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diff --git a/21108.txt b/21108.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac39d06 --- /dev/null +++ b/21108.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13541 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Fritz and Eric, by John Conroy Hutcheson + +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: Fritz and Eric + The Brother Crusoes + +Author: John Conroy Hutcheson + +Release Date: April 16, 2007 [EBook #21108] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRITZ AND ERIC *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + + +Fritz and Eric, or the Brother Crusoes + +by John Conroy Hutcheson +________________________________________________________________ +This is rather an extraordinary book, because it consists of two +rather different eras in the lives of two brothers. In the +first the brother Fritz takes part in the Franco-Prussian war of +1870-71, and is severely wounded, but survives - just. He is +tended by a beauteous maiden, with whom he falls in love. + +Meanwhile the brother Eric has gone to sea in what turns out to +be a rotten old vessel, which sinks in southern waters. There +are some survivors, but Eric is not among them, and is presumed +dead. + +Fritz departs for America, and is wondering how to get a job. He +meets a whaling captain and they are having a chat in a bar when +who should appear but Eric, who has had a miraculous rescue, but +has never had a chance of writing home. The two brothers decide +they will get the whaling ship to drop them off on a very remote +island in the South Atlantic, Inaccessible Island, where they +will spend a year sealing, and make their fortunes from the +skins they get during the year. + +There are many vicissitudes, and they do make their fortunes, +but not from sealing. There are so many tense situations, so +very well described, that the book might almost have come from +the pen of George Manville Fenn. A well-written and interesting +book, and with a very good description of the Franco-Prussian +War, the war which is so often forgotten about. N.H. +________________________________________________________________ + +FRITZ AND ERIC; OR, THE BROTHER CRUSOES + +BY JOHN CONROY HUTCHESON + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +"GOOD-BYE!" + +"Time is getting on, little mother, and we'll soon have to say +farewell!" + +"Aye, my child. The parting is a sad one to me; but I hope and trust +the good God will hold you in His safe keeping, and guide your footsteps +back home to me again!" + +"Never you fear, little mother. He will do that, and in a year's time +we shall all meet again under the old roof-tree, I'm certain. Keep your +heart up, mother mine, the same as I do; remember, it is not a +`Farewell' I am saying for ever, it is merely `Auf wiedersehen!'" + +"I hope so, Eric, surely; still, we cannot tell what the future may +bring forth!" said the other sadly. + +Mother and son were wending their way through the quaint, old-fashioned, +sleepy main street of Lubeck that led to the railway station--a bran-new +modern structure that seemed strangely incongruous amidst the antique +surroundings of the ancient town. Although it was past the midday hour, +hardly a soul was to be seen moving about; and the western sun lighted +up the green spires of the churches and red-tiled pointed roofs of the +houses, glinting from the peculiar eye-shaped dormer windows of some of +the cottages with the most grotesque effect and making them appear as if +winking at the onlooker. It seemed like a scene of a bygone age +reproduced on the canvas of some Flemish artist; and, but that Eric and +his mother were accustomed to it, they must have rubbed their eyes, like +Rip Van Winkle when he came down from the goblin-haunted mountain into +the old village of his youth, in doubt whether all was real, thinking it +might be a dream. Presently, however, they were at the railway station, +and they would have been convinced, if they had felt inclined to believe +otherwise, that they were living in the present. But, even here, amid +all the hissing of steam, and creaking of carriages, and whirr of moving +machinery, the queer old-world costumes of the peasantry, with their +quaint hats and mantles, which more resembled the stage properties of a +Christmas pantomime than the known dress of any people of the period, +all spoke of the past--a past when the great Barbarossa reigned in +Central Europe, and when there were "Robbers of the Rhine," and "Forty +thousand virgins," in company with Saint Ursula, canonising the sainted +and scented city of Cologne. Ah, those days of long ago! + +"Here we are at last, mother," said Eric, slinging the bag containing +his sea kit on to the railway platform. "The old engine is getting its +steam up, and we'll soon be off. Cheer up, little mother! As I've told +you, it is not a good-bye for ever!" + +"So you say, my son. The young ever look forward; but old people like +myself look back, and it makes us reflect how few of the noble +aspirations and longing anticipations of our youth are ever realised!" + +"Old people like yourself indeed, little mother!" said Eric indignantly, +tossing up his lion-like head, and looking as if he would like to see +any one else who would dare to make such an assertion, the next moment +throwing his arms round her neck, and hugging her fondly. "I won't have +you calling yourself old, you dear little mother, with your nice glossy +brown hair, and beautiful bright blue eyes and handsome face--a face +which I fail not to see Burgher Jans gaze on with eloquent expression +every Sunday when we go to the Dom Kirche. Ah, I know--" + +"Fie, my son!" exclaimed Madame Dort, interrupting him by placing her +hand across his mouth, a process which soon stopped his indiscreet +impetuosity, a warm blush the while mantling her comely countenance; for +she was yet in the bloom of middle-aged womanhood. "Suppose, now, any +one were to overhear you, audacious child!" + +"Ah, but I know, though," repeated the boy triumphantly, when he had +again regained his freedom of speech. "I won't tell, little mother; +still, I must make a bargain with you, as I don't intend that fusty old +Burgher Jans to have my handsome young mutterchen, that's poz! But, to +change the subject, why are you so despondent about my leaving you now, +dear mother? I've been already away from you two voyages, and yet have +returned safe and sound to Lubeck." + +"You forget, my child, that the pitcher sometimes goes once too often to +the well. The ocean is treacherous, and the perils of the sea are +great, although you, in boy-like fashion, may laugh at them. Strong men +have but too often to acknowledge the supremacy of the waves when they +bear them down to their watery grave, leaving widows and orphans, alas! +to mourn their untimely fate with sad and bitter tears! Don't you +remember your poor father's end, my son?" + +"I do, mother," answered the boy gravely; "still, all sailors are not +drowned, nor is a seafaring life always dangerous." + +"Granted, my child," responded his mother to this truism; "but, those +who go down to the sea in ships, as the Psalmist says, see the perils of +the deep, and lead a venturesome calling! Besides, Eric, I must tell +you that I--I do not feel myself so strong as I was when you first left +home and became a sailor boy; and, although I have no doubt a good +Providence will watch over you, and preserve you in answer to my +heartfelt prayers, yet you are now starting on a longer voyage than you +have yet undertaken, and perchance I may not live to greet you on your +return!" + +"Oh, mother, don't say that, don't say that!" exclaimed Eric in a heart- +broken voice; "you are not ill, you are not ailing, mother dear?" and he +peered anxiously with a loving gaze into her eyes, to try and read some +meaning there for the sorrowful presage that had escaped thus +inadvertently from her lips, drawn forth by the agony of parting. + +"No, my darling, nothing very alarming," she said soothingly, wishing to +avoid distressing him needlessly by communicating what might really be +only, as she hoped, a groundless fear on her part. "I do not feel +exactly ill, dear. I was only speaking about the natural frail tenure +of this mortal life of ours. This saying `Good-bye' to you too, my +darling, makes me infected with morbid fear and nervous anxiety. Fancy +me nervous, Eric--I whom you call your strong-minded mother, eh?" and +the poor lady smiled bravely, so as to encourage the lad, and banish his +easily excited fears on her account. It was but a sickly smile, +however, for it did not come genuinely from the heart, prompted though +the latter was with the fullest affection. Still, Eric did not perceive +this, and the smile quickly dismissed his fears. + +"Ha, ha," he laughed in his light-hearted, ringing way. "The idea of +your being nervous, like I remember old grandmother Grimple was when I +used to jump suddenly in at the door or fire my popgun! I would never +believe it, not even if you yourself said it. Ah, now you look better +already, and like my own dear little mother who will keep safe and well, +and welcome me back next year, surely; and then, dear one, we'll have no +end of a happy time!" + +"I hope so, Eric; I hope so with all my heart," said she, pressing the +eager lad to her bosom in a fond embrace; "and you may be sure that none +will be so glad to welcome you back as I!" + +"Think, mother," said Eric presently, after a moment's silence, in which +the feelings of the two seemed too great to find expression in words of +common import. "Why, by that time I will have nearly sailed round the +world; for in my voyage to Java and back I will have to `double the +Cape,' as sailors say!" + +"Yes, that you will, my boy," chimed in his mother, anxious to sustain +this buoyant change in his humour, and drive away the somewhat +melancholy tone she had unwittingly introduced into their last parting +conversation. "You'll be a regular little travelled monkey, like the +one belonging to the Dutchman that we were reading about the other day +which could do everything almost but speak, although I don't think +anybody would accuse you of any want of ability on the latter score, you +chatterbox!" + +"No, no, little mother; I think not likewise," chuckled Eric +complacently. "I'm not one of your silent ones, not so! But, hurrah!-- +There comes Fritz turning in under the old gateway. He said he would +try and get away for half an hour in the afternoon from the counting- +house to wish me another good-bye and see me off, if Herr Grosschnapper +could spare him. Ah ha, Master Fritz," shouted out the sailor lad, as +his brother drew nigh, "you're just in time to see the last of me. I +thought the worthy Herr would not let you come, you are so very late." + +"Better late than never," said the other, smiling, coming up beside the +pair, who were standing in front of one of the railway carriages, into +which Eric had already bundled his bag. "The old man did growl a bit +about my `idling away the afternoon,' as he called it; but when I +impressed him with the fact that you were going away to sea, he relented +and let me come, saying that it was a good job such a circumstance did +not occur every day!" + +"Much obliged to him, I'm sure!" said Eric, with that usual toss of his +head which threw back his mane-like locks of yellow hair. "He would +have been a fine old curmudgeon to have refused you leave to wish good- +bye to your only brother!" And he put one of his arms round Fritz's +neck as he spoke. + +"Hush, my son," interposed Madame Dort. "You must not speak ill of the +good merchant who has been such a kind friend to Fritz and given him +regular employment in his warehouse!" + +"All right, mutterchen, I won't mention again the name of the old cur--, +I mean dear old gentleman, little mother, there!" And then catching the +twinkling eye of Fritz, the two burst into a simultaneous laugh at the +narrow escape there had been of his repeating the obnoxious epithet; +while Madame Dort could not help smiling too, as she gazed fondly into +the merry face of the roguish boy, standing by his brother's side and +clinging to him with that deep fraternal affection which is so rarely +seen, alas! in members of the same family. + +Truly, they were sons of whom any mother might have been proud. + +Fritz was tall and manly, by virtue of his two-and-twenty years and a +small fringe of dark down that covered his upper lip; Eric was shorter +by some inches, but more thick-set and with broader shoulders, +predicting that he would be the bigger of the two as time rolled on. + +The firstborn, Fritz, with his closely cropped hair and swarthy +complexion, took after his dead father, who had been a Holsteiner--a +mariner by profession, who had sailed his ship from the Elbe some years +before for the last time, and left his wife to bring up her fatherless +boys by the sweat of her brow and her own exertions; for Captain Dort +had left but little worldly goods behind him, his all being embarked +with himself in his ship, which was lost, with all hands on board, in +the North Sea. Fritz and Eric had both been too young at the time to +appreciate the struggles of their mother to support herself and them, +until she had achieved a comfortable competency by teaching music and +languages in several rich Hanoverian families; and now she had no longer +to battle for her bread. + +Eric took after her in face and expression, having the same light- +coloured hair and bright blue eyes; but there the resemblance ceased, as +hardly had he grown to boyhood than he evinced that desire for a sea +life which he must have inherited with his father's blood--he would, he +must be a sailor! + +Being the youngest, he naturally was her pet; and thus, although the +recollection of her husband's fate was ever before her, and Madame Dort +had a dread of the sea which only those who have suffered a similar +bereavement can fully understand, she could not resist the boy's +continual pleadings, backed up as they were by his evident and +unaffected bias of mind towards everything connected with ships and +shipping; for, Eric never seemed so happy as when frequenting the quays +and talking with the sailors and sea-captains who came to the old port +of Lubeck, where of late years the mother had taken up her residence, in +order to be near Fritz, who had obtained a clerkship in a merchant's +house there, through the friendly offices of the parents of one of the +music-teacher's pupils. + +Eric had already received his `sea-baptism,' so to speak, having been on +a trip to England in a Hamburgh cattle-boat, and on a cruise up the +Baltic in a timber-ship; but he was now going away in a Dutch vessel to +the East Indies, the voyage promising to occupy more than a year, so +there is no wonder that his mother was anxious on his account, thinking +she would never live to see him again. It seemed so terrible to her as +she stood on the railway platform, surrounded by all the bustle and +preparation of the train about to depart, to fancy, as she gazed with +longing eyes at her brave and gallant Eric, with his lion-like head and +curling locks of golden hair, that she might never look on her sailor +laddie's merry, loving face any more; and, tears dropped from the +widow's eyes as she drew him towards her, clasping him to her, as if she +could not bear to let him go. + +"Come, mother," said Fritz, after a moment's interval. "Time is up! +The guard is calling out for the passengers to take their seats. Eric, +old fellow, good-bye, and God bless you! You will write to the mother +and me from every port you touch at?" + +"Aye, surely," said the boy, a sob breaking his voice and banishing the +mannish composure which he had tried to maintain to the last. "Good- +bye, Fritz; you'll take care of mother?" + +"Don't you fear, that will I, brother!" was the answer in those earnest +tones which Fritz always used when he was making a promise and giving +his word to anything he undertook--a word which he never broke. + +"And now, good-bye, mutterchen, my own darling little mother," said +Eric, clasping his mother in a last clinging hug; "you'll never forget +me, but will keep strong and well till I come back." + +"I will try, my child, with God's help," sobbed out the poor lady. +"But, may He preserve you and bring you back safe to my arms! Good-bye, +my darling. You must never forget Him or me; my consolation in your +absence will be that your prayers will ascend to heaven along with +mine." + +"You may trust me, mother, indeed you may. Good-bye, little mother! +God bless you, mutterchen! Good-bye!" cried out the sailor lad from the +carriage window; and then, the train moved off, puffing and panting out +of the station, leaving Fritz and his mother standing on the platform, +and waving their handkerchiefs in farewell to Eric, who was as busily +engaged gesticulating, with his hat in one hand and in the other a +newspaper that his brother had brought him, shouting out, `Lebewohl!'--a +sobbing farewell it was--for the last time, and still waving adieux when +his voice failed him! + +"Never mind, my mother," said Fritz softly, giving his arm to the heart- +stricken lady, and leading her away with tender care from the railway +station to their now sadly bereaved home. "Cheer up, and hope, +mutterchen! You have a son still left you, who will never desert you or +quit his post of looking after you, till Eric, the dear boy, comes +back." + +"I know, my son, I know your love and affection," replied Madame Dort, +pressing his arm to her side affectionately; "but, who can tell what the +future may have in store for us? Ah, it's a wise proverb that, dear +son, which reminds us that `man proposes, but God disposes!'" + +"It is so," murmured Fritz, more to himself than to her; "still, I trust +we'll all meet again beneath the old roof-tree." + +"And I the same, from the bottom of my heart!" said his mother, in +cordial sympathy with his wish, as she began to ascend the steps leading +up to her dwelling; while Fritz returned to the counting-house of his +employer, Herr Grosschnapper, to finish those duties which had been +interrupted by his having to see Eric off. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +A THUNDERCLAP! + +It was late in the autumn when Eric left Lubeck on his way to Rotterdam, +where he was to go on board the good ship _Gustav Barentz_, bound on a +trading voyage to the eastern isles of the Indian Ocean; and, as the +year rolled on, bringing winter in its train--a season which the Dort +family had hitherto always hailed with pleasure on account of its +festive associations--the hours lagged with the now sadly diminished +little household in the Gulden Strasse; for, the merry Christmas-tide +reminded them more than ever of the absent sailor boy, who had always +been the very life and soul of the home circle, and the eagerly sought- +for guest at every neighbourly gathering. + +"It does not seem at all the same now the dear lad is away on the seas," +said old Lorischen, the whilom nurse, and now part servant, part +companion of Madame Dort. "Indeed, I cannot fancy him far-distant at +all. I feel as if he were only just gone out skating on the canal, and +that we might expect him in again at any moment!" + +"Ah, I miss him every minute of the day," replied Madame Dort, who was +sitting on one side of the white porcelain stove that occupied a cosy +corner of the sitting-room, facing the old nurse, who was busily engaged +knitting a pair of lambs-wool stockings on the other. + +"It is now--aye, just two months since the dear lad left us," continued +Lorischen, "and we've never had a line from him yet. I hope no evil has +befallen the ship!" + +"Oh, don't say such a thing as that," said Madame Dort nervously. "The +vessel has a long voyage to make, and would only touch at the Cape of +Good Hope on her way; so we cannot expect to hear yet. I wonder at you, +Lorischen, alarming me with your misgivings! I am sure I am anxious +enough already about poor Eric." + +"Ach himmel! I meant no harm, dear lady," rejoined the other; "but, +when one has thoughts, you know, they must find vent, and I've been +dreaming of him the last three nights. I do wish he were safe back +again. The house is not itself without him." + +"You are not the only one that thinks that," said Madame Dort. "Why, +even the very birds that come to be fed at the gallery window miss him! +They won't take their bread crumbs from my hand as they used to do last +winter from his; you remember how tame they were, and how they would hop +on his shoulder when he opened the window and called them?" + +"Aye, that do I, well! He was a kind lad to bird and beast alike. +There is my old cat, which another boy would have tormented according to +the nature of all boys where poor cats are concerned; but Eric loved it, +and petted it like myself! Many a time I see Mouser looking up at that +model of his ship there, blinking his eyes as if he knew well where the +young master is, for cats have deeper penetration than human folk give +them credit for. I heard him miaow-wowing this morning; and, when I +went to look for him, there he was on the top of the stove, if you +please, gazing up at the little ship, with his tail up in the air as +stiff as a hair-brush! I couldn't make it out at all, and that's what +made me so thoughtful to-day about the dear lad, especially as I'd +dreamt of him, too." + +"My dear Lorischen, you absurd creature," laughed out Madame Dort. "I'm +glad you said that. Don't you know what was old Mouser's grievance? +Was I not close behind you at the time the cat was making the noise, and +did not Burgher Jans' dog rush out of the room as the door was opened? +Of course, Mouser got on the stove to be out of his way, and that was +why you thought he was speaking in cat language to poor Eric's little +model ship. What a superstitious old lady you are, to be sure!" + +"Ah well, you may think so, and explain it away, madame," said +Lorischen, in no way convinced; "but I have my beliefs all the same; and +I think that cat knows more than you and I do. Dear, dear! There, I +declare it is snowing again. What a Christmas we will have, and how the +dear lad would have enjoyed it, eh?" + +"Yes, that he would," rejoined the other. "He did love to watch the +snowflakes come down, and talk of longing to see an Arctic winter; but I +hope it will not fall so heavily as to block the railway, and prevent us +from getting any letters." + +"I hope not," replied Lorischen sympathisingly. "That would be a bad +look-out, especially at Christmas time! Look, the roof of the Marien +Kirche is covered already: what must it not be in the open country!" + +The old town presented a very different aspect now to what it had done +when Madame Dort had walked by Eric's side to the railway station, for +the red tiles of the houses were hidden from view by the white covering +which now covered the face of nature everywhere--the frozen canal ways +and river, with the ice-bound ships along the quays and the tall poplar +trees and willows on the banks, as well as the streets and market-place, +being thickly powdered, like a gigantic wedding-cake, with snow-dust; +while icicles hung pendent, as jewels, from the masts of the vessels and +the boughs of the trees alike, and from the open-work galleries of the +market hall and groined carvings of the archways and outside staircases +that led to the upper storeys of the ancient buildings around. These +latter glittered in every occasional ray of sunshine that escaped every +now and then from the overhanging clouds, flashing out strange radiant +shades of colouring to light up the monotonous tone of the landscape. + +Madame Dort rose from her chair and went to the window where she +remained for some little time watching the fast descending flakes that +came down in never-ceasing succession. + +"I'm afraid it is going to be a very heavy fall," said she presently, +after gazing at the scene around in the street below. Then, lifting her +eyes, she noticed that the heavy mass of snow-clouds on the horizon had +now crept up to the zenith, totally obscuring the sun, and that the wind +had shifted to the north-east--a bad quarter from whence to expect a +change at that time of year. + +"But, dear me, there is Fritz! I wonder what brings him home so early +to-day?" she exclaimed again after another pause. "See," she added, +"the dear child! He has got something white in his hand, and is waving +it as he comes up the stairway. It's a letter, I'm sure; and it must be +from Eric!" + +Old Lorischen bounced out of her chair at this announcement and was at +the door of the room almost as soon as her mistress; but, before either +could touch the handle, it was opened from without, and Fritz came into +the apartment. + +"Hurrah, mother!" he shouted out in joyful tones. "Here's news from +Eric at last! A letter in his own dear handwriting. I have not opened +it yet; but it must have been put on board some passing vessel homewards +bound, as it is marked `ship's letter,' and I've had to pay two +silbergroschen for it. Open it and read, mother dear; I'm so anxious to +hear what our boy says." + +With trembling hands Madame Dort tore the envelope apart, and soon made +herself mistress of the contents of the letter. It was only a short +scrawl which the sailor lad had written off hurriedly to take advantage +of the opportunity of sending a message home by a passing ship, as his +brother had surmised--Eric not expecting to have been able to forward +any communication until the vessel reached the Cape; and, the stranger +only lying-to for a brief space of time to receive the despatches of the +_Gustav Barentz_, he could merely send a few hasty lines, telling them +that he was well and happy, although he missed them all very much, and +sending his "dearest love" to his "own little mother" and "dear brother +Fritz," not forgetting "darling, cross old Lorischen," and the "cream- +stealing Mouser." + +"Just hear that, the little fond rascal!" exclaimed the worthy old +nurse, when Madame Dort read out this postscript. "To think of his +calling me cross, and accusing Mouser of stealing; it is just like his +impudence, the rogue! I only wish he were here now, and I would soon +tell him a piece of my mind." + +Eric added that they had had a rough passage down the North Sea, his +vessel having to put into Plymouth, in the English Channel, for repairs; +and that, as she was a bad sailer, they expected to be much longer on +the voyage than had been anticipated. He said, too, that if the wind +was fair, the captain did not intend to stop at the Cape, unless +compelled to call in for provisions and water, but to push on to Batavia +so as not to be late for the season's produce. He had overheard him +telling the mate this, and now informed those at home of the fact that +they might not be disappointed at not receiving another letter from him +before he reached the East Indies, which would be a most unlikely case, +unless they had the lucky chance of communicating a second time with a +homeward-bound ship--a very improbable contingency, vessels not liking +to stop on their journey and lay-to, except in answer to a signal of +distress or through seeing brother mariners in peril. + +"So, you see," said Madame Dort, as soon as she had reached the end of +the sheet, "we must not hope to hear from the dear boy again for some +time, and can only trust that all will go well with him on the voyage!" +She heaved a heavy sigh from the bottom of her mother's heart as she +spoke, and her face looked sad again, like it had been before Eric's +letter came. + +"Yes, that's right enough, mutterchen," answered Fritz hopefully; "but, +you can likewise see that Providence has watched over our Eric so far, +in preserving him safely, and there is now no reason for our feeling any +alarm on his account. We shall hear from him in the spring, without +doubt, telling us of his safe arrival at Java, and saying what time we +may look forward to expecting him home. At any rate, this dear letter +comes welcome enough now, and it will enable us to have a happier +Christmas-tide than we should otherwise have passed." + +"Ach, that it does," put in old Lorischen, beginning again to bustle +about the room with all her former zest in making preparations for the +coming festival, which her melancholy forebodings about Eric and +superstitious, fears anent the cat's colloquy in the morning had +somewhat interrupted: "we shall have a right merry Christmas in spite of +the dear lad's absence. We must remember that he will be with us in +spirit, at least, and it would grieve him if we were down-hearted!" + +This wise reflection of the old nurse, coupled with Fritz's hopeful +words, appeared to have a cheering influence on Madame Dort, whom many +trials had made rather more despondent than could have been expected +from her bright, handsome face, which did not seem sometimes to have +ever known what sorrow was; although, like Eric's, it exhibited for the +moment every passing mood, so that those familiar with her disposition +could almost read her very thoughts, her nature being so open. +Banishing her gloom away, apparently by the mere effort of will, she now +proceeded to assist Lorischen in getting the room decorated for the +Christmas Eve feast, of which all partook with more merriment and +content than the little household in the Gulden Strasse had known since +the sailor boy left. Nay, it seemed to them, happy with the tidings of +his safety and well-being, that Eric was there too in their midst; for +they drank his health before separating for the night, and his mother, +when placing the surprise presents, which were to tell the members of +the family in the morning that they had not been overlooked in the +customary distribution of those little gifts that form the most pleasing +remembrances of the festive season in Germany, did not omit also to fill +the stocking which Eric had suspended from the head of his bedstead +before leaving--he having laughingly said that he expected to find it +chock-full when he returned home in time for the next Christmas feast, +as he was certain that Santa Claus would never be so unkind as to forget +him because he chanced to be away and so missed his turn in the usual +visit of the benevolent patron of the little ones! + +Time passed on at Lubeck, the same as it does everywhere else. The year +turned and the months flew by. Winter gave place to spring, when the +adamantine chains with which the ice-king had bound the rivers and +waters of the north were loosed asunder by the mighty power of the +exultant sun; the snow melted away from the earth, which decked itself +in green to rejoice at its freedom, smiling in satisfaction with +flowers; while the trees began to clothe their ragged limbs and branches +in dainty apparel, and the birds to sing at the approach of summer. + +June came, when Madame Dort had fully expected to hear of Eric's arrival +at Batavia; but the month waned to its close without any letter coming +to gladden the mother's heart again, nor was there any news to be heard +of the good ship _Gustav Barentz_ in the commercial world--not a single +telegram having been received to report her having reached her +destination, nor was there any mention of her having been seen and +signalled by some passing vessel, save that time when she was met off +the Cape de Verde Islands in the previous November. It began to look +ominous! + +But, while Madame Dort was filled with apprehension as to the fate of +her younger son, a sudden conjuncture of circumstances almost made her +forget Eric. This was, the unexpected summons of Fritz from her side, +to battle with the legions of Germany against the threatened invasion of +"the Fatherland" by France. + +At the time, it looked sudden enough. A little cloud, no bigger than a +man's hand, had arisen on the horizon of European politics, which, each +moment, grew blacker and more portentous; and, in a brief while, it +burst into a war that deluged the vine-clad slopes of Rhineland and the +fair plains of Lorraine with blood and fire, making havoc everywhere. +Now, however, looking back on all the events of that terrible struggle +and duly weighing the surroundings and impelling forces leading up to +it, allowing also for all temporary excuses and pretexts, and admitting +all that can be said for partisanship on either side, there can be no +use in blinking at the pregnant fact that the real cause of the war +arose from a desire to settle whether the French or the Germans were the +strongest in sheer brute force--just in the same way as two men, or +boys, fight with nature's weapons in a pugilistic encounter to strive +for the mastery, thus indulging in passions which they share with the +beasts of the field! + +The long, steady, complete preparation for war on each side shows that +this very simple and intelligible motive was at the bottom of it all; +and it is pitiable to think, for the sake of human nature, when +recapitulating the history of this fearful conflict of fifteen years ago +which caused such misery and murderous loss of life, that two of the +most polished, advanced, educated, and representative nations of Europe +at that time should not have apparently attained a higher code of +civilised morality than that adopted by the natives of Dahomey--one, +ruled over by the blood-stained fetish of human sacrifice! As the world +advances, looking at the matter in this light, we seem to have exchanged +one sort of barbarism for another, and the present one appears almost +the worse of the two, by the very reason of its being mixed up with so +much scientific advancement, cultural refinement, and the higher +development of man. It is like the old devil returning and bringing +with him seven other devils more powerful for evil than their original +prototype, this prostitution of learning, intellect, and philosophy to +the most debasing influences of human nature! + +These thoughts, however, did not affect either Fritz or his mother at +the time. + +Not being the only son of a widow, in which case he might have been +exempted from service, Fritz, when he had reached his eighteenth year, +had been compelled to join the ranks of the national army; and, after +completing the ordinary course of drill, had been relegated to the +Landwehr and allowed to return home to his civic occupation. But, when +the order was promulgated throughout the German empire to mobilise the +vast human man-slaying machine which General Moltke and Prince Bismark +had constructed with such painstaking care that units could be +multiplied into tens, and tens into hundreds, and hundred into +thousands--swelling into a gigantic host of armed men almost at a +moment's notice, ready either to guard the frontier from invasion, or to +hurl its resistless battalions on the hated foe whose defeat had been +such a long-cherished dream--the young clerk received peremptory orders +to join the headquarters of the regiment to which he was attached. The +very place and hour at which he was to report himself to his commanding +officer were named in the general order forwarded along with his railway +pass, so comprehensive were the details of the Prussian military +organisation. This latter so thoroughly embraced the entire country +after the absorption of the lesser states on the collapse of Koniggratz, +that each separate individual could be moved at any given moment to a +certain defined point; while the instructions for his guidance were so +complete and perfect, that they could not fail to be understood. + +Fritz had to proceed, in the first instance, to the capital city of his +state, Hanover, now no longer a kingdom, but only a small division of +the great empire into which it was incorporated. For him there was no +chance of evasion or getting out of the obligation to serve, for the +whilom "kingdom" having withstood to the last during the six weeks' war +the onward progress to victory of the all-devouring Prussians, her +citizens would be at once suspected of disloyalty on the least sign of +any defection. Besides, a keen official eye was kept on the movements +of all Hanoverians, their patriotism to the newly formed empire being +diligently nourished by a military rule as stern and strict as that of +Draco. + +"Oh, my boy, my firstborn! and must I lose thee too?" exclaimed Madame +Dort, when Fritz made her acquainted with the news of his summons to +headquarters. "Truly Providence sees fit to afflict me for my sins, to +try me with this fresh calamity!" + +"Pray do not take such a sombre view of my departure, dear mother," said +Fritz. "Why, probably, in a month's time I will be back again in old +Lubeck; for, I'm sure, we'll double up the French in a twinkling." + +"Ah, my child, you do not know what a campaign is, yet! The matter will +not be settled so easily as you think. War is a terrible thing, and the +Prussians may not be able to crush the whole power of the French nation +in the same way in which they conquered Austria and Saxony, and subdued +our own little state four years ago." + +"But, mother recollect, that now we shall be fighting all together for +the Fatherland," said Fritz, who like most young Germans was well read +in his country's history, and to him the remembrance of the old war +time, when Buonaparte trampled over central Europe, was as fresh as if +it were only yesterday. "We've long been waiting for this day, and it +has come at last! Besides, dear mutterchen, you forget that the +Landwehr, to which I belong, will only act as a reserve, and will not +probably take any part in the fighting--worse luck!" He added the +latter words under his breath, for it was not so long since he had +abandoned his barrack-room life for him to have lost the soldierly +instincts there implanted into him; and, truth to say, he longed for the +strife, the summons to arms making him "sniff the battle from afar like +a young war-horse!" The French declaration of war and the proclamation +of the German emperor had roused the people throughout the country into +a state of patriotic frenzy; so that, from the North Sea to the Danube, +from the Rhine to the Niemen, the summons to meet the ancient foe was +responded to with an alacrity and devotion which none who witnessed the +stirring scenes of that period can ever forget. + +Fritz was no less eager than his comrades; and, considerably within the +interval allowed him for preparation, he and the others of his corps +living in the same vicinity were on their way to Hanover. + +This second parting with another of her children almost wrung poor +Madame Dort's heart in twain; but, like the majority of German mothers +at the time, she sent off her son, with a blessing, "to fight for his +country, his Fatherland"; for, noble and peasant alike, every wife and +mother throughout the length and breadth of the land seemed to be +infected with the patriotism of a Roman matron. Madame