing to be said against the endurance and the courage of marines. We +all remember how they presented arms, and went down with the _Royal +George_." + +The marine smiled. + +"I suppose," said the blacksmith, "that you never had to do anything of +that sort?" + +The stranger did not immediately answer, but sat looking into the fire. +Presently he said: "I have done things of nearly every sort, although +not exactly that; but I have thought my ship was going down with all on +board, and that's the next worst thing to going down, you know." + +"And how was that?" inquired Fryker. + +"Well," said the other, "it happened more times than I can tell you of, +or even remember. Yes," said he, meditatively, "more times than I can +remember." + +"I am sure," said the school-master, "that we should all like to hear +some of your experiences." + +The marine shrugged his shoulders. "These things," said he, "come to a +man, and then if he lives through them, they pass on, and he is ready +for the next streak of luck, good or bad. That's the way with us +followers of the sea, especially if we happen to be marines, and have +to bear, so to speak, the responsibility of two professions. But +sometimes a mischance or a disaster does fix itself upon a man's mind +so that he can tell about it if he is called upon; and just now there +comes to my mind a very odd thing which once happened to me, and I can +give you the points of that, if you like." + +The three men assured him that they would very much like it, and the +two women looked as if they were of the same opinion. + +Before he began the marine glanced about him, with a certain +good-natured wistfulness which might have indicated, to those who +understood the countenances of the sea-going classes, a desire to wet +his whistle; but if this expression were so intended it was thrown +away, for blacksmith Fryker took no spirits himself, nor furnished them +to anybody else. Giving up all hope in this direction, the marine took +a long pull at his pipe and began. + +"It was in the winter of 1878 that I was on the Bay of Bengal, on my +way to Calcutta, and about five hundred miles distant from that city. I +was not on my own ship, but was returning from a leave of absence on an +American steamer from San Francisco to Calcutta, where my vessel, the +United States frigate _Apache_, was then lying. My leave of absence +would expire in three days; but although the _General Brooks_, the +vessel I was aboard of, was more of a freight than a passenger vessel, +and was heavily laden, we would have been in port in good time if, two +days before, something had not happened to the machinery. I am not a +machinist myself, and don't know exactly what it was that was out of +order, but the engine stopped, and we had to proceed under sail. That +sounds like a slow business; but the _Brooks_ was a clipper-built +vessel with three masts and a lot of sails--square sails, fore-and-aft +sails, jib sails, and all that sort of thing. I am not a regular sailor +myself, and don't know the names of all the sails; but whatever sails +she could have she did have, and although she was an iron vessel, and +heavily freighted, she was a good sailer. We had a strong, steady wind +from the south, and the captain told me that at the rate we were going +he didn't doubt that he would get me aboard my vessel before my leave +ran out, or at least so soon afterward that it wouldn't make any +difference. + +"Well, as I said, the wind blew strong and steady behind us, the sails +were full, and the spray dashed up at our bow in a way calculated to +tickle the soul of any one anxious to get to the end of his voyage; and +I was one of that sort, I can tell you. + +"In the afternoon of the second day after our engine stopped, I was +standing at the bow, and looking over, when suddenly I noticed that +there wasn't any spray dashing up in front of the vessel. I thought we +must have struck a sudden calm, but, glancing up, I saw the sails were +full, and the wind blew fair in my face as I turned toward the stern. I +walked aft to the skipper, and touching my cap, I said, 'Captain, how +is it that when a ship is dashing along at this rate she doesn't throw +up any spray with her cutwater?' He grinned a little, and said, 'But +she does, you know.' 'If you will come forward,' said I, 'I'll show you +that she doesn't,' and then we walked forward, and I showed him that +she didn't. I never saw a man so surprised. At first he thought that +somebody had been squirting oil in front, but even if that had been the +case, there would have been some sort of a ripple on each side of the +bow, and there wasn't anything of the kind. The skipper took off his +cap and scratched his head. Then he turned and sang out, 'Mr. Rogers, +throw the log.' + +"Now the log," said the marine, turning to Mrs. Fryker and her +daughter, "is a little piece of wood with a long line to it, that they +throw out behind a vessel to see how fast she is going. I am not a +regular Jack Tar myself, and don't understand the principle of the +thing, but it tells you exactly how many miles an hour the ship is +going. + +"In about two minutes Mr. Rogers stepped up, with his eyes like two +auger-holes, and said he, 'Captain, we're makin' no knots an hour. +We're not sailing at all.' + +"'Get out,' roared the captain, 'don't you see the sails? Don't you +feel the wind? Throw that log again, sir.' + +"Well, they threw the log again, the captain saw it done, and sure +enough Mr. Rogers was right. The vessel wasn't moving. With a wind that +ought to have carried her spinning along, miles and miles in an hour, +she was standing stock-still. The skipper here let out one of the +strongest imprecations used in navigation, and said he, 'Mr. Rogers, is +it possible that there is a sand-bar in the middle of the Bay of +Bengal, and that we've stuck on it? Cast the lead.' + +"I will just state to the ladies," said the marine, turning toward the +table, "that the lead is a heavy weight that is lowered to the bottom +of a body of water to see how deep it is, and this operation is called +sounding. Well, they sounded and they sounded, but everywhere--fore, +aft, and midship--they found plenty of water; in fact, not having a +line for deep-sea sounding they couldn't touch bottom at all. + +"I can tell you, ladies and gentlemen," said the marine, looking from +one to the other of the party, "that things now began to feel creepy. I +am not afraid of storms, nor fires at sea, nor any of the common +accidents of the ocean; but for a ship to stand still with plenty of +water under her, and a strong wind filling her sails, has more of the +uncanny about it than I fancy. Pretty near the whole of the crew was on +deck by this time, and I could see that they felt very much as I did, +but nobody seemed to know what to say about it. + +"Suddenly the captain thought that some unknown current was setting +against us, and forcing the vessel back with the same power that the +wind was forcing her forward, and he tried to put the ship about so as +to have the wind on her starboard quarter; but as she hadn't any +headway, or for some other reason, this didn't work. Then it struck him +that perhaps one of the anchors had been accidentally dropped, but they +were all in their places, and if one of them had dropped, its cable +would not have been long enough to touch bottom. + +"Now I could see that he began to look scared. 'Mr. Browser,' said he, +to the chief engineer, 'for some reason or other this ship does not +make headway under sail. You must go to work and get the engine +running.' And for the rest of that day everybody on board who +understood that sort of thing was down below, hard at work with the +machinery, hammering and banging like good fellows. + +"The chief officer ordered a good many of the sails to be taken in, for +they were only uselessly straining the masts, but there were enough +left to move her in case the power of the current, or whatever it was +that stopped her, had slackened, and she steadily kept her position +with the breeze abaft. + +"All the crew, who were not working below, were crowded together on +deck, talking about this strange thing. I joined them, and soon found +that they thought it was useless to waste time and labor on the +machinery. They didn't believe it could be mended, and if it should be, +how could an engine move a vessel that the wind couldn't stir? + +"These men were of many nationalities--Dutch, Scandinavian, Spanish, +Italian, South American, and a lot more. Like many other American +vessels that sail from our ports, nearly all the officers and crew were +foreigners. The captain was a Finlander, who spoke very good English. +And the only man who called himself an American was the chief officer; +and he was only half a one; for he was born in Germany, came to the +United States when he was twenty years old, stayed there five years, +which didn't count either way, and had now been naturalized for twenty +years. + +"The consequence of this variety in nationality was that the men had +all sorts of ideas and notions regarding the thing that was happening. +They had thrown over chips and bits of paper to see if the vessel had +begun to move, and had found that she didn't budge an inch, and now +they seemed afraid to look over the sides. + +"They were a superstitious lot, as might be expected, and they all +believed that, in some way or other, the ship was bewitched; and in +fact I felt like agreeing with them, although I did not say so. + +"There was an old Portuguese sailor on board, an ugly-looking, +weather-beaten little fellow, and when he had listened to everything +the others had to say, he shuffled himself into the middle of the +group. 'Look here, mates,' said he, in good enough English, 'it's no +use talking no more about this. I know what's the matter; I've sailed +these seas afore, and I've been along the coast of this bay all the way +from Negapatam to Jellasore on the west coast, and from Chittagong to +Kraw on the other; and I have heard stories of the strange things that +are in this Bay of Bengal, and what they do, and the worst of them all +is the Water-devil--and he's got us!' + +"When the old rascal said this, there wasn't a man on deck who didn't +look pale, in spite of his dirt and his sunburn. The chief officer +tried to keep his knees stiff, but I could see him shaking. 'What's a +Water-devil?' said he, trying to make believe he thought it all stuff +and nonsense. The Portuguese touched his forelock. 'Do you remember, +sir,' said he, 'what was the latitude and longitude when you took your +observation to-day?' 'Yes,' said the other, 'it was 15° north and 90° +east.' The Portuguese nodded his head. 'That's just about the spot, +sir, just about. I can't say exactly where the spot is, but it's just +about here, and we've struck it. There isn't a native seaman on any of +these coasts that would sail over that point if he knowed it and could +help it, for that's the spot where the Water-devil lives.' + +"It made me jump to hear the grunt that went through that crowd when he +said this, but nobody asked any questions, and he went on. 'This here +Water-devil,' said he, 'is about as big as six whales, and in shape +very like an oyster without its shell, and he fastens himself to the +rocks at the bottom with a million claws. Right out of the middle of +him there grows up a long arm that reaches to the top of the water, and +at the end of this arm is a fist about the size of a yawl-boat, with +fifty-two fingers to it, with each one of them covered with little +suckers that will stick fast to anything--iron, wood, stone, or flesh. +All that this Water-devil gets to eat is what happens to come swimmin' +or sailin' along where he can reach it, and it doesn't matter to him +whether it's a shark, or a porpoise, or a shipful of people, and when +he takes a grab of anything, that thing never gets away.' + +"About this time there were five or six men on their knees saying their +prayers, such as they were, and a good many others looked as if they +were just about to drop. + +"'Now, when this Water-devil gets hold of a ship,' the old fellow went +on, 'he don't generally pull her straight down to the bottom, but holds +on to it till he counts his claws, and sees that they are all fastened +to the rocks; for if a good many of them wasn't fastened he might pull +himself loose, instead of pulling the ship down, and then he'd be a +goner, for he'd be towed away, and like as not put in a museum. But +when he is satisfied that he is moored fast and strong, then he hauls +on his arm, and down comes the ship, no matter how big she is. As the +ship is sinkin' he turns her over, every now and then, keel uppermost, +and gives her a shake, and when the people drop out, he sucks them into +a sort of funnel, which is his mouth.' + +"'Does he count fast?' asked one of the men, this being the first +question that had been asked. + +"'I've heard,' said the Portuguese, 'that he's a rapid calculator, and +the minute he's got to his millionth claw, and finds it's hooked tight +and fast, he begins to haul down the ship.'" + +At this point the marine stopped and glanced around at the little +group. The blacksmith's wife and daughter had put down their work, and +were gazing at him with an air of horrified curiosity. The blacksmith +held his pipe in his hand, and regarded the narrator with the +steadiness and impassiveness of an anvil. The school-master was +listening with the greatest eagerness. He was an enthusiast on Natural +History and Mythology, and had written an article for a weekly paper on +the reconciliation of the beasts of tradition with the fauna of to-day. +Mr. Harberry was not looking at the marine. His eyes were fixed upon +the school-master. + +"Mr. Cardly," said he, "did you ever read of an animal like that?" + +"I cannot say that I have," was his reply; "but it is certain that +there are many strange creatures, especially in the sea, of which +scientists are comparatively ignorant." + +"Such as the sea-serpent," added the marine, quickly, "and a great many +other monsters who are not in the books, but who have a good time at +the bottom of the sea, all the same. Well, to go on with my story, you +must understand that, though this Portuguese spoke broken English, +which I haven't tried to give you, he made himself perfectly plain to +all of us, and I can assure you that when he got through talking there +was a shaky lot of men on that deck. + +"The chief officer said he would go below and see how the captain was +getting on, and the crew huddled together in the bow, and began +whispering among themselves, as if they were afraid the Water-devil +would hear them. I turned to walk aft, feeling pretty queer, I can tell +you, when I saw Miss Minturn just coming up from the cabin below. + +"I haven't said anything about Miss Minturn, but she and her father, +who was an elderly English gentleman and an invalid, who had never +left his berth since we took him up at Singapore, were our only +passengers, except, of course, myself. She was a beautiful girl, with +soft blue eyes and golden hair, and a little pale from constantly +staying below to nurse her father. + +"Of course I had had little or nothing to say to her, for her father +was a good deal of a swell and I was only a marine; but now she saw me +standing there by myself, and she came right up to me. 'Can you tell +me, sir,' she said, 'if anything else has happened? They are making a +great din in the engine-room. I have been looking out of our port, and +the vessel seems to me to be stationary.' She stopped at that, and +waited to hear what I had to say, but I assure you I would have liked +to have had her go on talking for half an hour. Her voice was rich and +sweet, like that of so many Englishwomen, although, I am happy to say, +a great many of my countrywomen have just as good voices; and when I +meet any of them for the first time, I generally give them the credit +of talking in soft and musical notes, even though I have not had the +pleasure of hearing them speak." + +"Look here," said the blacksmith, "can't you skip the girl and get back +to the Devil?" + +"No," said the marine, "I couldn't do that. The two are mixed together, +so to speak, so that I have to tell you of both of them." + +"You don't mean to say," exclaimed Mrs. Fryker, speaking for the first +time, and by no means in soft and musical tones, "that he swallowed +her?" + +"I'll go on with the story," said the marine; "that's the best way, and +everything will come up in its place. Now, of course, I wasn't going to +tell this charming young woman, with a sick father, anything about the +Water-devil, though what reason to give her for our standing still here +I couldn't imagine; but of course I had to speak, and I said, 'Don't be +alarmed, miss, we have met with an unavoidable detention; that sort of +thing often happens in navigation. I can't explain it to you, but you +see the ship is perfectly safe and sound, and she is merely under sail +instead of having her engines going.' + +"'I understood about that,' said she, 'and father and I were both +perfectly satisfied; for he said that if we had a good breeze we would +not be long in reaching Calcutta; but we seem to have a breeze, and +yet we don't go.' 'You'll notice,' said I, 'that the sails are not all +set, and for some reason the wind does not serve. When the engines are +mended, we shall probably go spinning along.' She looked as if she was +trying to appear satisfied. 'Thank you, sir,' she said. 'I hope we may +shortly proceed on our way, but in the meantime I shall not say +anything to my father about this detention. I think he has not noticed +it.' 'That would be very wise,' I replied, and as she turned toward the +companionway I was wild to say to her that it would be a lot better for +her to stay on deck, and get some good fresh air, instead of cooping +herself up in that close cabin; but I didn't know her well enough for +that." + +"Now that you are through with the girl," said the blacksmith, "what +did the Devil do?" + +"I haven't got to him yet," said the marine, "but after Miss Minturn +went below I began to think of him, and the more I thought of him, the +less I liked him. I think the chief officer must have told the men +below about the Water-devil, for pretty soon the whole kit and boodle +of them left their work and came on deck, skipper and all. They told me +they had given up the engine as a bad job, and I thought to myself that +most likely they were all too nervous to rightly know what they were +about. The captain threw out the log again, but it floated alongside +like a cork on a fishing-line, and at this he turned pale and walked +away from the ship's side, forgetting to pull it in again. + +"It was now beginning to grow dark, and as nobody seemed to think about +supper, I went below to look into that matter. It wouldn't do for Miss +Minturn. and her father to go without their regular meal, for that +would be sure to scare them to death; and if I'm to have a big scare I +like to take it on a good square meal, so I went below to see about it. +But I wasn't needed, for Miss Minturn's maid, who was an elderly woman, +and pretty sharp set in her temper, was in the cook's galley +superintending supper for her people, and after she got through I +superintended some for myself. + +"After that I felt a good deal bolder, and I lighted a pipe and went on +deck. There I found the whole ship's company, officers and crew, none +of them doing anything, and most of them clustered together in little +groups, whispering or grunting. + +"I went up to the captain and asked him what he was going to do next. +'Do?' said he; 'there is nothing to do; I've done everything that I can +do. I'm all upset; I don't know whether I am myself or some other man'; +and then he walked away. + +"I sat there and smoked and looked at them, and I can tell you the +sight wasn't cheerful. There was the ship, just as good and sound, as +far as anybody could see, as anything that floated on the ocean, and +here were all her people, shivering and shaking and not speaking above +their breath, looking for all the world, under the light of the stars +and the ship's lamps, which some of them had had sense enough to light, +as if they expected in the course of the next half-hour, to be made to +walk the plank; and, to tell the truth, what they were afraid of would +come to pretty much the same thing." + +"Mr. Cardly," here interrupted Mr. Harberry, "how long does it take to +count a million?" + +"That depends," said the school-master, "on the rapidity of the +calculator; some calculators count faster than others. An ordinary boy, +counting two hundred a minute, would require nearly three days and a +half to count a million." + +"Very good," said Mr. Harberry; "please go on with your story, sir." + +"Of course," said the marine, "there is a great difference between a +boy and a Water-devil, and it is impossible for anybody to know how +fast the latter can count, especially as he may be supposed to be used +to it. Well, I couldn't stand it any longer on deck, and having +nothing else to do, I turned in and went to sleep." + +"To sleep! Went to sleep!" exclaimed Mrs. Fryker. "I don't see how you +could have done that." + +"Ah, madam," said the marine, "we soldiers of the sea are exposed to +all sorts of dangers,--combination dangers, you might call them,--and +in the course of time we get used to it; if we didn't we couldn't do +our duty. + +"As the ship had been in its present predicament for six or seven +hours, and nothing had happened, there was no reason to suppose that +things would not remain as they were for six or seven hours more, in +which time I might get a good sleep, and be better prepared for what +might come. There's nothing like a good meal and a good sleep as a +preparation for danger. + +"It was daylight when I awakened, and rapidly glancing about me, I saw +that everything appeared to be all right. Looking out of the port-hole, +I could see that the vessel was still motionless. I hurried on deck, +and was greatly surprised to find nobody there--no one on watch, no +one at the wheel, no one anywhere. I ran down into the fo'castle, which +is the sailors' quarters, but not a soul could I see. I called, I +whistled, I searched everywhere, but no one answered; I could find no +one. Then I dashed up on deck, and glared, around me. Every boat was +gone. + +"Now I knew what had happened: the cowardly rascals, from captain to +cook, had deserted the ship in the night, and I had been left behind! + +"For some minutes I stood motionless, wondering how men could be so +unfeeling as to do such a thing. I soon became convinced, from what I +had seen of the crew, that they had not all gone off together, that +there had been no concerted action. A number of them had probably +quietly lowered a boat and sneaked away; then another lot had gone off, +hoping their mates would not hear them and therefore crowd into their +boat. And so they had all departed, not one boat-load thinking of +anybody but themselves; or if they thought at all about others, +quieting their consciences by supposing that there were enough boats +on the vessel, and that the other people were as likely to get off as +they were. + +"Suddenly I thought of the other passengers. Had they been left behind? +I ran down below, and I had scarcely reached the bottom of the steps +when I met Miss Minturn's maid. 'It seems to me,' she said, sharply, +'that the people on this ship are neglecting their duty. There's nobody +in the kitchen, and I want some gruel.' 'My good woman,' said I, 'who +do you want it for?' 'Who!' she replied; 'why, for Mr. Minturn, of +course; and Miss Minturn may like some, too.' + +"Then I knew that all the passengers had been left behind! + +"'If you want any gruel,' said I, 'you will have to go into the galley +and make it yourself'; and then in a low tone I told her what had +happened, for I knew that it would be much better for me to do this +than for her to find it out for herself. Without a word she sat right +down on the floor, and covered her head with her apron. 'Now don't make +a row,' said I, 'and frighten your master and mistress to death; we're +all right so far, and all you've got to do is to take care of Mr. and +Miss Minturn, and cook their meals. The steamer is tight and sound, and +it can't be long before some sort of a craft will come by and take us +off.' I left her sniffling with her apron over her head, but when I +came back, ten minutes afterward, she was in the galley making gruel. + +"I don't think you will be surprised, my friends," continued the +marine, "when I tell you that I now found myself in a terrible state of +mind. Of course I hadn't felt very jovial since the steamer had been so +wonderfully stopped; but when the captain and all the crew were aboard, +I had that sort of confidence which comes from believing that when +there are people about whose duty it is to do things, when the time +comes to do the things, they will do them; but now, practically +speaking, there was nobody but me. The others on board were not to be +counted, except as encumbrances. In truth, I was alone,--alone with +the Water-devil! + +"The moment I found no one to depend upon but myself, and that I was +deserted in the midst of this lonely mass of water, in that moment did +my belief in the Water-devil begin to grow. When I first heard of the +creature, I didn't consider that it was my business either to believe +in it, or not to believe in it, and I could let the whole thing drop +out of my mind, if I chose; but now it was a different matter. I was +bound to think for myself, and the more I thought, the more I believed +in the Water-devil. + +"The fact was, there wasn't anything else to believe in. I had gone +over the whole question, and the skipper had gone all over it, and +everybody else had gone all over it, and no one could think of anything +but a Water-devil that could stop a steamer in this way in the middle +of the Bay of Bengal, and hold her there hour after hour, in spite of +wind and wave and tide. It could not be anything but the monster the +Portuguese had told us of, and all I now could do was to wonder +whether, when he was done counting his million claws, he would be able +to pull down a vessel of a thousand tons, for that was about the size +of the _General Brooks_. + +"I think I should now have begun to lose my wits if it had not been for +one thing, and that was the coming of Miss Minturn on deck. The moment +I saw her lovely face I stiffened up wonderfully. 'Sir,' said she, 'I +would like to see the captain.' 'I am representing the captain, miss,' +I said, with a bow; 'what is it that I can do for you?' 'I want to +speak to him about the steward,' she said; 'I think he is neglecting +his duty.' 'I also represent the steward,' I replied; 'tell me what you +wish of him.' She made no answer to this, but looked about her in a +startled way. 'Where are all the men?' she said. 'Miss Minturn, 'said +I, 'I represent the crew--in fact, I represent the whole ship's company +except the cook, and his place must be taken by your maid.' 'What do +you mean?' she asked, looking at me with her wide-opened, beautiful +eyes. + +"Then, as there was no help for it, I told her everything, except that +I did not mention the Water-devil in connection with our marvellous +stoppage. I only said that that was caused by something which nobody +understood. + +"She did not sit down and cover her head, nor did she scream or faint. +She turned pale, but looked steadily at me, and her voice did not shake +as she asked me what was to be done. 'There is nothing to be done,' I +answered, 'but to keep up good hearts, eat three meals a day, and wait +until a ship comes along and takes us off.' + +"She stood silent for about three minutes. 'I think,' she then said, +'that I will not yet tell my father what has happened'; and she went +below. + +"Now, strange to say, I walked up and down the deck with my hat cocked +on one side and my hands in my pockets, feeling a great deal better. I +did not like Water-devils any more than I did before, and I did not +believe in this one any less than I did before, but, after all, there +was some good about him. It seems odd, but the arm of this submarine +monster, over a mile long for all that I knew, was a bond of union +between the lovely Miss Minturn and me. She was a lady; I was a marine. +So far as I knew anything about bonds of union, there wasn't one that +could have tackled itself to us two, except this long, slippery arm of +the Water-devil, with one end in the monstrous flob at the bottom, and +the other fast to our ship. + +"There was no doubt about it, if it hadn't been for that Water-devil +she would have been no more to me than the Queen of Madagascar was; but +under the circumstances, if I wasn't everything to her, who could be +anything--that is, if one looked at the matter from a practical point +of view?" + +The blacksmith made a little movement of impatience. "Suppose you cut +all that," said he. "I don't care about the bond of union; I want to +know what happened to the ship." + +"It is likely," said the marine, "if I could have cut the bond of union +that I spoke of, that is to say, the Water-devil's arm, that I would +have done it, hoping that I might safely float off somewhere with Miss +Minturn; but I couldn't cut it then, and I can't cut it now. That bond +is part of my story, and it must all go on together. + +"I now set myself to work to do what I thought ought to be done under +the circumstances, but, of course, that wasn't very much. I hoisted a +flag upside down, and after considering the matter I concluded to take +in all the sails that had been set. I thought that a steamer without +smoke coming from her funnel, and no sails set, would be more likely to +attract attention from distant vessels than if she appeared to be under +sail. + +"I am not a regular sailor, as I said before, but I got out on the +yard, and cut the square sail loose and let it drop on the deck, and I +let the jib come down on a run, and managed to bundle it up some way on +the bowsprit. This sort of thing took all the nautical gymnastics that +I was master of, and entirely occupied my mind, so that I found myself +whistling while I worked. I hoped Miss Minturn heard me whistle, +because it would not only give her courage, but would let her see that +I was not a man who couldn't keep up his spirits in a case like this. + +"When that work was over, I began to wonder what I should do next, and +then an idea struck me. 'Suppose,' thought I, 'that we are not +stationary, but that we are in some queer kind of a current, and that +the water, ship and all are steadily moving on together, so that after +awhile we shall come in sight of land, or into the track of vessels!' + +"I instantly set about to find out if this was the case. It was about +noon, and it so happened that on the day before, when the chief officer +took his observation, I was seized with a desire to watch him and see +how he did it. I don't see why I should have had this notion, but I had +it, and I paid the strictest attention to the whole business, +calculation part and all, and I found out exactly how it was done. + +"Well, then, I went and got the quadrant,--that's the thing they do it +with,--and I took an observation, and I found that we were in latitude +15° north, 90° east, exactly where we had been twenty-four hours +before! + +"When I found out this, I turned so faint that I wanted to sit down and +cover up my head. The Water-devil had us, there was no mistake about +it, and no use trying to think of anything else. I staggered along the +deck, went below, and cooked myself a meal. In a case like this there's +nothing like a square meal to keep a man up. + +"I know you don't like to hear her mentioned," said the marine, turning +to the blacksmith, "but I am bound to say that in course of the +afternoon Miss Minturn came on deck several times, to ask if anything +new had happened, and if I had seen a vessel. I showed her all that I +had done, and told her I was going to hang out lights at night, and did +everything I could to keep her on deck as long as possible; for it was +easy to see that she needed fresh air, and I needed company. As long as +I was talking to her I didn't care a snap of my finger for the +Water-devil. It is queer what an influence a beautiful woman has on a +man, but it's so, and there's no use arguing about it. She said she had +been puzzling her brains to find out what had stopped us, and she +supposed it must be that we had run onto a shallow place and stuck fast +in the mud, but thought it wonderful that there should be such a place +so far from land. I agreed with her that it was wonderful, and added +that that was probably the reason the captain and the crew had been +seized with a panic. But sensible people like herself and her father, I +said, ought not to be troubled by such an occurrence, especially as the +vessel remained in a perfectly sound condition. + +"She said that her father was busily engaged in writing his memoirs, +and that his mind was so occupied, he had not concerned himself at all +about our situation, that is, if he had noticed that we were not +moving. 'If he wants to see the steward, or anybody else,' I said, +'please call upon me. You know I represent the whole ship's company, +and I shall be delighted to do anything for him or for you.' She +thanked me very much and went below. + +"She came up again, after this, but her maid came with her, and the two +walked on deck for a while. I didn't have much to say to them that +time; but just before dark Miss Minturn came on deck alone, and walked +forward, where I happened to be. 'Sir,' said she, and her voice +trembled a little as she spoke, 'if anything should happen, will you +promise me that you will try to save my father?' You can't imagine how +these touching words from this beautiful woman affected me. 'My dear +lady,' said I, and I hope she did not take offence at the warmth of my +expression, 'I don't see how anything can happen; but I promise you, on +the word of a sea-soldier, that if danger should come upon us, I will +save not only your father, but yourself and your maid. Trust me for +that.' + +"The look she gave me when I said these words, and especially the flash +of her eye when I spoke of my being a sea-soldier, made me feel strong +enough to tear that sea-monster's arm in twain, and to sail away with +the lovely creature for whom my heart was beginning to throb." + +"It's a pity," said the blacksmith, "that you hadn't jumped into the +water while the fit was on you, and done the tearing." + +"A man often feels strong enough to do a thing," said the marine, "and +yet doesn't care to try to do it, and that was my case at that time; +but I vowed to myself that if the time came when there was any saving +to be done, I'd attend to Miss Minturn, even if I had to neglect the +rest of the family. + +"She didn't make any answer, but she gave me her hand; and she couldn't +have done anything I liked better than that. I held it as long as I +could, which wasn't very long, and then she went down to her father." + +"Glad of it," said the blacksmith. + +"When I had had my supper, and had smoked my pipe, and everything was +still, and I knew I shouldn't see anybody any more that night, I began +to have the quakes and the shakes. If even I had had the maid to talk +to, it would have been a comfort; but in the way of faithfully +attending to her employers that woman was a trump. She cooked for them, +and did for them, and stuck by them straight along, so she hadn't any +time for chats with me. + +"Being alone, I couldn't help all the time thinking about the +Water-devil, and although it seems a foolish thing now that I look back +on it, I set to work to calculate how long it would take him to count +his feet. I made it about the same time as you did, sir," nodding to +the schoolmaster, "only I considered that if he counted twelve hours, +and slept and rested twelve hours, that would make it seven days, which +would give me a good long time with Miss Minturn, and that would be the +greatest of joys to me, no matter what happened afterward. + +"But then nobody could be certain that the monster at the bottom of +the bay needed rest or sleep. He might be able to count without +stopping, and how did I know that he couldn't check off four hundred +claws a minute? If that happened to be the case, our time must be +nearly up. + +"When that idea came into my head, I jumped up and began to walk about. +What could I do? I certainly ought to be ready to do something when +the time came. I thought of getting life-preservers, and strapping one +on each of us, so that if the Water-devil turned over the vessel and +shook us out, we shouldn't sink down to him, but would float on the +surface. + +"But then the thought struck me that if he should find the vessel empty +of live creatures, and should see us floating around on the top, all he +had to do was to let go of the ship and grab us, one at a time. When I +thought of a fist as big as a yawl-boat, clapping its fifty-two fingers +on me, it sent a shiver through my bones. The fact was there wasn't +anything to do, and so after a while I managed to get asleep, which was +a great comfort." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the schoolmaster, "what reason can +you assign why a seamonster, such as has been described to us, should +neglect to seize upon several small boats filled with men who were +escaping from a vessel which it held in custody?" + +"I do not precisely see," answered Mr. Cardly, "why these men should +have been allowed this immunity, but I--" + +"Oh, that is easily explained," interrupted the marine, "for of course +the Water-devil could not know that a lot more people were not left in +the ship, and if he let go his hold on her, to try and grab a boat that +was moving as fast as men could row it, the steamer might get out of +his reach, and he mightn't have another chance for a hundred years to +make fast to a vessel. No, sir, a creature like that isn't apt to take +any wild chances, when he's got hold of a really good thing. Anyway, we +were held tight and fast, for at twelve o'clock the next day I took +another observation, and there we were, in the same latitude and +longitude that we had been in for two days. I took the captain's glass, +and I looked all over the water of that bay, which, as I think I have +said before, was all the same as the ocean, being somewhere about a +thousand miles wide. Not a sail, not a puff of smoke could I see. It +must have been a slack season for navigation, or else we were out of +the common track of vessels; I had never known that the Bay of Bengal +was so desperately lonely. + +"It seems unnatural, and I can hardly believe it, when I look back on +it, but it's a fact, that I was beginning to get used to the situation. +We had plenty to eat, the weather was fine--in fact, there was now only +breeze enough to make things cool and comfortable. I was head-man on +that vessel, and Miss Minturn might come on deck at any moment, and as +long as I could forget that there was a Water-devil fastened to the +bottom of the vessel, there was no reason why I should not be perfectly +satisfied with things as they were. And if things had stayed as they +were, for two or three months, I should have been right well pleased, +especially since Miss Minturn's maid, by order of her mistress, had +begun to cook my meals, which she did in a manner truly first-class. I +believed then, and I stand to it now, that there is do better proof of +a woman's good feeling toward a man, than for her to show an interest +in his meals. That's the sort of sympathy that comes home to a man, and +tells on him, body and soul." + +As the marine made this remark, he glanced at the blacksmith's +daughter; but that young lady had taken up her sewing and appeared to +be giving it her earnest attention. He then went on with his story. + +"But things did not remain as they were. The next morning, about half +an hour after breakfast, I was walking up and down the upper deck, +smoking my pipe, and wondering when Miss Minturn would be coming up to +talk to me about the state of affairs, when suddenly I felt the deck +beneath me move with a quick, sharp jerk, something like, I imagine, a +small shock of an earthquake. + +"Never, in all my life, did the blood run so cold in my veins; my legs +trembled so that I could scarcely stand. I knew what had happened,--the +Water-devil had begun to haul upon the ship! + +"I was in such a state of collapse that I did not seem to have any +power over my muscles; but for all that, I heard Miss Minturn's voice +at the foot of the companion-way, and knew that she was coming on deck. +In spite of the dreadful awfulness of that moment, I felt it would +never do for her to see me in the condition I was in, and so, shuffling +and half-tumbling, I got forward, went below, and made my way to the +steward's room, where I had already discovered some spirits, and I took +a good dram; for although I am not by any means an habitual drinker, +being principled against that sort of thing, there are times when a +man needs the support of some good brandy or whiskey. + +"In a few minutes I felt more like myself, and went on deck, and there +was Miss Minturn, half-scared to death. 'What is the meaning of that +shock?' she said; 'have we struck anything?' 'My dear lady,' said I, +with as cheerful a front as I could put on, 'I do not think we have +struck anything. There is nothing to strike.' She looked at me for a +moment like an angel ready to cry, and clasping her hands, she said, +'Oh, tell me, sir, I pray you, sir, tell me what has happened. My +father felt that shock. He sent me to inquire about it. His mind is +disturbed.' At that moment, before I could make an answer, there was +another jerk of the ship, and we both went down on our knees, and I +felt as if I had been tripped. I was up in a moment, however, but she +continued on her knees. I am sure she was praying, but very soon up +she sprang. 'Oh, what is it, what is it?' she cried; 'I must go to my +father.' + +"'I cannot tell you,' said I; 'I do not know, but don't be frightened; +how can such a little shock hurt so big a ship?' + +"It was all very well to tell her not to be frightened, but when she +ran below she left on deck about as frightened a man as ever stood in +shoes. There could be no doubt about it; that horrible beast was +beginning to pull upon the ship. Whether or not it would be able to +draw us down below, was a question which must soon be solved. + +"I had had a small opinion of the maid, who, when I told her the crew +had deserted the ship, had sat down and covered her head; but now I did +pretty much the same thing; I crouched on the deck and pulled my cap +over my eyes. I felt that I did not wish to see, hear, or feel +anything. + +"I had sat in this way for about half an hour, and had felt no more +shocks, when a slight gurgling sound came to my ears. I listened for a +moment, then sprang to my feet. Could we be moving? I ran to the side +of the ship. The gurgle seemed to be coming from the stern. I hurried +there and looked over. The wheel had been lashed fast, and the rudder +stood straight out behind us. On each side of it there was a ripple in +the quiet water. We were moving, and we were moving backward! + +"Overpowered by horrible fascination, I stood grasping the rail, and +looking over at the water beneath me, as the vessel moved slowly and +steadily onward, stern foremost. In spite of the upset condition of my +mind, I could not help wondering why the Vessel should move in this +way. + +"There was only one explanation possible: The Water-devil was walking +along the bottom, and towing us after him! Why he should pull us along +in this way I could not imagine, unless he was making for his home in +some dreadful cave at the bottom, into which he would sink, dragging us +down after him. + +"While my mind was occupied with these horrible subjects, some one +touched me on the arm, and turning, I saw Miss Minturn. 'Are we not +moving?' she said. 'Yes,' I answered, 'we certainly are.' 'Do you not +think,' she then asked, 'that we may have been struck by a powerful +current, which is now carrying us onward?' I did not believe this, for +there was no reason to suppose that there were currents which wandered +about, starting off vessels with a jerk, but I was glad to think that +this idea had come into her head, and said that it was possible that +this might be the case. 'And now we are going somewhere' she said, +speaking almost cheerfully. 'Yes, we are,' I answered, and I had to try +hard not to groan as I said the words. 'And where do you think we are +going?' she asked. It was altogether out of my power to tell that sweet +creature that in my private opinion she, at least, was going to heaven, +and so I answered that I really did not know. 'Well,' she said, 'if we +keep moving, we're bound at last to get near land, or to some place +where ships would pass near us.' + +"There is nothing in this world," said the marine, "which does a man so +much good in time of danger as to see a hopeful spirit in a woman--that +is, a woman that he cares about. Some of her courage comes to him, and +he is better and stronger for having her alongside of him." + +Having made this remark, the speaker again glanced at the blacksmith's +daughter. She had put down her work and was looking at him with an +earnest brightness in her eyes. + +"Yes," he continued, "it is astonishing what a change came over me, as +I stood by the side of that noble girl. She was a born lady, I was a +marine, just the same as we had been before, but there didn't seem to +be the difference between us that there had been. Her words, her +spirits, everything about her, in fact, seemed to act on me, to elevate +me, to fill my soul with noble sentiments, to make another man of me. +Standing there beside her, I felt myself her equal. In life or death I +would not be ashamed to say, 'Here I am, ready to stand by you, +whatever happens.'" + +Having concluded this sentiment, the marine again glanced toward the +blacksmith's daughter. Her eyes were slightly moist, and her face was +glowing with a certain enthusiasm. + +"Look here," said the blacksmith, "I suppose that woman goes along with +you into the very maw of the sunken Devil, but I do wish you could take +her more for granted, and get on faster with the real part of the +story." + +"One part is as real as another," said the marine; "but on we go, and +on we did go for the whole of the rest of that day, at the rate of +about half a knot an hour, as near as I could guess at it. The weather +changed, and a dirty sort of fog came down on us, so that we couldn't +see far in any direction. + +"Why that Water-devil should keep on towing us, and where he was going +to take us, were things I didn't dare to think about. The fog did not +prevent me from seeing the water about our stern, and I leaned over the +rail, watching the ripples that flowed on each side of the rudder, +which showed that we were still going at about the same uniform rate. + +"But toward evening the gurgling beneath me ceased, and I could see +that the rudder no longer parted the quiet water, and that we had +ceased to move. A flash of hope blazed up within me. Had the +Water-devil found the ship too heavy a load, and had he given up the +attempt to drag it to its under-ocean cave? I went below and had my +supper; I was almost a happy man. When Miss Minturn came to ask me how +we were getting along, I told her that I thought we were doing very +well indeed. I did not mention that we had ceased to move, for she +thought that a favorable symptom. She went back to her quarters greatly +cheered up. Not so much, I think, from my words, as from my joyful +aspect; for I did feel jolly, there was no doubt about it. If that +Water-devil had let go of us, I was willing to take all the other +chances that might befall a ship floating about loose on the Bay of +Bengal. + +"The fog was so thick that night that it was damp and unpleasant on +deck, and so, having hung out and lighted a couple of lanterns, I went +below for a comfortable smoke in the captain's room. I was puffing +away here at my ease, with my mind filled with happy thoughts of two or +three weeks with Miss Minturn on this floating paradise, where she was +bound to see a good deal of me, and couldn't help liking me better, and +depending on me more and more every day, when I felt a little jerking +shock. It was the same thing that we had felt before. The Water-devil +still had hold of us! + +"I dropped my pipe, my chin fell upon my breast, I shivered all over. +In a few moments I heard the maid calling to me, and then she ran into +the room. 'Miss Minturn wants to know, sir,' she said, 'if you think +that shock is a sudden twist in the current which is carrying us on?' I +straightened myself up as well as I could, and in the dim light I do +not think she noticed my condition. I answered that I thought it was +something of that sort, and she went away. + +"More likely, a twist of the Devil's arm, I thought, as I sat there +alone in my misery. + +"In ten or fifteen minutes there came two shocks, not very far apart. +This showed that the creature beneath us was at work in some way or +another. Perhaps he had reached the opening of his den, and was +shortening up his arm before he plunged down into it with us after him. +I couldn't stay any longer in that room alone. I looked for the maid, +but she had put out the galley light, and had probably turned in for +the night. + +"I went up, and looked out on deck, but everything was horribly dark +and sticky and miserable there. I noticed that my lanterns were not +burning, and then I remembered that I had not filled them. But this did +not trouble me. If a vessel came along and saw our lights she would +probably keep away from us, and I would have been glad to have a vessel +come to us, even if she ran into us. Our steamer would probably float +long enough for us to get on board the other one, and almost anything +would be better than being left alone in this dreadful place, at the +mercy of the Water-devil. + +"Before I left the deck I felt another shock. This took out of me +whatever starch was left, and I shuffled below and got to my bunk, +where I tumbled in and covered myself up, head and all. If there had +been any man to talk to, it would have been different, but I don't know +when I ever felt more deserted than I did at that time. + +"I tried to forget the awful situation in which I was; I tried to think +of other things; to imagine that I was drilling with the rest of my +company, with Tom Rogers on one side of me, and old Humphrey Peters on +the other. You may say, perhaps, that this wasn't exactly the way of +carrying out my promise of taking care of Miss Minturn and the others. +But what was there to do? When the time came to do anything, and I +could see what to do, I was ready to do it; but there was no use of +waking them up now and setting their minds on edge, when they were all +comfortable in their beds, thinking that every jerk of the Devil's arm +was a little twist in the current that was carrying them to Calcutta or +some other desirable port. + +"I felt some shocks after I got into bed, but whether or not there were +many in the night, I don't know, for I went to sleep. It was daylight +when I awoke, and jumping out of my bunk I dashed on deck. Everything +seemed pretty much as it had been, and the fog was as thick as ever. I +ran to the stern and looked over, and I could scarcely believe my eyes +when I saw that we were moving again, still stern foremost, but a +little faster than before. That beastly Water-devil had taken a rest +for the night, and had probably given us the shocks by turning over in +his sleep, and now he was off again, making up for lost time. + +"Pretty soon Miss Minturn came on deck, and bade me good morning, and +then she went and looked over the stern. 'We are still moving on,' she +said, with a smile, 'and the fog doesn't seem to make any difference. +It surely cannot be long before we get somewhere.' 'No, miss,' said I, +'it cannot be very long.' 'You look tired,' she said, 'and I don't +wonder, for you must feel the heavy responsibility on you. I have told +my maid to prepare breakfast for you in our cabin. I want my father to +know you, and I think it is a shame that you, the only protector that +we have, should be shut off so much by yourself; so after this we shall +eat together.' 'After this,' I groaned to myself, 'we shall be eaten +together.' At that moment I did not feel that I wanted to breakfast +with Miss Minturn." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the school-master, "have you ever +read, in any of your scientific books, that the Bay of Bengal is +subject to heavy fogs that last day after day?" + +"I cannot say," answered the school-master, "that my researches into +the geographical distribution of fogs have resulted--" + +"As to fogs," interrupted the marine, "you can't get rid of them, you +know. If you had been in the habit of going to sea, you would know that +you are likely to run into a fog at any time, and in any weather; and +as to lasting, they are just as likely to last for days as for hours. +It wasn't the fog that surprised me. I did not consider that of any +account at all. I had enough other things to occupy my mind." And +having settled this little matter, he went on with his story. + +"Well, my friends, I did not breakfast with Miss Minturn and her +father. Before that meal was ready, and while I was standing alone at +the stern, I saw coming out of the water, a long way off in the fog, +which must have been growing thinner about this time, a dark and +mysterious object, apparently without any shape or form. This sight +made the teeth chatter in my head. I had expected to be pulled down to +the Water-devil, but I had never imagined that he would come up to us! + +"While my eyes were glued upon this apparition, I could see that we +were approaching it. When I perceived this, I shut my eyes and turned +my back--I could look upon it no longer. My mind seemed to forsake me; +I did not even try to call out and give the alarm to the others. Why +should I? What could they do?" + +"If it had been me," said Mrs. Fryker, in a sort of gasping whisper, "I +should have died right there." The marine turned his eyes in the +direction of the blacksmith's daughter. She was engaged with her work, +and was not looking at him. + +"I cannot say," he continued, "that, had Miss Minturn been there at +that moment, that I would not have declared that I was ready to die for +her or with her; but there was no need of trying to keep up her +courage, that was all right. She knew nothing of our danger. That +terrible knowledge pressed on me alone. Is it wonderful that a human +soul should sink a little under such an awful load?" Without turning to +observe the effect of these last words, the marine went on. "Suddenly I +heard behind me a most dreadful sound. 'Good Heavens,' I exclaimed, +'can a Water-devil bray?' + +"The sound was repeated. Without knowing what I did, I turned. I heard +what sounded like words; I saw in the fog the stern of a vessel, with a +man above it, shouting to me through a speaking-trumpet. + +"I do not know what happened next; my mind must have become confused. +When I regained my senses, Miss Minturn, old Mr. Minturn, and the maid +were standing by me. The man had stopped shouting from his trumpet, and +a boat was being lowered from the other ship. In about ten minutes +there were half-a-dozen men on board of us, all in the uniform of the +British navy. I was stiff enough now, and felt myself from top to toe +a regular marine in the service of my country. I stepped up to the +officer in command and touched my cap. + +"He looked at me and my companions in surprise, and then glancing along +the deck, said, 'What has happened to this vessel? Who is in command?' +I informed him, that, strictly speaking, no one was in command, but +that I represented the captain, officers, and crew of this steamer, the +_General Brooks_, from San Francisco to Calcutta, and I then proceeded +to tell him the whole story of our misfortunes; and concluded by +telling the officer, that if we had not moved since his vessel had come +in sight, it was probably because the Water-devil had let go of us, and +was preparing to make fast to the other ship; and therefore it would +be advisable for us all to get on board his vessel, and steam away as +quickly as possible. + +"The Englishmen looked at me in amazement. 'Drunk!' ejaculated the +officer I had addressed. 'Cracked, I should say,' suggested another. +'Now,' spoke up Mr. Minturn, 'I do not understand what I have just +heard,' he said. 'What is a Water-devil? I am astounded.' 'You never +said a word of this to me!' exclaimed Miss Minturn. 'You never told me +that we were in the grasp of a Water-devil, and that that was the +reason the captain and the crew ran away.' 'No,' said I, 'I never +divulged the dreadful danger we were in. I allowed you to believe that +we were in the influence of a current, and that the shocks we felt were +the sudden twists of that current. The terrible truth I kept to myself. +Not for worlds would I have made known to a tenderly nurtured lady, to +her invalid father, and devoted servant, what might have crushed their +souls, driven them to the borders of frenzy; in which case the relief +which now has come to us would have been of no avail.' + +"The officer stood and steadily stared at me. 'I declare,' he said, +'you do not look like a crazy man. At what time did this Water-devil +begin to take you in tow?' + +"'Yesterday morning,' I answered. 'And he stopped during last night?' +he asked. I replied that that was the case. Then he took off his cap, +rubbed his head, and stood silent for a minute. 'We'll look into this +matter!' he suddenly exclaimed, and turning, he and his party left us +to ourselves. The boat was now sent back with a message to the English +vessel, and the officers and men who remained scattered themselves over +our steamer, examining the engine-room, hold, and every part of her. + +"I was very much opposed to all this delay; for although the Englishmen +might doubt the existence of the Water-devil, I saw no reason to do so, +and in any case I was very anxious to be on the safe side by getting +away as soon as possible; but, of course, British officers would not be +advised by me, and as I was getting very hungry I went down to +breakfast. I ate this meal alone, for my fellow-passengers seemed to +have no desire for food. + +"I cannot tell all that happened during the next hour, for, to tell the +truth, I did not understand everything that was done. The boat passed +several times between the two vessels, bringing over a number of +men--two of them scientific fellows, I think. Another was a diver, +whose submarine suit and air-pumping machines came over with him. He +was lowered over the side, and after he had been down about fifteen +minutes he was hauled up again, and down below was the greatest +hammering and hauling that ever you heard. The _General Brooks_ was put +in charge of an officer and some men; a sail was hoisted to keep her in +hand, so that she wouldn't drift into the other ship; and in the midst +of all the rowdy-dow we were told that if we liked we might go on board +the English vessel immediately. + +"Miss Minturn and her party instantly accepted this invitation, and +although under ordinary circumstances I would have remained to see for +myself what these people found out, I felt a relief in the thought of +leaving that vessel which is impossible for me to express, and I got +into the boat with the others. + +"We were treated very handsomely on board the English vessel, which was +a mail steamship, at that time in the employment of the English +Government. I told my story at least half-a-dozen times, sometimes to +the officers and sometimes to the men, and whether they believed me or +not, I don't think any one ever created a greater sensation with a +story of the sea. + +"In an hour or so the officer in charge of the operations on the +_General Brooks_ came aboard. As he passed me on his way to the +captain, he said, 'We found your Water-devil, my man.' 'And he truly +had us in tow?' I cried. 'Yes, you are perfectly correct,' he said, and +went on to make his report to the captain." + +"Now, then," said the blacksmith, "I suppose we are going to get to the +pint. What did he report?" + +"I didn't hear his report," said the marine, "but everybody soon knew +what had happened to our unlucky vessel, and I can give you the whole +story of it. The _General Brooks_ sailed from San Francisco to Calcutta, +with a cargo of stored electricity, contained in large, strongly made +boxes. This I knew nothing about, not being in the habit of inquiring +into cargoes. Well, in some way or other, which I don't understand, +not being a scientific man myself, a magnetic connection was formed +between these boxes, and also, if I got the story straight, between +them and the iron hull of our vessel, so that it became, in fact, an +enormous floating magnet, one of the biggest things of the kind on +record. I have an idea that this magnetic condition was the cause of +the trouble to our machinery; every separate part of it was probably +turned to a magnet, and they all stuck together." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the school-master, "I do not +suppose you have given much attention to the study of commerce, and +therefore are not prepared to give us any information in regard to +stored electricity as an article of export from this country; but +perhaps you can tell us what stored electricity is, and how it is put +into boxes." + +"In regard to the transportation," answered the school-master, speaking +a little slowly, "of encased electric potency, I cannot--" + +"Oh, bless me!" interrupted the marine; "that is all simple enough; you +can store electricity and send it all over the world, if you like; in +places like Calcutta, I think it must be cheaper to buy it than to make +it. They use it as a motive power for sewing-machines, apple-parers, +and it can be used in a lot of ways, such as digging post-holes and +churning butter. When the stored electricity in a box is all used up, +all you have to do is to connect a fresh box with your machinery, and +there you are, ready to start again. There was nothing strange about +our cargo. It was the electricity leaking out and uniting itself and +the iron ship into a sort of conglomerate magnet that was out of the +way." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry, "if an iron ship were magnetized in +that manner, wouldn't it have a deranging effect upon the needle of the +compass?" + +The marine did not give the school-master time to make answer. +"Generally speaking," said he, "that sort of thing would interfere with +keeping the vessel on its proper course, but with us it didn't make any +difference at all. The greater part of the ship was in front of the +binnacle where they keep the compass, and so the needle naturally +pointed that way, and as we were going north before a south wind, it +was all right. + +"Being a floating magnet, of course, did not prevent our sailing, so +we went along well enough until we came to longitude 90°, latitude 15° +north. Now it so happened that a telegraphic cable which had been laid +down by the British Government to establish communication between +Madras and Rangoon, had broken some time before, and not very far from +this point. + +"Now you can see for yourselves that when an enormous mass of magnetic +iron, in the shape of the _General Brooks_, came sailing along there, +the part of that cable which lay under us was so attracted by such a +powerful and irresistible force that its broken end raised itself from +the bottom of the bay and reached upward until it touched our ship, +when it laid itself along our keel, to which it instantly became +fastened as firmly as if it had been bolted and riveted there. Then, as +the rest of this part of the cable was on the bottom of the bay all the +way to Madras, of course we had to stop; that's simple enough. That's +the way the Water-devil held us fast in one spot for two days. + +"The British Government determined not to repair this broken cable, but +to take it up and lay down a better one; so they chartered a large +steamer, and fitted her up with engines, and a big drum that they use +for that sort of thing, and set her to work to wind up the Madras end +of the broken cable. She had been at this business a good while before +we were caught by the other end, and when they got near enough to us +for their engines to be able to take up the slack from the bottom +between us and them, then of course they pulled upon us, and we began +to move. And when they lay to for the night, and stopped the winding +business, of course we stopped, and the stretch of cable between the +two ships had no effect upon us, except when the big mail steamer +happened to move this way or that, as they kept her head to the wind; +and that's the way we lay quiet all night except when we got our +shocks. + +"When they set the drum going again in the morning, it wasn't long +before they wound us near enough for them to see us, which they would +have done sooner if my lights hadn't gone out so early in the evening." + +"And that," said the blacksmith, with a somewhat severe expression on +his face, "is all that you have to tell about your wonderful +Water-devil!" + +"All!" said the marine; "I should say it was quite enough, and nothing +could be more wonderful than what really happened. A Water-devil is one +of two things: he is real, or he's not real. If he's not real, he's no +more than an ordinary spook or ghost, and is not to be practically +considered. If he's real, then he's an alive animal, and can be put in +a class with other animals, and described in books, because even if +nobody sees him, the scientific men know how he must be constructed, +and then he's no more than a great many other wonderful things, which +we can see alive, stuffed, or in plaster casts. + +"But if you want to put your mind upon something really wonderful, just +think of a snake-like rope of wire, five or six hundred miles long, +lying down at the very bottom of the great Bay of Bengal, with no more +life in it than there is in a ten-penny nail. + +"Then imagine that long, dead wire snake to be suddenly filled with +life, and to know that there was something far up above it, on the +surface of the water, that it wants to reach up to and touch. Think of +it lifting and flapping its broken end, and then imagine it raising +yard after yard of itself up and up, through the solemn water, more and +more of it lifting itself from the bottom, curling itself backward and +forward as it rises higher and higher, until at last, with a sudden +jump that must have ripped a mile or more of it from the bottom, it +claps its end against the thing it wants to touch, and which it can +neither see, nor hear, nor smell, but which it knows is there. Could +there be anything in this world more wonderful than that? + +"And then, if that isn't enough of a wonder, think of the Rangoon end +of that cable squirming and wriggling and stretching itself out toward +our ship, but not being able to reach us on account of a want of slack; +just as alive as the Madras part of the cable, and just as savage and +frantic to get up to us and lay hold of us; and then, after our vessel +had been gradually pulled away from it, think of this other part +getting weaker and weaker, minute by minute, until it falls flat on +the bay, as dead as any other iron thing!" + +The marine ceased to speak, and Mrs. Fryker heaved a sigh. + +"It makes me shiver to think of all that down so deep," she said; "but +I must say I am disappointed." + +"In what way?" asked the marine. + +"A Water-devil," said she, "as big as six whales, and with a funnelly +mouth to suck in people, is different; but, of course, after all, it +was better as it was." + +"Look here," said the blacksmith, "what became of the girl? I wanted +her finished up long ago, and you haven't done it yet." + +"Miss Minturn, you mean," said the marine. "Well, there is not much to +say about her. Things happened in the usual way. When the danger was +all over, when she had other people to depend upon besides me, and we +were on board a fine steamer, with a lot of handsomely dressed naval +officers, and going comfortably to Madras, of course she thought no +more of the humble sea-soldier who once stood between her and--nobody +knew what. In fact, the only time she spoke to me after we got on board +the English steamer, she made me feel, although she didn't say it in +words, that she was not at all obliged to me for supposing that she +would have been scared to death if I had told her about the +Water-devil." + +"I suppose," said the blacksmith, "by the time you got back to your +ship you had overstayed your leave of absence a good while. Did your +captain let you off when you told him this story of the new-fashioned +Water-devil?" + +The marine smiled. "I never went back to the _Apache_," he said. "When +I arrived at Madras I found that she had sailed from Calcutta. It was, +of course, useless for me to endeavor to follow her, and I therefore +concluded to give up the marine service for a time and go into another +line of business, about which it is too late to tell you now." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the school-master, "have you ever +read that the British Government has a submarine cable from Madras to +Rangoon?" + +The marine took it upon himself to answer this question. "The cable of +which I spoke to you," he said, "was taken up, as I told you, and I +never heard that another one was laid. But it is getting late, and I +think I will go to bed; I have a long walk before me to-morrow." So +saying he rose, put his pipe upon the mantel-piece, and bade the +company good night. As he did so, he fixed his eyes on the blacksmith's +daughter, but that young lady did not look at him; she was busily +reading the weekly newspaper, which her father had left upon the table. + +Mr. Harberry now rose, preparatory to going home; and as he buttoned up +his coat, he looked from one to another of the little group, and +remarked, "I have often heard that marines are a class of men who are +considered as fit subjects to tell tough stories to, but it strikes me +that the time has come when the tables are beginning to be turned." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rudder Grangers Abroad and Other +Stories, by Frank R. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/11671-8.zip b/old/11671-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..40bcb75 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11671-8.zip diff --git a/old/11671.txt b/old/11671.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be31a3f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11671.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5907 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rudder Grangers Abroad and Other Stories +by Frank R. Stockton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Rudder Grangers Abroad and Other Stories + +Author: Frank R. Stockton + +Release Date: March 22, 2004 [EBook #11671] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RUDDER GRANGERS ABROAD *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, GF Untermeyer and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + +THE RUDDER GRANGERS ABROAD AND OTHER STORIES + + + + +BY + +FRANK R. STOCKTON + + +1891, 1894 + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. EUPHEMIA AMONG THE PELICANS + II. THE RUDDER GRANGERS IN ENGLAND +III. POMONA'S DAUGHTER + IV. DERELICT + V. THE BAKER OF BARNBURY + VI. THE WATER-DEVIL + + + + +EUPHEMIA AMONG THE PELICANS. + + +The sun shone warm and soft, as it shines in winter time in the +semi-tropics. The wind blew strong, as it blows whenever and wherever +it listeth. Seven pelicans labored slowly through the air. A flock of +ducks rose from the surface of the river. A school of mullet, disturbed +by a shark, or some other unscrupulous pursuer, sprang suddenly out of +the water just before us, and fell into it again like the splashing of +a sudden shower. + +I lay upon the roof of the cabin of a little yacht. Euphemia stood +below, her feet upon the mess-chest, and her elbows resting on the edge +of the cabin roof. A sudden squall would have unshipped her; still, if +one would be happy, there are risks that must be assumed. At the open +entrance of the cabin, busily writing on a hanging-shelf that served as +a table, sat a Paying Teller. On the high box which during most of the +day covered our stove was a little lady, writing in a note-book. On the +forward deck, at the foot of the mast, sat a young man in a state of +placidness. His feet stuck out on the bowsprit, while his mildly +contemplative eyes went forth unto the roundabout. + +At the tiller stood our guide and boatman, his sombre eye steady on the +south-by-east. Around the horizon of his countenance there spread a +dark and six-days' beard, like a slowly rising thunder-cloud; ever and +anon there was a gleam of white teeth, like a bright break in the sky, +but it meant nothing. During all our trip, the sun never shone in that +face. It never stormed, but it was always cloudy. But he was the best +boatman on those waters, and when he stood at the helm we knew we +sailed secure. We wanted a man familiar with storms and squalls, and if +this familiarity had developed into facial sympathy, it mattered not. +We could attend to our own sunshine. At his feet sat humbly his boy of +twelve, whom we called "the crew." He was making fancy knots in a bit +of rope. This and the occupation of growing up were the only labors in +which he willingly engaged. + +Euphemia and I had left Rudder Grange, to spend a month or two in +Florida, and we were now on a little sloop-yacht on the bright waters +of the Indian River. It must not be supposed that, because we had a +Paying Teller with us, we had set up a floating bank. With this Paying +Teller, from a distant State, we had made acquaintance on our first +entrance into Florida. He was travelling in what Euphemia called "a +group," which consisted of his wife,--the little lady with the +note-book,--the contemplative young man on the forward deck, and +himself. + +This Paying Teller had worked so hard and so rapidly at his business +for several years, and had paid out so much of his health and strength, +that it was necessary for him to receive large deposits of these +essentials before he could go to work again. But the peculiar habits of +his profession never left him. He was continually paying out something. +If you presented a conversational check to him in the way of a remark, +he would, figuratively speaking, immediately jump to his little window +and proceed to cash it, sometimes astonishing you by the amount of +small change he would spread out before you. + +When he heard of our intention to cruise on Indian River he wished to +join his group to our party, and as he was a good fellow we were glad +to have him do so. His wife had been, or was still, a schoolteacher. +Her bright and cheerful face glistened with information. + +The contemplative young man was a distant connection of the Teller, and +his first name being Quincy, was commonly called Quee. If he had wanted +to know any of the many things the little teacher wished to tell he +would have been a happy youth; but his contemplation seldom +crystallized into a knowledge of what he did want to know. + +"And how can I," she once said to Euphemia and myself, "be expected +ever to offer him any light when he can never bring himself to actually +roll up a question?" + +This was said while I was rolling a cigarette. + +The group was greatly given to writing in journals, and making +estimates. Euphemia and I did little of this, as it was our holiday, +but it was often pleasant to see the work going on. The business in +which the Paying Teller was now engaged was the writing of his journal, +and his wife held a pencil in her kidded fingers and a little +blank-book on her knees. + +This was our first day upon the river. + +"Where are we?" asked Euphemia. "I know we are on the Indian River, but +where is the Indian River?" + +"It is here," I said. + +"But where is here?" reiterated Euphemia. + +"There are only three places in the world," said the teacher, looking +up from her book,--"here, there, and we don't know where. Every spot on +earth is in one or the other of those three places." + +"As far as I am concerned," said Euphemia, "the Indian River is in the +last place." + +"Then we must hasten to take it out," said the teacher, and she dived +into the cabin, soon reappearing with a folding map of Florida. "Here," +she said, "do you see that wide river running along part of the +Atlantic coast of the State, and extending down as far as Jupiter +Inlet? That is Indian River, and we are on it. Its chief +characteristics are that it is not a river, but an arm of the sea, and +that it is full of fish." + +"It seems to me to be so full," said I, "that there is not room for +them all--that is, if we are to judge by the way the mullet jump out." + +"I think," said the teacher, making a spot with her pencil on the map, +"that just now we are about here." + +"It is the first time," said Euphemia, "that I ever looked upon an +unknown region on the map, and felt I was there." + +Our plans for travel and living were very simple. We had provided +ourselves on starting with provisions for several weeks, and while on +the river we cooked and ate on board our little vessel. When we reached +Jupiter Inlet we intended to go into camp. Every night we anchored near +the shore. Euphemia and I occupied the cabin of the boat; a tent was +pitched on shore for the Teller and his wife; there was another tent +for the captain and his boy, and this was shared by the contemplative +young man. + +Our second night on the river was tinged with incident. We had come to +anchor near a small settlement, and our craft had been moored to a rude +wharf. About the middle of the night a wind-storm arose, and Euphemia +and I were awakened by the bumping of the boat against the wharf-posts. +Through the open end of the cabin I could see that the night was very +dark, and I began to consider the question whether or not it would be +necessary for me to get up, much preferring, however, that the wind +should go down. Before I had made up my mind we heard a step on the +cabin above us, and then a quick and hurried tramping. I put my head +out of the little window by me, and cried-- + +"Who's there?" + +The voice of the boatman replied out of the darkness:-- + +"She'll bump herself to pieces against this pier! I'm going to tow you +out into the stream." And so he cast us loose, and getting into the +little boat which was fastened to our stern, and always followed us as +a colt its mother, he towed us far out into the stream. There he +anchored us, and rowed away. The bumps now ceased, but the wind still +blew violently, the waves ran high, and the yacht continually wobbled +up and down, tugging and jerking at her anchor. Neither of us was +frightened, but we could not sleep. + +"I know nothing can happen," said Euphemia, "for he would not have left +us here if everything had not been all right, but one might as well try +to sleep in a corn-popper as in this bed." + +After a while the violent motion ceased, and there was nothing but a +gentle surging up and down. + +"I am so glad the wind has lulled," said Euphemia, from the other side +of the centre-board partition which partially divided the cabin. + +Although I could still hear the wind blowing strongly outside, I too +was glad that its force had diminished so far that we felt no more the +violent jerking that had disturbed us, and I soon fell asleep. + +In the morning, when I awoke, I saw that the sun was shining brightly, +and that a large sea-grape bush was hanging over our stern. I sprang +out of bed, and found that we had run, stern foremost, upon a sandy +beach. About forty feet away, upon the shore, stood two 'possums, +gazing with white, triangular faces upon our stranded craft. Except +these, and some ducks swimming near us, with seven pelicans flying +along on the other side of the river, there was no sign of life within +the range of my sight. I was not long in understanding the situation. +It had not been the lulling of the storm, but the parting of our cable +which had caused the uneasy jerking of our little yacht to cease. We +had been blown I knew not how far down the river, for the storm had +come from the north, and had stranded I knew not where. Taking out my +pocket-compass I found that we were on the eastern shore of the river, +and that the wind had changed completely, and was now blowing, not very +strong, from the southeast. I made up my mind what must be done. We +were probably far from the settlement and the rest of the party, and we +must go back. The wind was in our favor, and I knew I could sail the +boat. I had never sailed a boat in my life, and was only too glad to +have the opportunity, untrammelled by any interference. + +I awoke Euphemia and told her what had happened. The two 'possums stood +upon the shore, and listened to our conversation. Euphemia was much +impressed by the whole affair, and for a time said nothing. + +"We must sail her back, I suppose," she remarked at length, "but do you +know how to start her?" + +"The hardest thing to do is to get her off the beach," I answered, "but +I think I can do that." + +I rolled up my trousers, and with bare feet jumped out upon the sand. +The two 'possums retired a little, but still watched my proceedings. +After a great deal of pushing and twisting and lifting, I got the yacht +afloat, and then went on board to set the sail. After much pulling and +tugging, and making myself very warm, I hoisted the main-sail. I did +not trouble myself about the jib, one sail being enough for me to begin +with. As the wind was blowing in the direction in which we wished to +go, I let the sail out until it stood nearly at right angles with the +vessel, and was delighted to see that we immediately began to move +through the water. I took the tiller, and steered gradually toward the +middle of the river. The wind blew steadily, and the yacht moved +bravely on. I was as proud as a man drawn by a conquered lion, and as +happy as one who did not know that conquered lions may turn and rend. +Sometimes the vessel rolled so much that the end of the boom skimmed +the surface of the water, and sometimes the sail gave a little jerk and +flap, but I saw no necessity for changing our course, and kept our bow +pointed steadily up the river. I was delighted that the direction of +the wind enabled me to sail with what might be called a horizontal +deck. Of course, as the boatman afterward informed me, this was the +most dangerous way I could steer, for if the sail should suddenly +"jibe," there would be no knowing what would happen. Euphemia sat near +me, perfectly placid and cheerful, and her absolute trust in me gave +me renewed confidence and pleasure. "There is one great comfort," she +remarked, as she sat gazing into the water,--"if anything should happen +to the boat, we can get out and walk." + +There was force in this remark, for the Indian River in some of its +widest parts is very shallow, and we could now plainly see the bottom, +a few feet below us. + +"Is that the reason you have seemed so trustful and content?" I asked. + +"That is the reason," said Euphemia. On we went and on, the yacht +seeming sometimes a little restive and impatient, and sometimes rolling +more than I could see any necessity for, but still it proceeded. +Euphemia sat in the shadow of the cabin, serene and thoughtful, and I, +holding the tiller steadily amidship, leaned back and gazed up into the +clear blue sky. + +In the midst of my gazing there came a shock that knocked the tiller +out of my hand. Euphemia sprang to her feet and screamed; there were +screams and shouts on the other side of the sail, which seemed to be +wrapping itself about some object I could not see. In an instant +another mast beside our own appeared above the main-sail, and then a +man with a red face jumped on the forward deck. With a quick, +determined air, and without saying a word, or seeming to care for my +permission, he proceeded to lower our sail; then he stepped up on top +of the cabin, and looking down at me, inquired what in thunder I was +trying to do. + +I made no answer, but looked steadily before me. Now that the sail was +down, I could see what had happened. I had collided with a yacht which +we had seen before. It was larger than ours, and contained a +grandfather and a grandmother, a father and a mother, several aunts, +and a great many children. They had started on the river the same day +as ourselves, but did not intend to take so extended a trip as ours was +to be. The whole party was now in the greatest confusion. I did not +understand what they said, nor did I attend to it. I was endeavoring, +for myself, to grasp the situation. Euphemia was calling to me from the +cabin, into which she had retreated; the man was still talking to me +from the cabin roof, and the people in the other boat were vociferating +and screaming; but I paid no attention to any one until I had satisfied +myself that nothing serious had happened. I had not run into them head +on, but had come up diagonally, and the side of our bow had struck the +side of their stern. The collision, as I afterward learned, had +happened in this wise: I had not seen the other boat because, lying +back as I had been, the sail concealed her from me, and they had not +seen us because their boatman was in the forward part of their cabin, +collecting materials for breakfast, and the tiller was left in charge +of one of the boys, who, like all the rest of his party who sat +outside, had discreetly turned his back to the sun. + +The grandfather stood up in the stern. He wore a black silk hat, and +carried a heavy grape-vine cane. Unsteadily balancing himself on his +legs, and shaking his cane at me, he cried:-- + +"What is the meaning of this, sir? Are you trying to drown a whole +family, sir?" + +"If he'd run his bowsprit in among you," said the boatman from the +cabin roof, "he'd 'a' killed a lot of you before you'd been drowned." + +Euphemia screamed to me to come to her; the father was standing on his +cabin roof, shouting something to me; the women in the other boat were +violently talking among themselves; some of the little children were +crying; the girls were hanging to the ladies, and all the boys were +clambering on board our boat. It was a time of great excitement, and +something must be instantly said by me. My decision was quick. + +"Have you any tea?" I said, addressing the old gentleman. + +"Tea!" he roared. "What do you mean by that?" + +"We have plenty of coffee on board," I answered, "but some of our party +can't drink it. If you have any tea, I should like to borrow some. I +can send it to you when we reach a store." + +From every person of the other party came, as in a chorus, the one +word, "Tea?" And Euphemia put her pale face out of the cabin, and said, +in a tone of wondering inquiry, "Tea?" + +"Did you bang into us this way to borrow tea?" roared the old +gentleman. + +"I did not intend, of course, to strike you so hard," I said, "and I am +sorry I did so, but I should like to borrow some tea." + +Euphemia whispered to me:-- + +"We have tea." + +I looked at her, and she locked her lips. + +"Of course we can give you some tea, if you want some," said the +red-faced boatman, "but I never heerd of a thing like this since I was +first born, nor ever shall again, I hope." + +"I don't want you to give me any tea," I said. "I shall certainly +return it, and a very little will do--just a handful." + +The two boats had not drifted apart, for the father, standing on the +cabin roof, had held tightly to our rigging, and the boatman, still +muttering, went on board his vessel to get the tea. He brought it, +wrapped in a piece of a newspaper. + +"Here comes your man," he said, pointing to a little boat which was +approaching us. "We told him we'd look out for you, but we didn't think +you'd come smashing into us like this." + +In a few moments our boatman had pulled alongside, his face full of a +dark inquiry. He looked at me for authoritative information. + +"I came here," I said to him, "after tea." + +"Before breakfast, I should say!" cried the old gentleman. And every +one of his party burst out laughing. + +Much was now said, chiefly by the party of the other part, but our +boatman paid little attention to any of it. The boys scrambled on board +their own vessel. We pushed apart, hoisted sail, and were soon speeding +away. + +"Good bye!" shouted the father, a genial man. "Let us know if you want +any more groceries, and we'll send them to you." + +For six days from our time of starting we sailed down the Indian River. +Sometimes the banks were miles apart, and sometimes they were very near +each other; sometimes we would come upon a solitary house, or little +cluster of dwellings; and then there would be many, many miles of +wooded shore before another human habitation was to be seen. Inland, to +the west, stretched a vast expanse of lonely forest where panthers, +bears, and wild-cats prowled. To the east lay a long strip of land, +through whose tall palmettoes came the roar of the great ocean. The +blue sky sparkled over us every day; now and then we met a little +solitary craft; countless water-fowl were scattered about on the +surface of the stream; a school of mullet was usually jumping into the +air; an alligator might sometimes be seen steadily swimming across the +river, with only his nose and back exposed; and nearly always, either +to the right or to the left, going north or going south, were seven +pelicans, slowly flopping through the air. + +A portion of the river, far southward, called "The Narrows," presented +a very peculiar scene. The banks were scarcely fifty feet apart, and +yet there were no banks. The river was shut in to the right by the +inland shore, and to the left by a far-reaching island, and yet there +was no inland shore, nor any island to the left. On either side were +great forests of mangrove trees, standing tiptoe on their myriad +down-dropping roots, each root midleg in the water. As far as we could +see among the trees, there was no sign of ground of any kind--nothing +but a grotesque network of roots, on which the forest stood. In this +green-bordered avenue of water, which extended nine or ten miles, the +thick foliage shut out the breeze, and our boatman was obliged to go +ahead in his little boat and tow us along. + +"There are Indians out West," said Euphemia, as she sat gazing into the +mangroves, "who live on roots, but I don't believe they could live on +these. The pappooses would certainly fall through." + +At Jupiter Inlet, about a hundred and fifty miles from our point of +starting, we went into camp, in which delightful condition we proposed +to remain for a week or more. There was no trouble whatever in finding +a suitable place for a camp. The spot selected was a point of land +swept by cool breezes, with a palmetto forest in the rear of it. On two +sides of the point stretched the clear waters of the river, while half +a mile to the east was Jupiter Inlet, on each side of which rolled and +tumbled the surf of the Atlantic. About a mile away was Jupiter +Light-house, the only human habitation within twenty miles. We built a +palmetto hut for a kitchen; we set up the tents in a permanent way; we +constructed a little pier for the yacht; we built a wash-stand, a +table, and a bench. And then, considering that we had actually gone +into camp, we got out our fishing-lines. + +Fishing was to be the great work here. Near the Inlet, through which +the waters of the ocean poured into and out of our river, on a long, +sandy beach, we stood in line, two or three hours every day except +Sunday, and fished. Such fishing we had never imagined!