Dort would be +second to none. + +"Good-bye, my son," she said, "be brave, although I need hardly tell +your father's son that, and do your duty to God and your country!" + +"I will, mother; I will," said Fritz, giving her a last kiss, as the +train rolled away with him out of the station to the martial strains of +"Der Deutsche Vaterland," which a band was playing on the platform in +honour of the young recruits going to the war. + +The widow had to-day no son left to support her steps homeward to the +desolate house in the Gulden Strasse, now bereaved of her twin hopes, +Fritz and Eric both; only old Lorischen was by her side, and she felt +sadly alone. + +"Both gone, both gone!" she murmured to herself as she ascended the +outside stairway that led to her apartments in the upper part of the +house. "It will be soon time for me to go, too!" + +"Ach nein, dear mistress," said the faithful servant and friend who was +now the sole companion left to share the deserted home. "What would +become of me in that case, eh? We will wait and watch for the truants +in patience and hope. They'll come back to us again in God's good time; +and they will be all the more precious to us by their being taken from +us now. Himmel! mistress, why we've lots of things to do to get ready +for their return!" + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +GRAVELOTTE. + +The actual declaration of war by France against Germany was not made +until the 15th of July, 1870, reaching Berlin some four days later; but, +for some weeks prior to that date, there is not the slightest doubt that +both sides were busily engaged in mobilising their respective armies and +making extensive preparations for a struggle that promised at the outset +to be "a war to the knife"--the cut-and-dried official announcement of +hostilities only precipitating the crisis and bringing matters to a +head, so to speak. + +On the general order being given throughout the states of the Empire to +place the national army on a war footing, in a very few days the +marvellous system by which the German people can be marshalled for +battle, "each tribe and family according to its place, and not in an +aggregate of mere armed men," was in full operation throughout the land; +and, under the influence of fervid zeal, of well-tested discipline, and +of skilful arrangement, the Teuton hosts became truly formidable. From +the recruiting ground allotted to it, each separate battalion speedily +called in its reserves, expanding into full strength, the regiments so +formed being at once arrayed into divisions and corps under proved +commanders, furnished with every appliance which modern military science +deemed necessary. These battalions composed the first line of defence +for the Fatherland; while behind them, to augment the regular troops, +again following out local distinctions and keeping up "the family +arrangement," the Landwehr stood in the second line; the additional +reserve of the Landsturm--yet to be called out in the event of fresh +levies being required for garrisoning the fortresses with this militia +force, so as to enable the trained soldiery to move onward and fill up +the casualties of the campaign--forming a third line of defence. + +These gigantic masses were organised with the celerity and precision of +clockwork, and then sent forward westward, perfectly equipped--in the +highest sense a national army, being over four hundred thousand strong! + +Day after day, up to the end of July, the different railway lines of +Germany bore the mighty host onward to the banks of the Rhine in endless +succession of train-loads. Mass after mass of armed men, duly supplied +with all the material of war, advanced rapidly, yet in due pre-arranged +order, to the points selected for their gathering; while, in the +meantime, the fortresses along the line of the river, where the first +French attack was expected to be made, were put in a proper state of +defence, and now, with strong garrisons, repaired works, ditches filled, +and ramparts crowned with Krupp cannon, were prepared to defy the +invader. By the first week of August three great armies had taken +possession of the strip of territory, lying between the lower stream of +the Moselle and the Rhine, which had for centuries been a battlefield +between the German and French races, and which was now to witness +fighting on a scale which put every previous campaign into the shade. +The first army, under the veteran General Steinmetz, who had won his +spurs at Waterloo, had been moved from the north down the valley of the +Moselle and along the railway from Bingen, with its headquarters at the +strongly fortified town of Coblentz. The second, or "central army," +under Prince Frederick Charles, "the Red Prince," as his enthusiastic +soldiers styled him, occupied Mannheim and Mayence, guarding the Vosges, +through which was the principal avenue to the heart of the coveted +Rhineland provinces; while the third army, under the Crown Prince of +Prussia, who, as is well-known, is married to our own "Princess Royal," +had its headquarters at Landau, where also the Baden and Wurtemberg +contingents had to rendezvous. + +"The ball was opened"--to use the light-hearted expression of a French +journalist in describing the commencement of the murderous struggle for +supremacy between the two nations--at Saarbruck on the 2nd of August, +1870, when the late ill-fated Prince Imperial of France received his +"baptism of fire"; but the first real engagement of the war did not +occur till two days later, at Weissembourg, this being succeeded by the +terrible battle of Woerth on the 6th of the month, when the German army +under the Crown Prince of Prussia crumpled up the forces of Mcmahon, and +thus effectually disposed of the previously much-vaunted superiority of +the French military system, with its chassepot rifle and mitrailleuse. + +With these initial victories of Germany we have not much to do, however; +for Fritz belonged to the Hanoverian division, which formed one of the +units of the Tenth Army Corps, under the command of Steinmetz, which did +not come into action until later on. + +On joining his regiment at headquarters, our young recruit from Lubeck, +hastily summoned to exchange the pen and desk of a Dutch merchant's +counting-house for the needle-gun and camp of the soldier, discovered to +his great joy, that, instead of having to go through the tedious routine +of garrison duty--which he had expected would have mainly composed his +experiences of the war--the French invasion of Rhineland had so suddenly +collapsed, that the Teuton forces, which had been assembled for the +original purpose of defending the native soil, were now able to take the +offensive and in their turn invade the territory of the foe; and, thus, +he would be able to see active service on the field. This was a +consummation dearly desired on his part, for he was young and ardent; +although, perhaps, the order to go forwards was not quite so much +relished by some of his comrades, who were married men and preferred the +quiet of their home fireside to the many risks and discomforts of a +campaign, which, at the beginning, they did not look upon so hopefully +as their leaders. + +"Hurrah!" he exclaimed one morning at Coblentz, when the division in +which he served was paraded on the Platz in heavy marching order, the +men hurriedly falling into the ranks. "No more sentry rounds now and +guard-mounting; we're off to Paris!" + +"Don't you crow too loudly, my young bantam," said a veteran near him; +"we'll have a long march first, and then perhaps one of those confounded +chassepot bullets we've heard so much of will put you feet foremost, in +a way you won't like!" + +"Bah!" replied Fritz; "I'll run the chance of that. Anything is better +than stopping here kicking our heels in this old town, while our +brothers are gaining laurels in the battlefield!" + +"Ach, mein lieber," said the other; "wait till you've seen a little of +the reality of war, the same as I did four years ago at Sadowa; you'll +then think differently. It all looks very well now, with your smart new +uniform and bright helmet; but, when the one is ragged with bayonet cuts +and bloody and dirty, and the other doesn't preserve you from a leaden +headache, you will prefer, like me, barrack life--aye, even in +Coblentz!" + +"Hush there! order in the ranks!" sang out an officer at this moment, +stopping Fritz's answer; and, the word of command being presently given +to march, the conversation was not renewed. + +After the fearful loss they had suffered at Woerth, which battle was +followed up by the sanguinary defeat of Frossard at Forbach, to the left +of their line, on the same day, the French fell back on Metz as their +rallying point, hoping by means of the vast entrenched camp there and +its facilities of communication with Chalons and Verdun, to be able to +make a stand against the enemy, now pressing them so sore. Military +critics say that this was the greatest mistake made by the Emperor +Napoleon's advisers; and that, had the forces under Bazaine retreated +farther to the west--after throwing a sufficient garrison into Metz-- +they might have been able to effect a junction with the defeated army of +Mcmahon, which that general was withdrawing into the interior and from +which they were now completely cut off. + +Be that as it may, however, during this interval of inactivity, when the +shattered fragments of the magnificent French army--which had so proudly +assumed the offensive but a bare fortnight before along the frontiers of +the Rhine--were idling away precious moments that were fraught with +peril and disaster to the Gallic race, the huge German masses, animated +by a sense of victory and the consciousness of a superiority in arms as +well as in numbers, were sweeping forward like a whirlwind of +destruction. The Crown Prince, who had routed Mcmahon at Woerth and +driven the wedge in that separated him from Bazaine, continued his +onward march on the left of the German line through the passes of the +Vosges into the fertile plains of Champagne. At the same time, Prince +Frederick Charles, with the main portion of the second army, had crossed +the Moselle at Pont-a-Mousson; and, moving northwards, was already in a +position to threaten the line of the French retreat on Verdun, while the +remainder of the Red Prince's forces were advancing to the eastward of +Metz. The columns, too, of Steinmetz, moving with mathematical +regularity at an equal rate of progression, were also being echelonned +along the northern face of the fortress, just within striking distance. + +To put it concisely, some two hundred and fifty thousand unbeaten German +soldiers, with an artillery numbering over eight hundred guns, almost +surrounded the stronghold of Lorraine and the far weaker and partly +demoralised force which the French had gathered together beneath its +walls, only, as it turned out subsequently, to court defeat and +annihilation. + +It was not until the 14th of August that the series of battles that were +to rage round Metz, began. + +Early in the morning of that day--apparently for the first time struck +with an apprehension of having his retreat on Chalons by way of Verdun +interfered with and his communications with his base of supply cut off, +thus appreciating his critical position only when it was too late to +remedy it--the French Marshal commenced crossing the Moselle with his +vanguard. The entire body of troops, however, did not reach the river; +for, three corps, which had been encamped to the eastward of the +fortress, delayed their departure until the afternoon--a tardiness that +enabled Steinmetz to attack their rear and detain them on the spot, +until the flanking movement of Prince Frederick Charles' army beyond the +Moselle towards Pont-a-Mousson had been completed. A bloody and +indecisive action was the result, in which, if the Germans did not gain +a victory, they succeeded in accomplishing their object--that of +detaining the French troops before Metz, until their retreat on Verdun +should be impossible of achievement. + +On the 16th occurred the battle of Vionville; and, two days later, that +of Gravelotte, the bloodiest contest that took place between the +opposing forces throughout the entire war--the first general engagement, +too, in which our friend Fritz really "smelt powder" and became an +active participant. + +The rough skirmishing work which some of the divisions of the army corps +under Steinmetz had already had, during the intervening days since the +14th, somewhat prepared the soldiers of the Waterloo veteran for +butchery. They could plainly perceive from his tactics that their +general was one who would spare no sacrifice of human life in order to +gain his end and defeat the enemy. The corpses piled high on the field +of Vionville of the Cuirassiers and Ziethen Hussars, who had been +ordered to charge batteries of artillery in Balaclava fashion, afforded +proof enough of that; and the men said, with