--there were so +many fishes, and they were so big. The Paying Teller had never fished +in his life before he came to Florida. He had tried at St. Augustine, +with but little success. "If the sport had been to chuck fish into the +river," he had said, "that would be more in my line of business; but +getting them out of it did not seem to suit me." But here it was quite +a different thing. It was a positive delight to him, he said, to be +obliged so often to pay out his line. + +One day, when tired of struggling with gamy blue-fish and powerful +cavalios (if that is the way to spell it), I wound up my line, and +looked about to see what the others were doing. The Paying Teller stood +near, on tiptoe, as usual, with his legs wide apart, his hat thrown +back, his eyes flashing over the water, and his right arm stretched far +out, ready for a jerk. Quee was farther along the beach. He had just +landed a fish, and was standing gazing meditatively upon it as it lay +upon the sand. The hook was still in its mouth, and every now and then +he would give the line a little pull, as if to see if there really was +a connection between it and the fish. Then he would stand a little +longer, and meditate a little more, still looking alternately at the +line and the fish. Having made up his mind, at last, that the two +things must be separated, he kneeled down upon his flopping prize and +proceeded meditatively to extract the hook. The teacher was struggling +at her line. Hand over hand she pulled it in. As it came nearer and +nearer, her fish swam wildly from side to side, making the tightened +line fairly hiss as it swept through the water. But still she pulled +and pulled, until, red and breathless, she landed her prize upon the +sand. + +"Hurrah!" shouted the Paying Teller. "That's the biggest blue-fish +yet!" But he did not come to take the fish from the hook. He was +momentarily expecting a bite. + +Euphemia was not to be seen. This did not surprise me, as she +frequently gave up fishing long before the others, and went to stroll +upon the sea-beach, a few hundred yards away. She was fond of fishing, +but it soon tired her. "If you want to know what it is like," she wrote +to a friend in the North, "just tie a long string around your boy +Charlie, and try to haul him out of the back yard into the house." + +But Euphemia was not upon the sea-beach to-day. I walked a mile or so +along the sand, but did not find her. She had gone around the little +bluff to our shark-line. This was a long rope, like a clothes-line, +with a short chain at the end and a great hook, which was baited with a +large piece of fish. It was thrown out every day, the land end tied to +a stout stake driven into the sand, and the whole business given into +the charge of "the crew," who was to report if a shark should bite. But +to-day the little rascal had wandered away, and Euphemia was managing +the line. + +"I thought I would try to catch a shark all by myself," she said. "I +wonder if there's one on the hook now. Would you mind feeling the +line?" + +I laughed as I took the rope from her hand. + +"If you had a shark on the hook, my dear," said I, "you would have no +doubt upon the subject." + +"It would be a splendid thing to catch the first one," she said, "and +there must be lots of them in here, for we have seen their back fins so +often." + +I was about to answer this remark when I began to walk out into the +water. I did not at the time know exactly why I did this, but it seemed +as if some one had taken me by the hand and was leading me into the +depths. But the water splashing above my ankles and a scream from +Euphemia made me drop the line, which immediately spun out to its full +length, making the stake creak and move in the sand. + +"Goodness gracious!" cried Euphemia, her face pale as the beach. "Isn't +it horrible? We've got one!" + +"Horrible!" I cried. "Didn't you want to get one?" and seizing the axe, +which lay near by, I drove the stake deep down into the sand. "Now it +will hold him!" I cried. "He can't pull that out!" + +"But how are we to pull him in?" exclaimed Euphemia. "This line is as +tight as a guitar-string." + +This was true. I took hold of the rope, but could make no impression on +it. Suddenly it slackened in my hand. + +"Hurrah!" I cried, "we may have him yet! But we must play him." + +"Play him!" exclaimed Euphemia. "You can never play a huge creature +like that. Let me go and call some of the others to help." + +"No, no!" I said. "Perhaps we can do it all by ourselves. Wind the line +quickly around the top of the stake as I pull it in." + +Euphemia knelt down and rapidly wound several yards of the slack cord +around the stake. In a few moments it tightened again, jerking itself +out of my hand. + +"There, now!" said Euphemia. "He is off again! You can never haul him +in, now." + +"Just wait," I said. "When he finds that he cannot break away he rushes +toward shore, trying to bite the line above the chain. Then I must haul +it in and you must wind it up. If you and I and the shark continue to +act in this way, perhaps, after a time, we may get him into shallow +water. But don't scream or shout. I don't want the others to know +anything about it." + +Sure enough, in a minute or two the line slackened again, when it was +rapidly drawn in and wound around the stake. + +"There he is!" exclaimed Euphemia. "I can see him just under the water, +out there." + +The dark form of the shark, appearing at first like the shadow of a +little cloud, could be seen near the surface, about fifteen yards away. +Then his back fin rose, his tail splashed violently for an instant, and +he disappeared. Again the line was loosened, and again the slack was +hauled in and wound up. This was repeated, I don't know how many times, +when suddenly the shark in his desperation rushed into shallow water +and grounded himself. He would have floundered off in a few moments, +however, had we not quickly tightened the line. Now we could see him +plainly. He was eight or nine feet long and struggled violently, +exciting Euphemia so much that it was only by clapping her hand over +her mouth that she prevented herself from screaming. I would have +pulled the shark farther in shore, but this was impossible, and it was +needless to expect him to move himself into shallower water. So, +quickly rolling up my trousers, I seized the axe and waded in toward +the floundering creature. + +"You needn't be afraid to go right up to him," said Euphemia. "So long +as he don't turn over on his back he can't bite you." + +I had heard this bit of natural history before, but, nevertheless, I +went no nearer to the shark than was necessary in order to whack him +over the head with the axe. This I did several times, with such effect +that he soon became a dead shark. + +When I came out triumphant, Euphemia seized me in her arms and kissed +me. + +"This is perfectly splendid!" she said. "Who can show as big a fish as +this one? None of the others can ever crow over you again." + +"Until one of them catches a bigger shark," I said. + +"Which none of them ever will," said Euphemia, decidedly. "It isn't in +them." + +The boatman was now seen approaching in his boat to take the party back +to camp, and the "crew," having returned to his duty, was sent off in a +state of absolute amazement to tell the others to come and look at our +prize. Our achievement certainly created a sensation. Even the boatman +could find no words to express his astonishment. He waded in and +fastened a rope to the shark's tail, and then we all took hold and +hauled the great fish ashore. + +"What is the good of it now you have got it?" asked Quee. + +"Glory is some good!" exclaimed Euphemia. + +"And I'm going to have you a belt made from a strip of its skin," I +said. + +This seemed to Euphemia a capital idea. She would be delighted to have +such a trophy of our deed, and the boatman was set to work to cut a +suitable strip from the fish. And this belt, having been properly +tanned, lined, and fitted with buckles, is now one of her favorite +adornments, and cost, I am bound to add, about three times as much as +any handsome leathern belt to be bought in the stores. + +Every day the Paying Teller, his wife, and Quee carefully set down in +their note-books the weight of fish each individual had caught, with +all necessary details and specifications relating thereunto; every day +we wandered on the beach, or explored the tropical recesses of the +palmetto woods; every evening the boatman rowed over to the light-house +to have a bit of gossip, and to take thither the fish we did not need; +every day the sun was soft and warm, and the sky was blue; and every +morning, going oceanward, and every evening, going landward, seven +pelicans flew slowly by our camp. + +My greatest desire at this time was to shoot a pelican, to have him +properly prepared, and to take him to Rudder Grange, where, suitably +set up, with his wings spread out, full seven feet from tip to tip, he +would be a grand trophy and reminder of these Indian River days. This +was the reason why, nearly every morning and every evening, I took a +shot at these seven pelicans. But I never hit one of them. We had only +a shot-gun, and the pelicans flew at a precautionary distance; but, +being such big birds, they always looked to me much nearer than they +were. Euphemia earnestly desired that I should have a pelican, and +although she always wished I should hit one of these, she was always +glad when I did not. + +"Think how mournful it would be," she said, "if they should take their +accustomed flights, morning and evening, with one of their number +missing." + +"Repeating Wordsworth's verses, I suppose," remarked the little +teacher. + +I had been disappointed in the number of pelicans we had seen. I knew +that Florida was one of the homes of the pelican, and I had not +expected to see these birds merely in small detachments. But our +boatman assured me that on our return trip he would give me a chance of +seeing and shooting as many pelicans as I could desire. We would +touch at Pelican Island, which was inhabited entirely by these birds, +and whence the parties of seven were evidently sent out. + +When we had had all the fishing we wanted, we broke up our camp, and +started northward. We had all been very happy and contented during our +ten days' sojourn in this delightful place; but when at last our +departure was determined upon, the Paying Teller became possessed with +a wild desire to go, go, go. There was some reason, never explained nor +fully expressed, why no day, hour, minute, or second should be lost in +speeding to the far Northwest. The boatman, too, impelled by what +impulse I know not, seemed equally anxious to get home. As for the +Paying Teller's "group," it always did exactly as he wished. Therefore, +although Euphemia and I would have been glad to linger here and there +upon our homeward way, we could not gainsay the desire of the majority +of the party, and consequently we sailed northward as fast as wind and +sometimes oars would take us. + +Only one cause for delay seemed tolerable to the Paying Teller. This +was to stop at every post-office. We had received but one mail while in +camp, which had been brought in a sail-boat from an office twenty miles +away. But the Paying Teller had given and written the most intricate +and complex directions for the retention or forwarding of his mail to +every postmaster in the country we had passed through, and these +directions, as we afterward found, had so puzzled and unsettled the +minds of these postmasters that for several weeks his letters had been +moving like shuttlecocks up and down the St. John's and Indian +rivers--never stopping anywhere, never being delivered, but crossing +and recrossing each other as if they were imbued with their owner's +desire to go, go, go. Some of the post-offices where we stopped were +lonely little buildings with no other habitation near. These we usually +found shut up, being opened only on mail-days, and in such cases +nothing could be done but to slip a protesting postal into the little +slit in the wall apparently intended for letters. Whether these postals +were eaten by rats or read by the P.M.'s, we never discovered. Wherever +an office was found open, we left behind us an irate postmaster +breathing all sorts of contemplated vengeance upon the disturbers of +his peace. We heard of letters that had been sent north and sent south, +but there never were any at the particular place where we happened to +be, and I suppose that the accumulated mail of the Paying Teller may +for several years drop gradually upon him through the meshes of the +Dead-Letter Office. + +There were a great many points of interest which we had passed on our +downward trip, the boatman assuring us that, with the wind we had, and +which might cease at any moment, the great object was to reach Jupiter +as soon as possible, and that we would stop at the interesting places +on the way up. But now the wind, according to his reasoning, made it +necessary that we should again push forward as fast as we could; and, +as I said before, the irresistible attraction of the Northwest so +worked upon the Paying Teller that he was willing to pause nowhere, +during the daytime, but at a post-office. At one place, however, I was +determined to land. This was Pelican Island. The boatman, paying no +attention to his promise to stop here and give me an opportunity to +shoot one of these birds, declared, when near the place, that it would +never do, with such a wind, to drop anchor for a trifle like a pelican. +The Paying Teller and Quee also strongly objected to a stop; and, while +the teacher had a great desire to investigate the subject of +ornithology, especially when exemplified by such a subject as a +pelican, she felt herself obliged to be loyal to her "group," and so +quietly gave her voice to go on. But I, supported by Euphemia, remained +so firm that we anchored a short distance from Pelican Island. + +None of the others had any desire to go ashore, and so I, with the gun +and Euphemia, took the boat and rowed to the island. While we were here +the others determined to sail to the opposite side of the river to look +for a little post-office, the existence of which the boatman had not +mentioned until it had been determined to make this stoppage here. + +As we approached the island we saw hundreds of pelicans, some flying +about, some sitting on trunks and branches of dead trees, and some +waddling about on the shore. + +"You might as well shoot two of them," said Euphemia, "and then we +will select the better one to take to Rudder Grange." + +The island was very boggy and muddy, and, before I had found a good +place to land, and had taken up the gun from the bow of the boat, every +pelican in sight took wing and flew away. I stood up and fired both +barrels at the retreating flock. They swerved and flew oceanward, but +not one of them fell. I helped Euphemia on shore, and then, gun in +hand, I made my way as well as I could to the other end of the island. +There might be some deaf old fellows left who had not made up their +minds to fly. The ground was very muddy, and drift-wood and under-brush +obstructed my way. Still, I pressed on, and went nearly half around the +island, finding, however, not a single pelican. + +Soon I heard Euphemia's voice, calling loud. She seemed to be about the +centre of the island, and I ran toward her. + +"I've got one!" I heard her cry, before I came in sight of her. She was +sitting at the root of a crooked, dead tree. In front of her she held, +one hand grasping each leg, what seemed to me to be an ungainly and +wingless goose. All about her the ground was soft and boggy. Her +clothes were muddy, her face was red, and the creature she held was +struggling violently. + +"What on earth have you got?" I exclaimed, approaching as near as I +could, "and how did you get out there?" + +"Don't you come any closer!" she cried. "You'll sink up to your waist! +I got here by treading on the little hummocks and holding on to that +dead branch; but don't you take hold of it, for you'll break it off, +and then I can't get back." + +"But what is that thing?" I repeated. + +"It's a young pelican," she replied. "I found a lot of nests on the +ground over there, and this was in one of them. I chased it all about, +until it flopped out here and hid itself on the other side of this +tree. Then I came out quietly and caught it. But how am I going to get +it to you?" + +This seemed, indeed, a problem. Euphemia declared that she needed both +hands to work her way back by the means of the long, horizontal limb +which had assisted her passage to the place where she sat, and she also +needed both hands to hold her prize. It was likewise plain that I could +not get to her. Indeed, I could not see how her light steps had taken +her over the soft and marshy ground that lay between us. I suggested +that she should throw the pelican to me. This she declined to do. + +"I could never throw it so far," she said, "and it would surely get +away. I don't want to lose this pelican, for I believe it is the last +one on the island. If there are other young ones, they have scuttled +off by this time, and I should dreadfully hate to go back to the yacht +without any pelican at all." + +"I don't call that much of one," I said. + +"It's a real pelican for all that," she replied, "and about as curious +a bird as I ever saw. Its wings won't stretch out seven feet, to be +sure." + +"About seven inches," I suggested. + +"But it is a great deal easier to carry a young one like this," she +persisted, "and I expect a baby pelican is a much more uncommon sight +in the North than a grown one." + +"No doubt of it," I said. "We must keep him now you've got him. Can't +you kill him?" + +"I've no way of killing him," returned Euphemia. "I wonder if you could +shoot him if I were to hold him out." + +This, with a shot-gun, I positively declined to do. Even if I had had a +rifle, I suggested that she might swerve. For a few moments we remained +nonplussed. I could not get to Euphemia at all, and she could not get +to me unless she released her bird, and this she was determined not to +do. + +"Euphemia," I said, presently, "the ground seems hard a little way in +front of you. If you step over there, I will go out on this strip, +which seems pretty solid. Then I'll be near enough to you for you to +swing the bird to me, and I'll catch hold of him." + +Euphemia arose and did as I told her, and we soon found ourselves about +six feet apart. She took the bird by one leg and swung it toward me. +With outstretched arm I caught it by the other foot, but as I did so I +noticed that Euphemia was growing shorter, and also felt myself sinking +in the bog. Instantly I entreated Euphemia to stand perfectly still, +for, if we struggled or moved, there was no knowing into what more +dreadful depths we might get. Euphemia obeyed me, and stood quite +still, but I could feel that she clutched the pelican with desperate +vigor. + +"How much farther down do you think we shall sink?" she asked, her +voice trembling a little. + +"Not much farther," I said. "I am sure there is firm ground beneath us, +but it will not do to move. If we should fall down, we might not be +able to get up again." + +"How glad I am," she said, "that we are not entirely separated, even if +it is only a baby pelican that joins us!" + +"Indeed, I am glad!" I said, giving the warm pressure to the pelican's +leg that I would have given to Euphemia's hand, if I could have reached +her. Euphemia looked up at me so confidently that I could but believe +that in some magnetic way that pressure had been transmitted through +the bird. + +"Do you think they will come back?" she said, directly. + +"Oh, yes," I replied, "there's no manner of doubt of that." + +"They'll be dreadfully cross," she said. + +"I shouldn't wonder," I replied. "But it makes very little difference +to me whether they are or not." + +"It ought to make a difference to you," said Euphemia. "They might +injure us very much." + +"If they tried anything of the kind," I replied, "they'd find it worse +for them than for us." + +"That is boasting," said Euphemia, a little reproachfully, "and it +does not sound like you." + +I made no answer to this, and then she asked:-- + +"What do you think they will do when they come?" + +"I think they will put a plank out here and pull us out." + +Euphemia looked at me an instant, and then her eyes filled with tears. + +"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, "it's dreadful! You know they couldn't do +it. Your mind is giving way!" + +She sobbed, and I could feel the tremor run through the pelican. + +"What do you mean?" I cried, anxiously. "My mind giving way?" + +"Yes--yes," she sobbed. "If you were in your right senses--you'd never +think--that pelicans could bring a plank." + +I looked at her in astonishment. + +"Pelicans!" I exclaimed. "Did you think I meant the pelicans were +coming back?" + +"Of course," she said. "That's what I was asking you about." + +"I wasn't thinking of pelicans at all," I answered "I was talking of +the people in the yacht." + +Euphemia looked at me, and then the little pelican between us began to +shake violently as we laughed. + +"I know people sometimes do lose their minds when they get into great +danger," she said, apologetically. + +"Hello!" came a voice from the water. "What are you laughing about?" + +"Come and see," I shouted back, "and perhaps you will laugh, too." + +The three men came; they had to wade ashore; and when they came they +laughed. They brought a plank, and with a good deal of trouble they +drew us out, but Euphemia would not let go of her leg of the little +pelican until she was sure I had a tight hold of mine. + +Day after day we now sailed northward, until we reached the little town +at which we had embarked. Here we discarded our blue flannels and three +half-grown beards, and slowly made our way through woods and lakes and +tortuous streams to the upper waters of the St. John's. In this region +the population of the river shores seemed to consist entirely of +alligators, in which monsters Euphemia was greatly interested. But she +seldom got a near view of one, for the sportsmen on our little steamer +blazed away at every alligator as soon as it came into distant sight; +and, although the ugly creatures were seldom hit, they made haste to +tumble into the water or disappear among the tall reeds. Euphemia was +very much annoyed at this. + +"I shall never get a good close look at an alligator at all," she said. +"I am going to speak to the captain." + +The captain, a big, good-natured man, listened to her, and entirely +sympathized with her. + +"Tom," said he to the pilot, "when you see another big 'gator on shore, +don't sing out to nobody, but call me, and slow up." + +It was not long before chocolate-colored Tom called to the captain, and +rang the bell to lessen speed. + +"Gentlemen," said the captain, walking forward to the group of +sportsmen, "there's a big 'gator ahead there, but don't none of you +fire at him. He's copyrighted." + +The men with the guns did not understand him, but none of them fired, +and Euphemia and the other ladies soon had the satisfaction of seeing +an enormous alligator lying on the bank, within a dozen yards of the +boat. The great creature raised its head, and looked at us in apparent +amazement at not being shot at. Then, probably considering that we did +not know the customs of the river, or were out of ammunition, he slowly +slipped away among the reeds with an air as if, like Mr. Turveydrop, he +had done his duty in showing himself, and if we did not take advantage +of it, it was no affair of his. + +"If we only had a fellow like that for a trophy!" ejaculated Euphemia. + +"He'd do very well for a trophy," I answered, "but if, in order to get +him, I had to hold him by one leg while you held him by another, I +should prefer a baby pelican." + +Our trip down the St. John's met with no obstacles except those +occasioned by the Paying Teller's return tickets. He had provided +himself and his group with all sorts of return tickets from the various +points he had expected to visit in Florida. These were good only on +particular steamboats, and could be used only to go from one particular +point to another. Fortunately he had lost several of them, but there +were enough left to give us a good deal of trouble. We did not wish to +break up the party, and consequently we embarked and disembarked +whenever the Paying Teller's group did so; and thus, in time, we all +reached that widespread and sandy city which serves for the gate of +Florida. + +From here, the Paying Teller and his group, with complicated tickets, +the determinate scope and purpose of which no one man living could be +expected to understand, hurried wildly toward the far Northwest; while +we, in slower fashion, returned to Rudder Grange. + +There, in a place of honor over the dining-room door, stands the baby +pelican, its little flippers wide outstretched. + +"How often I think," Euphemia sometimes says, "of that moment of peril, +when the only actual bond of union between us was that little pelican!" + + + + +THE RUDDER GRANGERS IN ENGLAND. + + +It was mainly due to Pomona that we went to Europe at all. For years +Euphemia and I had been anxious to visit the enchanted lands on the +other side of the Atlantic, but the obstacles had always been very +great, and the matter had been indefinitely postponed. Pomona and Jonas +were still living with us, and their little girl was about two years +old. Pomona continued to read a great deal, but her husband's influence +had diverted her mind toward works of history and travel, and these she +devoured with eager interest. But she had not given up her old fancy +for romance. Nearly everything she read was mingled in her mind with +Middle Age legends and tales of strange adventure. Euphemia's frequent +reference to a trip to Europe had fired Pomona's mind, and she was now +more wildly anxious for the journey than any of us. She believed that +it would entirely free Jonas from the chills and fever that still +seemed to permeate his being. And besides this, what unutterable joy to +tread the sounding pavements of those old castles of which she had so +often read! Pomona further perceived that my mental and physical +systems required the rest and change of scene which could be given only +by a trip to Europe. When this impression had been produced upon +Euphemia's mind, the matter, to all intents and purposes, was settled. +A tenant, who I suspect was discovered and urged forward by the +indefatigable Pomona, made an application for a year's lease of our +house and farm. In a business view I found I could make the journey +profitable, and there seemed to be no reason why we should not go, and +go now. + +It appeared to be accepted as a foregone conclusion by Euphemia and +Pomona that the latter, with her husband and child, should accompany +us; but of this I could not, at first, see the propriety. + +"We shall not want servants on a trip like that," I said; "and although +I like Jonas and Pomona very much, they are not exactly the people I +should prefer as travelling companions." + +"If you think you are going to leave Pomona behind," said Euphemia, +"you are vastly mistaken. Oceans and continents are free to her, and +she will follow us at a distance if we don't let her go with us. She +was quite content not to go with us to Florida, but she is just one +tingle from head to foot to go to Europe. We have talked the whole +thing over, and I know that she will be of the greatest possible use +and comfort to me in ever so many ways; and Jonas will be needed to +take care of the baby. Jonas has money, and they will pay a great part +of their own expenses, and will not cost us much, and you needn't be +afraid that Pomona will make us ashamed of ourselves, if we happen to +be talking to the Dean of Westminster or the Archbishop of Canterbury, +by pushing herself into the conversation." + +"Indeed," said I, "if we ever happen to be inveigled into a confab with +those dignitaries, I hope Pomona will come to the front and take my +place." + +The only person not entirely satisfied with the proposed journey was +Jonas. + +"I don't like trapsin' round," said he, "from place to place, and never +did. If I could go to some one spot and stay there with the child, +while the rest of you made trips, I'd be satisfied, but I don't like +keepin' on the steady go." + +This plan was duly considered, and the suitability of certain points +was discussed. London was not believed sufficiently accessible for +frequent return trips; Paris could scarcely be called very central; +Naples would not be suitable at all times of the year, and Cairo was a +little too far eastward. A number of minor places were suggested, but +Jonas announced that he had thought of a capital location, and being +eagerly asked to name it, he mentioned Newark, New Jersey. + +"I'd feel at home there," he said, "and it's about as central as any +place, when you come to look on the map of the world." + +But he was not allowed to remain in his beloved New Jersey, and we took +him with us to Europe. + +We did not, like the rest of the passengers on the steamer, go directly +from Liverpool to London, but stopped for a couple of days in the +quaint old town of Chester. "If we don't see it now," said Euphemia, +"we never shall see it. When we once start back we shall be raving +distracted to get home, and I wouldn't miss Chester for anything." + +"There is an old wall there," said the enthusiastic Pomona to her +husband, "built by Julius Caesar before the Romans became Catholics, +that you kin walk on all round the town; an' a tower on it which the +king of England stood on to see his army defeated, though of course it +wasn't put up for that purpose; besides, more old-timenesses which the +book tells of than we can see in a week." + +"I hope," said Jonas, wearily shifting the child from one arm to the +other, "that there'll be some good place there to sit down." + +When we reached Chester, we went directly to the inn called "The Gentle +Boar," which was selected by Euphemia entirely on account of its name, +and we found it truly a quaint and cosey little house. Everything was +early English and delightful. The coffee-rooms, the bar-maids, the +funny little apartments, the old furniture, and "a general air of the +Elizabethan era," as Euphemia remarked. + +"I should almost call it Henryan," said Pomona, gazing about her in +rapt wonderment. + +We soon set out on our expeditions of sight-seeing, but we did not keep +together. Euphemia and I made our way to the old cathedral. The ancient +verger who took us about the edifice was obliged to show us everything, +Euphemia being especially anxious to see the stall in the choir which +had belonged to Charles Kingsley, and was much disturbed to find that +under the seat the monks of the fifteenth century had carved the +subject of one of Baron Munchausen's most improbable tales. + +"Of course," said she, "they did not know that Charles Kingsley was to +have this stall, or they would have cut something more appropriate." + +"Those old monks 'ad a good deal of fun in them," said the verger, +"hand they were particular fond of showing up quarrels between men and +their wives, which they could do, you see, without 'urting each other's +feelings. These queer carvings are hunder the seats, which turn hup in +this way, and I've no doubt they looked at them most of the time they +were kneeling on the cold floor saying their long, Latin prayers." + +"Yes, indeed!" said Euphemia. "It must have been a great comfort to the +poor fellows." + +"We went all through that cathedral," exclaimed Pomona, when she came +in the next day. "The old virgin took us everywhere." + +"Verger," exclaimed Euphemia. + +"Well, he looked so like a woman in his long gown," said Pomona, "I +don't wonder I mixed him. We put two shillin's in his little box, +though one was enough, as I told Jonas, and then he took us round and +pointed out all the beautiful carvin's and things on the choir, the +transits, and the nave, but when Jonas stopped before the carved figger +of the devil chawin' up a sinner, and asked if that was the transit of +a knave, the old feller didn't know what he meant. An' then we wandered +alone through them ruined cloisters and subterraneal halls, an' old +tombstones of the past, till I felt I don't know how. There was a girl +in New Jersey who used to put on airs because her family had lived in +one place for a hundred years. When I git back I'll laugh that girl to +scorn." + +After two days of delight in this quaint old town we took the train +Londonward. Without consultation Jonas bought tickets for himself and +wife, while I bought Euphemia's and mine. Consequently our servants +travelled first-class, while we went in a second-class carriage. We +were all greatly charmed with the beautiful garden country through +which we passed. It was harvest time, and Jonas was much impressed by +the large crops gathered from the little fields. + +"I might try to do something of that kind when I go back," he afterward +said, "but I expect I'd have to dig a little hole for each grain of +wheat, and hoe it, and water it, and tie the blade to a stick if it was +weakly." + +"An' a nice easy time you'd have of it," said Pomona; "for you might +plant your wheat field round a stump, and set there, and farm all +summer, without once gettin' up." + +"And that is Windsor!" exclaimed Euphemia, as we passed within view of +that royal castle. "And there lives the Sovereign of our Mother +Country!" + +I was trying to puzzle out in what relationship to the Sovereign this +placed us, when Euphemia continued:-- + +"I am bound to go to Windsor Castle! I have examined into every style +of housekeeping, French flats and everything, and I must see how the +Queen lives. I expect to get ever so many ideas." + +"All right," said I; "and we will visit the royal stables, too, for I +intend to get a new buggy when we get back." + +We determined that on reaching London we would go directly to lodgings, +not only because this was a more economical way of living, but because +it was the way in which many of Euphemia's favorite heroes and heroines +had lived in London. + +"I want to keep house," she said, "in the same way that Charles and +Mary Lamb did. We will toast a bit of muffin or a potted sprat, and +we'll have a hamper of cheese and a tankard of ale, just like those old +English poets and writers." + +"I think you are wrong about the hamper of cheese," I said. "It +couldn't have been as much as that, but I have no doubt we'll have a +jolly time." + +We got into a four-wheeled cab, Jonas on the seat with the driver, and +the luggage on top. I gave the man a card with the address of the house +to which we had been recommended. There was a number, the name of a +street, the name of a place, the name of a square, and initials +denoting the quarter of the town. + +"It will confuse the poor man dreadfully," said Euphemia. "It would +have been a great deal better just to have said where the house was." + +The man, however, drove to the given address without mistake. The house +was small, but as there were no other lodgers, there was room enough +for us. Euphemia was much pleased with the establishment. The house was +very well furnished, and she had expected to find things old and +stuffy, as London lodgings always were in the books she had read. + +"But if the landlady will only steal our tea," she said, "it will make +it seem more like the real thing." + +As we intended to stay some time in London, where I had business to +transact for the firm with which I was engaged, we immediately began to +make ourselves as much at home as possible. Pomona, assisted by Jonas, +undertook at once the work of the house. To this the landlady, who kept +a small servant, somewhat objected, as it had been her custom to attend +to the wants of her lodgers. + +"But what's the good of Jonas an' me bein' here," said Pomona to us, +"if we don't do the work? Of course, if there was other lodgers, that +would be different, but as there's only our own family, where's the +good of that woman and her girl doin' anything?" + +And so, as a sort of excuse for her being in Europe, she began to get +the table ready for supper, and sent Jonas out to see if there was any +place where he could buy provisions. Euphemia and I were not at all +certain that the good woman of the house would be satisfied with this +state of things; but still, as Jonas and Pomona were really our +servants, it seemed quite proper that they should do our work. And so +we did not interfere, although Euphemia found it quite sad, she said, +to see the landlady standing idly about, gazing solemnly upon Pomona +as she dashed from place to place engaged with her household duties. + +After we had been in the house for two or three days, Pomona came into +our sitting-room one evening and made a short speech. + +"I've settled matters with the woman here," she said, "an' I think +you'll like the way I've done it. I couldn't stand her follerin' me +about, an' sayin' 'ow they did things in Hingland, while her red-faced +girl was a-spendin' the days on the airy steps, a-lookin' through the +railin's. 'Now, Mrs. Bowlin',' says I, 'it'll just be the ruin of you +an' the death of me if you keep on makin' a picter of yourself like +that lonely Indian a-sittin' on a pinnacle in the jographys, watchin' +the inroads of civilization, with a locomotive an' a cog-wheel in +front, an' the buffalo an' the grisly a-disappearin' in the distance. +Now it'll be much better for all of us,' says I, 'if you'll git down +from your peak, and try to make up your mind that the world has got to +move. Aint there some place where you kin go an' be quiet an' +comfortable, an' not a-woundin' your proud spirit a-watchin' me bake +hot rolls for breakfast an' sich?' An' then she says she'd begun to +think pretty much that way herself, an' that she had a sister a-livin' +down in the Sussex Mews, back of Gresham Terrace, Camberwell Square, +Hankberry Place, N.W. by N., an' she thought she might as well go there +an' stay while we was here. An' so I says that was just the thing, and +the sooner done the happier she'd be. An' I went up stairs and helped +her pack her trunk, which is a tin one, which she calls her box, an' I +got her a cab, an' she's gone." + +"What!" I cried; "gone! Has she given up her house entirely to us?" + +"For the time bein' she has," answered Pomona, "for she saw very well +it was better thus, an' she's comin' every week to git her money, an' +to see when we're goin' to give notice. An' the small girl has been +sent back to the country." + +It was impossible for Euphemia and myself to countenance this +outrageous piece of eviction; but in answer to our exclamations of +surprise and reproach, Pomona merely remarked that she had done it for +the woman's own good, and, as she was perfectly satisfied, she didn't +suppose there was any harm done; and, at any rate, it would be "lots +nicer" for us. And then she asked Euphemia what she was going to have +for breakfast the next morning, so that Jonas could go out to the +different mongers and get the things. + +"Now," said Euphemia, when Pomona had gone down stairs, "I really feel +as if I had a foothold on British soil. It doesn't seem as if it was +quite right, but it is perfectly splendid." + +And so it was. From that moment we set up an English Rudder Grange in +the establishment which Pomona had thus rudely wrenched, as it were, +from the claws of the British Lion. We endeavored to live as far as +possible in the English style, because we wanted to try the manners and +customs of every country. We had tea for breakfast and ale for +luncheon, and we ate shrimps, prawns, sprats, saveloys, and Yarmouth +bloaters. We "took in the Times," and, to a certain extent, we +endeavored to cultivate the broad vowels. Some of these things we did +not like, but we felt bound to allow them a fair trial. + +We did not give ourselves up to sight-seeing as we had done at Chester, +because now there was plenty of time to see London at our leisure. In +the mornings I attended to my business, and in the afternoons Euphemia +and I generally went out to visit some of the lions of the grand old +city. + +Pomona and Jonas also went out whenever a time could be conveniently +arranged, which was done nearly every day, for Euphemia was anxious +they should see everything. They almost always took their child, and to +this Euphemia frequently objected. + +"What's the good," she said, "of carrying a baby not two years old to +the Tower of London, the British Museum, and the Chapel of Henry VII.? +She can't take any interest in the smothered princes, or the Assyrian +remnants. If I am at home, I can look after her as well as not." + +"But you see, ma'am," said Pomona, "we don't expect the baby'll ever +come over here ag'in, an' when she gits older, I'll tell her all about +these things, an' it'll expan' her intelleck a lot more when she feels +she's seed 'em all without knowin' it. To be sure, the monnyments of +bygone days don't always agree with her; for Jone set her down on the +tomb of Chaucer the other day, an' her little legs got as cold as the +tomb itself, an' I told him that there was too big a difference between +a tomb nigh four hundred years old an' a small baby which don't date +back two years, for them to be sot together that way; an' he promised +to be more careful after that. He gouged a little piece out of +Chaucer's tomb, an' as we went home we bought a copy of the old +gentleman's poems, so as we could see what reason there was for keepin' +him so long, an' at night I read Jone two of the Canterbury Tales. 'You +wouldn't 'a' thought,' says Jone, 'jus' by lookin' at that little piece +of plaster, that the old fellow could 'a' got up such stories as +them.'" + +"What I want to see more'n anything else," said Pomona to us one day, +"is a real lord, or some kind of nobleman of high degree. I've allers +loved to read about 'em in books, and I'd rather see one close to, than +all the tombs and crypts and lofty domes you could rake together; an' I +don't want to see 'em neither in the streets, nor yet in a House of +Parliament, which aint in session; for there, I don't believe, dressin' +in common clothes as they do, that I could tell 'em from other people. +What I want is to penetrate into the home of one of 'em, and see him as +he really is. It's only there that his noble blood'll come out." + +"Pomona," cried Euphemia, in accents of alarm, "don't you try +penetrating into any nobleman's home. You will get yourself into +trouble, and the rest of us, too." + +"Oh, I'm not a-goin' to git you into any trouble, ma'am," said Pomona; +"you needn't be afeard of that." And she went about her household +duties. + +A few days after this, as Euphemia and I were going to the Tower of +London in a Hansom cab--and it was one of Euphemia's greatest delights +to be bowled over the smooth London pavements in one of these vehicles, +with the driver out of sight, and the horse in front of us just as if +we were driving ourselves, only without any of the trouble, and on +every corner one of the names of the streets we had read about in +Dickens and Thackeray, and with the Sampson Brasses, and the +Pecksniffs, and the Mrs. Gamps, and the Guppys, and the Sir Leicester +Dedlocks, and the Becky Sharps, and the Pendennises, all walking about +just as natural as in the novels--we were surprised to see Pomona +hurrying along the sidewalk alone. The moment our eyes fell upon her a +feeling of alarm arose within us. Where was she going with such an +intent purpose in her face, and without Jonas? She was walking +westward, and we were going to the east. At Euphemia's request I +stopped the cab, jumped out, and ran after her, but she had disappeared +in the crowd. + +"She is up to mischief," said Euphemia. + +But it was of no use to worry our minds on the subject, and we soon +forgot, in the ancient wonders of the Tower, the probable +eccentricities of our modern handmaid. + +We returned; night came on; but Pomona was still absent. Jonas did not +know where she was, and was very much troubled; and the baby, which had +been so skilfully kept in the background by its mother that, so far, it +had never annoyed us at all, now began to cry, and would not be +comforted. Euphemia, with the assistance of Jonas, prepared the evening +meal, and when we had nearly eaten it, Pomona came home. Euphemia asked +no questions, although she was burning with curiosity to know where +Pomona had been, considering that it was that young woman's duty to +inform her without being asked. + +When Pomona came in to wait on us, she acted as if she expected to be +questioned, and was perfectly willing to answer, but Euphemia stood +upon her dignity, and said nothing. At last Pomona could endure it no +longer, and standing with a tray in her hand, she exclaimed:-- + +"I'm sorry I made you help git the dinner, ma'am, and I wouldn't 'a' +done it for anything, but the fact is I've been to see a lord, an' was +kep' late." + +"What!" cried Euphemia, springing to her feet; "you don't mean that!" + +And I was so amazed that I sat and looked at Pomona without saying a +word. + +"Yes," cried Pomona, her eyes sparkling with excitement, "I've seen a +lord, and trod his floors, and I'll tell you all about it. You know I +was boun' to do it, and I wanted to go alone, for if Jone was with me +he'd be sure to put in some of his queer sayin's an' ten to one hurt +the man's feelin's, and cut off the interview. An' as Jone said this +afternoon he felt tired, with some small creeps in his back, an' didn't +care to go out, I knew my time had come, and said I'd go for a walk. +Day before yesterday I went up to a policeman an' I asked him if he +could tell me if a lord, or a earl, or a duke lived anywhere near here. +First he took me for crazy, an' then he began to ask questions which he +thought was funny, but I kep' stiff to the mark, an' I made him tell me +where a lord did live,--about five blocks from here. So I fixed things +all ready an' today I went there." + +"You didn't have the assurance to suppose he'd see you?" cried +Euphemia. + +"No, indeed, I hadn't," said Pomona, "at least under common +circumstances. You may be sure I racked my brains enough to know what I +should do to meet him face to face. It wouldn't do to go in the common +way, such as ringin' at the front door and askin' for him, an' then +offerin' to sell him furniter-polish for his pianner-legs. I knowed +well enough that any errand like that would only bring me face to face +with his bailiff, or his master of hounds, or something of that kind. +So, at last, I got a plan of my own, an' I goes up the steps and rings +the bell, an' when the flunkey, with more of an air of gen'ral +upliftedness about him than any one I'd seen yet, excep' Nelson on top +of his pillar, opened the door an' looked at me, I asked him,-- + +"'Is Earl Cobden in?' + +"At this the man opened his eyes, an' remarked:-- + +"'What uv it if he is?' + +"Then I answers, firmly:-- + +"'If he's in, I want yer to take him this letter, an' I'll wait here.'" + +"You don't mean to say," cried Euphemia, "that you wrote the earl a +letter?" + +"Yes, I did," continued Pomona, "and at first the man didn't seem +inclined to take it. But I held it out so steady that he took it an' +put it on a little tray, whether nickel-plated or silver I couldn't +make out, and carried it up the widest and splendidest pair o' stairs +that I ever see in a house jus' intended to be lived in. When he got to +the fust landin' he met a gentleman, and give him the letter. When I +saw this I was took aback, for I thought it was his lordship a-comin' +down, an' I didn't want to have no interview with a earl at his front +door. But the second glance I took at him showed me that it wasn't him. +He opened it, notwithstanding', an' read it all through from beginnin' +to end. When he had done it he looked down at me, and then he went back +up stairs a-follered by the flunk, which last pretty soon came down +ag'in an' told me I was to go up. I don't think I ever felt so much +like a wringed-out dish-cloth as I did when I went up them palatial +stairs. But I tried to think of things that would prop me up. P'r'aps, +I thought, my ancient ancestors came to this land with his'n; who +knows? An' I might 'a' been switched off on some female line, an' so +lost the name an' estates. At any rate, be brave! With such thoughts as +these I tried to stiffen my legs, figgeratively speakin'. We went +through two or three rooms (I hadn't time to count 'em) an' then I was +showed into the lofty presence of the earl. He was standin' by the +fire-place, an' the minnit my eyes lit upon him I knowed it was him." + +"Why, how was that?" cried Euphemia and myself almost in the same +breath. + +"I knowed him by his wax figger," continued Pomona, "which Jone and I +see at Madame Tussaud's wax-works. They've got all the head people of +these days there now, as well as the old kings and the pizeners. The +clothes wasn't exactly the same, though very good on each, an' there +was more of an air of shortenin' of the spine in the wax figger than in +the other one. But the likeness was awful strikin'. + +"'Well, my good woman,' says he, a-holdin' my open letter in his hand, +'so you want to see a lord, do you?'" + +"What on earth did you write to him?" exclaimed Euphemia. "You mustn't +go on a bit further until you have told what was in your letter." + +"Well," said Pomona, "as near as I can remember, it was like this: +'_William, Lord Cobden, Earl of Sorsetshire an' Derry. Dear Sir. Bein' +brought up under Republican institutions, in the land of the free--'_ I +left out '_the home of the brave_' because there wasn't no use crowin' +about that jus' then--'_I haven't had no oppertunity of meetin' with a +individual of lordly blood. Ever since I was a small girl takin' books +from the circulatin' libery, an' obliged to read out loud with divided +sillerbles, I've drank in every word of the tales of lords and other +nobles of high degree, that the little shops where I gen'rally got my +books, an' some with the pages out at the most excitin' parts, +contained. An' so I asks you now, Sir Lord--_' I did put _humbly_, but +I scratched that out, bein' an American woman--'_to do me the favor of +a short audience. Then, when I reads about noble earls an' dukes in +their brilliant lit halls an' castles, or mounted on their champin' +chargers, a-leadin' their trusty hordes to victory amid the glittering +minarets of fame, I'll know what they looks like._' An' then I signed +my name. + +"'Yes, sir,' says I, in answer to his earlship's question," said +Pomona, taking up her story, "'I did want to see one, upon my word.' + +"'An' now that you have seen him,' says he, 'what do you think of him?' + +"Now, I had made up my mind before I entered this ducal pile, or put my +foot on one ancestral stone, that I'd be square and honest through the +whole business, and not try no counterfeit presentiments with the earl. +So I says to him:-- + +"'The fust thing I thinks is, that you've got on the nicest suit of +clothes that I've ever seed yit, not bein' exactly Sunday clothes, and +yit fit for company, an' if money can buy 'em--an' men's clothes is +cheap enough here, dear only knows--I'm goin' to have a suit jus' like +it for Jone, my husband.' It was a kind o' brown mixed stuff, with a +little spot of red in it here an' there, an' was about as gay for plain +goods, an' as plain for gay goods, as anythin' could be, an' 'twas easy +enough to see that it was all wool. 'Of course,' says I, 'Jone'll have +his coat made different in front, for single-breasted, an' a buttonin' +so high up is a'most too stylish for him, 'specially as fashions 'ud +change afore the coat was wore out. But I needn't bother your earlship +about that.' + +"'An' so,' says he, an' I imagine I see an air of sadness steal over +his features, 'it's my clothes, after all, that interest you?' + +"'Oh, no,' says I, 'I mention them because they come up fust. There is, +no doubt, qualities of mind and body--' + +"'Well, we won't go into that,' said his earlship, 'an' I want to ask +you a question. I suppose you represent the middle class in your +country?' + +"'I don't know 'zactly where society splits with us,' says I, 'but I +guess I'm somewhere nigh the crack.' + +"'Now don't you really believe,' says he, 'that you and the people of +your class would be happier, an' feel safer, politically speakin', if +they had among 'em a aristocracy to which they could look up to in +times of trouble, as their nat'ral born gardeens? I ask yer this +because I want to know for myself what are the reel sentiments of yer +people.' + +"'Well, sir,' says I, 'when your work is done, an' your kitchen cleaned +up, an' your lamp lit, a lord or a duke is jus' tip-top to read about, +if the type aint too fine an' the paper mean beside, which it often is +in the ten-cent books; but, further than this, I must say, we aint got +no use for 'em.' At that he kind o' steps back, and looks as if he was +goin' to say somethin', but I puts in quick: 'But you mustn't think, my +earl,' says I, 'that we undervallers you. When we remembers the field +of Agincourt; and Chevy Chase; an' the Tower of London, with the block +on which three lords was beheaded, with the very cuts in it which the +headsman made when he chopped 'em off, as well as two crooked ones +a-showin' his bad licks, which little did he think history would +preserve forever; an' the old Guildhall, where down in the ancient +crypt is a-hangin' our Declaration of Independence along with the Roman +pots and kittles dug up in London streets; we can't forgit that if it +hadn't 'a' been for your old ancestral lines as roots, we'd never been +the flourishin' tree we is.' + +"'Well,' said his earlship, when I'd got through, an' he kind o' looked +as if he didn't know whether to laugh or not, 'if you represent the +feelin's of your class in your country, I reckon they're not just ready +for a aristocracy yit.' + +"An' with that he give me a little nod, an' walked off into another +room. It was pretty plain from this that the interview was brought to a +close, an' so I come away. The flunk was all ready to show me out, an' +he did it so expeditious, though quite polite, that I didn't git no +chance to take a good look at the furniter and carpets, which I'd 'a' +liked to have done. An' so I've talked to a real earl, an' if not in +his ancestral pile, at any rate in the gorgeousest house I ever see. +An' the brilliantest dream of my youth has come true." + +When she had finished I rose and looked upon her. + +"Pomona," said I, "we may yet visit many foreign countries. We may see +kings, queens, dukes, counts, sheikhs, beys, sultans, khedives, pashas, +rajahs, and I don't know what potentates besides, and I wish to say +just this one thing to you. If you don't want to get yourself and us +into some dreadful scrape, and perhaps bring our journeys to a sudden +close, you must put a curb on your longing for communing with beings of +noble blood." + +"That's true, sir," said Pomona, thoughtfully, "an' I made a pretty +close shave of it this time, for when I was talkin' to the earl, I was +just on the p'int of tellin' him that I had such a high opinion of his +kind o' folks that I once named a big black dog after one of 'em, but I +jus' remembered in time, an' slipped on to somethin' else. But I +trembled worse than a peanut woman with a hackman goin' round the +corner to ketch a train an' his hubs just grazin' the legs of her +stand. An' so I promise you, sir, that I'll put my heel on all +hankerin' after potentates." + +And so she made her promise. And, knowing Pomona, I felt sure that she +would keep it--if she could. + + + + +POMONA'S DAUGHTER. + + +In the pretty walk, bordered by bright flowers and low, overhanging +shrubbery, which lies back of the Albert Memorial, in Kensington +Gardens, London, Jonas sat on a green bench, with his baby on his knee. +A few nurses were pushing baby-carriages about in different parts of +the walk, and there were children playing not far away. It was drawing +toward the close of the afternoon, and Jonas was thinking it was nearly +time to go home, when Pomona came running to him from the gorgeous +monument, which she had been carefully inspecting. + +"Jone," she cried, "do you know I've been lookin' at all them great men +that's standin' round the bottom of the monnyment, an' though there's +over a hundred of 'em, I'm sure, I can't find a American among 'em! +There's poets, an' artists, an' leadin' men, scraped up from all parts, +an' not one of our illustrious dead. What d'ye think of that?" + +"I can't believe it," said Jonas. "If we go home with a tale like that +we'll hear the recruiting-drum from Newark to Texas, and, ten to one, +I'll be drafted." + +"You needn't be makin' fun," said Pomona; "you come an' see for +yourself. Perhaps you kin' find jus' one American, an' then I'll go +home satisfied." + +"All right," said Jonas. + +And, putting the child on the bench, he told her he'd be back in a +minute, and hurried after Pomona, to give a hasty look for the desired +American. + +Corinne, the offspring of Jonas and Pomona, had some peculiarities. One +of these was that she was accustomed to stay where she was put. Ever +since she had been old enough to be carried about, she had been carried +about by one parent or the other; and, as it was frequently necessary +to set her down, she had learned to sit and wait until she was taken up +again. She was now nearly two years old, very strong and active, and of +an intellect which had already begun to tower. She could walk very +well, but Jonas took such delight in carrying her that he seldom +appeared to recognize her ability to use her legs. She could also talk, +but how much her parents did not know. She was a taciturn child, and +preferred to keep her thoughts to herself, and, although she sometimes +astonished us all by imitating remarks she had heard, she frequently +declined to repeat the simplest words that had been taught her. + +Corinne remained on the bench about a minute after her father had left +her, and then, contrary to her usual custom, she determined to leave +the place where she had been put. Turning over on her stomach, after +the manner of babies, she lowered her feet to the ground. Having +obtained a foothold, she turned herself about and proceeded, with +sturdy steps, to a baby-carriage near by which had attracted her +attention. This carriage, which was unattended, contained a baby, +somewhat smaller and younger than Corinne, who sat up and gazed with +youthful interest at the visitor who stood by the side of her vehicle. +Corinne examined, with a critical eye, the carriage and its occupant. +She looked at the soft pillow at the baby's back, and regarded with +admiration the afghan crocheted in gay colors which was spread over its +lap, and the spacious gig-top which shielded it from the sun. She +stooped down and looked at the wheels, and stood up and gazed at the +blue eyes and canary hair of the little occupant. Then, in quiet but +decided tones, Corinne said:-- + +"Dit out!" + +The other baby looked at her, but made no movement to obey. After +waiting a few moments, an expression of stern severity spreading itself +the while over her countenance, Corinne reached over and put her arms +around the fair-haired child. Then, with all her weight and strength, +she threw herself backward and downward. The other baby, being light, +was thus drawn bodily out of its carriage, and Corinne sat heavily upon +the ground, her new acquaintance sprawling in her lap. Notwithstanding +that she bore the brunt of the fall upon the gravel, Corinne uttered no +cry; but, disengaging herself from her encumbrance, she rose to her +feet. The other baby imitated her, and Corinne, taking her by the hand, +led her to the bench where she herself had been left. + +"Dit up!" said Corinne. + +This, however, the other baby was unable to do; but she stood quite +still, evidently greatly interested in the proceedings. Corinne left +her and walked to the little carriage, into which she proceeded to +climb. After some extraordinary exertions, during which her fat legs +were frequently thrust through the spokes of the wheels and ruthlessly +drawn out again, she tumbled in. Arranging herself as comfortably as +she knew how, she drew the gay afghan over her, leaned back upon the +soft pillow, gazed up at the sheltering gig-top, and resigned herself +to luxurious bliss. At this supreme moment, the nurse who had had +charge of the carriage and its occupant came hurrying around a corner +of the path. She had been taking leave of some of her nurse-maid +friends, and had stayed longer than she had intended. It was necessary +for her to take a suitable leave of these ladies, for that night she +was going on a journey. She had been told to take the baby out for an +airing, and to bring it back early. Now, to her surprise, the afternoon +had nearly gone, and hurrying to the little carriage she seized the +handle at the back and rapidly pushed it home, without stopping to look +beneath the overhanging gig-top, or at the green bench, with which her +somewhat worried soul had no concern. If anything could add to +Corinne's ecstatic delight, it was this charming motion. Closing her +eyes contentedly, she dropped asleep. + +The baby with canary hair looked at the receding nurse and carriage +with widening eyes and reddening cheeks. Then, opening her mouth, she +uttered the cry of the deserted; but the panic-stricken nurse did not +hear her, and, if she had, what were the cries of other children to +her? Her only business was to get home quickly with her young charge. + +About five minutes after these events, Jonas and Pomona came hurrying +along the path. They, too, had stayed away much longer than they had +intended, and had suddenly given up their search for the American, whom +they had hoped to find in high relief upon the base of the Albert +Memorial. Stepping quickly to the child, who still stood sobbing by the +bench, Jonas exclaimed, "You poor itty--!" + +And then he stopped suddenly. Pomona also stood for a second, and then +she made a dash at the child, and snatched it up. Gazing sharply at its +tear-smeared countenance, she exclaimed, "What's this?" + +The baby did not seem able to explain what it was, and only answered by +a tearful sob. Jonas did not say a word; but, with the lithe quickness +of a dog after a rat, he began to search behind and under benches, in +the bushes, on the grass, here, there, and everywhere. + +About nine o'clock that evening, Pomona came to us with tears in her +eyes, and the canary-haired baby in her arms, and told us that Corinne +was lost. They had searched everywhere; they had gone to the police; +telegrams had been sent to every station; they had done everything that +could be done, but had found no trace of the child. + +"If I hadn't this," sobbed Pomona, holding out the child, "I believe +I'd go wild. It isn't that she can take the place of my dear baby, but +by a-keepin' hold of her I believe we'll git on the track of Corinne." + +We were both much affected by this news, and Euphemia joined Pomona in +her tears. + +"Jonas is scourin' the town yet," said Pomona. "He'll never give up +till he drops. But I felt you ought to know, and I couldn't keep this +little thing in the night-air no longer. It's a sweet child, and its +clothes are lovely. If it's got a mother, she's bound to want to see it +before long; an' if ever I ketch sight of her, she don't git away from +me till I have my child." + +"It is a very extraordinary case," I said. "Children are often stolen, +but it is seldom we hear of one being taken and another left in its +place, especially when the children are of different ages, and totally +unlike." + +"That's so," said Pomona. "At first, I thought that Corinne had been +changed off for a princess, or something like that, but nobody couldn't +make anybody believe that my big, black-haired baby was this +white-an'-yaller thing." + +"Can't you find any mark on her clothes," asked Euphemia, "by which you +could discover her parentage? If there are no initials, perhaps you can +find a coronet or a coat of arms." + +"No," said Pomona, "there aint nothin'. I've looked careful. But +there's great comfort to think that Corinne's well stamped." + +"Stamped!" we exclaimed. "What do you mean by that?" + +"Why, you see," answered Pomona, "when Jone an' I was goin' to bring +our baby over here among so many million people, we thought there might +be danger of its gittin' lost or mislaid, though we never really +believed any such thing would happen, or we wouldn't have come. An' so +we agreed to mark her, for I've often read about babies bein' stole an' +kept two or three years, and when found bein' so changed their own +mothers didn't know 'em. Jone said we'd better tattoo Corinne, for them +marks would always be there, but I wouldn't agree to have the little +creature's skin stuck with needles, not even after Jone said we might +give her chloryform; so we agreed to stamp initials on her with +Perkins's Indelible Dab. It is intended to mark sheep, but it don't +hurt, and it don't never come off. We put the letters on the back of +her heels, where they wouldn't show, for she's never to go barefoot, +an' where they'd be easy got at if we wanted to find 'em. We put R.G. +on one heel for the name of the place, and J.P. on the other heel for +Jonas an' me. If, twenty years from now," said Pomona, her tears +welling out afresh, "I should see a young woman with eyes like +Corinne's, an' that I felt was her, a-walking up to the bridal altar, +with all the white flowers, an' the floatin' veils, an' the crowds in +the church, an' the music playin', an' the minister all ready, I'd jist +jerk that young woman into the vestry-room, an' have off her shoes an' +stockin's in no time. An' if she had R.G. on one heel, an' J.P. on the +other, that bridegroom could go home alone." + +We confidently assured Pomona that with such means of identification, +and the united action of ourselves and the police, the child would +surely be found, and we accompanied her to her lodgings, which were now +in a house not far from our own. + +When the nurse reached home with the little carriage it was almost +dark, and, snatching up the child, she ran to the nursery without +meeting any one. The child felt heavy, but she was in such a hurry she +scarcely noticed that. She put it upon the bed, and then lighting the +gas she unwrapped the afghan, in which the little creature was now +almost entirely enveloped. When she saw the face, and the black hair, +from which the cap had fallen off, she was nearly frightened to death, +but, fortunately for herself, she did not scream. She was rather a +stupid woman, with but few ideas, but she could not fail to see that +some one had taken her charge, and put this child in its place. Her +first impulse was to run back to the gardens, but she felt certain that +her baby had been carried off; and, besides, she could not, without +discovery, leave the child here or take it with her; and while she +stood in dumb horror, her mistress sent for her. The lady was just +going out to dinner, and told the nurse that, as they were all to start +for the Continent by the tidal train, which left at ten o'clock that +night, she must be ready with the baby, well wrapped up for the +journey. The half-stupefied woman had no words nor courage with which +to declare, at this moment, the true state of the case. She said +nothing, and went back to the nursery and sat there in dumb +consternation, and without sense enough to make a plan of any kind. The +strange child soon awoke and began to cry, and then the nurse +mechanically fed it, and it went to sleep again. When the summons came +to her to prepare for the journey, in cowardly haste she wrapped the +baby, so carefully covering its head that she scarcely gave it a chance +to breathe; and she and the lady's waiting-maid were sent in a cab to +the Victoria Station. The lady was travelling with a party of friends, +and the nurse and the waiting-maid were placed in the adjoining +compartment of the railway-carriage. On the six hours' channel passage +from Newhaven to Dieppe the lady was extremely sick, and reached France +in such a condition that she had to be almost carried on shore. It had +been her intention to stop a few days at this fashionable +watering-place, but she declared that she must go straight on to Paris, +where she could be properly attended to, and, moreover, that she never +wanted to see the sea again. When she had been placed in the train for +Paris she sent for the nurse, and feebly asked how the baby was, and if +it had been seasick. On being told that it was all right, and had not +shown a sign of illness, she expressed her gratification, and lay back +among her rugs. + +The nurse and the waiting-maid travelled together, as before, but the +latter, wearied by her night's attendance upon her mistress, slept all +the way from Dieppe to Paris. When they reached that city, they went +into the waiting-room until a carriage could be procured for them, and +there the nurse, placing the baby on a seat, asked her companion to +take care of it for a few minutes. She then went out of the station +door, and disappeared into Paris. + +In this way, the brunt of the terrible disclosure, which came very +soon, was thrown upon the waiting-maid. No one, however, attached any +blame to her: of course, the absconding nurse had carried away the +fair-haired child. The waiting-maid had been separated from her during +the passage from the train to the station, and it was supposed that in +this way an exchange of babies had been easily made by her and her +confederates. When the mother knew of her loss, her grief was so +violent that for a time her life was in danger. All Paris was searched +by the police and her friends, but no traces could be found of the +wicked nurse and the fair-haired child. Money, which, of course, was +considered the object of the inhuman crime, was freely offered, but to +no avail. No one imagined for an instant that the exchange was made +before the party reached Paris. It seemed plain enough that the crime +was committed when the woman fled. + +Corinne, who had been placed in the charge of a servant until it was +determined what to do with her, was not at all satisfied with the new +state of affairs, and loudly demanded her papa and mamma, behaving for +a time in a very turbulent way. In a few days, the lady recovered her +strength, and asked to see this child. The initials upon Corinne's +heels had been discovered, and, when she was told of these, the lady +examined them closely. + +"The people who left this child," she exclaimed, "do not intend to lose +her! They know where she is, and they will keep a watch upon her, and +when they get a chance they will take her. I, too, will keep a watch +upon her, and when they come for her I shall see them." + +Her use of words soon showed Corinne to be of English parentage, and it +was generally supposed that she had been stolen from some travellers, +and had been used at the station as a means of giving time to the nurse +to get away with the other child. + +In accord with her resolution, the grief-stricken lady put Corinne in +the charge of a trusty woman, and, moreover, scarcely ever allowed her +to be out of her sight. + +It was suggested that advertisement be made for the parents of a child +marked with E.G. and J.P. But to this the lady decidedly objected. + +"If her parents find her," she said, "they will take her away; and I +want to keep her till the thieves come for her. I have lost my child, +and as this one is the only clue I shall ever have to her, I intend to +keep it. When I have found my child, it will be time enough to restore +this one." + +Thus selfish is maternal love. + +Pomona bore up better under the loss than did Jonas. Neither of them +gave up the search for a day; but Jonas, haggard and worn, wandered +aimlessly about the city, visiting every place into which he imagined a +child might have wandered, or might have been taken, searching even to +the crypt in the Guildhall and the Tower of London. Pomona's mind +worked quite as actively as her husband's body. She took great care of +"Little Kensington," as she called the strange child from the place +where she had been found; and therefore could not go about as Jonas +did. After days and nights of ceaseless supposition, she had come to +the conclusion that Corinne had been stolen by opera singers. + +"I suppose you never knew it," she said to us, "for I took pains not to +let it disturb you, but that child has notes in her voice about two +stories higher than any operer prymer donner that I ever heard, an' +I've heard lots of 'em, for I used to go into the top gallery of the +operer as often as into the theayter; an' if any operer singer ever +heard them high notes of Corinne's,--an' there was times when she'd let +'em out without the least bit of a notice,--it's them that's took her." + +"But, my poor Pomona," said Euphemia, "you don't suppose that little +child could be of any use to an opera singer; at least, not for years +and years." + +"Oh, yes, ma'am," replied Pomona; "she was none too little. Sopranners +is like mocking-birds; they've got to be took young." + +No arguments could shake Pomona's belief in this theory. And she daily +lamented the fact that there was no opera in London at that time that +she might go to the performances, and see if there was any one on the +stage who looked mean enough to steal a child. + +"If she was there," said Pomona, "I'd know it. She'd feel the scorn of +a mother's eye on her, an' her guilty heart would make her forget her +part." + +Pomona frequently went into Kensington Gardens, and laid traps for +opera singers who might be sojourning in London. She would take Little +Kensington into the gardens, and, placing her carefully in the corner +of a bench, would retire to a short distance and pretend to be absorbed +in a book, while her sharp eyes kept up the watch for a long-haired +tenor, or a beautifully dressed soprano, who should suddenly rush out +from the bushes and seize the child. + +"I wouldn't make no fuss if they was to come out," she said. "Little +Kensington would go under my arm, not theirn, an' I'd walk calmly with +'em to their home. Then I'd say: 'Give me my child, an' take yourn, +which, though she probably hasn't got no voice, is a lot too good for +you; and may the house hurl stools at you the next time you appear, is +the limit of a mother's curse.'" + +But, alas for Pomona, no opera singers ever showed themselves. + +These days of our stay in London were not pleasant. We went about +little, and enjoyed nothing. At last Pomona came to us, her face pale +but determined. + +"It's no use," she said, "for us to keep you here no longer, when I +know you've got through with the place, and want to go on, an' we'll +go, too, for I don't believe my child's in London. She's been took +away, an' we might as well look for her in one place as another. The +perlice tells us that if she's found here, they'll know it fust, an' +they'll telegraph to us wherever we is; an' if it wasn't fur nuthin' +else, it would be a mercy to git Jone out of this place. He goes about +like a cat after her drowned kittens. It's a-bringin' out them chills +of hisn, an' the next thing it'll kill him. I can't make him believe in +the findin' of Corinne as firm as I do, but I know as long as Perkins's +Indelible Dab holds out (an' there's no rubbin' nor washin' it off) +I'll git my child." + +I admitted, but not with Pomona's hopefulness, that the child might be +found as easily in Paris as here. + +"And we've seen everything about London," said Euphemia, "except +Windsor Castle. I did want, and still want, to see just how the Queen +keeps house, and perhaps get some ideas which might be useful; but Her +Majesty is away now, and, although they say that's the time to go +there, it is not the time for me. You'll not find me going about +inspecting domestic arrangements when the lady of the house is away." + +So we packed up and went to Paris, taking Little Kensington along. +Notwithstanding our great sympathy with Corinne's parents, Euphemia and +myself could not help becoming somewhat resigned to the affliction +which had befallen them, and we found ourselves obliged to enjoy the +trip very much. Euphemia became greatly excited and exhilarated as we +entered Paris. For weeks I knew she had been pining for this city. As +she stepped from the train she seemed to breathe a new air, and her +eyes sparkled as she knew by the prattle and cries about her that she +was really in France. + +We were obliged to wait some time in the station before we could claim +our baggage, and while we were standing there Euphemia drew my +attention to a placard on the wall. "Look at that!" she exclaimed. +"Even here, on our very entrance to the city, we see signs of that +politeness which is the very heart of the nation. I can't read the +whole of that notice from here, but those words in large letters show +that it refers to the observance of the ancient etiquettes. Think of +it! Here in a railroad station people are expected to behave to each +other with the old-time dignity and gallantry of our forefathers. I +tell you it thrills my very soul to think I am among such a people, and +I am glad they can't understand what I say, so that I may speak right +out." + +I never had the heart to throw cold water on Euphemia's noble emotions, +and so I did not tell her that the notice merely requested travellers +to remove from their trunks the _anciennes etiquettes_, or old railway +labels. + +We were not rich tourists, and we all took lodgings in a small hotel to +which we had been recommended. It was in the Latin Quarter, near the +river, and opposite the vast palace of the Louvre, into whose +labyrinth of picture-galleries Euphemia and I were eager to plunge. + +But first we all went to the office of the American Consul, and +consulted him in regard to the proper measures to be taken for +searching for the little Corinne in Paris. After that, for some days, +Jonas and Pomona spent all their time, and Euphemia and I part of ours, +in looking for the child. Euphemia's Parisian exhilaration continued to +increase, but there were some things that disappointed her. + +"I thought," said she, "that people in France took their morning coffee +in bed, but they do not bring it up to us." + +"But, my dear," said I, "I am sure you said before we came here that +you considered taking coffee in bed as an abominable habit, and that +nothing could ever make you like it." + +"I know," said she, "that I have always thought it a lazy custom, and +not a bit nice, and I think so yet. But still, when we are in a strange +country, I expect to live as other people do." + +It was quite evident that Euphemia had been looking forward for some +time to the novel experience of taking her coffee in bed. But the +gray-haired old gentleman who acted as our chambermaid never hinted +that he supposed we wanted anything of the kind. + +Nothing, however, excited Euphemia's indignation so much as the +practice of giving a _pourboire_ to cabmen and others. "It is simply +feeding the flames of intemperance," she said. When she had occasion to +take a cab by herself, she never conformed to this reprehensible +custom. When she paid the driver, she would add something to the +regular fare, but as she gave it to him she would say in her most +distinct French: "_Pour manger. Comprenezvous_?" The _cocher_ would +generally nod his head, and thank her very kindly, which he had good +reason to do, for she never forgot that it took more money to buy food +than drink. + +In spite of the attractions of the city, our sojourn in Paris was not +satisfactory. Apart from the family trouble which oppressed us, it +rained nearly all the time. We were told that in order to see Paris at +its best we should come in the spring. In the month of May it was +charming. Then everybody would be out-of-doors, and we would see a +whole city enjoying life. As we wished to enjoy life without waiting +for the spring, we determined to move southward, and visit during the +winter those parts of Europe which then lay under blue skies and a warm +sun. It was impossible, at present, for Pomona and Jonas to enjoy life +anywhere, and they would remain in Paris, and then, if they did not +find their child in a reasonable time, they would join us. Neither of +them understood French, but this did not trouble them in the slightest. +Early in their Paris wanderings they had met with a boy who had once +lived in New York, and they had taken him into pay as an interpreter. +He charged them a franc and a half a day, and I am sure they got their +money's worth. + +Soon after we had made up our minds to move toward the south, I came +home from a visit to the bankers, and joyfully told Euphemia that I had +met Baxter. + +"Baxter?" said she, inquiringly; "who is he?" + +"I used to go to school with him," I said; "and to think that I should +meet him here!" + +"I never heard you mention him before," she remarked. + +"No," I answered; "it must be fifteen or sixteen years since I have +seen him, and really it is a great pleasure to meet him here. He is a +capital fellow. He was very glad to see me." + +"I should think," said Euphemia, "if you like each other so much that +you would have exchanged visits in America, or, at least, have +corresponded." + +"Oh, it is a very different thing at home," I said; "but here it is +delightful to meet an old school friend like Baxter. He is coming to +see us this evening." + +That evening Baxter came. He was delighted to meet Euphemia, and +inquired with much solicitude about our plans and movements. He had +never heard of my marriage, and, for years, had not known whether I was +dead or alive. Now he took the keenest interest in me and mine. We were +a little sorry to find that this was not Baxter's first visit to +Europe. He had been here several times; and, as he expressed it, "had +knocked about a good deal over the Continent." He was dreadfully +familiar with everything, and talked about some places we were longing +to see in a way that considerably dampened our enthusiasm. In fact, +there was about him an air of superiority which, though tempered by +much kindliness, was not altogether agreeable. He highly approved our +idea of leaving Paris. "The city is nothing now," he said. "You ought +to see it in May." We said we had heard that, and then spoke of Italy. +"You mustn't go there in the winter," he said. "You don't see the +country at its best. May is the time for Italy. Then it is neither too +hot nor too cold, and you will find out what an Italian sky is." We +said that we hoped to be in England in the spring, and he agreed that +we were right there. "England is never so lovely as in May." + +"Well!" exclaimed Euphemia; "it seems to me, from all I hear, that we +ought to take about twelve years to see Europe. We should leave the +United States every April, spend May in some one place, and go back in +June. And this we ought to do each year until we have seen all the +places in May. This might do very well for any one who had plenty of +money, and who liked the ocean, but I don't think we could stand it. As +for me," she continued, "I would like to spend these months, so cold +and disagreeable here, in the sunny lands of Southern France. I want to +see the vineyards and the olive groves, and the dark-eyed maidens +singing in the fields. I long for the soft skies of Provence, and to +hear the musical dialect in which Frederic Mistral wrote his 'Mireio.'" + +"That sounds very well," said Baxter, "but in all those southern +countries you must be prepared in winter for the rigors of the climate. +The sun is pretty warm sometimes at this season, but as soon as you get +out of it you will freeze to death if you are not careful. The only way +to keep warm is to be in the sun, out of the wind, and that won't work +on rainy days, and winter is the rainy season, you know. In the houses +it is as cold as ice, and the fires don't amount to anything. You +might as well light a bundle of wooden tooth-picks and put it in the +fire-place. If you could sleep all the time you might be comfortable, +for they give you a feather-bed to cover yourself with. Outside you +may do well enough if you keep up a steady walking, but indoors you +will have hard work to keep warm. You must wear chest-protectors. They +sell them down there--great big ones, made of rabbit-skins; and a nice +thing for a man to have to wear in the house is a pair of cloth bags +lined with fur. They would keep his feet and legs warm when he isn't +walking. It is well, too, to have a pair of smaller fur bags for your +hands when you are in the house. You can have a little hole in the end +of one of them through which you can stick a pen-holder, and then you +can write letters. An india-rubber bag, filled with hot water, to lower +down your back, is a great comfort. You haven't any idea how cold your +spine gets in those warm countries. And, if I were you, I'd avoid a +place where you see them carting coal stoves around. Those are the +worst spots. And you need not expect to get one of the stoves, not +while they can sell you wood at two sticks for a franc. You had better +go to some place where they are not accustomed to having tourists. In +the regular resorts they are afraid to make any show of keeping warm, +for fear people will think they are in the habit of having cold +weather. And in Italy you've got to be precious careful, or you'll be +taken sick. And another thing. I suppose you brought a great deal of +baggage with you. You, for instance," said our friend, turning to me, +"packed up, I suppose, a heavy overcoat for cold weather, and a lighter +one, and a good winter suit, and a good summer one, besides another for +spring and fall, and an old suit to lie about in in the orange groves, +and a dress suit, besides such convenient articles as old boots for +tramping in, pocket-lanterns, and so forth." + +Strange to say, I had all these, besides many other things of a similar +kind, and I could not help admitting it. + +"Well," said Baxter, "you'd better get rid of the most of that as soon +as you can, for if you travel with that sort of heavy weight in the +Mediterranean countries, you might as well write home and get your +house mortgaged. All along the lines of travel, in the south of Europe, +you find the hotels piled up with American baggage left there by +travellers, who'll never send for it. It reminds one of the rows of ox +skeletons that used to mark out the roads to California. But I guess +you'll be able to stick it out. Good bye. Let me hear from you." + +When Baxter left us, we could not but feel a little down-hearted, and +Euphemia turned to her guide-book to see if his remarks were +corroborated there. + +"Well, there is one comfort," she exclaimed at last; "this book says +that in Naples epidemics are not so deadly as they are in some other +places, and if the traveller observes about a page of directions, which +are given here, and consults a physician the moment he feels himself +out of order, it is quite possible to ward off attacks of fever. That +is encouraging, and I think we might as well go on." + +"Yes," said I, "and here, in this newspaper, a hotel in Venice +advertises that its situation enables it to avoid the odors of the +Grand Canal; and an