a laugh and a shrug of the +shoulders, "Ah, yes; we're going to have a warm time of it now with `Old +Blood and Iron,' we are!" + +And they had! + +Fritz had barely dropped to sleep on the evening of the 17th, when, +towards midnight, he was aroused by the wild music of military trumpets, +blown apparently from every bivouac in his neighbourhood for miles +round. + +"Who goes there?" he exclaimed, raising himself up on his elbow, but +half awake and dreaming he was on sentry duty. + +"Rouse up! rouse up!" shouted a comrade in his ear, and then he +recollected all at once where he was. As he sprang to his feet, the +noise throughout the camp told without further explanation that an +important crisis was at hand, for the measured tramp of marching +battalions pulsated the ground like the beat of a muffled drum, while +above this sound could be heard the roll of wheels and dragging of gun +limbers, and the ringing of horses' hoofs, all swelling into a perfect +roar of sound. + +Bazaine, having been driven back from the forward positions his army had +attained on the Verdun and Etain roads, in its progress of retreat +towards Chalons, by the intervention of the German forces, now sought a +fresh vantage-ground during the brief respite allowed by his enemy--one, +that is, where he would be able not only to offer a determined +resistance, but also retain his lines of retreat; and whence, if +victorious, he might be able to break forth and make good his intended +movement on Chalons. Such a position he found in the range of uplands, +which, intersected at points by ravines, with brooks and difficult +ground in front and with belts of wood in the near distance, extends +from the village of Gravelotte on the north-east to Privat-la-Montaigne, +beyond the road that runs from Metz to the whilom German frontier; and, +throughout the whole of the previous day the Marshal had been busily +engaged in stationing his troops along this line collecting every means +of defence which could add to its natural strength. + +The arrangements of Bazaine certainly gave proof on this occasion of +that tactical skill for which he had previously been renowned. + +The French left, occupying Gravelotte at the junction of the roads from +Verdun and Etain and thence extended along the high-road to Metz, held a +range of heights, with a wood beneath, which commanded all the +neighbouring approaches. This position, besides, was protected in front +by lines of entrenchments, with rifle-pits and a formidable display of +artillery; and, shielded in its rear by the heavily armed fort of Saint +Quentin, might well-nigh be considered impregnable. Bazaine's centre, +although not so strongly placed, had also the advantage of rising +ground; and, the right of the line was equally protected by natural and +artificial means. Along this admirably selected fighting ground the +French Marshal posted some hundred thousand men altogether, clinging to +Gravelotte with his best troops, and leaving about twenty thousand as a +reserve near Metz--thus acting entirely on the defensive. + +While Bazaine had been making these preparations, the German leaders had +not by any means been idle. On the same day that the French Marshal was +entrenching himself on his chosen field of battle, the entire force of +the second army, under the Red Prince, approaching from Pont-a-Mousson, +had come into line; and, in communication with the first army, under old +"Blood and Iron" Steinmetz, had completely crossed the French, line of +retreat, occupying the Verdun and Etain roads northward from Rezonville +to Doncourt, with the remaining corps that had remained to the east of +Metz supporting the rear and right flank. Altogether, the German +commanders had at least nine army corps in hand; and when the +reinforcements were brought up, they could calculate on possessing a +force of no less than two hundred and forty thousand men to hurl against +their antagonists, thus overmatched at the very outset by at least two +to one. + +The Teuton plan of battle, as subsequently detailed, premised, that, as +the French left at Gravelotte was prodigiously strong, making it +extremely difficult to carry that position without enormous sacrifices, +it would be preferable to move a large part of the army across Bazaine's +front, in order to assail and crush his right wing, which was protected +in the rear by Metz, and so could not be turned in that direction. It +was also decided that, at the same time, a forward attack should be made +as a feint on Gravelotte, the German commanders hoping that under the +double pressure of a simultaneous onslaught on both its wings, the +French army would lose its hold of the Verdun and Etain roads--which of +course it was Bazaine's object to secure--when, being driven in under +the guns of Metz, his forces would there be isolated and completely cut +off from any further action in the campaign. + +This result, it may be here stated, was ultimately attained, although +the turning movement against the right of the French line was found to +be impracticable shortly after it was undertaken and had to be given up, +the operations of the German host being subsequently confined to an +attack in front on the formidable position of Gravelotte--which, with +its ridge of hills lined with fortifications and strengthened with rows +of rifle-pits that covered the slopes in every direction, overtopping +each other like seats in a circus, seemed proof against attack. + +Marching in the darkness, he knew not whither, by the side of comrades +in solid phalanx, Fritz found himself, when morning broke, at the rear +of some other battalions that were concealed from the enemy behind a +mass of brushwood and scattered forest trees. These grew on an elevated +plateau from which a very good view could be obtained of the field of +battle, the rising sun lighting up the whole landscape and displaying +the beautiful details of the country around, so soon, alas! to be marred +by the terrible havoc of battle, bringing fire and ruin and bloodshed in +its train. + +On the left, stretched out like a silver thread amidst the green sheen +of the foliage the road leading to Verdun and Paris beyond, lined along +its extent with rows of tall poplars planted with mathematical +regularity; while a series of pretty villages, each with its own church +steeple and surrounded by charming villa residences, only a few hundred +yards apart apparently, broke the monotonous regularity of the highway-- +Mars la Tour, Florigny, Vionville, Rezonville, Malmaison, and last, +though by no means least, Gravelotte, which was in the immediate +foreground. On the right were thickly wooded hills; and, far away in +the distance, glittered the peaks and pinnacles of Metz, the whole +forming a lovely panorama, spread out below in the smiling valley of +Lorraine. + +As Fritz was looking on this scene with mingled feelings, a splendid +regiment of uhlans dashed up behind the infantry; and, when they reached +the brow of the hill, they broke into a wild hurrah, which almost seemed +to thrill their horses, which neighed in chorus. This provoked a +responsive echo from the marching battalions on foot; and then, the +cavalry galloped forwards. At the same time, distant cannonading could +be heard in the neighbourhood of Vionville, and shells were seen +bursting in the air around the French positions at Point du Jour, with +the smaller puffs of smoke from rifles in action between the trees +below. + +The battle had begun. + +Bang, bang, went the guns; and soon the cannonade, drawing in closer and +closer upon the doomed villages, became a deafening roar, with streams +of hurtling missiles shrieking overhead and bursting with a crash at +intervals. Masses of men could be perceived winding in and out along +the main road and the side lanes like ants, a gap every now and then +showing in their ranks when some shot had accomplished its purpose. By +twelve o'clock the engagement had become general; although, as yet, it +had been only a battle of the guns, which bellowed and hurled +destruction on assailant and defender alike--the curious harsh grating +sound of the French mitrailleuse being plainly perceptible above the +thunder of the cannon and rattle of musketry, "just like the angry growl +of a cross dog under a wagon when some one pretends to take away his +bone!" as one of the men said. + +The Ninth Army Corps, composed of Schleswig-Holsteiners, Fritz's +compatriots and close neighbours, were the first to come into collision +with the enemy's van but soon the Hanoverian artillery had to follow +suit; and bye-and-bye, in the main attack on Gravelotte, the infantry +became engaged at last, much to the relief of the men, who were bursting +with impatience at being allowed to rest idly on their arms when such +stirring scenes were being enacted before their eyes. + +This was not, however, until the French positions in front of Vionville +had been carried, a success only achieved late in the afternoon, after +the most desperate fighting and when the slaughter-dealing Steinmetz +ordered an advance in front of the enemy's defences. + +A tremendous fire of artillery was first concentrated on the French +works, one hundred and twenty guns taking part in the bombardment; and +then, after about half an hour's shelling, the leading Prussian regiment +dashed up the slopes above Gravelotte. The men were rushing into the +very jaws of death; for, when they had got about half-way up, the +mitrailleuses opened on them, doing terrible execution at close +quarters. The brave fellows, however, pressed on, though they fell +literally by hundreds. Indeed, they actually got into the works, and a +half battery of four-pounder guns which had followed them up was close +in their rear on their way to the crest of the hill, when the French, +who had run their mitrailleuses farther back some four hundred yards to +avoid capture, opened so deadly a fire that the "forlorn hope" had to +retire again down the slope--leaving the guns behind them, for every +horse in the battery had been killed or disabled. After this, a mad +attempt was made to charge the hill with cavalry, the cuirassiers and +uhlans dashing up the road at the French works; but men and horses were +mowed down so rapidly that the scattered remnants of these fine +squadrons had to retire like the infantry. A third effort was made by +another line regiment, the men advancing in skirmishing order, instead +of in column like the first pioneers of the attack; but although this +attempt was covered by a tremendous artillery fire, it was equally +unsuccessful. Some of the men certainly managed to reach the French +batteries, but they were then shot down in such numbers by the terrible +mitrailleuses that they could not hold their ground. + +These different episodes of the battle consumed the greater portion of +the afternoon, although of course fighting was going on elsewhere along +the line. Fritz's battalion was engaged in another part of the field, +and in the Bois du Vaux, as well as on the opposite bank of the Moselle, +it did good service in crushing in the wing of the French. Here Fritz +had an opportunity of distinguishing himself. In charging an entrenched +outwork held by the enemy, the captain of his company got struck down by +a bullet; when, as no officer remained to take his place, Fritz +gallantly seized the sword of the fallen man, leading on his comrades to +the capture of the battery, which had been annoying the German reserves +greatly by its fire. Fortunately, too, for Fritz, his commanding +officer, General Von Voigts-Rhetz, not only noticed his bravery on the +occasion, but let him know that it should not be forgotten at +headquarters. + +Meanwhile, the continual bombardment of the French position was +maintained, and about half-past six o'clock in the evening a last +desperate attack was made on Gravelotte--the outlying farmhouse of La +Villette, which was the key to the defence, being especially assailed. +The reserve artillery being brought up commenced playing upon the still +staunchly guarded slopes with storms of shot and shell; and, presently, +the farmhouse was in flames, although the garden was still held by the +French, who had crenellated the walls, making it into a perfect redan. +A gallant foot regiment then took the lead of the German forces, +charging up the deadly slope, followed by a regiment of hussars; when, +after more than an hour spent in the most desperate fighting of the day, +the French at last began to retire from the entrenchments which they had +defended so gallantly up to now, the infantry being protected in their +retreat by the murderous mitrailleuses that had so disunited the ranks +of their stubborn foes, the hoarse growl of their discharge being yet +heard in the distance long after the louder and sharper reports of the +guns and howitzers had generally ceased. + +The evening was now closing in, and soon darkness reigned around, the +prevailing gloom being only broken by the fiery path of