undertaker in Nice advertises that he will forward +the corpses of tourists to all parts of Europe and America. I think +there is a chance of our getting back, either dead or alive, and so I +also say, let us go on." + +But before we left Paris, we determined to go to the Grand Opera, which +we had not yet visited, and Euphemia proposed that we should take +Pomona with us. The poor girl was looking wretched and woe-begone, and +needed to have her mind diverted from her trouble. Jonas, at the best +of times, could not be persuaded to any amusement of this sort, but +Pomona agreed to go. We had no idea of dressing for the boxes, and we +took good front seats in the upper circle, where we could see the whole +interior of the splendid house. As soon as the performance commenced, +the old dramatic fire began to burn in Pomona. Her eyes sparkled as +they had not done for many a day, and she really looked like her own +bright self. The opera was "Le Prophete," and, as none of us had ever +seen anything produced on so magnificent a scale, we were greatly +interested, especially in the act which opens with that wonderful +winter scene in the forest, with hundreds of people scattered about +under the great trees, with horses and sleighs and the frozen river in +the background where the skaters came gliding on. The grouping was +picturesque and artistic; the scale of the scene was immense; there was +a vast concourse of people on the stage; the dances were beautiful; the +merry skaters graceful; the music was inspiring. + +Suddenly, above the voices of the chorus, above the drums and bass +strings of the orchestra, above the highest notes of the sopranos, +above the great chandelier itself, came two notes distinct and plain, +and the words to which they were set, were:-- + +"Ma-ma!" + +Like a shot Pomona was on her feet. With arms outspread and her whole +figure dilating until she seemed twice as large as usual, I thought she +was about to spring over the balcony into the house below. I clutched +her, and Euphemia and I, both upon our feet, followed her gaze and saw +upon the stage a little girl in gay array, and upturned face. It was +the lost Corinne. + +Without a word, Pomona made a sudden turn, sprang up the steps behind +her, and out upon the lobby, Euphemia and I close behind her. Around +and down the steps we swept, from lobby to lobby, amazing the +cloak-keepers and attendants, but stopping for nothing; down the grand +staircase like an avalanche, almost into the arms of the astonished +military sentinels, who, startled from their soldier-like propriety, +sprang, muskets in hand, toward us. It was only then that I was able to +speak to Pomona, and breathlessly ask her where she was going. + +"To the stage-door!" she cried, making a motion to hurl to the ground +the soldier before her. But there was no need to go to any stage-door. +In a moment there rushed along the corridor a lady, dressed apparently +in all the colors of the rainbow, and bearing in her arms a child. +There was a quick swoop, and in another moment Pomona had the child. +But clinging to its garments, the lady cried, in excellent English, but +with some foreign tinge:-- + +"Where is my child you stole?" + +"Stole your grandmother!" briefly ejaculated Pomona. And then, in grand +forgetfulness of everything but her great joy, she folded her arms +around her child, and standing like a statue of motherly content, she +seemed, in our eyes, to rise to the regions of the caryatides and the +ceiling frescos. Not another word she spoke, and amid the confusion of +questions and exclamations, and the wild demands of the lady, Euphemia +and I contrived to make her understand the true state of the case, and +that her child was probably at our lodgings. Then there were great +exclamations and quick commands; and, directly, four of us were in a +carriage whirling to our hotel. All the way, Pomona sat silent with her +child clasped tightly, while Euphemia and I kept up an earnest but +unsatisfactory conversation with the lady; for, as to this strange +affair, we could tell each other but little. We learned from the lady, +who was an assistant soprano at the Grand Opera, how Corinne came to +her in Paris, and how she had always kept her with her, even dressing +her up, and taking her on the stage in that great act where as many +men, women, and children as possible were brought upon the scene. When +she heard the cry of Corinne, she knew the child had seen its mother, +and then, whether the opera went on or not, it mattered not to her. + +When the carriage stopped, the three women sprang out at once, and how +they all got through the door, I cannot tell. There was such a +tremendous ring at the gate of the court that the old _concierge_, who +opened it by pulling a wire in his little den somewhere in the rear, +must have been dreadfully startled in his sleep. We rushed through the +court and up the stairs past our apartments to Pomona's room; and there +in the open doorway stood Jonas, his coat off, his sandy hair in wild +confusion, his face radiant, and in his hands Little Kensington in her +nightgown. + +"I knew by the row on the stairs you'd brought her home," he exclaimed, +as Little Kensington was snatched from him and Corinne was put into his +arms. + +We left Jonas and Pomona to their wild delight, and I accompanied the +equally happy lady to the opera house, where I took occasion to reclaim +the wraps which we had left behind in our sudden flight. + +When the police of Paris were told to give up their search for an +absconding nurse accompanied by a child, and to look for one without +such encumbrance, they found her. From this woman was obtained much of +the story I have told, and a good deal more was drawn out, little by +little, from Corinne, who took especial pleasure in telling, in brief +sentences, how she had ousted the lazy baby from the carriage, and how +she had scratched her own legs in getting in. + +"What I'm proud of," said Pomona, "is that she did it all herself. It +wasn't none of your common stealin's an' findin's; an' it aint +everywhere you'll see a child that kin git itself lost back of Prince +Albert's monnyment, an' git itself found at the operer in Paris, an' +attend to both ends of the case itself. An', after all, them two high +notes of hern was more good than Perkins's Indelible Dab." + + + + +DERELICT. + + +A TALE OF THE WAYWARD SEA. + + +I. + +On the 25th of May, 1887, I sat alone upon the deck of the _Sparhawk_, +a three-masted schooner, built, according to a description in the +cabin, at Sackport, Me. I was not only alone on the deck, but I was +alone on the ship. The _Sparhawk_ was a "derelict"; that is, if a +vessel with a man on board of her can be said to be totally abandoned. + +I had now been on board the schooner for eight days. How long before +that she had been drifting about at the mercy of the winds and currents +I did not then know, but I discovered afterward that during a cyclone +early in April she had been abandoned by her entire crew, and had since +been reported five times to the hydrographic office of the Navy +Department in Washington, and her positions and probable courses duly +marked on the pilot chart. + +She had now become one of that little fleet abandoned at sea for one +cause or another, and floating about this way and that, as the wild +winds blew or the ocean currents ran. Voyaging without purpose, as if +manned by the spirits of ignorant landsmen, sometimes backward and +forward over comparatively small ocean spaces, and sometimes drifting +for many months and over thousands of miles, these derelicts form, at +night and in fog, one of the dangers most to be feared by those who +sail upon the sea. + +As I said before, I came on board the abandoned _Sparhawk_ on the 17th +of May, and very glad indeed was I to get my feet again on solid +planking. Three days previously the small steamer _Thespia_, from +Havana to New York, on which I had been a passenger, had been burned +at sea, and all on board had left her in the boats. + +What became of the other boats I do not know, but the one in which I +found myself in company with five other men, all Cuban cigarmakers, was +nearly upset by a heavy wave during the second night we were out, and +we were all thrown into the sea. As none of the Cubans could swim, they +were all lost, but I succeeded in reaching the boat, which had righted +itself, though half full of water. + +There was nothing in the boat but two oars which had not slipped out of +their rowlocks, a leather scoop which had been tied to a thwart, and +the aforementioned water. + +Before morning I had nearly baled out the boat, and fortunate it was +for me that up to the time of the upset we had had enough to eat and +drink, for otherwise I should not have had strength for that work and +for what followed. + +Not long after daybreak I sighted the _Sparhawk_, and immediately began +to make such signals as I could. The vessel appeared to be but a few +miles distant, and I could not determine whether she was approaching me +or going away from me. I could see no sign that my signals had been +noticed, and began frantically to row toward her. After a quarter of an +hour of violent exertion, I did not appear to be much nearer to her; +but, observing her more closely, I could see, even with my landsman's +eyes, that something was the matter with her. Portions of her mast and +rigging were gone, and one large sail at her stern appeared to be +fluttering in the wind. + +But it mattered not to me what had happened to her. She was a ship +afloat, and I must reach her. Tired, hungry, and thirsty I rowed and +rowed, but it was not until long after noon that I reached her. She +must have been much farther from me than I had supposed. + +With a great deal of trouble I managed to clamber on board, and found +the ship deserted. I had suspected that this would be the case, for as +I had drawn near I would have seen some sign that my approach was +noticed had there been anybody on board to perceive it. But I found +food and water, and when I was no longer hungry or thirsty I threw +myself in a berth, and slept until the sun was high the next day. + +I had now been on the derelict vessel for eight days. Why she had been +deserted and left to her fate I was not seaman enough to know. It is +true that her masts and rigging were in a doleful condition, but she +did not appear to be leaking, and rode well upon the sea. There was +plenty of food and water on board, and comfortable accommodations. I +afterwards learned that during the terrible cyclone which had overtaken +her, she had been on her beam ends for an hour before the crew left her +in the boats. + +For the first day or two of my sojourn on the _Sparhawk_ I was as +happy as a man could be under the circumstances. I thought myself to +be perfectly safe, and believed it could not be long before I would be +picked up. Of course I did not know my latitude and longitude, but I +felt sure that the part of the Atlantic in which I was must be +frequently crossed by steamers and other vessels. + +About the fourth day I began to feel uneasy. I had seen but three +sails, and these had taken no notice of the signal which I had hung as +high in the mizzen-mast as I had dared to climb. It was, indeed, no +wonder that the signal had attracted no attention among the fluttering +shreds of sails about it. + +I believe that one ship must have approached quite near me. I had been +below some time, looking over the books in the captain's room, and when +I came on deck I saw the stern of the ship, perhaps a mile or two +distant, and sailing away. Of course my shouts and wavings were of no +avail. She had probably recognized the derelict _Sparhawk_ and had +made a note of her present position, in order to report to the +hydrographic office. + +The weather had been fair for the most part of the time, the sea +moderately smooth, and when the wind was strong, the great sail on the +mizzen-mast, which remained hoisted and which I had tightened up a +little, acted after the manner of the long end of a weather-vane, and +kept the ship's head to the sea. + +Thus it will be seen that I was not in a bad plight; but although I +appreciated this, I grew more and more troubled and uneasy. For several +days I had not seen a sail, and if I should see one how could I attract +attention? It must be that the condition of the vessel indicated that +there was no one on board. Had I known that the _Sparhawk_ was already +entered upon the list of derelicts, I should have been hopeless indeed. + +At first I hung out a lantern as a night signal, but on the second +night it was broken by the wind, and I could find only one other in +good condition. The ship's lights must have been blown away in the +storm, together with her boats and much of her rigging. I would not +hang out the only lantern left me, for fear it should come to grief, +and that I should be left in the dark at night in that great vessel. +Had I known that I was on a vessel which had been regularly relegated +to the ranks of the forsaken, I should better have appreciated the +importance of allowing passing vessels to see that there was a light on +board the _Sparhawk_, and, therefore, in all probability a life. + +As day after day had passed, I had become more and more disheartened. +It seemed to me that I was in a part of the great ocean avoided by +vessels of every kind, that I was not in the track of anything going +anywhere. Every day there seemed to be less and less wind, and when I +had been on board a week, the _Sparhawk_ was gently rising and falling +on a smooth sea in a dead calm. Hour after hour I swept the horizon +with the captain's glass, but only once did I see anything to encourage +me. This was what appeared like a long line of black smoke against the +distant sky, which might have been left by a passing steamer; but, +were this the case, I never saw the steamer. + +Happily, there were plenty of provisions on board of a plain kind. I +found spirits and wine, and even medicines, and in the captain's room +there were pipes, tobacco, and some books. + +This comparative comfort gave me a new and strange kind of despair. I +began to fear that I might become contented to live out my life alone +in the midst of this lonely ocean. In that case, what sort of a man +should I become? + +It was about 8.30 by the captain's chronometer, when I came on deck on +the morning of the 25th of May. I had become a late riser, for what was +the good of rising early when there was nothing to rise for? I had +scarcely raised my eyes above the rail of the ship when, to my utter +amazement, I perceived a vessel not a mile away. The sight was so +unexpected, and the surprise was so great, that my heart almost stopped +beating as I stood and gazed at her. + +She was a medium-sized iron steamer, and lay upon the sea in a peculiar +fashion, her head being much lower than her stern, the latter elevated +so much that I could see part of the blades of her motionless +propeller. She presented the appearance of a ship which was just about +to plunge, bow foremost, into the depths of the ocean, or which had +just risen, stern foremost, from those depths. + +With the exception of her position, and the fact that no smoke-stack +was visible, she seemed, to my eyes, to be in good enough trim. She had +probably been in collision with something, and her forward compartments +had filled. Deserted by her crew, she had become a derelict, and, +drifting about in her desolation, had fallen in with another derelict +as desolate as herself. The fact that I was on board the _Sparhawk_ +did not, in my eyes, make that vessel any the less forsaken and +forlorn. + +The coming of this steamer gave me no comfort. Two derelicts, in their +saddening effects upon the spirits, would be twice as bad as one, and, +more than that, there was danger, should a storm arise, that they would +dash into each other and both go to the bottom. Despairing as I had +become, I did not want to go to the bottom. + +As I gazed upon the steamer I could see that she was gradually +approaching me. There was a little breeze this morning, and so much of +her hull stood out of the water that it caught a good deal of the wind. +The _Sparhawk_, on the contrary, was but little affected by the breeze, +for apart from the fact that the great sail kept her head always to the +wind, she was heavily laden with sugar and molasses and sat deep in the +water. The other was not coming directly toward me, but would probably +pass at a considerable distance. I did not at all desire that she +should come near the _Sparhawk_. + +Suddenly my heart gave a jump. I could distinctly see on the stern of +the steamer the flutter of something white. It was waved! Somebody must +be waving it! + +Hitherto I had not thought of the spyglass, for with my naked eyes I +could see all that I cared to see of the vessel, but now I dashed below +to get it. When I brought it to bear upon the steamer I saw plainly +that the white object was waved by some one, and that some one was a +woman. I could see above the rail the upper part of her body, her +uncovered head, her uplifted arm wildly waving. + +Presently the waving ceased, and then the thought suddenly struck me +that, receiving no response, she had in despair given up signalling. +Cursing my stupidity, I jerked my handkerchief from my pocket, and, +climbing a little way into the rigging, I began to wave it madly. +Almost instantly her waving recommenced. I soon stopped signalling, and +so did she. No more of that was needed. I sprang to the deck and took +up the glass. + +The woman was gone, but in a few moments she reappeared armed with a +glass. This action filled me with amazement. Could it be possible that +the woman was alone on the steamer, and that there was no one else to +signal and to look out? The thing was incredible, and yet, if there +were men on board, why did they not show themselves? And why did not +one of them wave the signal and use the glass? + +The steamer was steadily but very slowly nearing the _Sparhawk_, when +the woman removed the glass and stood up waist high above the rail of +the steamer Now I could see her much better; I fancied I could almost +discern her features. She was not old; she was well shaped; her bluish +gray dress fitted her snugly. Holding the rail with one hand she stood +up very erect, which must have been somewhat difficult, considering the +inclination of the deck. For a moment I fancied I had seen or known +some one whose habit it was to stand up very erect as this woman stood +upon the steamer. The notion was banished as absurd. + +Wondering what I should do, what instant action I should take, I laid +down my glass, and as I did so the woman immediately put up hers. Her +object was plain enough; she wanted to observe me, which she could not +well do when a view of my face was obstructed by the glass and my +outstretched arms. I was sorry that I had not sooner given her that +opportunity, and for some moments I stood and faced her, waving my hat +as I did so. + +I was wild with excitement. What should I do? What could I do? There +were no boats on the _Sparhawk_, and what had become of the one in +which I reached her I did not know. Thinking of nothing but getting on +board the vessel, I had forgotten to make the boat fast, and when I +went to look for it a day or two afterward it was gone. On the steamer, +however, I saw a boat hanging from davits near the stern. There was +hope in that. + +But there might be no need for a boat. Under the influence of the +gentle breeze, the steamer was steadily drawing nearer to the +_Sparhawk_. Perhaps they might touch each other. But this idea was soon +dispelled, for I could see that the wind would carry the steamer past +me, although, perhaps, at no great distance. Then my hopes sprang back +to the boat hanging from her davits. + +But before these hopes could take shape the woman and her glass died +out of sight behind the rail of the steamer. In about a minute she +reappeared, stood up erect, and applied a speaking-trumpet to her +mouth. It was possible that a high, shrill voice might have been heard +from one vessel to the other, but it was plain enough that this was a +woman who took no useless chances. I, too, must be prepared to hail as +well as to be hailed. Quickly I secured a speaking-trumpet from the +captain's room, and stood up at my post. + +Across the water came the monosyllable, "Ho!" and back I shouted, +"Hallo!" + +Then came these words, as clear and distinct as any I ever heard in my +life: "Are you Mr. Rockwell?" + +This question almost took away my senses. Was this reality? or had a +spirit risen from this lonely ocean to summon me somewhere? Was this +the way people died? Rockwell? Yes, my name was Rockwell. At least it +had been. I was sure of nothing now. + +Again came the voice across the sea. "Why don't you answer?" it said. + +I raised my trumpet to my lips. At first I could make no sound, but, +controlling my agitation a little, I shouted: "Yes!" + +Instantly the woman disappeared, and for ten minutes I saw her no +more. During that time I did nothing but stand and look at the steamer, +which was moving more slowly than before, for the reason that the wind +was dying away. She was now, however, nearly opposite me, and so near +that if the wind should cease entirely, conversation might be held +without the aid of trumpets. I earnestly hoped this might be the case, +for I had now recovered the possession of my senses, and greatly +desired to hear the natural voice of that young woman on the steamer. + +As soon as she reappeared I made a trial of the power of my voice. +Laying down the trumpet I shouted: "Who are you?" + +Back came the answer, clear, high, and perfectly audible: "I am Mary +Phillips." + +Mary Phillips! it seemed to me that I remembered the name. I was +certainly familiar with the erect attitude, and I fancied I recognized +the features of the speaker. But this was all; I could not place her. + +Before I could say anything she hailed again: "Don't you remember me?" +she cried, "I lived in Forty-second Street." + +The middle of a wild and desolate ocean and a voice from Forty-second +Street! What manner of conjecture was this? I clasped my head in my +hands and tried to think. Suddenly a memory came to me: a wild, +surging, raging memory. + +"With what person did you live in Forty-second Street?" I yelled across +the water. + +"Miss Bertha Nugent," she replied. + +A fire seemed to blaze within me. Standing on tiptoe I fairly +screamed: "Bertha Nugent! Where is she?" + +The answer came back: "Here!" And when I heard it my legs gave way +beneath me and I fell to the deck. I must have remained for some +minutes half lying, half seated, on the deck. I was nearly stupefied by +the statement I had heard. + +I will now say a few words concerning Miss Bertha Nugent. She was a +lady whom I had known well in New York, and who, for more than a year, +I had loved well, although I never told her so. Whether or not she +suspected my passion was a question about which I had never been able +to satisfy myself. Sometimes I had one opinion; sometimes another. +Before I had taken any steps to assure myself positively in regard to +this point, Miss Nugent went abroad with a party of friends, and for +eight months I had neither seen nor heard from her. + +During that time I had not ceased to berate myself for my inexcusable +procrastination. As she went away without knowing my feelings toward +her, of course there could be no correspondence. Whatever she might +have suspected, or whatever she might have expected, there was nothing +between us. + +But on my part my love for Bertha had grown day by day. Hating the city +and even the country where I had seen her and loved her and where now +she was not, I travelled here and there, and during the winter went to +the West Indies. There I had remained until the weather had become too +warm for a longer sojourn, and then I had taken passage in the +_Thespia_ for New York. I knew that Bertha would return to the city in +the spring or summer, and I wished to be there when she arrived. If, +when I met her, I found her free, there would be no more delay. My life +thenceforth would be black or white. And now here she was near me in a +half-wrecked steamer on the wide Atlantic, with no companion, as I +knew, but her maid, Mary Phillips. + +I now had a very distinct recollection of Mary Phillips. In my visits +to the Nugent household in Forty-second Street I had frequently seen +this young woman. Two or three times when Miss Nugent had not been at +home, I had had slight interviews with her. She always treated me with +a certain cordiality, and I had some reason to think that if Miss +Nugent really suspected my feelings, Mary Phillips had given her some +hints on the subject. + +Mary Phillips was an exceedingly bright and quick young woman, and I am +quite sure that she could see into the state of a man's feelings as +well as any one. Bertha had given me many instances of her maid's +facilities for adapting herself to circumstances, and I was now +thankful from the bottom of my heart that Bertha had this woman with +her. + +I was recovering from the stupefaction into which my sudden emotions +had plunged me, when a hail came across the water, first in Mary +Phillips's natural voice, and then through a speaking-trumpet. I stood +up and answered. + +"I was wondering," cried Mary Phillips, "what had become of you; I +thought perhaps you had gone down to breakfast." In answer I called to +her to tell me where Miss Nugent was, how she was, how she came to be +in this surprising situation, and how many people there were on board +the steamer. + +"Miss Nugent has not been at all well," answered Mary, "but she +brightened up as soon as I told her you were here. She cannot come on +deck very well, because the pitch of the ship makes the stairs so +steep. But I am going to give her her breakfast now, and after she has +eaten something she may be stronger, and I will try to get her on +deck." + +Brightened up when she knew I was near! That was glorious! That +brightened up creation. + +By this time I needed food also, but I did not remain below to eat it. +I brought my breakfast on deck, keeping my eyes all the time fixed upon +Bertha's steamer. The distance between us did not seem to have varied. +How I longed for a little breeze that might bring us together! Bertha +was on that vessel, trusting, perhaps, entirely to me: and what could I +do if some breeze did not bring us together? I looked about for +something on which I might float to her; but if I made a raft I was not +sure that I could steer or propel it, and I might float away and become +a third derelict. Once I thought of boldly springing into the water, +and swimming to her; but the distance was considerable, my swimming +powers were only moderate, and there might be sharks. The risk was too +great. But surely we would come together. Even if no kind wind arose, +there was that strange attraction which draws to each other the bubbles +on a cup of tea. If bubbles, why not ships? + +It was not long before nearly one-half of Mary Phillips appeared above +the rail. "Miss Nugent aas come on deck," she cried, "and she wants to +see you. She can't stand up very long, because everything is so +sliding." + +Before my trembling lips could frame an answer, she had bobbed out of +sight, and presently reappeared supporting another person, and that +other person was Bertha Nugent. + +I could discern her features perfectly. She was thinner and paler than +when I had last seen her, but her beauty was all there. The same smile +which I had seen so often was upon her face as she waved her +handkerchief to me. I waved my hat in return, but I tried two or three +times before I could speak loud enough for her to hear me. Then I threw +into my words all the good cheer and hope that I could. + +She did not attempt to answer, but smiled more brightly than before. +Her expression seemed to indicate that, apart from the extraordinary +pleasure of meeting a friend on this waste of waters, she was glad that +I was that friend. + +"She can't speak loud enough for you to hear her," called out Mary +Phillips, "but she says that now you are here she thinks everything +will be all right. She wants to know if you are alone on your ship, and +if you can come to us." + +I explained my situation, but said I did not doubt but the two ships +would gradually drift together. "Is there no one to lower your boat?" I +asked. + +"No one but me," answered Mary, "and I don't believe I am up to that +sort of thing. Miss Nugent says I must not touch it for fear I might +fall overboard." + +"Do you mean to say," I cried, "that there is nobody but you two on +board that steamer?" + +"No other living soul!" said Mary, "and I'll tell you how it all +happened." + +Then she told their story. The friends with whom Miss Nugent had +travelled had determined to go to Egypt, but as she did not wish to +accompany them, she had remained in Spain and Algiers during the early +spring, and, eleven days before, she and Mary Phillips had started from +Marseilles for home in the steamer _La Fidelite_. Five days ago, the +steamer had collided in the night with something, Mary did not know +what, and her front part was filled with water. Everybody was sure that +the vessel would soon sink, and the captain, crew, and passengers--all +French--went away in boats. + +"Is it possible" I yelled, "that they deserted you two women?" + +Mary Phillips replied that this was not the case. They had been +implored to go in the boats, but the night was dark, the sea was rough +and pitchy, and she was sure the boat would upset before they had gone +a hundred yards. Miss Nugent and she both agreed that it was much safer +to remain on a large vessel like the _Fidelite_, even if she was half +full of water, than to go out on the dark and stormy water in a +miserable little shell of a boat. The captain got down on his knees and +implored them to go, but they were resolute. He then declared that he +would force them into the craft, but Mary Phillips declared that if he +tried that, she would shoot him; she had a pistol ready. Then, when +they had all got in the boats but the captain, two of the men jumped on +board again, threw their arms around him and carried him off, vowing +that he should not lose his life on account of a pair of senseless +Americans. A boat would be left, the men said, which they might use if +they chose; but, of course, this was more a piece of sentiment than +anything else. + +"And now you see," cried Mary Phillips, "I was right, and they were +wrong. This steamer has not sunk; and I have no manner of doubt that +every soul who went away in those boats is now at the bottom of the +sea." + +This was indeed a wonderful story; and the fact that Bertha Nugent was +on board a derelict vessel and should happen to fall in with me on +board of another, was one of those events which corroborate the trite +and hackneyed adage, that truth is stranger than fiction. + +It was surprising how plainly I could hear Mary Phillips across the +smooth, still water. The ships did not now seem to be moving at all; +but soon they would be nearer, and then I could talk with Bertha. And +soon after (it must be so) I would be with her. + +I inquired if they had food and whatever else they needed; and Mary +Phillips replied that, with the exception of the slanting position of +the ship, they were very comfortable; that she did the cooking; and +that Miss Nugent said that they lived a great deal better than when the +ship's cook cooked. + +Mary also informed me that she had arranged a very nice couch for Miss +Nugent on the afterdeck; that she was lying there now, and felt better; +that she wanted to know which I thought the safer ship of the two; and +that whenever a little wind arose, and the vessels were blown nearer +each other, she wished to get up and talk to me herself. + +I answered that I thought both the ships were safe enough, and should +be delighted to talk with Miss Nugent, but in my heart I could not +believe that a vessel with her bow as low as that of the _Fidelite_ +could be safe in bad weather, to say nothing of the possibility of, at +any time, the water bursting into other compartments of the ship. The +_Sparhawk_ I believed to be in much better condition. Despite the fact +that she was utterly helpless as far as sailing qualities were +concerned, the greater part of her masts and rigging being in a +wretched condition, and her rudder useless, she did not appear to be +damaged. I had no reason to believe that she leaked, and she floated +well, although, as I have said, she lay rather deep in the water. + +If the thing were possible, I intended to get Bertha on board the +_Sparhawk_, where there was hope that we could all remain safely until +we were rescued. With this purpose in view, the moment Mary Phillips +disappeared, I went below and prepared the captain's cabin for Bertha +and her maid. I carried to the forward part of the vessel all the +pipes, bottles, and glasses, and such other things as were not suitable +for a lady's apartment, and thoroughly aired the cabin, making it as +neat and comfortable as circumstances permitted. The very thought of +offering hospitality to Bertha was a joy. + +I proposed to myself several plans to be used in various contingencies. +If the two vessels approached near enough, I would throw a line to _La +Fidelite_, and Mary Phillips would make it fast, I knew. Then with a +windlass I might draw the two vessels together. Then I would spring on +board the steamer, and when I had transferred Bertha and Mary to the +_Sparhawk_, would cut loose _La Fidelite_ to drift where she pleased. + +It was possible that I might convey from one vessel to the other some +articles of luxury or necessity, but on this point I would not come to +any definite conclusion. I would consult Mary Phillips on the subject. + +Another plan was that if we did not approach very close, I would +endeavor to throw a long, light line to the steamer, and Mary Phillips +would attach it to the boat which hung from the davits. Into this she +would put a pair of oars and lower it as well as she could; then I +would haul it to the _Sparhawk_, row over to the steamer, and transfer +Bertha and Mary to my vessel. It was possible that we should not have +to be very near each other for me to carry out this plan. Had I been a +seaman, I might have thought of some other plan better than these. But +I was not a seaman. + +I did not waste any time in the cabin, although I was very desirous to +make it as pleasant as possible for the reception of Bertha, but when I +returned to the deck I was astonished to find that the steamer was +farther away than it had been when I went below. There was a slight +breeze from the east, which had nearly turned the _Sparhawk_ about with +her bow to the wind, but was gently carrying _La Fidelite_ before it. + +I seized the speaking-trumpet, and with all my power, hailed the +steamer; and in return there came to me a single sound, the sound of +the vowel O. I could see two handkerchiefs fluttering upon the stern. +In ten minutes these were scarcely discernible. + +Half-crazed, I stood and gazed, and gazed, and gazed at the distant +steamer. The wind died away, and I could perceive that she was not +becoming more distant. Then I began to hope. Another wind might spring +up which would bring her back. + +And in an hour or two the other wind did spring up; I felt it in my +face, and slowly the _Sparhawk_ turned her bow toward it, and, +enrapturing sight! the steamer, with my Bertha on board, began to move +slowly back to me! The wind which was now blowing came from the +southwest, and _La Fidelite_, which before had lain to the southward of +the _Sparhawk_, was passing to the north of my vessel. Nearer and +nearer she came, and my whole soul was engaged in the hope that she +might not pass too far north. + +But I soon saw that unless the wind changed, the steamer would probably +pass within hailing distance. + +Soon I could see Mary Phillips on deck, speaking-trumpet in hand; and +seizing my trumpet, I hailed when as I thought we were near enough. I +eagerly inquired after Bertha, and the high voice of Mary Phillips came +across the water, telling me that Miss Nugent was not feeling at all +well. This uncertain state of affairs was making her feel very nervous. +"Can she come on deck?" I cried. "Can she use a speaking-trumpet? If I +could talk to her, I might encourage her." + +"She needs it," answered Mary, "but she cannot speak through the +trumpet; she tried it, and it made her head ache. She is here on deck, +and I am going to help her stand up as soon as we get nearer. Perhaps +she may be able to speak to you." + +The two vessels were now near enough for a high-pitched conversation +without the assistance of trumpets, and Mary Phillips assisted Bertha +to the side of the steamer, where I could distinctly see her. I shouted +as hearty a greeting as ever was sent across the water, bidding her to +keep up a good heart, for help of some kind must surely come to us. She +tried to answer me, but her voice was not strong enough. Then she shook +her head, by which I understood that she did not agree with me in my +hopeful predictions. I called back to her that in all this drifting +about the two vessels must certainly come together, and then, with the +assistance of the steamer's boat, we could certainly devise some way of +getting out of this annoying plight. She smiled, apparently at the +mildness of this expression, and again shook her head. She now seemed +tired, for her position by the rail was not an easy one to maintain, +and her maid assisted her to her couch on the deck. Then stood, up Mary +Phillips, speaking loud and promptly:-- + +"She has a message for you," she said, "which she wanted to give to you +herself, but she cannot do it. She thinks--but I tell her it is of no +use thinking that way--that we are bound to be lost. You may be saved +because your ship seems in a better condition than ours, and she does +not believe that the two vessels will ever come together; so she wants +me to tell you that if you get home and she never does, that she wishes +her share in the Forty-second Street house to go to her married sister, +and to be used for the education of the children. She doesn't want it +divided up in the ordinary way, because each one will get so little, +and it will do no good. Do you think that will be a good will?" + +"Don't speak of wills!" I shouted; "there is no need of a will. She +will get home in safety and attend to her own affairs." + +"I think so, too," cried Mary Phillips; "but I had to tell you what she +said. And now she wants to know if you have any message to send to your +parents, for we might blow off somewhere and be picked up, while this +might not happen to you. But I don't believe in that sort of thing any +more than in the other." + +I shouted back my disbelief in the necessity of any such messages, when +Mary Phillips seized her trumpet and cried that she did not hear me. + +Alas! the breeze was still blowing, and the steamer was moving away to +the northeast. Through my trumpet I repeated my words, and then Mary +said something which I could not hear. The wind was against her. I +shouted to her to speak louder, and she must have screamed with all her +force, but I could only hear some words to the effect that we were +bound to come together again, and she waved her handkerchief cheerily. + +Then the steamer moved farther and farther away, and speaking-trumpets +were of no avail. I seized the glass, and watched _La Fidelite_, until +she was nothing but a black spot upon the sea. + +The wind grew lighter, and finally died away, and the black spot +remained upon the horizon. I did not take my eyes from it until night +drew on and blotted it out. I had not thought of advising Mary Phillips +to hang out a light, and she was probably not sufficiently accustomed +to the ways of ships to think of doing it herself, although there could +be no doubt that there were lanterns suitable for the purpose on the +steamer. Had there been a light upon that vessel, I should have watched +the glimmer all night. As it was, I slept upon the deck, waking +frequently to peer out into the darkness, and to listen for a hail from +a speaking-trumpet. + +In the morning there was a black spot upon the horizon. I fancied that +it was a little nearer than when I last saw it; but in the course of +the forenoon it faded away altogether. Then despair seized upon me, and +I cared not whether I lived or died. I forgot to eat, and threw myself +upon the deck, where I remained for several hours, upbraiding myself +for my monstrous, unpardonable folly in neglecting the opportunities +which were now lost. + +Over and over again I told myself bitterly, that when I had been near +enough to the vessel which bore Bertha Nugent to converse with Mary +Phillips without the aid of a speaking-trumpet, I should have tried to +reach that vessel, no matter what the danger or the difficulties. I +should have launched a raft--I should have tried to swim--I should have +done something. + +And more than that, even had it been impossible for me to reach the +steamer, I should have endeavored to reach Bertha's heart. I should +have told her that I loved her. Whether she were lost or I were lost, +or both of us, she should have known I loved her. She might not have +been able to answer me, but she could have heard me. For that terrible +mistake, that crime, there was no pardon. Now every chance was gone. +What reason was there to suppose that these two derelicts ever again +would drift together? + +In the afternoon I rose languidly and looked about me. I saw something +on the horizon, and seizing the glass, I knew it to be _La Fidelite_. I +could recognize the slant of the hull, of the masts. + +Now hope blazed up again. If she were nearer, she must come nearer +still. I recovered my ordinary state of mind sufficiently to know that +I was hungry, and that I must eat to be strong and ready for what might +happen. + +Upon one thing I was determined. If Bertha should ever again be brought +near enough to hear me, I would tell her that I loved her. The object +of life, however much of it might be left me, should be to make Bertha +know that I loved her. If I swam toward the vessel, or floated on a +plank, I must get near enough to tell her that I loved her. + +But there was no wind, and the apparent size of the steamer did not +increase. This was a region or season of calms or fitful winds. During +the rest of the day the distant vessel continued to be a black speck +upon the smooth and gently rolling sea. Again I spent the night on +deck, but I did not wake to listen or watch. I was worn out and slept +heavily. + +The day was bright when I was awakened by a chilly feeling: a strong +breeze was blowing over me. I sprang to my feet. There was quite a +heavy sea; the vessel was rolling and pitching beneath me, and not far +away, not more than a mile, _La Fidelite_ was coming straight toward +me. Lightly laden, and with a great part of her hull high out of water, +the high wind was driving her before it, while my vessel, her bow to +the breeze, was moving at a much slower rate. + +As I looked at the rapidly approaching steamer, it seemed as if she +certainly must run into the _Sparhawk_. But for that I cared not. All +that I now hoped for was that Bertha should come to me. Whether one +vessel sank or the other, or whether both went down together, I should +be with Bertha, I would live or die with her. Mary Phillips stood full +in view on the stern of the oncoming steamer, a speaking-trumpet in +her hand. I could now see that it was not probable that the two vessels +would collide. The steamer would pass me, but probably very near. +Before I could make up my mind what I should do in this momentous +emergency, Mary Phillips hailed me. + +"When we get near enough," she shouted, "throw me a rope. I'll tie it +to the boat and cut it loose." + +Wildly I looked about me for a line which I might throw. Cordage there +was in abundance, but it was broken or fastened to something, or too +heavy to handle. I remembered, however, seeing a coil of small rope +below, and hastening down, I brought it on deck, took the coil in my +right hand, and stood ready to hurl it when the proper moment should +come. + +That moment came quickly. The steamer was not a hundred feet from me +when I reached the deck. It passed me on the port side. + +"Be ready!" cried Mary Phillips, the instant she saw me. It was not now +necessary to use a trumpet. + +"Throw as soon as I get opposite to you!" she cried. + +"Is Bertha well?" I shouted. + +"Yes!" said Mary Phillips; "but what you've got to do is to throw that +rope. Give it a good heave. Throw now!" + +The two vessels were not fifty feet apart. With all my strength I +hurled the coil of rope. The steamer's stern was above me, and I aimed +high. The flying coil went over the deck of _La Fidelite_, but in my +excitement I forgot to grasp tightly the other end of it, and the whole +rope flew from me and disappeared beyond the steamer. Stupefied by this +deplorable accident, I staggered backward and a heave of the vessel +threw me against the rail. Recovering myself, I glared about for +another rope, but of course there was none. + +Then came a shout from Mary Phillips. But she had already passed me, +and as I was to the windward of her I did not catch her words. As I +remembered her appearance, she seemed to be tearing her hair. In a +flash I thought of my resolution. Rushing to the rail, I put the +trumpet to my mouth. The wind would carry my words to her if it would +not bring hers to me. + +"Tell Bertha to come on deck!" I shouted. Mary Phillips looked at me, +but did not move. I wished her to rush below and bring up Bertha. Not +an instant was to be lost. But she did not move. + +"Tell her I love her!" I yelled through the trumpet. "Tell her that I +love her now and shall love her forever. Tell her I love her, no matter +what happens. Tell her I love her, I love her, I love her!" And this I +continued to scream until it was plain I was no longer heard. Then I +threw down my useless trumpet and seized the glass. Madly I scanned the +steamer. No sign of Bertha was to be seen. Mary Phillips was there, and +now she waved her handkerchief. At all events she forgave me. At such a +terrible moment what could one do but forgive? + +I watched, and watched, and watched, but no figure but that of Mary +Phillips appeared upon the steamer, and at last I could not even +distinguish that. Now I became filled with desperate fury. I determined +to sail after Bertha and overtake her. A great sail was flapping from +one of my masts, and I would put my ship about, and the strong wind +should carry me to Bertha. + +I knew nothing of sailing, but even if I had known, all my efforts +would have been useless. I rushed to the wheel and tried to move it, +pulling it this way and that, but the rudder was broken or jammed,--I +know not what had happened to it. I seized the ropes attached to the +boom of the sail, I pulled, I jerked, I hauled; I did not know what I +was doing. I did nothing. At last, in utter despair and exhaustion, I +fell to the deck. + +But before the wind had almost died away, and in the afternoon the sea +was perfectly calm, and when the sun set I could plainly see the +steamer on the faroff edge of the glistening water. During the whole +of the next day I saw her. She neither disappeared nor came nearer. +Sometimes I was in the depths of despair; sometimes I began to hope a +little; but I had one great solace in the midst of my misery--Bertha +knew that I loved her. I was positively sure that my words had been +heard. + +It was a strange manner in which I had told my love. I had roared my +burning words of passion through a speaking-trumpet, and I had told +them not to Bertha herself, but to Mary Phillips. But the manner was of +no importance. Bertha now knew that I loved her. That was everything to +me. + +As long as light remained I watched _La Fidelite_ through the glass, +but I could see nothing but a black form with a slanting upper line. +She was becalmed as I was. Why could she not have been becalmed near +me? I dared not let my mind rest upon the opportunities I had lost when +she had been becalmed near me. During the night the wind must have +risen again, for the _Sparhawk_ rolled and dipped a good deal, +troubling my troubled slumbers. Very early in the morning I was +awakened by what sounded like a distant scream. I did not know whether +it was a dream or not; but I hurried on deck. The sun had not risen, +but as I looked about I saw something which took away my breath; which +made me wonder if I were awake, or dreaming, or mad. + +It was Bertha's steamer within hailing distance! + +Above the rail I saw the head and body of Mary Phillips, who was +screaming through the trumpet. I stood and gazed in petrified +amazement. + +I could not hear what Mary Phillips said. Perhaps my senses were +benumbed. Perhaps the wind was carrying away her words. That it was +blowing from me toward her soon became too evident. The steamer was +receding from the _Sparhawk_. The instant I became aware of this my +powers of perception and reasoning returned to me with a burning flash. + +Bertha was going away from me--she was almost gone. + +Snatching my trumpet, I leaned over the rail and shouted with all my +might: "Did you hear me say I loved her? Did you tell her?" + +Mary Phillips had put down her trumpet, but now she raised it again to +her mouth, and I could see that she was going to make a great effort. +The distance between us had increased considerably since I came on +deck, and she had to speak against the wind. + +With all the concentrated intensity which high-strung nerves could +give to a man who is trying to hear the one thing to him worth hearing +in the world, I listened. Had a wild beast fixed his claws and teeth +into me at the moment I would not have withdrawn my attention. + +I heard the voice of Mary Phillips, faint, far away. I heard the words, +"Yes, but--" and the rest was lost. She must have known from my aspect +that her message did not reach me, for she tried again and again to +make herself heard. + +The wind continued to blow, and the steamer continued to float and +float and float away. A wind had come up in the night. It had blown +Bertha near me; perhaps it had blown her very near me. She had not +known it, and I had not known it. Mary Phillips had not known it until +it was too late, and now that wind had blown her past me and was +blowing her away. For a time there was a flutter of a handkerchief, +but only one handkerchief, and then _La Fidelite_, with Bertha on +board, was blown away until she disappeared, and I never saw her +again. + +All night I sat upon the deck of the _Sparhawk_, thinking, wondering, +and conjecturing. I was in a strange state of mind. I did not wonder or +conjecture whether Bertha's vessel would come back to me again; I did +not think of what I should do if it did come back. I did not think of +what I should do if it never came back. All night I thought, wondered, +and conjectured what Mary Phillips had meant by the word "but." + +It was plain to me what "yes" had meant. My message had been heard, and +I knew Mary Phillips well enough to feel positively sure that having +received such a message under such circumstances she had given it to +Bertha. Therefore I had positive proof that Bertha knew that I loved +her. But what did the "but" mean? + +It seemed to me that there were a thousand things that this word might +mean. It might mean that she was already engaged to be married. It +might mean that she had vowed never to marry. It might mean that she +disapproved of such words at such a time. I cannot repeat the tenth of +the meanings which I thought I might attach to this word. But the worst +thing that it could purport, the most terrible signification of all, +recurred to me over and over again. It might mean that Bertha could not +return my affection. She knew that I loved her, but she could not love +me. + +In the morning I ate something and then lay down upon the deck to +sleep. It was well that I should do this, I thought, because if Bertha +came near me again in the daytime Mary Phillips would hail me if I were +not awake. All night long I would watch, and, as there was a moon, I +would see Bertha's vessel if it came again. + +I did watch all that afternoon and all that night, and during my +watching I never ceased to wonder and conjecture what Mary Phillips +meant by that word "but." + +About the middle of the next day I saw in the distance something upon +the water. I first thought it a bit of spray, for it was white, but as +there were now no waves there could be no spray. With the glass I could +only see that it was something white shining in the sun. It might be +the glistening body of a dead fish. After a time it became plainer to +me. It was such a little object that the faint breezes which +occasionally arose had more influence upon the _Sparhawk_ than upon +it, and so I gradually approached it. + +In about an hour I made out that it was something round, with something +white raised above it, and then I discovered that it was a +life-preserver, which supported a little stick, to which a white flag, +probably a handkerchief, was attached. Then I saw that on the +life-preserver lay a little yellow mass. + +Now I knew what it was that I saw. It was a message from Bertha. Mary +Phillips had devised the means of sending it. Bertha had sent it. + +The life-preserver was a circular one, filled with air. In the centre +of this, Mary, by means of many strings, had probably secured a stick +in an upright position; she had then fastened a handkerchief to the top +of the stick. Bertha had written a message and Mary had wrapped it in a +piece of oiled silk and fastened it to the life-preserver. She had +then lowered this contrivance to the surface of the water, hoping that +it would float to me or I would float to it. + +I was floating to it. It contained the solution of all my doubts, the +answer to all my conjectures. It was Bertha's reply to my declaration +of love, and I was drifting slowly but surely toward it. Soon I would +know. + +But after a time the course of the _Sparhawk_ or the course of the +message changed. I drifted to the north. Little by little my course +deviated from the line on which I might have met the message. At last I +saw that I should never meet it. When I became convinced of this, my +first impulse was to spring overboard and swim for it. But I restrained +this impulse, as I had restrained others like it. If Bertha came back, +I must be ready to meet her. I must run no risks, for her sake and my +sake. She must find me on the _Sparhawk_ if she should come back. She +had left me and she had come back; she might come back again. Even to +get her message I must not run the risk of missing her. And so with +yearning heart and perhaps tearful eyes I watched the little craft +disappear and become another derelict. + +I do not know how many days and nights I watched and waited for +Bertha's ship and wondered and conjectured what Mary Phillips meant by +"but." I was awake so much and ate so little and thought so hard that I +lost strength, both of mind and body. All I asked of my body was to +look out for Bertha's steamer, and all that I asked of my mind was to +resolve the meaning of the last words I had heard from that vessel. + +One day, I do not know whether it was in the morning or afternoon, I +raised my head, and on the horizon I saw a steamer. Quick as a flash my +glass was brought to bear upon it. In the next minute my arms dropped, +the telescope fell into my lap, my head dropped. It was not Bertha's +steamer; it was an ordinary steamer with its deck parallel with the +water and a long line of smoke coming out of its funnel. The shock of +the disappointment was very great. + +When I looked up again I could see that the steamer was headed directly +toward me, and was approaching with considerable rapidity. But this +fact affected me little. It would not bring me Bertha. It would not +bring me any message from her. It was an ordinary vessel of traffic. I +took no great interest in it, one way or the other. + +Before long it was so near that I could see people on board. I arose +and looked over the rail. Then some one on the steamer fired a gun or a +pistol. As this seemed to be a signal, I waved my hat. Then the steamer +began to move more slowly, and soon lay to and lowered a boat. + +In ten minutes three men stood on the deck of the _Sparhawk_. Some one +had hailed me in English to lower something. I had lowered nothing; but +here they were on deck. They asked me a lot of questions, but I +answered none of them. + +"Is your captain with you?" I said. They answered that he was not, +that he was on the steamer. "Then take me to him," said I. + +"Of course we will," said their leader, with a smile. And they took me. + +I was received on the steamer with much cordiality and much +questioning, but to none of it did I pay any attention. I addressed the +captain. + +"Sir," said I, "I will be obliged to you if you will immediately cruise +to the southwest and pick up for me a life-preserver with a little +white flag attached to it. It also carries a message for me, wrapped up +in a piece of oiled silk. It is very important that I should obtain +that message without delay." + +The captain laughed. "Why, man!" said he, "what are you thinking of? Do +you suppose that I can go out of my course to cruise after a +life-preserver?" + +I looked at him with scorn. "Unmanly fiend!" said I. + +Another officer now approached, whom I afterward knew to be the ship's +doctor. + +"Come, come now," he said, "don't let us have any hard words. The +captain is only joking. Of course he will steam after your +life-preserver, and no doubt will come up with it very soon. In the +mean-time you must come below and have something to eat and drink and +rest yourself." + +Satisfied with this assurance, I went below, was given food and +medicine, and was put into a berth, where I remained for four days in a +half-insensible condition, knowing nothing--caring for nothing. + +When I came on deck again I was very weak, but I had regained my +senses, and the captain and I talked rationally together. I told him +how I had come on board the _Sparhawk_, and how I had fallen in with +the _La Fidelite_, half wrecked, having on board only a dear friend of +mine. In answer to his questions I described the details of the +communications between the two vessels, and could not avoid mentioning +the wild hopes and heart-breaking disappointments of that terrible +time. And, somewhat to my languid surprise, the captain asked no +questions regarding these subjects. I finished by thanking him for +having taken me from the wreck, but added that I felt like a +false-hearted coward for having deserted upon the sea the woman I +loved, who now would never know my fate nor I hers. + +"Don't be too sure of that," said the captain, "for you are about to +hear from her now." + +I gazed at him in blank amazement. "Yes," said the captain, "I have +seen her, and she has sent me to you. But I see you are all knocked +into a heap, and I will make the story as short as I can. This vessel +of mine is bound from Liverpool to La Guayra, and on the way down we +called at Lisbon. On the morning of the day I was to sail from there, +there came into port the _Glanford_, a big English merchantman, from +Buenos Ayres to London. I knew her skipper, Captain Guy Chesters, as +handsome a young English sailor as ever stood upon a deck. + +"In less than an hour from the time we dropped anchor, Captain Guy was +on my vessel. He was on the lookout, he said, for some craft bound for +South America or the West Indies, and was delighted to find me there. +Then he told me that, ten days before, he had taken two ladies from a +half-wrecked French steamer, and that they had prayed and besought him +to cruise about and look for the _Sparhawk_, a helpless ship, with a +friend of theirs alone on board. + +"'You know,' said Captain Guy to me, 'I couldn't do that, for I'd lost +time enough already, and the wind was very light and variable; so all I +could do was to vow to the ladies that when we got to Lisbon we'd be +bound to find a steamer going south, and that she could easily keep a +lookout for the _Sparhawk_, and take off the friend.' 'That was a +pretty big contract you marked out for the steamer going south,' I +said, 'and as for the _Sparhawk_, she's an old derelict, and I sighted +her on my voyage north, and sent in a report of her position, and there +couldn't have been anybody on board of her then.' 'Can't say,' said +Captain Guy; 'from what I can make out, this fellow must have boarded +her a good while after she was abandoned, and seems to have been lying +low after that.' Was that so, sir? Did you lie low?" + +I made no answer. My whole soul was engaged in the comprehension of the +fact that Bertha had sent for me. "Go on!" I cried. + +"All right," said he. "I ought not to keep you waiting. I promised +Captain Guy I would keep a lookout for the _Sparhawk_, and take you off +if you were on board. I promised the quicker, because my conscience was +growling at me for having, perhaps, passed a fellow-being on an +abandoned vessel. But I had heard of the _Sparhawk_ before. I had +sighted her, and so didn't keep a very sharp lookout for living beings +aboard. Then Captain Guy took me on board his ship to see the two +ladies, for they wanted to give me instructions themselves. And I tell +you what, sir, you don't often see two prettier women on board ship, +nor anywhere else, for that matter. Captain Guy told me that before I +saw them. He was in great spirits about his luck. He is the luckiest +fellow in the merchant service. Now, if I had picked up two people that +way, it would have been two old men. But he gets a couple of lovely +ladies; that's the way the world goes. The ladies made me pretty nigh +swear that I'd never set foot on shore till I found you. I would have +been glad enough to stay there all day and make promises to those +women; but my time was short, and I had to leave them to Captain Guy. +So I did keep a lookout for the _Sparhawk_, and heard of her from two +vessels coming north, and finally fell in with you. And a regular +lunatic you were when I took you on board; but that's not to be +wondered at; and you seem to be all right now." + +"Did you not bring me any message from them?" I asked. + +"Oh, yes; lots," said the captain. "Let me see if I can remember some +of them." And then he knit his brows and tapped his head, and repeated +some very commonplace expressions of encouragement and sympathy. + +The effect of these upon me was very different from what the captain +had expected. I had hoped for a note, a line--anything direct from +Bertha. If she had written something which would explain the meaning of +those last words from Mary Phillips, whether that explanation were +favorable or otherwise, I would have been better satisfied; but now my +terrible suspense must continue. + +"Well," said the captain, "you don't seem cheered up much by word from +your friends. I was too busy looking at them to rightly catch +everything they said, but I know they told me they were going to London +in the _Glanford_. This I remembered, because it struck me what a jolly +piece of good luck it all was for Captain Guy." + +"And for what port are you bound?" I asked. "La Guayra," he said. "It +isn't a very good time of the year to be there; but I don't doubt that +you can find some vessel or other there that will take you north, so +you're all right." + +I was not all right. Bertha was saved. I was saved; but I had received +no message. I knew nothing; and I was going away from her. + +Two or three days after this, the captain came to me and said: "Look +here, young man; you seem to be in the worst kind of doleful dumps. +People who have been picked up in the middle of the ocean don't +generally look like that. I wonder if you're not a little love-sick on +account of a young woman on the _Glanford_." + +I made no answer; I would not rebuke him, for he had saved my life; but +this was a subject which I did not wish to discuss with a sea-captain. + +"If that's really what's the matter with you," said he, "I can give you +a piece of advice which will do you good if you take it. I think you +told me that you are not engaged to this lady," (I nodded) "and that +you never proposed to her except through a speaking-trumpet." I +allowed silence to make assent. "Well, now, my advice is to give her +up, to drop all thoughts of her, and to make up your mind to tackle +onto some other girl when you find one that is good enough. You haven't +the least chance in the world with this one. Captain Guy is mad in love +with her. He told me so himself, and when he's out and out in love with +a girl he's bound to get her. When I was with him he might have been +married once a month if he'd chosen to; but he didn't choose. Now he +does choose, and I can tell you that he's not going to make love +through a speaking-trumpet. He'll go straight at it, and he'll win, +too. There's every reason why he should win. In the first place, he's +one of the handsomest fellows, and I don't doubt one of the best +love-makers that you would be likely to meet on land or sea. And then +again, she has every reason to be grateful to him and to look on him as +a hero." + +I listened without a word. The captain's reasoning seemed to me very +fallacious. + +"You don't know it," said he, "but Captain Guy did a good deal more +than pick up those two women from an abandoned vessel. You see he was +making his way north with a pretty fair wind from the south-west, the +first they'd had for several days, and when his lookout sighted _La +Fidelite_ nobody on board thought for a minute that he would try to +beat up to her, for she lay a long way to the west of his course, +though pretty well in sight. + +"But Captain Guy has sharp eyes and a good glass, and he vowed that he +could see something on the wreck that looked like a handkerchief waved +by a woman. He told me this himself as we were walking from my ship to +his. Everybody laughed at him and wanted to know if women waved +handkerchiefs different from other people. + +"They said that any bit of canvas might wave like that, and that it was +plain enough that the vessel was abandoned. If it was not, it could be, +for there was a boat still hanging to one of its davits. Captain Guy +paid no attention to this, but spied a little longer; then he vowed +that he was going to make for that vessel. There was one of the owners +on board, and he up and forbid Captain Guy to do it. He told him that +they had been delayed enough on the voyage by light winds, and now that +they would be over-due at their port a good many days before they got +there. Every day lost, he said, was money lost to the owners. He had +never heard of any skipper undertaking a piece of tomfoolery like this. +It would take all day to beat up to that wreck, and when they reached +it they would find an old derelict, which was no more than they could +see now. And as for there being a woman on board, that was all stuff. +The skipper had woman on the brain. + +"To this Captain Guy answered that he didn't own the ship, but he +commanded her, and as long as he commanded this vessel or any other, he +was not going to pass a wreck when there were good reasons to believe +that there was a human being on board of it, and in spite of what +anybody said, his eyes told him that there was reason to believe that +there was somebody waving on that wreck. So he ordered the ship put +about, paying no attention to the cursing and swearing of the owner, +and beat against a wind that was getting lighter and lighter for over +four hours until he reached the French steamer and took off the two +ladies. + +"There was nobody on board the _Glanford_ that thinks that Captain Guy +will ever sail that ship again. And in fact he don't think so himself. +But said he to me: "If I can marry that girl, the ship can go. If I +can't get another ship, I can sail under a skipper. But there's no +other girl in the world like this one." + +"And so you see, sir," he continued, "there isn't the least chance in +the world for you. Captain Guy's got her on board his ship; he's with +her by sunlight and starlight. He's lost his ship for her and he wants +to marry her. And on the other hand, it'll be weeks and weeks and +perhaps months before you can see her, or write to her either, as like +as not, and long before that Captain Guy will have his affair settled, +and there isn't any reason in my mind to doubt which way it will +settle. And so you just take my advice, sir, and stop drawing that long +face. There are plenty of good girls in the world; no reason why you +shouldn't get one; but if you are moping for the one that Captain +Guy's got his heart set on, I'm afraid you'll end by being as much out +of your head as you were when I found you." + +To all this I made no answer, but walked gloomily toward the stern and +looked down into the foaming wake. I think I heard the captain tell one +of the men to keep an eye on me. + +When we reached La Guayra--and the voyage seemed to me a never-ending +one--I immediately set about finding a vessel bound for England. My +captain advised me to go up on the mountains and wait until a steamer +should sail for New York, which event might be expected in two or three +weeks. America would be much better for me, he thought, than would +England. But I paid no attention to him, and as there was nothing in +port that would sail for England, I took passage in a Spanish steamer +bound for Barcelona. Arriving there, after a passage long enough to +give me plenty of time for the consideration of the last two words I +heard from Mary Phillips, and of the value of the communications I had +received regarding Captain Guy Chesters, I immediately started by rail +for London. On this journey I found that what I had heard concerning +the rescue of my Bertha had had a greater effect upon me than I had +supposed. Trains could not go fast enough for me. I was as restless as +a maniac; I may have looked like one. + +Over and over I tried to quiet myself by comforting reflections, saying +to myself, for instance, that if the message which Bertha had sent +floating on the sea to me had not been a good one, she would not have +sent it. Feel as she might, she could not have been so hard-hearted as +to crush the hopes of a man who, like herself, might soon lie in a +watery grave. But then, there was that terrible word "but." Looked at +in certain lights, what could be more crushing or heart-breaking than +that? + +And then again, Mary Phillips may not have understood what I said to +her through the speaking-trumpet. A grim humor of despair suggested +that at that distance, and in that blustering wind, the faithful +maid-servant might have thought that instead of shouting that I loved +my Bertha, I was asking her if they had plenty of salt pork and +hardtack. It was indeed a time of terrible suspense. + +I did not know Bertha's address in England. I knew that she had friends +in London and others in the country; but I was sure that I would find +her if she were on the island. I arrived in London very early in the +morning, too early to expect to find open any of the banking-houses or +other places where Americans would be likely to register. Unable to +remain inactive, I took a cab and drove to the London docks. + +I went to inquire the whereabouts of Captain Guy Chesters. + +This plan of action was almost repulsive to me, but I felt that it +offered an opportunity which I should not neglect. I would certainly +learn about Bertha if I saw him, and whether it would be anything good +or anything bad I ought to know it. + +In making my inquiries the cabman was of much assistance to me. And +after having been referred from one person to another, I at last found +a man, first mate of a vessel in the docks, who knew Captain Chesters, +and could tell me all about him. + +"Yes, sir," said he, "I can tell you where to find Captain Chesters. +He's on shore, for he doesn't command the _Glanford_ now, and as far as +I know he hasn't signed articles yet either as skipper or mate in any +other craft. The fact is, he's engaged in business, which I suppose he +thinks better than sailing the sea. He was married about a month ago. +It's only two or three days since he's got back from a little land trip +they took on the Continent. I saw him yesterday; he's the happiest man +alive. But it's as like as not that he's ready for business now that +he's got through with his honeymoon, and if it's a skipper you're +looking for you can't find a better man than Captain Guy, not about +these docks." + +I stood and looked at the man without seeing him, and then in a hollow +voice asked: "Where does he live?" + +"A hundred and nine Lisbury Street, Calistoy Road, East. Now that I've +told you, I wish I hadn't. You look as though you were going to measure +him for a coffin." + +"Thank you," said I, and walked away. + +I told the cabman to drive me to the address I had received, and in due +time we arrived in front of a very good-looking house, in a quiet and +respectable street. + +I was in a peculiar state of mind. I had half expected the terrible +shock, and I had received it. But I had not been stunned; I had been +roused to an unusual condition of mental activity. My senses were +sharpened by the torment of my soul, and I observed everything,--the +quarter of the city, the street, the house. + +The woman who opened the door started a little when she saw me. I asked +for Mrs. Captain Chesters, and walked in without waiting to be told +whether the lady was in or not. The woman showed me into a little +parlor, and left me. Her manner plainly indicated that she suspected +something was the matter with me. + +In a very short time a tall, well-made man, with curly brown hair, a +handsome, sun-browned face, and that fine presence which command at sea +frequently gives, entered the room. + +"I understand, sir," said he, "that you asked for my wife, but I +thought it better to come to you myself. What is your business with +her, sir, and what is your name?" + +"My name is Charles Rockwell," I said, "and my business is to see her. +If she has already forgotten my name, you can tell her that I kept +company with her for a while on the Atlantic Ocean, when she was in one +wreck and I was in another." + +"Good heavens!" cried the young sailor; "do you mean to say that you +are the man who was on the derelict _Sparhawk_? And were you picked up +by Captain Stearns, whom I sent after you? I supposed he would have +written to me about you." + +"I came faster than a letter would come," I answered. "Can I see her?" + +"Of course you can!" cried Captain Guy. "I never knew a man so talked +about as you have been since I fell in with the wreck of that French +steamer! By George! sir, there was a time when I was dead jealous of +you. But I'm married tight and fast now, and that sort of thing is done +with. Of course you shall see her." + +He left the room, and presently I heard the sound of running footsteps. +The door was opened, and Mary Phillips entered, closely followed by the +captain. I started back; I shouted as if I had a speaking-trumpet to +my mouth:-- + +"What!" I cried; "is this your wife?" + +"Yes," said Captain Guy, stepping forward, "of course she is. Why not?" +I made no answer, but with open arms I rushed upon Mary Phillips and +folded her in a wild embrace. I heard a burst of nautical oaths, and +probably would have been felled by a nautical fist, had not Mary +screamed to her husband:-- + +"Stop, Guy!" she cried; "I understand him. It's all right. He's so glad +to see me." + +I released her from my embrace, and, staggering back, sank upon a +chair. + +"Go get him a glass of sherry, Guy," she said, and wheeling up a great +easy-chair, she told me to sit in it, for I looked dreadfully tired. I +took the chair, and when the wine was brought I drank it. + +"Where is Miss Nugent?" I asked. + +"Miss Nugent is all right," said Mary Phillips, "but I'm not going to +tell you a word about her or anything else until you've had some +breakfast. I know you have not tasted food this day." + +I admitted that I had not. I would eat, I would do anything, so that +afterward she would tell me about Bertha. + +When I had a cup of coffee and some toast which Mary brought to me upon +a tray, I arose from my chair. + +"Now tell me quickly," I said, "where is Bertha?" + +"Not a bit of it," said Mary Phillips--I call her so, for I shall never +know her by any other name. + +"Sit down again, Mr. Rockwell, and eat these two eggs. When you have +done that I will talk to you about her. You needn't be in a hurry to go +to see her, because in the house where she is the people are not up +yet." + +"Might as well sit down and eat," said the captain, laughing. "When +you're under command of this skipper you will find that her orders are +orders, and the quicker you step up and obey them, the better. So I +would advise you to eat your eggs." + +I began to do so, and Captain Guy laughed a mighty laugh. "She's a +little thing," he said, "but she does know how to make men stand about. +I didn't believe there was a person in this world who could have kept +my hands off you when I saw you hugging my wife. But she did it, and I +tell you, sir, I was never worse cut up in my whole life than I was +when I saw you do that." + +"Sir," said I, looking at him steadfastly, "if I have caused you any +pain, any misery, any torment of the soul, any anguish of heart, any +agony of jealousy, or mental torture of any kind, I am heartily glad of +it, for all of these things you have brought on me." + +"Good!" cried Mary Phillips; "you must be feeling better, sir, and +when you have entirely finished breakfast we will go on and talk." + +In a few moments I pushed away the tray, and Mary, looking at it, +declared herself satisfied, and placed it on a side table. + +"So you really supposed, sir," she said, sitting near me, "that Captain +Chesters married Miss Nugent?" + +"I certainly did," I answered. + +"No doubt, thinking," said Mary, with a smile, "that no man in his +senses would marry anybody else when Miss Nugent was about, which was a +very proper opinion, of course, considering your state of mind." + +"And let me say, sir," said Captain Guy, "if I had married Miss Nugent, +more people than you would have been dissatisfied. I would have been +one of them, and I am sure Miss Nugent would have been another." + +"Count me as one of that party," said Mary Phillips. "And now, Mr. +Rockwell, you shall not be kept waiting a moment longer." + +"Of course she is safe and well," I said, "or you would not be +here, and before you say anything more about her, please tell me what +you meant by that terrible word 'but.'" + +"But?" repeated Mary Phillips, with a puzzled expression. And Captain +Guy echoed, "But? What but?" + +"It was the last word I heard from you," said I; "you shouted it to me +when your vessel was going away for the last time. It has caused me a +world of misery. It may have been followed by other words, but I did +not catch them. I asked you if you had told her that I loved her, and +you answered, 'Yes, but--'" + +Captain Guy slapped his leg, "By George!" he said; "that was enough to +put a man on the rack. Mary, you should have told him more than that." + +Mary Phillips wrinkled her forehead and gazed steadfastly into her lap. +Suddenly she looked up. + +"I remember it," she said; "I remember exactly what I answered or tried +to answer. I said, 'Yes, but she knew it before.'" + +I sprang to my feet. "What do you mean?" I cried. + +"Of course she knew it," she cried: "we must both have been very stupid +if we hadn't known that. We knew it before we left New York; and, for +my part, I wondered why you didn't tell her. But as you never mentioned +it, of course it wasn't for us to bring up the subject." + +"Bertha knew I loved her?" I ejaculated. "And what--and how--what did +she say of it? What did she think of it?" + +"Well," said Mary Phillips, laughing, "I could never see that she +doubted it; I could never see that she objected to it. In fact, from +what she said, and, being just us two, of course she had to say a good +many things to me, I think she was very glad to find out that you knew +it as well as we did." + +"Mary Phillips!" I cried; "where is she? Tell me this moment!" + +"Look here," said Captain Guy, "you're leaving me out of this business +altogether. This is Mrs. Mary Chesters." + +"Mr. Rockwell will be all right when he gets over this flurry," said +Mary to her husband. + +I acknowledged the correction with a nod, for I had no time then for +words on the subject. + +"Don't get yourself flustered, sir," said Mary. "You can't go to her +yet; it's too early. You must give the family time to come down and +have breakfast. I am not going to be party to a scene before breakfast +nor in the middle of a meal. I know the ways and manners of that house, +and I'll send you at exactly the right time." + +I sat down. "Mary--Mrs.--" + +"Don't bother about names just now," she interrupted; "I know who +you're speaking to." + +"Do you believe," I continued, looking steadfastly at her, "that Bertha +Nugent loves me?" + +"I don't know," she said, "that it's exactly my business to give this +information, but under the circumstances I take it on myself to say +that she most certainly does. And I tell you, and you may tell her if +you like, that I would not have said this to you if I hadn't believed +this thing ought to be clinched the minute there was a chance to do it. +It's been hanging off and on long enough. Love you? Why, bless my +soul, sir, she's been thinking of nothing else for the past two or +three days but the coming of the postman, expecting a letter from you, +not considering that you didn't know where to address her, or that it +was rather scant time for a letter to come from La Guayra, where +Captain Stearns would take you if he succeeded in picking you up." + +"The whole affair had a scanty air about it," said Captain Guy. "At +least, that's the way I look at it." + +"You've never said anything like that before," said Mary, rather +sharply. + +"Of course not," replied the captain. "I wanted to keep you as merry +and cheerful as I could. And besides, I didn't say I had thought there +was no chance of Mr. Rockwell's turning up. I only said I considered it +a little scantish." + +"Love you?" continued Mary Phillips; "I should say so. I should have +brought her on deck to wave her handkerchief to you and kiss her +hand--perhaps, when you blew the state of your feelings through a +trumpet; but she wasn't strong enough. She was a pretty weak woman in +body and mind about that time. But from the moment I told her, and she +knew that you not only loved her, but were willing to say so, she began +to mend. And how she did talk about you, and how she did long that the +two ships might come together again! She kept asking me what I thought +about the condition of your vessel and whether it would be like to sink +if a storm came on. I could not help thinking that, as far as I knew +anything about ships, you'd be likely to float for weeks after we'd +gone down, but I didn't say that to her. And then she began to wonder +if you had understood that she had received your message and was glad +to get it. And I told her over and over and over again that you must +have heard me, for I screamed my very loudest. I am very glad that I +didn't know that you only caught those two words." + +"Dear girl!" I ejaculated. "And did she send me a message on a +life-preserver?" + +"You mean to say that you got it?" cried Mary Phillips. + +"No," said I; "it floated away from me. What was it?" + +"I got up that little scheme," said Mary Phillips, "to quiet her. I +told her that a letter might be floated to you that way, and that, +anyway, it would do no harm to try. I don't know what she wrote, but +she must have said a good deal, for she took a long time about it. I +wrapped it up perfectly water-tight. She made the flag herself out of +one of her own handkerchiefs with her initial in the corner. She said +she thought you would like that." + +"Oh, that it had come to me!" I cried. + +"I wish from the bottom of my soul that it had," said Mary, +compassionately. "It would have done you a lot of good on that lonely +ship." + +"Instead of which," observed Captain Guy, "some shark probably +swallowed it, and little good it did him." + +"It put a lot of affection and consideration into him," said Mary, a +little brusquely, "and there are other creatures connected with the sea +who wouldn't be hurt by that sort of thing." + +"There's a shot into me!" cried the captain. "Don't do it again. I cry +quarter!" + +"I must go," I said, rising; "I can wait no longer." + +"Well," said Mary, "you may not be much too soon, if you go slowly." + +"But before I go," I said, "tell me this: Why did she not send me some +word from Lisbon? Why did she not give Captain Stearns a line on a +piece of paper or some message?" + +"A line! a message!" exclaimed Mary. "She sent you a note; she sent you +a dozen messages by Captain Stearns." + +"And I'll wager a month's pay," said Captain Guy, "that he never +delivered one of them." + +"He gave me no note," I cried. + +"It's in the pocket of his pea-jacket now," said Captain Chesters. + +"He did deliver some messages," I said, "after I questioned him; but +they were such as these: Keep up a good heart; everything's bound to be +right in the end; the last to get back gets the heartiest welcome. +Now, anybody could have sent such words as those." + +"Upon my word," cried Mary Phillips, "those were the messages I sent. I +remember particularly the one about the last one back and the heartiest +welcome." + +"Confound that Stearns!" cried Captain Guy; "what did he mean by giving +all his attention to you, and none to the lady that he was sent for to +see?" + +"Good bye, Mrs. Chesters," I said, taking her by the hand. "I can never +thank you enough for what you have done for her and for me. But how you +could leave her I really do not understand." + +"Well," said Mary, coloring a little, "I can scarcely understand it +myself; but that man would have it so, and he's terribly obstinate. But +I don't feel that I've left her. She's in the best of hands, and I see +her nearly every day. Here's her address, and when you meet her, Mr. +Rockwell, you'll find that in every way I've told you truly." I took a +hearty leave of Captain Guy, shook Mary by the hand once more, rushed +down stairs, roused the sleeping cabby, and glancing at the card, +ordered him to gallop to 9 Ravisdock Terrace, Parmley Square. + +I do not know how I got into the house, what I said nor what I asked, +nor whether the family had had their breakfast or not; but the moment +my eyes fell upon my beloved Bertha I knew that in everything Mary +Phillips had told me truly. She came into the room with beaming eyes +and both hands extended. With outstretched arms I rushed to meet her, +and folded her to my breast. This time there was no one to object. For +some moments we were speechless with joyful emotion, but there was no +need of our saying anything, no need of statements nor explanations. +Mary Phillips had attended to all that. + +When we had cooled down to the point of speech, I was surprised to find +that I had been expected, that Bertha knew I was coming. When Mary +Phillips had left me that morning to prepare my breakfast, she had sent +a message to Bertha, and then she had detained me until she thought it +had been received and Bertha was prepared to meet me. + +"I did not want any slips or misses," she said, when she explained the +matter to me afterward. "I don't want to say anything about your +personal appearance, Mr. Rockwell, but there are plenty of servants in +London who, if they hadn't had their orders, would shut the door in the +face of a much less wild-eyed person than you were, sir, that morning." + +Bertha and I were married in London, and two weeks afterward we +returned to America in the new ship _Glaucus_, commanded by Captain Guy +Chesters and his wife. + +Our marriage in England instead of America was largely due to the +influence of Mary Phillips, who thought it would be much safer and more +prudent for us to be married before we again undertook the risks of a +sea-voyage. + +"Nobody knows what may happen on the ocean," she said; "but if you're +once fairly married, that much is accomplished, anyway." + +Our choice of a sailing-vessel in which to make the passage was due in +a great part to our desire to keep company as long as possible with +Captain Chesters and his wife, to whom we truly believed we owed each +other. + +When we reached New York, and Bertha and I were about to start for the +Catskill Mountains, where we proposed to spend the rest of the summer, +we took leave of Captain Guy and his wife with warmest expressions of +friendship, with plans for meeting again. + +Everything seemed to have turned out in the best possible way. + +We had each other, and Mary Phillips had some one to manage. + +We should have been grieved if we had been obliged to leave her without +occupation. + +At the moment of parting I drew her aside. "Mary," I said, "we have had +some strange experiences together, and I shall never forget them." + +"Nor shall I, sir," she answered. "Some of them were so harrowing and +close-shaved, and such heart-breaking disappointments I never had. The +worst of all was when you threw that rope clean over our ship without +holding on to your end of it. I had been dead sure that the rope was +going to bring us all together." + +"That was a terrible mishap," I answered; "what did Bertha think of +it?" + +"Bless my soul!" ejaculated Mary Phillips; "she wasn't on deck, and she +never knew anything about it. When I am nursing up a love match I don't +mention that sort of thing." + + + + +THE BAKER OF BARNBURY. + + +A CHRISTMAS STORY. + +It was three days before Christmas, and the baker of the little village +of Barnbury sat in the room behind his shop. He was a short and sturdy +baker, a good fellow, and ordinarily of a jolly demeanor, but this day +he sat grim in his little back room. + +"Christmas, indeed," he said to himself, "and what of Christmas? 