some bombshell +winging its parabolic flight through the air, or the long tongue of fire +darting forth from the mouth of a stray cannon; while, in the sky above, +the lurid smoke-clouds of burning houses joined with the shades of night +in casting a pall over the scene of hideous carnage which the bright day +had witnessed, hiding it for ever save from the memories of those who +were there and had shared its horrors. + +The battle of Gravelotte was lost and won; but, to the Germans, the +victory was almost akin to a defeat, no less than five-and-twenty +thousand of the best troops of the "Fatherland" being either killed or +wounded! + +Fritz escaped scathless through all the perils of the day, in spite, +too, of his risking his life most unnecessarily on many occasions in +order to see the progress of the fight when his battalion was not in +action; but his favourite comrade, the veteran soldier who had fought at +Sadowa, received a bullet in his chest, and his life-blood was gradually +ebbing away when Fritz, kneeling at his side, asked him if he could do +anything for him. + +"Ah, no," answered the poor fellow; "nobody can do anything for me now! +I told you, comrade, to wait till you saw what real war was like. +Himmel! Sadowa and '66 were child's play to this here, with the fire of +the chassepot and that infernal mitrailleuse! Hurrah, though we've +won!" shouted out the veteran in a paroxysm of patriotism; and then, +joining in with the chorus of "Die Wacht am Rhein," which a Prussian +corps was singing as they marched by, he thus sobbed out his last breath +and so died! + +"His was a patriot soldier's end," said Fritz, as he closed his eyes and +covered over his face reverently with his pocket-handkerchief. + +"Yes, so it was," chimed in the others sententiously. "It is good so to +die!" + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +AFTER THE BATTLE. + +During the height of the struggle, Fritz had been carried away by a +perfect delirium of excitement, as if in a dream; and what he had done +had been done almost unconsciously, in spite of himself, and on the spur +of the moment. He had been marched here; marched there; halted; ordered +to fire; charged with his comrades; retreated; charged again--all, as it +seemed, in one brief second of time! + +What, with the continuous roar of artillery reverberating through the +surrounding hills; the constant ping; pinging and singing of rifle +bullets; the rattling discharge of platoon firing; the whirring of heavy +shot and shell through the air above the ranks and the bursting every +now and then of some huge bomb in their midst, knocking down the men +like ninepins and sending up a pyramid of dust and stones, mingled with +particles of their arms and clothing, as well as fragments of the torn +flesh of some victims, on the missile exploding in a sheet of crackling +flame, with a rasping, tearing noise--all combined with the thick +sulphureous cloud of gunpowder which hung over the battlefield, half +asphyxiating the combatants, whose hoarse cries of rage and hatred could +be heard above the noise of the cannon and discharges of musketry, mixed +up with the words of command of their different officers, the "_En +avant, mes amis_!" of the French, the stern "_Vorwarts_!" of the +Germans, and the occasional wild, weird, frenzied scream of some +stricken charger echoing shrilly in the distance, like the wail of a +lost soul in purgatory--the whole realised a mad riot of destruction and +carnival of blood, the essence of whose moving spirit appeared to take +possession of each one engaged, rendering him unaccountable for his +actions for the time being. Like the rest, Fritz felt the "war fever" +upon him. A red mist hovered before his eyes. He smelt blood and +longed to spill more. The fumes of brimstone acted on his senses like +hasheesh to narcotic smokers. An irresistible impulse urged him +forwards. A voice kept crying in his ears, "Kill and slay, and spare +not!" + +This was while the fury of the combat lasted, when the Prussian +battalions were hurling their human waves in columns against the rocky +defences of Gravelotte, only for them to fall back impotently, like the +broken foam and spent wash of billows which have assailed in vain the +precipitous peaks of some cliff-defended coast that repels their every +attack; when the sharp clash of steel met opposing steel and galloping +thud of flying squadrons, urged on with savage oath and triumphant +cheer, filled the air; when the gurgling groan of the death-agony and +moan of painless pain, made the treble of the devil-music, to the +thundering sustained bass of the cannon roar, and the growling arpeggio +accompaniment of the mitrailleuse! + +But, when, after one last fearful combined volley, in which every single +piece of ordnance on the field seemed to take part, the hideous turmoil +of sound ceased as if by mutual consent. A sort of solemn hush, in +company with the night, caused comparative stillness to brood over the +scene, in contrast to the pandemoniacal noise that had previously +reigned so fiendishly. Then, all of a sudden, Fritz appeared to awake +suddenly from a disturbed dream or phantom-haunted night-mare, in which +all the powers of evil were tearing at his heart and brain. The war +fever, for him, had exhausted its final paroxysm. The red mist had been +withdrawn from his eyes. The thirst for blood from his soul. He was +himself again; but a strangely altered self, for he felt weak and ill, +and as languid and worn-out as if he had just recovered from a fainting +fit. + +It was at this moment that Hermann his comrade had been struck down by a +chassepot ball, winging its murderous mission from some unknown point; +and when Fritz had sat down by the side of the body, covering over the +face of the dead man, he did not seem to feel any desire to live or even +to rise up again, he was so utterly powerless and lacking in energy. +The majority of his fellow-soldiers appeared, too, to be in the same +mood, stretching their weary limbs on the ground in listless apathy, as +if caring for nothing; they did not either seem to be affected by hunger +or thirst, although it was more than twelve hours since they had broken +their fast; the fury of the fight had satiated them, taking away all +stamina and appetite. + +Presently, however, an ambulance detachment, passing by on their +merciful errand to seek for the wounded, besought aid; and Fritz, with +others, at once sprang up and volunteered assistance to bear away those +to whom the surgeon's care could do any good to the field hospitals, +where their hurts could be attended to in a general way. The number of +wounded men was so great that it was simply impossible for the doctors +to hunt after individual cases and treat them properly. + +The battlefield was now covered by a dense cloud, illuminated at either +end of the valley in which it lay by two enormous fires of burning +houses. But, above, the stars shone down peacefully from the blue vault +of heaven on the terrible picture of carnage below; and, as the smoke of +the gunpowder cleared away, the different points of the struggle could +be clearly picked out by reason of the heaps of corpses and dead horses, +piled beneath overturned cannon and broken limbers, shattered needle- +guns and chassepots, all of which were scattered around pell-mell in +endless profusion. + +"Water, water, for the love of God!" was the heartrending cry that +proceeded everywhere from yet living men hidden among hecatombs of the +slain, as they heard the footsteps of the ambulance corps and their +helpers. Really, the task was an endless one, to try to relieve the +misery around; for, hardly had one wounded wretch been saved from being +buried alive in the mountain of dead under which he writhed, than an +appeal for aid was heard in another direction--and yet again another, +until the bearers and relief corps themselves became exhausted. Each +required forty pairs of hands instead of one! + +It was terrible work to go over the scene of slaughter in cold blood, +with no fever of excitement to blot out the hideous details, now +displaying themselves in all their naked reality! Conspicuously, in +front of La Villette, were to be seen the white trimmings of the +uniforms of the Prussian Imperial Guards; the red trousers of the French +line; the shining helmets of the cuirassiers, whose breastplates were +all torn and dented with shot, as if they had been ploughed over; while +the wind, now rising as the night progressed towards morning, rustled +the myriad leaves of white paper that had escaped from out of the French +staff carriages, blowing them across the valley, like a flock of sea- +gulls fluttering on the bosom of the breeze. + +As the day broke, the bright beams of the rising sun lit up the field of +battle, only to disclose its horrors the more unmistakably. The rays of +light, flashing on the exposed sword blades and bayonet points, +reflected little radiant gleams of brightness; but, the hands of those +who wielded them so valiantly not many hours agone were now cold and +cramped in the agony of death, alas! Sad bruised eyes glared out from +disfigured faces under torn-open breasts, appearing to look up to where +the stars only so recently twinkled down, vainly asking Providence why +it had put the lightning into the hands of man for so fell a purpose! +Rows of infantry lay dead in perfect order, as if on parade, where the +mitrailleuse had mowed them down; whole squadrons of hussars and lancers +were heaped up in mass; and, in some of the French rifle-pits, there +were more than a thousand corpses piled, the one on top of another with +trim regularity, as if carefully arranged so. Blue, red, and yellow +uniforms, with the occasional green of the Tyrolean Jager, were mixed +together in picturesque confusion along the Verdun road; in fact, the +dead and dying were everywhere in such prodigious numbers that the +hearts of those seeking out the wounded were appalled. + +Worse than in the fields were the scenes displayed in the villages and +little towns along the white high-road to Metz, the tall poplars that +lined it being torn down by the round shot, thus blocking the way. The +broken vehicles and baggage wagons that were mingled together in an +inextricable mass also added to the obstruction; Malmaison, Vionville, +and Rezonville were filled with war victims; and all the surgeons, +French as well as German, that could be summoned to help, were as busy +as they could possibly be. Carriages and stretchers covered the open +places in front of every house, the Red Cross of Geneva being rudely +depicted on the doors, with the neutral flag of the society floating +above; while pools of blood marked the dressing places of the wounded, +the pale white faces of whom looked down in mute misery from the carts +in which they were being borne away to the rear to make room for others +to be attended to. To complete the picture, those who had died under +operation were laid by the roadside until they could be collected bye- +and-bye for burial, the living having to be seen to first! + +Released at length, after toiling through the night and early morning at +his voluntary labour, Fritz was able at last to return to the bivouac of +the Hanoverians; but, while on his way to camp, he passed one of the +most affecting pictures he had yet seen. Hearing the howl of a dog, he +turned aside towards a little clump of trees from which the sound seemed +to come, and here he came up to a splendid large black retriever, which, +with one paw on a dead officer's breast and with his noble head raised +to the sky, was baying in that melancholy fashion in which dogs tell +their woe on being overcome by grief. Near this little group was an +unfortunate horse sitting on its haunches, its hind-quarters having been +torn off by the discharge of a shell, or the passage of some conical +projectile. The animal was moaning heavily with pain, and looked so +appealingly at Fritz out of its large deep eyes, that he raised a +revolver which he had picked up on the field and put the poor brute out +of its agony. It was a different matter with the dog, however; although +he could not persuade the faithful retriever to leave his master's side; +and, as it was getting late, and Fritz thought he might be missed and +reported as a straggler from his corps, he hurried on to the camping +ground of his regiment, promising himself to return later on in the day, +if spared from duty, when he would bury the dead body of the officer and +take possession of the dog--that is, should no one else have +appropriated him in the meantime, as might possibly be the case. + +He was so worn-out with fatigue, on arrival at the bivouac of the +regiment in the Bois du Vaux, that, on finding that his absence was not +taken any notice of, he laid himself down by the side of a fire which +the men had kindled for cooking their camp kettles; and, although it was +a warm summer day, he immediately fell asleep, not waking