'Thank +you, baker, and a merry Christmas to you,' and every one of them goes +away with the present of a raisin-cake, or a horse ginger-cake, if +they like that better. All this for the good of the trade, of course. +Confound the trade, I'm tired of trade. Is there no good in this world, +but the good of the trade? 'Oh, yes,' they'll say, 'there's Christmas, +and that's good.'--'But what is the good of it to me?' say I. Christmas +day is a family day, and to a man without a family it's no day at all. +I'm not even fourth cousin to a soul in the town. Nobody asks me to a +family dinner. 'Bake! baker!' they cry, 'that we may eat and love each +other.' Confound them! I am tired of it. What is Christmas to me? I +have a mind to skip it." + +As he said this, a smile broke out on his face. "Skip Christmas," said +he; "that is a good idea. They did not think of me last year; this +would make them think of me this year." + +As he said this he opened his order-book and ran his eye over the +names. "Here's orders from every one of them," said he, "from the +doctor down to Cobbler John. All have families, all give orders. It's +pastry, cake, or sweetmeats, or it's meat or fowl to be baked. What a +jolly Christmas they will have without me! Orders from all of them, +every one; all sent in good time for fear of being crowded out." + +Here he stopped and ran his eye again over the list. + +"No, not all," he said; "the Widow Monk is not here. What is the matter +with her, I wonder. The only person in Barnbury who has not ordered +either pastry, cakes, or sweetmeats; or fowls or meat to be baked. If I +skip Christmas, she'll not mind it, she'll be the only one--the only +one in all Barnbury. Ha! ha!" + +The baker wanted some fresh air, and, as this was supper-time for the +whole village, he locked up his shop and went out for a walk. The night +was clear and frosty. He liked this; the air was so different from that +in his bakery. + +He walked to the end of the village, and at the last house he stopped. + +"It's very odd," said he to himself; "no cakes, pastry, or sweetmeats; +not even poultry or meat to be baked. I'll look in and see about this," +and he knocked at the door. + +The Widow Monk was at supper. She was a plump little body, bright and +cheerful to look upon, and not more than thirty. + +"Good evening, baker," said she; "will you sit down and have a cup of +tea?" + +The baker put down his hat, unwound his long woollen comforter, took +off his overcoat, and had a cup of tea. + +"Now, then," said he to himself, as he put down his cup, "if she'd ask +me to dinner, I wouldn't skip Christmas, and the whole village might +rise up and bless her." + +"We are like to have a fine Christmas," he said to her. + +"Fine enough for the rest of you," she said, with a smile, "but I shall +not have any Christmas this year." + +"How's that?" cried the baker; "no Christmas, Widow Monk?" + +"Not this year, baker," said she, and she poured him another cup of +tea. "You see that horse-blanket?" said she, pointing to one thrown +over a chair. + +"Bless me, Widow Monk," cried the baker, "you're not intending to set +up a horse?" + +"Hardly that," she answered, with a smile, "but that's the very last +horse-blanket that I can get to bind. They don't put them on horses, +but they have them bound with red, and use them for door curtains. +That's all the fashion now, and all the Barnbury folks who can afford +them, have sent them to me to be bound with red. That one is nearly +finished, and there are no more to be bound." + +"But haven't the Barnbury folks any more work for you?" cried the +baker; "haven't they shirts or gowns, or some other sort of needling?" + +"Those things they make themselves," answered the widow; "but this +binding is heavy work, and they give it to me. The blankets are coarse, +you see, but they hang well in the doorway." + +"Confound the people of Barnbury!" cried the baker. "Every one of them +would hang well in a doorway, if I had the doing of it. And so you +can't afford a Christmas, Widow Monk?" + +"No," said she, setting herself to work on her horse-blanket, "not this +year. When I came to Barnbury, baker, I thought I might do well, but I +have not done well." + +"Did not your husband leave you anything?" he asked. + +"My husband was a sailor," said she, "and he went down with his brig, +the _Mistletoe_, three years ago, and all that he left me is gone, +baker." + +It was time for the baker to open his shop, and he went away, and as he +walked home snow-drops and tear-drops were all mixed together on his +face. + +"I couldn't do this sort of thing before her," he said, "and I am glad +it was time to go and open my shop." + +That night the baker did all his regular work, but not a finger did he +put to any Christmas order. The next day, at supper-time, he went out +for a walk. + +On the way he said to himself, "If she is going to skip Christmas, and +I am going to skip Christmas, why should we not skip it together? That +would truly be most fit and gladsome, and it would serve Barnbury +aright. I'll go in and lay it before her." + +The Widow Monk was at supper, and when she asked him to take a cup of +tea, he put down his hat, unwound his woollen comforter, and took off +his overcoat. When he set down his empty cup he told her that he, too, +had made up his mind to skip Christmas, and he told her why, and then +he proposed that they should skip it together. + +Now, the Widow Monk forgot to ask him to take a second cup of tea, and +she turned as red as the binding she had put on the horse-blankets. +The baker pushed aside the teacups, leaned over the table, and pressed +his suit very hard. + +When the time came for him to open his shop she said that she would +think about the matter, and that he might come again. + +The next day the sun shone golden, the snow shone silvery, and Barnbury +was like a paradise to the good baker. For the Widow Monk had told him +he might come again, and that was almost the same thing as telling him +that he and she would skip Christmas together! And not a finger, so +far, had he put to any Christmas order. + +About noon of that day, he was so happy, was that good baker, that he +went into the village inn to have a taste of something hot. In the inn +he found a tall man, with rings in his ears. A sun-browned man he was +and a stranger, who had just arrived and wanted his dinner. He was also +a handsome man, and a sailor, as any one could see. + +As the baker entered, the tall man said to the inn-keeper:-- + +"Is there a Mrs. Monk now living in this village?" + +"Truly there is," said the inn-keeper, "and I will show you her house. +But you'll have your dinner first?" + +"Aye, aye," said the stranger, "for I'll not go to her hungry." + +The baker asked for nothing hot, but turned him and went out into the +cold, bleak world. As he closed the door behind him he heard the +stranger say:-- + +"On the brig _Mistletoe_." + +It was not needed that the baker should hear these words; already he +knew everything. His soul had told him everything in the moment he saw +the sun-browned man with the rings in his ears! + +On went the baker, his head bowed on his breast, the sun shining like +tawdry brass, the snow glistening like a slimy, evil thing. He knew not +where he was going; he knew not what he intended to do, but on he went. + +Presently a door opened, and he was called. + +"I saw you coming," said the Widow Monk, "and I did not wish to keep +you waiting in the cold," and she held open the door for him. + +When he had entered, and had seated himself before the fire, she said +to him:-- + +"Truly, you look chilled; you need something hot"; and she prepared it +for him. + +The baker took the hot beverage. This much of good he might at least +allow himself. He drank it, and he felt warmed. + +"And now," said the Widow Monk, seating herself on the other side of +the fire-place, "I shall speak as plainly to you as you spoke to me. +You spoke very well yesterday, and I have been thinking about it ever +since, and have made up my mind. You are alone in the world, and I am +alone; and if you don't wish to be alone any longer, why, I don't wish +to be either, and so--perhaps--it will not be necessary to skip +Christmas this year." + +Alas for the poor baker! Here was paradise seen through a barred gate! +But the baker's heart was moved; even in the midst of his misery he +could not but be grateful for the widow's words. There flashed into his +eyes a sudden brightness. He held out his hands. He would thank her +first, and tell her afterwards. + +The widow took his hands, lowered her bright eyes and blushed. Then she +suddenly withdrew herself and stood up. + +"Now," she said, with a pretty smile, "let me do the talking. Don't +look so downcast. When I tell you that you have made me very, very +happy, you should look happy too. When you came to me yesterday, and +said what you said, I thought you were in too much of a hurry; but now +I think that perhaps you were right, and that when people of our age +have anything important to do it is well to do it at once; for in this +world there are all sorts of things continually springing up to prevent +people from being happy." + +The whole body of the baker was filled with a great groan, but he +denied it utterance. He must hear what she would say. + +"And so I was going to suggest," she continued, "that instead of +skipping Christmas together, we keep it together. That is all the +change I propose to your plan." + +Up sprang the baker, so suddenly, that he overset his chair. Now he +must speak. The widow stepped quickly toward the door, and, turning +with a smile, held up her hand. + +"Now, good friend," said she, "stop there! At any moment some one might +come in. Hasten back to your shop. At three o'clock I will meet you at +the parson's. That will surely be soon enough, even for such a hasty +man as you." + +The baker came forward, and gasped, "Your husband!" + +"Not yet," said the widow, with a laugh, and, kissing the tips of her +fingers to him, she closed the door behind her. + +Out into the cold went the baker. His head was dazed, but he walked +steadfastly to his shop. There was no need for him to go anywhere; to +tell anybody anything. The man with the earrings would settle matters +for himself soon enough. + +The baker put up his shutters and locked his shop door. He would do +nothing more for the good of trade; nothing more for the good of +anything. Skip Christmas! Indeed would he! And, moreover, every holiday +and every happy day would now be skipped straight on for the rest of +his life. He put his house in order; he arranged his affairs; he +attired himself in his best apparel; locked his door behind him; and +went out into the cold world. + +He longed now to get far away from the village. Before the sun set +there would not be one soul there who would care for him. + +As he hurried on, he saw before him the parson's house. + +"I will take but one thing away with me," he said; "I will ask the good +old man to give me his blessing. That will I take with me." + +"Of course he is in," said the parson's maid; "there, in the parlor." + +As the baker entered the parson's parlor, some one hastened to meet +him. It was the Widow Monk. + +"You wicked man," she whispered, "you are a quarter of an hour late. +The parson is waiting." + +The parson was a little man with white hair. He stepped toward the +couple standing together, and the widow took the baker's hand. Then the +parson began the little speech he always made on such occasions. It +was full of good sense and very touching, and the widow's eyes were dim +with tears. The baker would have spoken, but he had never interrupted a +clergyman, and he could not do it now. + +Then the parson began his appointed work, and the heart of the baker +swelled, as the widow's hand trembled in his own. + +"Wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife?" asked the parson. + +"Now for this," quoth the poor baker to himself, "I may bake forever, +but I cannot draw back nor keep the good man waiting." And he said, +"Yes." + +Then it was that the baker received what he had come for,--the parson's +blessing; and, immediately, his fair companion, brimming with tears, +threw herself into his arms. + +"Now," said the baker to himself, "when I leave this house, may the +devil take me, and right welcome shall he be!" + +"Dearest," she exclaimed, as she looked into his face, "you cannot know +how happy I am. My wedding day, and my brother back from the cruel +seas!" + +Struck by a sudden blast of bewildering ecstasy, the baker raised his +eyes, and beheld the tall form of the sun-browned stranger who had been +standing behind them. + +"You are not a sailor-man," quoth the jovial brother, "like my old +mate, who went down in the brig _Mistletoe_, but my sister tells me you +are a jolly good fellow, and I wish you fair winds and paying cargoes." +And after giving the baker a powerful handshake, the sailor kissed the +bride, the parson's wife, the parson's daughter, and the parson's maid, +and wished the family were larger, having just returned from the cruel +seas. + +The only people in the village of Barnbury, who thoroughly enjoyed the +Christmas of that year, were the baker, his wife, and the sailor +brother. And a rare good time they had; for a big sea-chest arrived, +and there were curious presents, and a tall flask of rare old wine, and +plenty of time for three merry people to cook for themselves. + +The baker told his wife of his soul-harrowing plight of the day before. + +"Now, then," said he, "don't you think that by rights I should bake all +the same?" + +"Oh, that will be skipped," she said, with a laugh; "and now go you and +make ready for the cakes, pastry, and sweetmeats, the baked meats and +the poultry, with which the people of Barnbury are to be made right +happy on New Year's day." + + + + +THE WATER-DEVIL + + +A MARINE TALE. + +In the village of Riprock there was neither tavern nor inn, for it was +but a small place through which few travellers passed; but it could not +be said to be without a place of entertainment, for if by chance a +stranger--or two or three of them, for that matter--wished to stop at +Riprock for a meal, or to pass the night, there was the house of +blacksmith Fryker, which was understood to be always open to decent +travellers. + +The blacksmith was a prominent man in the village, and his house was a +large one, with several spare bedrooms, and it was said by those who +had had an opportunity of judging, that nobody in the village lived +better than blacksmith Fryker and his family. + +Into the village there came, late one autumn afternoon, a tall man, who +was travelling on foot, with a small valise hanging from his shoulder. +He had inquired for lodging for the night, had been directed to the +blacksmith's house, had arranged to stop there, had had his supper, +which greatly satisfied him, and was now sitting before the fire in the +large livingroom, smoking blacksmith Fryker's biggest pipe. + +This stranger was a red-haired man, with a cheery expression, and a +pair of quick, bright eyes. He was slenderly but strongly built, and +was a good fellow, who would stand by, with his hands in the pockets of +his short pea-jacket, and right willingly tell one who was doing +something how the thing ought to be done. + +But the traveller did not sit alone before the crackling fire of logs, +for the night being cool, a table was drawn near to one side of the +fire-place, and by this sat Mistress Fryker and her daughter Joanna, +both engaged in some sort of needle-work. The blacksmith sat between +the corner of the fire-place and this table, so that when he had +finished smoking his after-supper pipe, he might put on his spectacles +and read the weekly paper by the light of the big lamp. On the other +side of the stranger, whose chair was in front of the middle of the +fire-place, sat the school-master, Andrew Cardly by name; a middle-aged +man of sober and attentive aspect, and very glad when chance threw in +his way a book he had not read, or a stranger who could reinforce his +stock of information. At the other corner of the fire-place, in a +cushioned chair, which was always given to him when he dropped in to +spend an evening with the blacksmith, sat Mr. Harberry, an elderly man, +a man of substance, and a man in whom all Riprock, not excluding +himself, placed unqualified confidence as to his veracity, his +financial soundness, and his deep insight into the causes, the +influences, and the final issue of events and conditions. + +"On a night like this," said the stranger, stretching his long legs +toward the blaze, "there is nothing I like better than a fire of wood, +except indeed it be the society of ladies who do not object to a little +tobacco smoke," and he glanced with a smile toward the table with a +lamp upon it. + +Now blacksmith Fryker was a prudent man, and he did not consider that +the privileges of his hearthstone--always freely granted to a decent +stranger--included an acquaintance with his pretty daughter; and so, +without allowing his women-folk a chance to enter into the +conversation, he offered the stranger a different subject to hammer +upon. + +"In the lower country," said he, "they don't need fires as early in the +season as we do. What calling do you follow, sir? Some kind of trade, +perhaps?" + +"No," said the traveller, "I follow no trade; I follow the sea." + +At this the three men looked at him, as also the two women. His +appearance no more suggested that he was a seaman than the appearance +of Mr. Harberry suggested that he was what the village of Riprock +believed him to be. "I should not have taken you for a sailor," said +the blacksmith. + +"I am not a sailor," said the other; "I am a soldier; a sea-soldier--in +fact, a marine." + +"I should say, sir," remarked the school-master, in a manner intended +rather to draw out information than to give it, "that the position of a +soldier on a ship possessed advantages over that of a soldier on land. +The former is not required to make long marches, nor to carry heavy +baggage. He remains at rest, in fact, while traversing great distances. +Nor is he called on to resist the charges of cavalry, nor to form +hollow squares on the deadly battle-field." + +The stranger smiled. "We often find it hard enough," said he, "to +resist the charges made against us by our officers; the hollow squares +form themselves in our stomachs when we are on short rations; and I +have known many a man who would rather walk twenty miles than sail one, +especially when the sea chops." + +"I am very sure, sir," said school-master Cardly, "that there is +nothing to be said against the endurance and the courage of marines. We +all remember how they presented arms, and went down with the _Royal +George_." + +The marine smiled. + +"I suppose," said the blacksmith, "that you never had to do anything of +that sort?" + +The stranger did not immediately answer, but sat looking into the fire. +Presently he said: "I have done things of nearly every sort, although +not exactly that; but I have thought my ship was going down with all on +board, and that's the next worst thing to going down, you know." + +"And how was that?" inquired Fryker. + +"Well," said the other, "it happened more times than I can tell you of, +or even remember. Yes," said he, meditatively, "more times than I can +remember." + +"I am sure," said the school-master, "that we should all like to hear +some of your experiences." + +The marine shrugged his shoulders. "These things," said he, "come to a +man, and then if he lives through them, they pass on, and he is ready +for the next streak of luck, good or bad. That's the way with us +followers of the sea, especially if we happen to be marines, and have +to bear, so to speak, the responsibility of two professions. But +sometimes a mischance or a disaster does fix itself upon a man's mind +so that he can tell about it if he is called upon; and just now there +comes to my mind a very odd thing which once happened to me, and I can +give you the points of that, if you like." + +The three men assured him that they would very much like it, and the +two women looked as if they were of the same opinion. + +Before he began the marine glanced about him, with a certain +good-natured wistfulness which might have indicated, to those who +understood the countenances of the sea-going classes, a desire to wet +his whistle; but if this expression were so intended it was thrown +away, for blacksmith Fryker took no spirits himself, nor furnished them +to anybody else. Giving up all hope in this direction, the marine took +a long pull at his pipe and began. + +"It was in the winter of 1878 that I was on the Bay of Bengal, on my +way to Calcutta, and about five hundred miles distant from that city. I +was not on my own ship, but was returning from a leave of absence on an +American steamer from San Francisco to Calcutta, where my vessel, the +United States frigate _Apache_, was then lying. My leave of absence +would expire in three days; but although the _General Brooks_, the +vessel I was aboard of, was more of a freight than a passenger vessel, +and was heavily laden, we would have been in port in good time if, two +days before, something had not happened to the machinery. I am not a +machinist myself, and don't know exactly what it was that was out of +order, but the engine stopped, and we had to proceed under sail. That +sounds like a slow business; but the _Brooks_ was a clipper-built +vessel with three masts and a lot of sails--square sails, fore-and-aft +sails, jib sails, and all that sort of thing. I am not a regular sailor +myself, and don't know the names of all the sails; but whatever sails +she could have she did have, and although she was an iron vessel, and +heavily freighted, she was a good sailer. We had a strong, steady wind +from the south, and the captain told me that at the rate we were going +he didn't doubt that he would get me aboard my vessel before my leave +ran out, or at least so soon afterward that it wouldn't make any +difference. + +"Well, as I said, the wind blew strong and steady behind us, the sails +were full, and the spray dashed up at our bow in a way calculated to +tickle the soul of any one anxious to get to the end of his voyage; and +I was one of that sort, I can tell you. + +"In the afternoon of the second day after our engine stopped, I was +standing at the bow, and looking over, when suddenly I noticed that +there wasn't any spray dashing up in front of the vessel. I thought we +must have struck a sudden calm, but, glancing up, I saw the sails were +full, and the wind blew fair in my face as I turned toward the stern. I +walked aft to the skipper, and touching my cap, I said, 'Captain, how +is it that when a ship is dashing along at this rate she doesn't throw +up any spray with her cutwater?' He grinned a little, and said, 'But +she does, you know.' 'If you will come forward,' said I, 'I'll show you +that she doesn't,' and then we walked forward, and I showed him that +she didn't. I never saw a man so surprised. At first he thought that +somebody had been squirting oil in front, but even if that had been the +case, there would have been some sort of a ripple on each side of the +bow, and there wasn't anything of the kind. The skipper took off his +cap and scratched his head. Then he turned and sang out, 'Mr. Rogers, +throw the log.' + +"Now the log," said the marine, turning to Mrs. Fryker and her +daughter, "is a little piece of wood with a long line to it, that they +throw out behind a vessel to see how fast she is going. I am not a +regular Jack Tar myself, and don't understand the principle of the +thing, but it tells you exactly how many miles an hour the ship is +going. + +"In about two minutes Mr. Rogers stepped up, with his eyes like two +auger-holes, and said he, 'Captain, we're makin' no knots an hour. +We're not sailing at all.' + +"'Get out,' roared the captain, 'don't you see the sails? Don't you +feel the wind? Throw that log again, sir.' + +"Well, they threw the log again, the captain saw it done, and sure +enough Mr. Rogers was right. The vessel wasn't moving. With a wind that +ought to have carried her spinning along, miles and miles in an hour, +she was standing stock-still. The skipper here let out one of the +strongest imprecations used in navigation, and said he, 'Mr. Rogers, is +it possible that there is a sand-bar in the middle of the Bay of +Bengal, and that we've stuck on it? Cast the lead.' + +"I will just state to the ladies," said the marine, turning toward the +table, "that the lead is a heavy weight that is lowered to the bottom +of a body of water to see how deep it is, and this operation is called +sounding. Well, they sounded and they sounded, but everywhere--fore, +aft, and midship--they found plenty of water; in fact, not having a +line for deep-sea sounding they couldn't touch bottom at all. + +"I can tell you, ladies and gentlemen," said the marine, looking from +one to the other of the party, "that things now began to feel creepy. I +am not afraid of storms, nor fires at sea, nor any of the common +accidents of the ocean; but for a ship to stand still with plenty of +water under her, and a strong wind filling her sails, has more of the +uncanny about it than I fancy. Pretty near the whole of the crew was on +deck by this time, and I could see that they felt very much as I did, +but nobody seemed to know what to say about it. + +"Suddenly the captain thought that some unknown current was setting +against us, and forcing the vessel back with the same power that the +wind was forcing her forward, and he tried to put the ship about so as +to have the wind on her starboard quarter; but as she hadn't any +headway, or for some other reason, this didn't work. Then it struck him +that perhaps one of the anchors had been accidentally dropped, but they +were all in their places, and if one of them had dropped, its cable +would not have been long enough to touch bottom. + +"Now I could see that he began to look scared. 'Mr. Browser,' said he, +to the chief engineer, 'for some reason or other this ship does not +make headway under sail. You must go to work and get the engine +running.' And for the rest of that day everybody on board who +understood that sort of thing was down below, hard at work with the +machinery, hammering and banging like good fellows. + +"The chief officer ordered a good many of the sails to be taken in, for +they were only uselessly straining the masts, but there were enough +left to move her in case the power of the current, or whatever it was +that stopped her, had slackened, and she steadily kept her position +with the breeze abaft. + +"All the crew, who were not working below, were crowded together on +deck, talking about this strange thing. I joined them, and soon found +that they thought it was useless to waste time and labor on the +machinery. They didn't believe it could be mended, and if it should be, +how could an engine move a vessel that the wind couldn't stir? + +"These men were of many nationalities--Dutch, Scandinavian, Spanish, +Italian, South American, and a lot more. Like many other American +vessels that sail from our ports, nearly all the officers and crew were +foreigners. The captain was a Finlander, who spoke very good English. +And the only man who called himself an American was the chief officer; +and he was only half a one; for he was born in Germany, came to the +United States when he was twenty years old, stayed there five years, +which didn't count either way, and had now been naturalized for twenty +years. + +"The consequence of this variety in nationality was that the men had +all sorts of ideas and notions regarding the thing that was happening. +They had thrown over chips and bits of paper to see if the vessel had +begun to move, and had found that she didn't budge an inch, and now +they seemed afraid to look over the sides. + +"They were a superstitious lot, as might be expected, and they all +believed that, in some way or other, the ship was bewitched; and in +fact I felt like agreeing with them, although I did not say so. + +"There was an old Portuguese sailor on board, an ugly-looking, +weather-beaten little fellow, and when he had listened to everything +the others had to say, he shuffled himself into the middle of the +group. 'Look here, mates,' said he, in good enough English, 'it's no +use talking no more about this. I know what's the matter; I've sailed +these seas afore, and I've been along the coast of this bay all the way +from Negapatam to Jellasore on the west coast, and from Chittagong to +Kraw on the other; and I have heard stories of the strange things that +are in this Bay of Bengal, and what they do, and the worst of them all +is the Water-devil--and he's got us!' + +"When the old rascal said this, there wasn't a man on deck who didn't +look pale, in spite of his dirt and his sunburn. The chief officer +tried to keep his knees stiff, but I could see him shaking. 'What's a +Water-devil?' said he, trying to make believe he thought it all stuff +and nonsense. The Portuguese touched his forelock. 'Do you remember, +sir,' said he, 'what was the latitude and longitude when you took your +observation to-day?' 'Yes,' said the other, 'it was 15 deg. north and 90 deg. +east.' The Portuguese nodded his head. 'That's just about the spot, +sir, just about. I can't say exactly where the spot is, but it's just +about here, and we've struck it. There isn't a native seaman on any of +these coasts that would sail over that point if he knowed it and could +help it, for that's the spot where the Water-devil lives.' + +"It made me jump to hear the grunt that went through that crowd when he +said this, but nobody asked any questions, and he went on. 'This here +Water-devil,' said he, 'is about as big as six whales, and in shape +very like an oyster without its shell, and he fastens himself to the +rocks at the bottom with a million claws. Right out of the middle of +him there grows up a long arm that reaches to the top of the water, and +at the end of this arm is a fist about the size of a yawl-boat, with +fifty-two fingers to it, with each one of them covered with little +suckers that will stick fast to anything--iron, wood, stone, or flesh. +All that this Water-devil gets to eat is what happens to come swimmin' +or sailin' along where he can reach it, and it doesn't matter to him +whether it's a shark, or a porpoise, or a shipful of people, and when +he takes a grab of anything, that thing never gets away.' + +"About this time there were five or six men on their knees saying their +prayers, such as they were, and a good many others looked as if they +were just about to drop. + +"'Now, when this Water-devil gets hold of a ship,' the old fellow went +on, 'he don't generally pull her straight down to the bottom, but holds +on to it till he counts his claws, and sees that they are all fastened +to the rocks; for if a good many of them wasn't fastened he might pull +himself loose, instead of pulling the ship down, and then he'd be a +goner, for he'd be towed away, and like as not put in a museum. But +when he is satisfied that he is moored fast and strong, then he hauls +on his arm, and down comes the ship, no matter how big she is. As the +ship is sinkin' he turns her over, every now and then, keel uppermost, +and gives her a shake, and when the people drop out, he sucks them into +a sort of funnel, which is his mouth.' + +"'Does he count fast?' asked one of the men, this being the first +question that had been asked. + +"'I've heard,' said the Portuguese, 'that he's a rapid calculator, and +the minute he's got to his millionth claw, and finds it's hooked tight +and fast, he begins to haul down the ship.'" + +At this point the marine stopped and glanced around at the little +group. The blacksmith's wife and daughter had put down their work, and +were gazing at him with an air of horrified curiosity. The blacksmith +held his pipe in his hand, and regarded the narrator with the +steadiness and impassiveness of an anvil. The school-master was +listening with the greatest eagerness. He was an enthusiast on Natural +History and Mythology, and had written an article for a weekly paper on +the reconciliation of the beasts of tradition with the fauna of to-day. +Mr. Harberry was not looking at the marine. His eyes were fixed upon +the school-master. + +"Mr. Cardly," said he, "did you ever read of an animal like that?" + +"I cannot say that I have," was his reply; "but it is certain that +there are many strange creatures, especially in the sea, of which +scientists are comparatively ignorant." + +"Such as the sea-serpent," added the marine, quickly, "and a great many +other monsters who are not in the books, but who have a good time at +the bottom of the sea, all the same. Well, to go on with my story, you +must understand that, though this Portuguese spoke broken English, +which I haven't tried to give you, he made himself perfectly plain to +all of us, and I can assure you that when he got through talking there +was a shaky lot of men on that deck. + +"The chief officer said he would go below and see how the captain was +getting on, and the crew huddled together in the bow, and began +whispering among themselves, as if they were afraid the Water-devil +would hear them. I turned to walk aft, feeling pretty queer, I can tell +you, when I saw Miss Minturn just coming up from the cabin below. + +"I haven't said anything about Miss Minturn, but she and her father, +who was an elderly English gentleman and an invalid, who had never +left his berth since we took him up at Singapore, were our only +passengers, except, of course, myself. She was a beautiful girl, with +soft blue eyes and golden hair, and a little pale from constantly +staying below to nurse her father. + +"Of course I had had little or nothing to say to her, for her father +was a good deal of a swell and I was only a marine; but now she saw me +standing there by myself, and she came right up to me. 'Can you tell +me, sir,' she said, 'if anything else has happened? They are making a +great din in the engine-room. I have been looking out of our port, and +the vessel seems to me to be stationary.' She stopped at that, and +waited to hear what I had to say, but I assure you I would have liked +to have had her go on talking for half an hour. Her voice was rich and +sweet, like that of so many Englishwomen, although, I am happy to say, +a great many of my countrywomen have just as good voices; and when I +meet any of them for the first time, I generally give them the credit +of talking in soft and musical notes, even though I have not had the +pleasure of hearing them speak." + +"Look here," said the blacksmith, "can't you skip the girl and get back +to the Devil?" + +"No," said the marine, "I couldn't do that. The two are mixed together, +so to speak, so that I have to tell you of both of them." + +"You don't mean to say," exclaimed Mrs. Fryker, speaking for the first +time, and by no means in soft and musical tones, "that he swallowed +her?" + +"I'll go on with the story," said the marine; "that's the best way, and +everything will come up in its place. Now, of course, I wasn't going to +tell this charming young woman, with a sick father, anything about the +Water-devil, though what reason to give her for our standing still here +I couldn't imagine; but of course I had to speak, and I said, 'Don't be +alarmed, miss, we have met with an unavoidable detention; that sort of +thing often happens in navigation. I can't explain it to you, but you +see the ship is perfectly safe and sound, and she is merely under sail +instead of having her engines going.' + +"'I understood about that,' said she, 'and father and I were both +perfectly satisfied; for he said that if we had a good breeze we would +not be long in reaching Calcutta; but we seem to have a breeze, and +yet we don't go.' 'You'll notice,' said I, 'that the sails are not all +set, and for some reason the wind does not serve. When the engines are +mended, we shall probably go spinning along.' She looked as if she was +trying to appear satisfied. 'Thank you, sir,' she said. 'I hope we may +shortly proceed on our way, but in the meantime I shall not say +anything to my father about this detention. I think he has not noticed +it.' 'That would be very wise,' I replied, and as she turned toward the +companionway I was wild to say to her that it would be a lot better for +her to stay on deck, and get some good fresh air, instead of cooping +herself up in that close cabin; but I didn't know her well enough for +that." + +"Now that you are through with the girl," said the blacksmith, "what +did the Devil do?" + +"I haven't got to him yet," said the marine, "but after Miss Minturn +went below I began to think of him, and the more I thought of him, the +less I liked him. I think the chief officer must have told the men +below about the Water-devil, for pretty soon the whole kit and boodle +of them left their work and came on deck, skipper and all. They told me +they had given up the engine as a bad job, and I thought to myself that +most likely they were all too nervous to rightly know what they were +about. The captain threw out the log again, but it floated alongside +like a cork on a fishing-line, and at this he turned pale and walked +away from the ship's side, forgetting to pull it in again. + +"It was now beginning to grow dark, and as nobody seemed to think about +supper, I went below to look into that matter. It wouldn't do for Miss +Minturn. and her father to go without their regular meal, for that +would be sure to scare them to death; and if I'm to have a big scare I +like to take it on a good square meal, so I went below to see about it. +But I wasn't needed, for Miss Minturn's maid, who was an elderly woman, +and pretty sharp set in her temper, was in the cook's galley +superintending supper for her people, and after she got through I +superintended some for myself. + +"After that I felt a good deal bolder, and I lighted a pipe and went on +deck. There I found the whole ship's company, officers and crew, none +of them doing anything, and most of them clustered together in little +groups, whispering or grunting. + +"I went up to the captain and asked him what he was going to do next. +'Do?' said he; 'there is nothing to do; I've done everything that I can +do. I'm all upset; I don't know whether I am myself or some other man'; +and then he walked away. + +"I sat there and smoked and looked at them, and I can tell you the +sight wasn't cheerful. There was the ship, just as good and sound, as +far as anybody could see, as anything that floated on the ocean, and +here were all her people, shivering and shaking and not speaking above +their breath, looking for all the world, under the light of the stars +and the ship's lamps, which some of them had had sense enough to light, +as if they expected in the course of the next half-hour, to be made to +walk the plank; and, to tell the truth, what they were afraid of would +come to pretty much the same thing." + +"Mr. Cardly," here interrupted Mr. Harberry, "how long does it take to +count a million?" + +"That depends," said the school-master, "on the rapidity of the +calculator; some calculators count faster than others. An ordinary boy, +counting two hundred a minute, would require nearly three days and a +half to count a million." + +"Very good," said Mr. Harberry; "please go on with your story, sir." + +"Of course," said the marine, "there is a great difference between a +boy and a Water-devil, and it is impossible for anybody to know how +fast the latter can count, especially as he may be supposed to be used +to it. Well, I couldn't stand it any longer on deck, and having +nothing else to do, I turned in and went to sleep." + +"To sleep! Went to sleep!" exclaimed Mrs. Fryker. "I don't see how you +could have done that." + +"Ah, madam," said the marine, "we soldiers of the sea are exposed to +all sorts of dangers,--combination dangers, you might call them,--and +in the course of time we get used to it; if we didn't we couldn't do +our duty. + +"As the ship had been in its present predicament for six or seven +hours, and nothing had happened, there was no reason to suppose that +things would not remain as they were for six or seven hours more, in +which time I might get a good sleep, and be better prepared for what +might come. There's nothing like a good meal and a good sleep as a +preparation for danger. + +"It was daylight when I awakened, and rapidly glancing about me, I saw +that everything appeared to be all right. Looking out of the port-hole, +I could see that the vessel was still motionless. I hurried on deck, +and was greatly surprised to find nobody there--no one on watch, no +one at the wheel, no one anywhere. I ran down into the fo'castle, which +is the sailors' quarters, but not a soul could I see. I called, I +whistled, I searched everywhere, but no one answered; I could find no +one. Then I dashed up on deck, and glared, around me. Every boat was +gone. + +"Now I knew what had happened: the cowardly rascals, from captain to +cook, had deserted the ship in the night, and I had been left behind! + +"For some minutes I stood motionless, wondering how men could be so +unfeeling as to do such a thing. I soon became convinced, from what I +had seen of the crew, that they had not all gone off together, that +there had been no concerted action. A number of them had probably +quietly lowered a boat and sneaked away; then another lot had gone off, +hoping their mates would not hear them and therefore crowd into their +boat. And so they had all departed, not one boat-load thinking of +anybody but themselves; or if they thought at all about others, +quieting their consciences by supposing that there were enough boats +on the vessel, and that the other people were as likely to get off as +they were. + +"Suddenly I thought of the other passengers. Had they been left behind? +I ran down below, and I had scarcely reached the bottom of the steps +when I met Miss Minturn's maid. 'It seems to me,' she said, sharply, +'that the people on this ship are neglecting their duty. There's nobody +in the kitchen, and I want some gruel.' 'My good woman,' said I, 'who +do you want it for?' 'Who!' she replied; 'why, for Mr. Minturn, of +course; and Miss Minturn may like some, too.' + +"Then I knew that all the passengers had been left behind! + +"'If you want any gruel,' said I, 'you will have to go into the galley +and make it yourself'; and then in a low tone I told her what had +happened, for I knew that it would be much better for me to do this +than for her to find it out for herself. Without a word she sat right +down on the floor, and covered her head with her apron. 'Now don't make +a row,' said I, 'and frighten your master and mistress to death; we're +all right so far, and all you've got to do is to take care of Mr. and +Miss Minturn, and cook their meals. The steamer is tight and sound, and +it can't be long before some sort of a craft will come by and take us +off.' I left her sniffling with her apron over her head, but when I +came back, ten minutes afterward, she was in the galley making gruel. + +"I don't think you will be surprised, my friends," continued the +marine, "when I tell you that I now found myself in a terrible state of +mind. Of course I hadn't felt very jovial since the steamer had been so +wonderfully stopped; but when the captain and all the crew were aboard, +I had that sort of confidence which comes from believing that when +there are people about whose duty it is to do things, when the time +comes to do the things, they will do them; but now, practically +speaking, there was nobody but me. The others on board were not to be +counted, except as encumbrances. In truth, I was alone,--alone with +the Water-devil! + +"The moment I found no one to depend upon but myself, and that I was +deserted in the midst of this lonely mass of water, in that moment did +my belief in the Water-devil begin to grow. When I first heard of the +creature, I didn't consider that it was my business either to believe +in it, or not to believe in it, and I could let the whole thing drop +out of my mind, if I chose; but now it was a different matter. I was +bound to think for myself, and the more I thought, the more I believed +in the Water-devil. + +"The fact was, there wasn't anything else to believe in. I had gone +over the whole question, and the skipper had gone all over it, and +everybody else had gone all over it, and no one could think of anything +but a Water-devil that could stop a steamer in this way in the middle +of the Bay of Bengal, and hold her there hour after hour, in spite of +wind and wave and tide. It could not be anything but the monster the +Portuguese had told us of, and all I now could do was to wonder +whether, when he was done counting his million claws, he would be able +to pull down a vessel of a thousand tons, for that was about the size +of the _General Brooks_. + +"I think I should now have begun to lose my wits if it had not been for +one thing, and that was the coming of Miss Minturn on deck. The moment +I saw her lovely face I stiffened up wonderfully. 