until late in +the afternoon. Then, partaking of some Erbwurst, or "peasoup sausage," +which one of his comrades had kindly kept for him, albeit the rations +were rather scanty, he felt a new man, and fit for anything; for, the +worn-out feeling of exhaustion and nervous horror which had possessed +his mind throughout the many hours that elapsed since the close of the +fighting on the evening before, being only the effects of over- +excitement, had now completely disappeared on his getting rest and +refreshment. Indeed, he no longer felt sickened with war. On the +contrary, he was quite ready to start into a fresh battle, and that, +too, with as eager an impetus as he had plunged into his first +engagement. + +This was not all, either. + +On the regiment being paraded shortly afterwards in front of its +bivouac, the field officer of the day called out "Fritz Dort" a second +time, after the names of the men had been run over on the muster roll-- +many failing to answer, and having the brief military comment "Dead," or +"Missing," placed after their numbers. + +"Here!" answered Fritz, stepping forwards and saluting the officer in +the ordinary routine fashion, wondering what was to come next. + +"Fritz Dort and men of the 16th Hanoverians," proceeded the major, +reading from an official document in his hand, "I am directed by the +general commanding the Tenth Army Corps, in the order of the day, to +signalise the distinguished gallantry which the said Fritz Dort +displayed yesterday in the face of the enemy at the engagement in front +of Gravelotte, when, on the falling of the officer leading the company +to which he was attached, the said Fritz Dort bravely stepped to the +front, and taking his commander's vacant post, led on his men to capture +the French battery, which they were detailed to take by storm. For such +conspicuously good service in action, the general commanding hereby +promotes the said Fritz Dort to be a sub-lieutenant in the same +regiment, trusting that, as an officer, he will perform his duty as he +has done as a private soldier and meet with the obedience and honour of +those with whom he has previously served as a brother comrade, none the +less on account of his promotion from the ranks which as one of +themselves he has adorned!" + +A loud "Hurrah!" broke from all the men when the major had finished +reading this document; and that officer then shook hands kindly with +Fritz, welcoming him cordially to the higher station he had attained. +The other subalterns also advanced, doing the same; while, on retiring +from the parade, the men of the rank and file, without receiving any +order to that effect, gave the young hero a general salute, in token of +their respect and recognition of his new dignity as an officer over +them. + +Fritz's heart was bursting with joy at his unexpected promotion. He +thought how proud his mother would be to hear of it; but, before writing +home by the afternoon field post, as he intended doing, he determined to +carry out the promise he had made to himself, and which he held as +equally binding as if it had been made in the presence of witnesses--the +promise to bury the body of the dead officer which he had come across in +the wood, guarded by his faithful dog. + +"Heinrich!" he called out to the man who, as his whilom comrade, had +preserved his rations for him. He forgot for the moment the altered +condition of their respective ranks. + +"Ja, Herr Lieutenant," said Heinrich, much to his surprise, stepping out +towards him and saluting, with forefinger to pickelhaube, as straight as +a ramrod. + +"Bother!" exclaimed Fritz, a bit puzzled at first by the inconvenience +in some ways of his exaltation in rank. There was some difficulty at +first in accommodating himself to his new position. + +"Never mind my being an officer for awhile, friend Heinrich," he +explained to his whilom comrade--"the dignity can keep without harming +it until we are again on duty together, when I promise to remember it to +all your advantage; for you've been good fellows to me, one and all! I +want you now to help me, friend Heinrich, in a sad commission; so, I +rely upon your assistance from our old brotherly feelings when +together--not because I ask you as your superior. Get a pickaxe and +spade from one of the pioneers and come with me. I'm going to bury a +poor fellow who has fallen over there, whose fate has attracted my +sympathy." Fritz pointed, as he spoke, to the wood where the dead man +lay. + +"With right good pleasure, Herr Lieutenant," said the other in a +cheerful tone of voice, with great alacrity of manner, saluting again as +before. As a soldier, he knew his place too well to take a liberty with +an officer, even if a newly-made one, and with his own permission! The +German, or rather Prussian, system was and is very strict on such +points. + +"Oh, bother!" ejaculated Fritz again, between his teeth. "The idea of +helping to bury a man `with right good pleasure'!" + +He could not help smiling at the ludicrous association with so grave a +subject, as he unconsciously mimicked the soldier's simple speech. + +"Poor dear old fellow, though," thought he a moment afterwards, "he +doesn't know what a funny phrase he used." + +In a minute or two the man returned with the required articles; when he +and Fritz set off towards the wood, the latter leading the way, and +Heinrich following close behind in single file. + +On reaching the spot which he had marked, Fritz found that no one had +apparently been there in his absence, for the dog was still on guard +over his master's corpse, although he was now lying across the body, and +had ceased his melancholy howl. When he approached the animal wagged +his bushy tail, as if in recognition of having seen Fritz before. + +"Poor fellow!" said Fritz; "come here, old man! We're here to put your +master in his last home, and you must not prevent us. We will treat him +very tenderly." + +The dog looked up in his face, as if he understood what his new friend +said; and, crawling off from the officer's body, he came to Fritz and +licked his hand, holding up the while one paw, which was bleeding as if +from a cut. + +"He is wounded," said Heinrich, stooping down. + +"Yes," answered Fritz, examining the poor paw, much apparently to the +dog's satisfaction. "It's from a piece of shell, probably the same that +settled the horse there; but it's not a bad wound, and will soon get +well, doggie!" So saying, lifting up the injured member gently, he +began to bind it round with a piece of lint which he had in his pocket, +the retriever keeping perfectly quiet, as if knowing that no injury was +intended him. + +Fritz then proceeded to open the dead officer's jacket, in order to +search for any papers or articles of value, which he might keep and +forward to his relatives. Previously, the dog would not allow him to +touch the body at all, but now he did not offer any objection, so Fritz +turned out all the pockets. He could discover no paper, however, nor +any trace of identity. The only token he could find was a little silver +ring wrapped in a small piece of paper, inscribed, "From my beloved, +18th July, 1870." This was carefully enclosed in a little bag of silk, +and suspended by a ribbon round the poor young fellow's neck, resting on +the cold and lifeless spot where his heart once used to beat. + +"A love gage," said Heinrich sympathisingly. + +"Ah, yes," replied Fritz; "and the poor girl will, I suppose, continue +to look out for him, hoping to see him again, while he lies here in a +nameless tomb! Never mind, I will keep the token and the dog; perhaps I +may discover her and his friends some day through them. Now, let us +make the grave quickly, comrade, and commit him to his rest!" + +In silence the two then dug a low trench in the soil beneath the tree +where the officer had found his death, and then reverently laid him in +it. He had died calmly from the effects of a bullet which must have +penetrated his brain, as only a small blue orifice was to be seen in the +centre of his forehead; and a smile was on his handsome young face, as +if no painful thought had vexed his last moment. + +During the sad obsequies, the dog kept close to the side of Fritz, +watching attentively everything that was done, without stirring or +uttering a sound, save when they shovelled the earth on his poor +master's breast. He then gave vent to a short, angry bark; but, on +Fritz speaking to him soothingly, he again became quiet, remaining so to +the end, when he laid down on the newly-made grave, with a deep, low +whine that was almost a sigh, that seemed to come from the bottom of his +faithful canine heart! + +From a piece of broken wood close by, Fritz then carved a rude cross, +which he fixed in the ground at the head of the poor young fellow's last +resting-place, inscribing on it the words: "To a French officer. Peace +to his remains. The grave knows no enmities! 18th August, 1870." + +The date on this unknown victim's grave was exactly one month later than +that on which he must have parted from his sweetheart. What a strange +fatality, pondered Fritz and his companion, that one who had probably +been so much loved and cared for, should be indebted for the last +friendly offices which man or woman could render him--to strangers! +"May he rest in peace!" said Fritz, uncovering his head as he turned +away, and then putting on his helmet again. + +"So, too, I wish," echoed Heinrich. "We can do no more for him, poor +youth!" + +"No," said Fritz; "we'd better go now. Come on, old fellow!" he added, +with a whistle to the retriever, who, wise dog that he was, seeing he +could do no further good to the one to whom he had been faithful in life +and watched in death as long as he was able, now answered the call of +the new friend whom Providence had sent him. Without any demur he +returned with Fritz and Heinrich to the Hanoverian camp, following close +behind the heels of the former, as if recognising him as his master in +the place of him whom he had lost. + +Fritz christened this treasure trove of the battlefield "Gelert"; and +like that trusty hound of old, the animal became known to all the men in +a very short while. He was formally adopted, indeed, as the pet of the +regiment, besides coming in for Fritz's own special care, being known +even to the general in command of the division as "the dog of the sub- +lieutenant of Gravelotte." + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +BAD NEWS. + +If it had seemed dull and lonely in the little household of the Gulden +Strasse at Lubeck after Eric had gone to sea, how much more so was it +not to the two sad women left alone to console each other when Fritz, +also, had departed from home! + +For days, Madame Dort appeared borne down by a weight of woe, and even +Lorischen lost that customary cheeriness with which she usually +performed her daily duties in her endeavours to console her mistress. +Mouser, too, went miaow-wowing about the house at nights, as if he +likewise shared in the family despondency--not once being caught in the +act of stealing the breakfast cream, a predilection for which had +hitherto been an abnormal failing on his part. So changed, indeed, +became the old cat that he did not possess spirit enough to put up his +tail and "phit" and "fiz" at Burgher Jans' terrier, when that predatory +animal made an occasional excursion into the parlour at meal times, to +see what he could pick up, either on the sly or in that sneaking, +fawning fashion which a well-trained dog would have despised. This +continued almost to the end of the month; but then came a bright little +bit of intelligence to gladden their hearts. It was like a gleam of +sunshine breaking through the dark cloud of gloom that hung over them. + +Fritz wrote home from Coblentz, close to the frontier, telling how +comfortable he was, and how every one in the army of the Fatherland was +confident as to the result of the campaign. In a few weeks at the +outside, they thought--everything was so carefully planned and every +contingency provided against--the French army of invasion would have +been dispersed to the four winds of heaven and the war be over; and, +then, the Landwehr, at all events, would be enabled to return home to +their several states and resume those peaceful employments which their +mobilisation had interrupted. Fritz said that he feared he would have +no chance of distinguishing himself in the campaign, as one alone of the +three great army corps they had already massed along the Rhine would be +sufficient to crush the hated foe. The only men who would probably see +any fighting would be those serving under the Crown Prince, who had +already routed the enemy and were in active pursuit of them across the +borderland. His veteran old general, Steinmetz, every one considered to +be "out of the hunt completely!" All he would see of the whole affair, +they thought, would be the warriors returning home crowned with laurels +after the victory. + +Thus ran the tenor