'Sir,' said she, 'I +would like to see the captain.' 'I am representing the captain, miss,' +I said, with a bow; 'what is it that I can do for you?' 'I want to +speak to him about the steward,' she said; 'I think he is neglecting +his duty.' 'I also represent the steward,' I replied; 'tell me what you +wish of him.' She made no answer to this, but looked about her in a +startled way. 'Where are all the men?' she said. 'Miss Minturn, 'said +I, 'I represent the crew--in fact, I represent the whole ship's company +except the cook, and his place must be taken by your maid.' 'What do +you mean?' she asked, looking at me with her wide-opened, beautiful +eyes. + +"Then, as there was no help for it, I told her everything, except that +I did not mention the Water-devil in connection with our marvellous +stoppage. I only said that that was caused by something which nobody +understood. + +"She did not sit down and cover her head, nor did she scream or faint. +She turned pale, but looked steadily at me, and her voice did not shake +as she asked me what was to be done. 'There is nothing to be done,' I +answered, 'but to keep up good hearts, eat three meals a day, and wait +until a ship comes along and takes us off.' + +"She stood silent for about three minutes. 'I think,' she then said, +'that I will not yet tell my father what has happened'; and she went +below. + +"Now, strange to say, I walked up and down the deck with my hat cocked +on one side and my hands in my pockets, feeling a great deal better. I +did not like Water-devils any more than I did before, and I did not +believe in this one any less than I did before, but, after all, there +was some good about him. It seems odd, but the arm of this submarine +monster, over a mile long for all that I knew, was a bond of union +between the lovely Miss Minturn and me. She was a lady; I was a marine. +So far as I knew anything about bonds of union, there wasn't one that +could have tackled itself to us two, except this long, slippery arm of +the Water-devil, with one end in the monstrous flob at the bottom, and +the other fast to our ship. + +"There was no doubt about it, if it hadn't been for that Water-devil +she would have been no more to me than the Queen of Madagascar was; but +under the circumstances, if I wasn't everything to her, who could be +anything--that is, if one looked at the matter from a practical point +of view?" + +The blacksmith made a little movement of impatience. "Suppose you cut +all that," said he. "I don't care about the bond of union; I want to +know what happened to the ship." + +"It is likely," said the marine, "if I could have cut the bond of union +that I spoke of, that is to say, the Water-devil's arm, that I would +have done it, hoping that I might safely float off somewhere with Miss +Minturn; but I couldn't cut it then, and I can't cut it now. That bond +is part of my story, and it must all go on together. + +"I now set myself to work to do what I thought ought to be done under +the circumstances, but, of course, that wasn't very much. I hoisted a +flag upside down, and after considering the matter I concluded to take +in all the sails that had been set. I thought that a steamer without +smoke coming from her funnel, and no sails set, would be more likely to +attract attention from distant vessels than if she appeared to be under +sail. + +"I am not a regular sailor, as I said before, but I got out on the +yard, and cut the square sail loose and let it drop on the deck, and I +let the jib come down on a run, and managed to bundle it up some way on +the bowsprit. This sort of thing took all the nautical gymnastics that +I was master of, and entirely occupied my mind, so that I found myself +whistling while I worked. I hoped Miss Minturn heard me whistle, +because it would not only give her courage, but would let her see that +I was not a man who couldn't keep up his spirits in a case like this. + +"When that work was over, I began to wonder what I should do next, and +then an idea struck me. 'Suppose,' thought I, 'that we are not +stationary, but that we are in some queer kind of a current, and that +the water, ship and all are steadily moving on together, so that after +awhile we shall come in sight of land, or into the track of vessels!' + +"I instantly set about to find out if this was the case. It was about +noon, and it so happened that on the day before, when the chief officer +took his observation, I was seized with a desire to watch him and see +how he did it. I don't see why I should have had this notion, but I had +it, and I paid the strictest attention to the whole business, +calculation part and all, and I found out exactly how it was done. + +"Well, then, I went and got the quadrant,--that's the thing they do it +with,--and I took an observation, and I found that we were in latitude +15 deg. north, 90 deg. east, exactly where we had been twenty-four hours +before! + +"When I found out this, I turned so faint that I wanted to sit down and +cover up my head. The Water-devil had us, there was no mistake about +it, and no use trying to think of anything else. I staggered along the +deck, went below, and cooked myself a meal. In a case like this there's +nothing like a square meal to keep a man up. + +"I know you don't like to hear her mentioned," said the marine, turning +to the blacksmith, "but I am bound to say that in course of the +afternoon Miss Minturn came on deck several times, to ask if anything +new had happened, and if I had seen a vessel. I showed her all that I +had done, and told her I was going to hang out lights at night, and did +everything I could to keep her on deck as long as possible; for it was +easy to see that she needed fresh air, and I needed company. As long as +I was talking to her I didn't care a snap of my finger for the +Water-devil. It is queer what an influence a beautiful woman has on a +man, but it's so, and there's no use arguing about it. She said she had +been puzzling her brains to find out what had stopped us, and she +supposed it must be that we had run onto a shallow place and stuck fast +in the mud, but thought it wonderful that there should be such a place +so far from land. I agreed with her that it was wonderful, and added +that that was probably the reason the captain and the crew had been +seized with a panic. But sensible people like herself and her father, I +said, ought not to be troubled by such an occurrence, especially as the +vessel remained in a perfectly sound condition. + +"She said that her father was busily engaged in writing his memoirs, +and that his mind was so occupied, he had not concerned himself at all +about our situation, that is, if he had noticed that we were not +moving. 'If he wants to see the steward, or anybody else,' I said, +'please call upon me. You know I represent the whole ship's company, +and I shall be delighted to do anything for him or for you.' She +thanked me very much and went below. + +"She came up again, after this, but her maid came with her, and the two +walked on deck for a while. I didn't have much to say to them that +time; but just before dark Miss Minturn came on deck alone, and walked +forward, where I happened to be. 'Sir,' said she, and her voice +trembled a little as she spoke, 'if anything should happen, will you +promise me that you will try to save my father?' You can't imagine how +these touching words from this beautiful woman affected me. 'My dear +lady,' said I, and I hope she did not take offence at the warmth of my +expression, 'I don't see how anything can happen; but I promise you, on +the word of a sea-soldier, that if danger should come upon us, I will +save not only your father, but yourself and your maid. Trust me for +that.' + +"The look she gave me when I said these words, and especially the flash +of her eye when I spoke of my being a sea-soldier, made me feel strong +enough to tear that sea-monster's arm in twain, and to sail away with +the lovely creature for whom my heart was beginning to throb." + +"It's a pity," said the blacksmith, "that you hadn't jumped into the +water while the fit was on you, and done the tearing." + +"A man often feels strong enough to do a thing," said the marine, "and +yet doesn't care to try to do it, and that was my case at that time; +but I vowed to myself that if the time came when there was any saving +to be done, I'd attend to Miss Minturn, even if I had to neglect the +rest of the family. + +"She didn't make any answer, but she gave me her hand; and she couldn't +have done anything I liked better than that. I held it as long as I +could, which wasn't very long, and then she went down to her father." + +"Glad of it," said the blacksmith. + +"When I had had my supper, and had smoked my pipe, and everything was +still, and I knew I shouldn't see anybody any more that night, I began +to have the quakes and the shakes. If even I had had the maid to talk +to, it would have been a comfort; but in the way of faithfully +attending to her employers that woman was a trump. She cooked for them, +and did for them, and stuck by them straight along, so she hadn't any +time for chats with me. + +"Being alone, I couldn't help all the time thinking about the +Water-devil, and although it seems a foolish thing now that I look back +on it, I set to work to calculate how long it would take him to count +his feet. I made it about the same time as you did, sir," nodding to +the schoolmaster, "only I considered that if he counted twelve hours, +and slept and rested twelve hours, that would make it seven days, which +would give me a good long time with Miss Minturn, and that would be the +greatest of joys to me, no matter what happened afterward. + +"But then nobody could be certain that the monster at the bottom of +the bay needed rest or sleep. He might be able to count without +stopping, and how did I know that he couldn't check off four hundred +claws a minute? If that happened to be the case, our time must be +nearly up. + +"When that idea came into my head, I jumped up and began to walk about. +What could I do? I certainly ought to be ready to do something when +the time came. I thought of getting life-preservers, and strapping one +on each of us, so that if the Water-devil turned over the vessel and +shook us out, we shouldn't sink down to him, but would float on the +surface. + +"But then the thought struck me that if he should find the vessel empty +of live creatures, and should see us floating around on the top, all he +had to do was to let go of the ship and grab us, one at a time. When I +thought of a fist as big as a yawl-boat, clapping its fifty-two fingers +on me, it sent a shiver through my bones. The fact was there wasn't +anything to do, and so after a while I managed to get asleep, which was +a great comfort." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the schoolmaster, "what reason can +you assign why a seamonster, such as has been described to us, should +neglect to seize upon several small boats filled with men who were +escaping from a vessel which it held in custody?" + +"I do not precisely see," answered Mr. Cardly, "why these men should +have been allowed this immunity, but I--" + +"Oh, that is easily explained," interrupted the marine, "for of course +the Water-devil could not know that a lot more people were not left in +the ship, and if he let go his hold on her, to try and grab a boat that +was moving as fast as men could row it, the steamer might get out of +his reach, and he mightn't have another chance for a hundred years to +make fast to a vessel. No, sir, a creature like that isn't apt to take +any wild chances, when he's got hold of a really good thing. Anyway, we +were held tight and fast, for at twelve o'clock the next day I took +another observation, and there we were, in the same latitude and +longitude that we had been in for two days. I took the captain's glass, +and I looked all over the water of that bay, which, as I think I have +said before, was all the same as the ocean, being somewhere about a +thousand miles wide. Not a sail, not a puff of smoke could I see. It +must have been a slack season for navigation, or else we were out of +the common track of vessels; I had never known that the Bay of Bengal +was so desperately lonely. + +"It seems unnatural, and I can hardly believe it, when I look back on +it, but it's a fact, that I was beginning to get used to the situation. +We had plenty to eat, the weather was fine--in fact, there was now only +breeze enough to make things cool and comfortable. I was head-man on +that vessel, and Miss Minturn might come on deck at any moment, and as +long as I could forget that there was a Water-devil fastened to the +bottom of the vessel, there was no reason why I should not be perfectly +satisfied with things as they were. And if things had stayed as they +were, for two or three months, I should have been right well pleased, +especially since Miss Minturn's maid, by order of her mistress, had +begun to cook my meals, which she did in a manner truly first-class. I +believed then, and I stand to it now, that there is do better proof of +a woman's good feeling toward a man, than for her to show an interest +in his meals. That's the sort of sympathy that comes home to a man, and +tells on him, body and soul." + +As the marine made this remark, he glanced at the blacksmith's +daughter; but that young lady had taken up her sewing and appeared to +be giving it her earnest attention. He then went on with his story. + +"But things did not remain as they were. The next morning, about half +an hour after breakfast, I was walking up and down the upper deck, +smoking my pipe, and wondering when Miss Minturn would be coming up to +talk to me about the state of affairs, when suddenly I felt the deck +beneath me move with a quick, sharp jerk, something like, I imagine, a +small shock of an earthquake. + +"Never, in all my life, did the blood run so cold in my veins; my legs +trembled so that I could scarcely stand. I knew what had happened,--the +Water-devil had begun to haul upon the ship! + +"I was in such a state of collapse that I did not seem to have any +power over my muscles; but for all that, I heard Miss Minturn's voice +at the foot of the companion-way, and knew that she was coming on deck. +In spite of the dreadful awfulness of that moment, I felt it would +never do for her to see me in the condition I was in, and so, shuffling +and half-tumbling, I got forward, went below, and made my way to the +steward's room, where I had already discovered some spirits, and I took +a good dram; for although I am not by any means an habitual drinker, +being principled against that sort of thing, there are times when a +man needs the support of some good brandy or whiskey. + +"In a few minutes I felt more like myself, and went on deck, and there +was Miss Minturn, half-scared to death. 'What is the meaning of that +shock?' she said; 'have we struck anything?' 'My dear lady,' said I, +with as cheerful a front as I could put on, 'I do not think we have +struck anything. There is nothing to strike.' She looked at me for a +moment like an angel ready to cry, and clasping her hands, she said, +'Oh, tell me, sir, I pray you, sir, tell me what has happened. My +father felt that shock. He sent me to inquire about it. His mind is +disturbed.' At that moment, before I could make an answer, there was +another jerk of the ship, and we both went down on our knees, and I +felt as if I had been tripped. I was up in a moment, however, but she +continued on her knees. I am sure she was praying, but very soon up +she sprang. 'Oh, what is it, what is it?' she cried; 'I must go to my +father.' + +"'I cannot tell you,' said I; 'I do not know, but don't be frightened; +how can such a little shock hurt so big a ship?' + +"It was all very well to tell her not to be frightened, but when she +ran below she left on deck about as frightened a man as ever stood in +shoes. There could be no doubt about it; that horrible beast was +beginning to pull upon the ship. Whether or not it would be able to +draw us down below, was a question which must soon be solved. + +"I had had a small opinion of the maid, who, when I told her the crew +had deserted the ship, had sat down and covered her head; but now I did +pretty much the same thing; I crouched on the deck and pulled my cap +over my eyes. I felt that I did not wish to see, hear, or feel +anything. + +"I had sat in this way for about half an hour, and had felt no more +shocks, when a slight gurgling sound came to my ears. I listened for a +moment, then sprang to my feet. Could we be moving? I ran to the side +of the ship. The gurgle seemed to be coming from the stern. I hurried +there and looked over. The wheel had been lashed fast, and the rudder +stood straight out behind us. On each side of it there was a ripple in +the quiet water. We were moving, and we were moving backward! + +"Overpowered by horrible fascination, I stood grasping the rail, and +looking over at the water beneath me, as the vessel moved slowly and +steadily onward, stern foremost. In spite of the upset condition of my +mind, I could not help wondering why the Vessel should move in this +way. + +"There was only one explanation possible: The Water-devil was walking +along the bottom, and towing us after him! Why he should pull us along +in this way I could not imagine, unless he was making for his home in +some dreadful cave at the bottom, into which he would sink, dragging us +down after him. + +"While my mind was occupied with these horrible subjects, some one +touched me on the arm, and turning, I saw Miss Minturn. 'Are we not +moving?' she said. 'Yes,' I answered, 'we certainly are.' 'Do you not +think,' she then asked, 'that we may have been struck by a powerful +current, which is now carrying us onward?' I did not believe this, for +there was no reason to suppose that there were currents which wandered +about, starting off vessels with a jerk, but I was glad to think that +this idea had come into her head, and said that it was possible that +this might be the case. 'And now we are going somewhere' she said, +speaking almost cheerfully. 'Yes, we are,' I answered, and I had to try +hard not to groan as I said the words. 'And where do you think we are +going?' she asked. It was altogether out of my power to tell that sweet +creature that in my private opinion she, at least, was going to heaven, +and so I answered that I really did not know. 'Well,' she said, 'if we +keep moving, we're bound at last to get near land, or to some place +where ships would pass near us.' + +"There is nothing in this world," said the marine, "which does a man so +much good in time of danger as to see a hopeful spirit in a woman--that +is, a woman that he cares about. Some of her courage comes to him, and +he is better and stronger for having her alongside of him." + +Having made this remark, the speaker again glanced at the blacksmith's +daughter. She had put down her work and was looking at him with an +earnest brightness in her eyes. + +"Yes," he continued, "it is astonishing what a change came over me, as +I stood by the side of that noble girl. She was a born lady, I was a +marine, just the same as we had been before, but there didn't seem to +be the difference between us that there had been. Her words, her +spirits, everything about her, in fact, seemed to act on me, to elevate +me, to fill my soul with noble sentiments, to make another man of me. +Standing there beside her, I felt myself her equal. In life or death I +would not be ashamed to say, 'Here I am, ready to stand by you, +whatever happens.'" + +Having concluded this sentiment, the marine again glanced toward the +blacksmith's daughter. Her eyes were slightly moist, and her face was +glowing with a certain enthusiasm. + +"Look here," said the blacksmith, "I suppose that woman goes along with +you into the very maw of the sunken Devil, but I do wish you could take +her more for granted, and get on faster with the real part of the +story." + +"One part is as real as another," said the marine; "but on we go, and +on we did go for the whole of the rest of that day, at the rate of +about half a knot an hour, as near as I could guess at it. The weather +changed, and a dirty sort of fog came down on us, so that we couldn't +see far in any direction. + +"Why that Water-devil should keep on towing us, and where he was going +to take us, were things I didn't dare to think about. The fog did not +prevent me from seeing the water about our stern, and I leaned over the +rail, watching the ripples that flowed on each side of the rudder, +which showed that we were still going at about the same uniform rate. + +"But toward evening the gurgling beneath me ceased, and I could see +that the rudder no longer parted the quiet water, and that we had +ceased to move. A flash of hope blazed up within me. Had the +Water-devil found the ship too heavy a load, and had he given up the +attempt to drag it to its under-ocean cave? I went below and had my +supper; I was almost a happy man. When Miss Minturn came to ask me how +we were getting along, I told her that I thought we were doing very +well indeed. I did not mention that we had ceased to move, for she +thought that a favorable symptom. She went back to her quarters greatly +cheered up. Not so much, I think, from my words, as from my joyful +aspect; for I did feel jolly, there was no doubt about it. If that +Water-devil had let go of us, I was willing to take all the other +chances that might befall a ship floating about loose on the Bay of +Bengal. + +"The fog was so thick that night that it was damp and unpleasant on +deck, and so, having hung out and lighted a couple of lanterns, I went +below for a comfortable smoke in the captain's room. I was puffing +away here at my ease, with my mind filled with happy thoughts of two or +three weeks with Miss Minturn on this floating paradise, where she was +bound to see a good deal of me, and couldn't help liking me better, and +depending on me more and more every day, when I felt a little jerking +shock. It was the same thing that we had felt before. The Water-devil +still had hold of us! + +"I dropped my pipe, my chin fell upon my breast, I shivered all over. +In a few moments I heard the maid calling to me, and then she ran into +the room. 'Miss Minturn wants to know, sir,' she said, 'if you think +that shock is a sudden twist in the current which is carrying us on?' I +straightened myself up as well as I could, and in the dim light I do +not think she noticed my condition. I answered that I thought it was +something of that sort, and she went away. + +"More likely, a twist of the Devil's arm, I thought, as I sat there +alone in my misery. + +"In ten or fifteen minutes there came two shocks, not very far apart. +This showed that the creature beneath us was at work in some way or +another. Perhaps he had reached the opening of his den, and was +shortening up his arm before he plunged down into it with us after him. +I couldn't stay any longer in that room alone. I looked for the maid, +but she had put out the galley light, and had probably turned in for +the night. + +"I went up, and looked out on deck, but everything was horribly dark +and sticky and miserable there. I noticed that my lanterns were not +burning, and then I remembered that I had not filled them. But this did +not trouble me. If a vessel came along and saw our lights she would +probably keep away from us, and I would have been glad to have a vessel +come to us, even if she ran into us. Our steamer would probably float +long enough for us to get on board the other one, and almost anything +would be better than being left alone in this dreadful place, at the +mercy of the Water-devil. + +"Before I left the deck I felt another shock. This took out of me +whatever starch was left, and I shuffled below and got to my bunk, +where I tumbled in and covered myself up, head and all. If there had +been any man to talk to, it would have been different, but I don't know +when I ever felt more deserted than I did at that time. + +"I tried to forget the awful situation in which I was; I tried to think +of other things; to imagine that I was drilling with the rest of my +company, with Tom Rogers on one side of me, and old Humphrey Peters on +the other. You may say, perhaps, that this wasn't exactly the way of +carrying out my promise of taking care of Miss Minturn and the others. +But what was there to do? When the time came to do anything, and I +could see what to do, I was ready to do it; but there was no use of +waking them up now and setting their minds on edge, when they were all +comfortable in their beds, thinking that every jerk of the Devil's arm +was a little twist in the current that was carrying them to Calcutta or +some other desirable port. + +"I felt some shocks after I got into bed, but whether or not there were +many in the night, I don't know, for I went to sleep. It was daylight +when I awoke, and jumping out of my bunk I dashed on deck. Everything +seemed pretty much as it had been, and the fog was as thick as ever. I +ran to the stern and looked over, and I could scarcely believe my eyes +when I saw that we were moving again, still stern foremost, but a +little faster than before. That beastly Water-devil had taken a rest +for the night, and had probably given us the shocks by turning over in +his sleep, and now he was off again, making up for lost time. + +"Pretty soon Miss Minturn came on deck, and bade me good morning, and +then she went and looked over the stern. 'We are still moving on,' she +said, with a smile, 'and the fog doesn't seem to make any difference. +It surely cannot be long before we get somewhere.' 'No, miss,' said I, +'it cannot be very long.' 'You look tired,' she said, 'and I don't +wonder, for you must feel the heavy responsibility on you. I have told +my maid to prepare breakfast for you in our cabin. I want my father to +know you, and I think it is a shame that you, the only protector that +we have, should be shut off so much by yourself; so after this we shall +eat together.' 'After this,' I groaned to myself, 'we shall be eaten +together.' At that moment I did not feel that I wanted to breakfast +with Miss Minturn." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the school-master, "have you ever +read, in any of your scientific books, that the Bay of Bengal is +subject to heavy fogs that last day after day?" + +"I cannot say," answered the school-master, "that my researches into +the geographical distribution of fogs have resulted--" + +"As to fogs," interrupted the marine, "you can't get rid of them, you +know. If you had been in the habit of going to sea, you would know that +you are likely to run into a fog at any time, and in any weather; and +as to lasting, they are just as likely to last for days as for hours. +It wasn't the fog that surprised me. I did not consider that of any +account at all. I had enough other things to occupy my mind." And +having settled this little matter, he went on with his story. + +"Well, my friends, I did not breakfast with Miss Minturn and her +father. Before that meal was ready, and while I was standing alone at +the stern, I saw coming out of the water, a long way off in the fog, +which must have been growing thinner about this time, a dark and +mysterious object, apparently without any shape or form. This sight +made the teeth chatter in my head. I had expected to be pulled down to +the Water-devil, but I had never imagined that he would come up to us! + +"While my eyes were glued upon this apparition, I could see that we +were approaching it. When I perceived this, I shut my eyes and turned +my back--I could look upon it no longer. My mind seemed to forsake me; +I did not even try to call out and give the alarm to the others. Why +should I? What could they do?" + +"If it had been me," said Mrs. Fryker, in a sort of gasping whisper, "I +should have died right there." The marine turned his eyes in the +direction of the blacksmith's daughter. She was engaged with her work, +and was not looking at him. + +"I cannot say," he continued, "that, had Miss Minturn been there at +that moment, that I would not have declared that I was ready to die for +her or with her; but there was no need of trying to keep up her +courage, that was all right. She knew nothing of our danger. That +terrible knowledge pressed on me alone. Is it wonderful that a human +soul should sink a little under such an awful load?" Without turning to +observe the effect of these last words, the marine went on. "Suddenly I +heard behind me a most dreadful sound. 'Good Heavens,' I exclaimed, +'can a Water-devil bray?' + +"The sound was repeated. Without knowing what I did, I turned. I heard +what sounded like words; I saw in the fog the stern of a vessel, with a +man above it, shouting to me through a speaking-trumpet. + +"I do not know what happened next; my mind must have become confused. +When I regained my senses, Miss Minturn, old Mr. Minturn, and the maid +were standing by me. The man had stopped shouting from his trumpet, and +a boat was being lowered from the other ship. In about ten minutes +there were half-a-dozen men on board of us, all in the uniform of the +British navy. I was stiff enough now, and felt myself from top to toe +a regular marine in the service of my country. I stepped up to the +officer in command and touched my cap. + +"He looked at me and my companions in surprise, and then glancing along +the deck, said, 'What has happened to this vessel? Who is in command?' +I informed him, that, strictly speaking, no one was in command, but +that I represented the captain, officers, and crew of this steamer, the +_General Brooks_, from San Francisco to Calcutta, and I then proceeded +to tell him the whole story of our misfortunes; and concluded by +telling the officer, that if we had not moved since his vessel had come +in sight, it was probably because the Water-devil had let go of us, and +was preparing to make fast to the other ship; and therefore it would +be advisable for us all to get on board his vessel, and steam away as +quickly as possible. + +"The Englishmen looked at me in amazement. 'Drunk!' ejaculated the +officer I had addressed. 'Cracked, I should say,' suggested another. +'Now,' spoke up Mr. Minturn, 'I do not understand what I have just +heard,' he said. 'What is a Water-devil? I am astounded.' 'You never +said a word of this to me!' exclaimed Miss Minturn. 'You never told me +that we were in the grasp of a Water-devil, and that that was the +reason the captain and the crew ran away.' 'No,' said I, 'I never +divulged the dreadful danger we were in. I allowed you to believe that +we were in the influence of a current, and that the shocks we felt were +the sudden twists of that current. The terrible truth I kept to myself. +Not for worlds would I have made known to a tenderly nurtured lady, to +her invalid father, and devoted servant, what might have crushed their +souls, driven them to the borders of frenzy; in which case the relief +which now has come to us would have been of no avail.' + +"The officer stood and steadily stared at me. 'I declare,' he said, +'you do not look like a crazy man. At what time did this Water-devil +begin to take you in tow?' + +"'Yesterday morning,' I answered. 'And he stopped during last night?' +he asked. I replied that that was the case. Then he took off his cap, +rubbed his head, and stood silent for a minute. 'We'll look into this +matter!' he suddenly exclaimed, and turning, he and his party left us +to ourselves. The boat was now sent back with a message to the English +vessel, and the officers and men who remained scattered themselves over +our steamer, examining the engine-room, hold, and every part of her. + +"I was very much opposed to all this delay; for although the Englishmen +might doubt the existence of the Water-devil, I saw no reason to do so, +and in any case I was very anxious to be on the safe side by getting +away as soon as possible; but, of course, British officers would not be +advised by me, and as I was getting very hungry I went down to +breakfast. I ate this meal alone, for my fellow-passengers seemed to +have no desire for food. + +"I cannot tell all that happened during the next hour, for, to tell the +truth, I did not understand everything that was done. The boat passed +several times between the two vessels, bringing over a number of +men--two of them scientific fellows, I think. Another was a diver, +whose submarine suit and air-pumping machines came over with him. He +was lowered over the side, and after he had been down about fifteen +minutes he was hauled up again, and down below was the greatest +hammering and hauling that ever you heard. The _General Brooks_ was put +in charge of an officer and some men; a sail was hoisted to keep her in +hand, so that she wouldn't drift into the other ship; and in the midst +of all the rowdy-dow we were told that if we liked we might go on board +the English vessel immediately. + +"Miss Minturn and her party instantly accepted this invitation, and +although under ordinary circumstances I would have remained to see for +myself what these people found out, I felt a relief in the thought of +leaving that vessel which is impossible for me to express, and I got +into the boat with the others. + +"We were treated very handsomely on board the English vessel, which was +a mail steamship, at that time in the employment of the English +Government. I told my story at least half-a-dozen times, sometimes to +the officers and sometimes to the men, and whether they believed me or +not, I don't think any one ever created a greater sensation with a +story of the sea. + +"In an hour or so the officer in charge of the operations on the +_General Brooks_ came aboard. As he passed me on his way to the +captain, he said, 'We found your Water-devil, my man.' 'And he truly +had us in tow?' I cried. 'Yes, you are perfectly correct,' he said, and +went on to make his report to the captain." + +"Now, then," said the blacksmith, "I suppose we are going to get to the +pint. What did he report?" + +"I didn't hear his report," said the marine, "but everybody soon knew +what had happened to our unlucky vessel, and I can give you the whole +story of it. The _General Brooks_ sailed from San Francisco to Calcutta, +with a cargo of stored electricity, contained in large, strongly made +boxes. This I knew nothing about, not being in the habit of inquiring +into cargoes. Well, in some way or other, which I don't understand, +not being a scientific man myself, a magnetic connection was formed +between these boxes, and also, if I got the story straight, between +them and the iron hull of our vessel, so that it became, in fact, an +enormous floating magnet, one of the biggest things of the kind on +record. I have an idea that this magnetic condition was the cause of +the trouble to our machinery; every separate part of it was probably +turned to a magnet, and they all stuck together." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the school-master, "I do not +suppose you have given much attention to the study of commerce, and +therefore are not prepared to give us any information in regard to +stored electricity as an article of export from this country; but +perhaps you can tell us what stored electricity is, and how it is put +into boxes." + +"In regard to the transportation," answered the school-master, speaking +a little slowly, "of encased electric potency, I cannot--" + +"Oh, bless me!" interrupted the marine; "that is all simple enough; you +can store electricity and send it all over the world, if you like; in +places like Calcutta, I think it must be cheaper to buy it than to make +it. They use it as a motive power for sewing-machines, apple-parers, +and it can be used in a lot of ways, such as digging post-holes and +churning butter. When the stored electricity in a box is all used up, +all you have to do is to connect a fresh box with your machinery, and +there you are, ready to start again. There was nothing strange about +our cargo. It was the electricity leaking out and uniting itself and +the iron ship into a sort of conglomerate magnet that was out of the +way." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry, "if an iron ship were magnetized in +that manner, wouldn't it have a deranging effect upon the needle of the +compass?" + +The marine did not give the school-master time to make answer. +"Generally speaking," said he, "that sort of thing would interfere with +keeping the vessel on its proper course, but with us it didn't make any +difference at all. The greater part of the ship was in front of the +binnacle where they keep the compass, and so the needle naturally +pointed that way, and as we were going north before a south wind, it +was all right. + +"Being a floating magnet, of course, did not prevent our sailing, so +we went along well enough until we came to longitude 90 deg., latitude 15 deg. +north. Now it so happened that a telegraphic cable which had been laid +down by the British Government to establish communication between +Madras and Rangoon, had broken some time before, and not very far from +this point. + +"Now you can see for yourselves that when an enormous mass of magnetic +iron, in the shape of the _General Brooks_, came sailing along there, +the part of that cable which lay under us was so attracted by such a +powerful and irresistible force that its broken end raised itself from +the bottom of the bay and reached upward until it touched our ship, +when it laid itself along our keel, to which it instantly became +fastened as firmly as if it had been bolted and riveted there. Then, as +the rest of this part of the cable was on the bottom of the bay all the +way to Madras, of course we had to stop; that's simple enough. That's +the way the Water-devil held us fast in one spot for two days. + +"The British Government determined not to repair this broken cable, but +to take it up and lay down a better one; so they chartered a large +steamer, and fitted her up with engines, and a big drum that they use +for that sort of thing, and set her to work to wind up the Madras end +of the broken cable. She had been at this business a good while before +we were caught by the other end, and when they got near enough to us +for their engines to be able to take up the slack from the bottom +between us and them, then of course they pulled upon us, and we began +to move. And when they lay to for the night, and stopped the winding +business, of course we stopped, and the stretch of cable between the +two ships had no effect upon us, except when the big mail steamer +happened to move this way or that, as they kept her head to the wind; +and that's the way we lay quiet all night except when we got our +shocks. + +"When they set the drum going again in the morning, it wasn't long +before they wound us near enough for them to see us, which they would +have done sooner if my lights hadn't gone out so early in the evening." + +"And that," said the blacksmith, with a somewhat severe expression on +his face, "is all that you have to tell about your wonderful +Water-devil!" + +"All!" said the marine; "I should say it was quite enough, and nothing +could be more wonderful than what really happened. A Water-devil is one +of two things: he is real, or he's not real. If he's not real, he's no +more than an ordinary spook or ghost, and is not to be practically +considered. If he's real, then he's an alive animal, and can be put in +a class with other animals, and described in books, because even if +nobody sees him, the scientific men know how he must be constructed, +and then he's no more than a great many other wonderful things, which +we can see alive, stuffed, or in plaster casts. + +"But if you want to put your mind upon something really wonderful, just +think of a snake-like rope of wire, five or six hundred miles long, +lying down at the very bottom of the great Bay of Bengal, with no more +life in it than there is in a ten-penny nail. + +"Then imagine that long, dead wire snake to be suddenly filled with +life, and to know that there was something far up above it, on the +surface of the water, that it wants to reach up to and touch. Think of +it lifting and flapping its broken end, and then imagine it raising +yard after yard of itself up and up, through the solemn water, more and +more of it lifting itself from the bottom, curling itself backward and +forward as it rises higher and higher, until at last, with a sudden +jump that must have ripped a mile or more of it from the bottom, it +claps its end against the thing it wants to touch, and which it can +neither see, nor hear, nor smell, but which it knows is there. Could +there be anything in this world more wonderful than that? + +"And then, if that isn't enough of a wonder, think of the Rangoon end +of that cable squirming and wriggling and stretching itself out toward +our ship, but not being able to reach us on account of a want of slack; +just as alive as the Madras part of the cable, and just as savage and +frantic to get up to us and lay hold of us; and then, after our vessel +had been gradually pulled away from it, think of this other part +getting weaker and weaker, minute by minute, until it falls flat on +the bay, as dead as any other iron thing!" + +The marine ceased to speak, and Mrs. Fryker heaved a sigh. + +"It makes me shiver to think of all that down so deep," she said; "but +I must say I am disappointed." + +"In what way?" asked the marine. + +"A Water-devil," said she, "as big as six whales, and with a funnelly +mouth to suck in people, is different; but, of course, after all, it +was better as it was." + +"Look here," said the blacksmith, "what became of the girl? I wanted +her finished up long ago, and you haven't done it yet." + +"Miss Minturn, you mean," said the marine. "Well, there is not much to +say about her. Things happened in the usual way. When the danger was +all over, when she had other people to depend upon besides me, and we +were on board a fine steamer, with a lot of handsomely dressed naval +officers, and going comfortably to Madras, of course she thought no +more of the humble sea-soldier who once stood between her and--nobody +knew what. In fact, the only time she spoke to me after we got on board +the English steamer, she made me feel, although she didn't say it in +words, that she was not at all obliged to me for supposing that she +would have been scared to death if I had told her about the +Water-devil." + +"I suppose," said the blacksmith, "by the time you got back to your +ship you had overstayed your leave of absence a good while. Did your +captain let you off when you told him this story of the new-fashioned +Water-devil?" + +The marine smiled. "I never went back to the _Apache_," he said. "When +I arrived at Madras I found that she had sailed from Calcutta. It was, +of course, useless for me to endeavor to follow her, and I therefore +concluded to give up the marine service for a time and go into another +line of business, about which it is too late to tell you now." + +"Mr. Cardly," said Mr. Harberry to the school-master, "have you ever +read that the British Government has a submarine cable from Madras to +Rangoon?" + +The marine took it upon himself to answer this question. "The cable of +which I spoke to you," he said, "was taken up, as I told you, and I +never heard that another one was laid. But it is getting late, and I +think I will go to bed; I have a long walk before me to-morrow." So +saying he rose, put his pipe upon the mantel-piece, and bade the +company good night. As he did so, he fixed his eyes on the blacksmith's +daughter, but that young lady did not look at him; she was busily +reading the weekly newspaper, which her father had left upon the table. + +Mr. Harberry now rose, preparatory to going home; and as he buttoned up +his coat, he looked from one to another of the little group, and +remarked, "I have often heard that marines are a class of men who are +considered as fit subjects to tell tough stories to, but it strikes me +that the time has come when the tables are beginning to be turned." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rudder Grangers Abroad and Other +Stories, by Frank R. 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