of Fritz's letter, the writer evidently not dreaming +of the events in store for him; and that, instead of returning to Lubeck +in a few weeks, it would be many weary months before he saw the blinking +eyes of the ancient astronomical clock in the Dom Kirche again! + +Through the intricacies of the field post, too, this communication was a +long time in reaching the little seaport town on the North Sea, being at +least ten days old when it arrived; but what mattered that? It +contained good news when it did come, and was as welcome as if it had +been dated only yesterday. + +"Ah, ha!" exclaimed Lorischen, when her mistress communicated the +contents of Fritz's letter. "The young Herr will soon be back, and then +we'll see him give Meinherr Burgher Jans the right-about. I call it +scandalous, I do, his persecuting an unprotected, lone widow--just +because her sons are away, and there's only me to look after her! But, +I keep him at arm's distance, I promise you, madame. It is only his +thief of a dog who manages to creep in here when I am about!" + +Madame Dort blushed. She was a comely, middle-aged woman, and when she +coloured up she looked quite pretty. + +"I'm sure, Lorischen," she said, "I wonder you can talk such nonsense; +you are as bad as poor Eric used to be, teasing me about that little fat +man! Poor Burgher Jans means no harm in coming to inquire after my +health while Fritz is away." + +"That's just what I object to, dear lady," interrupted the other; "why +does he do it?" + +"Can't you see, you stupid thing," said Madame Dort, laughing heartily, +the hopeful letter of her son having quite restored her spirits, "that +is the very reason? If dear Fritz were here, he would naturally ask him +how we all are; but, as he is away now, and I never go outside the +house, while you, my faithful Lorischen, are not very communicative, I +suppose, when you go to the Market Platz, it is plain enough to common +sense that the worthy Burgher, if he takes an interest in us, must come +here to inquire after the family himself!" + +"Oh yes, I understand," answered the old nurse, in a grumbling tone. +She had lived so long with the widow, whom she looked upon really as a +child committed to her charge, that she considered she had a perfect +right to pass an opinion on anything which did not please her. Besides, +she was jealous, on behalf of the boys, of any interloper being put over +their heads in the shape of a stepfather, she as an old spinster having +a wholesome horror of the designing nature of all men, especially of the +little Burgher Jans, to whom she had taken an inveterate dislike. "Oh +yes, I understand," she said in an ironical tone she always assumed on +being a bit vexed; "when the cat's away the mice play!" + +"I presume then," said Madame Dort dryly, "that Mouser is a good deal +absent now from his duties; for, I noticed this morning that half that +cheese in the cupboard was nibbled up. It was a good Limburger cheese, +too!" + +"Ach, Himmel!" exclaimed the old nurse, not perceiving the design of her +mistress to change the conversation, and taking up the cudgels readily +to defend her dearly loved cat. "The poor creature has not been himself +since the young masters have been away. He feels too lonesome to hunt +the mice as he used to do so gaily in the old days, tossing them up in +the air when he caught them, and bringing them mewing to my feet,--the +dear one! Why, he hardly ever touches a drop of milk now." + +"Yes, I see he spares our cream--" + +"Oh, madame, that was a libel on the poor animal. It was only the dear +lad Eric's joke! Mouser would never touch one drop of the breakfast +cream, save perhaps when we might be late for the meal, or when the dear +fellow felt a little thirsty, or--" + +"Ah, indeed! Yes, no doubt," interrupted Madame Dort, laughing again. +"He would have been at it again to-day, only Burgher Jans' dog came in +at the nick of time and scared him away!" + +"Did he!" said Lorischen indignantly. "It strikes me that pest of a +terrier is here a good deal too much, like his master! And, talk of +him, there he is!" she added hastily, leaving the room as a knock came +to the door. + +Burgher Jans came in as the old nurse went out, brushing by him with +ill-concealed contempt and aversion. He was a fat little man, with long +straight hair coming down over his coat collar, and a round, full-moon +sort of face, whose effect of beaming complacency was enhanced by a pair +of large-rimmed tortoise-shell spectacles out of which his owl-like eyes +shone with an air of balmy wisdom. + +"Most worthy lady," he commenced, addressing Madame Dort with an +elaborate bow, sweeping the floor with his hat. "Unto me the greatest +and ever-much rapture doth it with added satisfaction bring, to tell you +of the glorious success of the German arms over our greatly-overbearing +and hopeful-of-victory foe." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed the widow, "you are rather late with your news; I +heard from Fritz just now." + +"And is the dear, well-brought-up, and worthy youth in good health?" + +"He is," said Madame Dort; "and tells us to expect him home soon." + +Burgher Jans looked startled at this announcement, losing a trifle of +his beaming smile. "He is not wounded, I trust?" asked he tremblingly. + +"Oh dear no, thank the good God who has watched over him," answered the +other cheerfully. "Why, he has not been in battle yet! He tells us +that the French are retreating, and that the war will be over almost +before another blow has been struck, the enemy having to surrender +before our irresistible battalions." + +"Have you not heard of the battles of Woerth and Forbach, then?" + +"No; what--when were they?" + +"Where did your son Fritz write to you from, then?" + +"From Coblentz. His letter is dated the day he arrived there, but I +only got it this morning." + +"Ah then, most worthy lady, two terrible battles have occurred since +that time. We have beaten the French and forced them back into their +own country; but, alas! thousands of German lives have been lost. The +slaughter has been terrific!" + +"Good heavens, Burgher Jans, you alarm me!" said Madame Dort, rising +from her chair in excitement. "Fritz told me there would be no fighting +except between the Crown. Prince's army and the enemy!" + +"The worthy young Herr was right so far," put in the little man +soothingly, "that is as regards the south of the line; but our second +army corps has been likewise engaged on the banks of the Saar, hurling +disaster on the foe, although the French fought well, too, it is said. +Where, however, is Herr Fritz?" + +"Serving under General Steinmetz." + +"Ah, then he's safe enough, dear madame. That army is but acting as the +reserve. It is only my poor countrymen, the Bavarians, and the Saxons +who will have the hard work of the campaign to do. Von Bismark wants to +let out a little of their blood in return for the feverish excitement +they displayed against the Prussians in '66!" + +"You relieve my mind," said Madame Dort, resuming her seat. "I thought +for the moment Fritz was in danger. You speak bitterly against the +Chancellor, however. He is a great man, and has done much for Germany." + +"Oh, yes, I grant that," replied the other warmly; "still, he is one who +never forgets. He always pays out a grudge! You will see, now, if +those poor Bavarians do not come in for all the thick of the fighting." + +"You talk as if there is going to be a lot more?" + +"So there is, without doubt, without doubt," said Burgher Jans, rubbing +his hands together, as if he rather enjoyed the prospect. + +"In that case, then, Fritz cannot return to Lubeck as soon as he thinks +possible?" and Madame Dort looked grave again, as she said this half +questioningly. + +"I fear not, most worthy lady," replied the little man in a tone of +great concern; but, from the look on his face and the brisk way in which +he still continued to rub his hands together, it might have been +surmised that the prolonged absence of poor Fritz from his home would +not affect him much,--in fact, that he would be rather pleased by such a +contingency than not. + +Madame Dort noticed this, and became quite sharp to him in consequence. + +"I must beg you to say good-bye now," she said; "I've a busy day before +me, and have no more time to waste in chatting. Good-morning, Burgher +Jans." + +"Good-morning, most worthy lady," said the little fat man, accepting his +dismissal and bowing himself out. + +"The ill-natured little manoeuvrer!" exclaimed Madame Dort, half to +herself, as he left the room. Lorischen entered again at the same time, +the two always playing the game apparently of one of those old-fashioned +weather tellers, in which a male or female figure respectively comes out +from the little rustic cottage whenever it is going to be wet or fine; +for, as surely as the Burgher ever entered the sitting-room, the old +nurse withdrew, never returning until he had left. "The ill-natured +little manoeuvrer!" exclaimed Madame Dort, not thinking she was +overheard. "I believe he would be glad to keep poor Fritz away if he +could." + +"Just what I've thought all along!" said Lorischen, immensely pleased at +this acknowledgment of her superior power of discernment. + +"I mean, not on account of wishing any harm to Fritz," explained the +widow, "but that he himself might be able to come here oftener." + +"Just what I've said!" chirped out the old nurse triumphantly; but +Madame Dort made no reply to this second thrust, and before Lorischen +could say anything further, a second visitor came to the little house in +the Gulden Strasse. It seemed fated as if that was to be a day for +callers, and "people who had no business to do preventing those who +had," as the old nurse grumbled while on her way to open the street door +for the new-comer--a courtesy Burgher Jans never required, walking in, +as she said, without asking leave or license, just when he pleased! + +The visitor was Herr Grosschnapper, the merchant who employed Fritz in +his counting-house and who was also a part proprietor in the ship in +which Eric had sailed for Java. Madame Dort's heart leapt in her bosom +when she saw the old gentleman enter the parlour. + +But, the shipowner's face did not look as if he brought any pleasing +news; and, after one brief glance at his countenance, the widow's fell +in sympathy. She almost anticipated the evil tidings which she was +certain he had in store for her. + +"Madame Dort," he began, "pray compose yourself." + +"I am quite calm, Herr Grosschnapper," she answered. "Go on with what +you come to tell me. You have heard something of my poor boy Eric; is +it not so?" + +"It is, madame," replied the merchant, deceived by her composure. "I +grieve to say that I have received intelligence through the English +house of Lloyd's that the _Gustav Barentz_ foundered at sea in the +Southern Ocean early this year. Two boats escaped from her with the +crew and passengers, one of which, containing the first officer and +several hands, was picked up when those on board were in the last stage +of exhaustion, by a vessel bound to Australia. The men were taken to +Melbourne before any communication could be received from them, so that +is why the news of the wreck has been so long in reaching us." + +"And Eric?" asked the widow, with her head bent down. + +"He was with the captain in the other boat, dear madame," said Herr +Grosschnapper; "but, I'm afraid there is little or no chance of their +having been saved, or else we would have heard of them by this time. +Pray bear up under the loss, madame. He was a good son, I believe, and +would have made a good sailor and officer; but it was not to be! +Remember, you have another son left." + +"Ah, but not Eric, my little one, my darling!" burst forth the poor +bereaved mother in a passion of tears; and then, the merchant, seeing +that any words of comfort on his part would be worse than useless, +withdrew. + +The violence of Madame Dort's grief, however, was soon assuaged, for she +had long been preparing herself for this blow. She had given up all +hope of ever hearing from Eric again, even before Fritz left home. + +Thenceforth, all her motherly love was bound up in her firstborn, now +the only son left her; and daily she scanned the papers to learn news of +the war. + +Time passed on, the widow occasionally receiving a hurried scrawl from +Fritz, who, as she knew, was now no longer resting with the reserve +battalions in the fortresses of the Rhine, but marching onwards with the +invading army through France. + +She heard of the terrible battle of Gravelotte, in which she dreaded +that he had taken part; but, almost before she could read the full +official details published in the German newspapers under military +censorship, her anxieties were relieved by a long letter coming from +Fritz, telling of his participation in the colossal contest and of his +miraculous escape without a wound, although he had been in the thick of +the fire and numbers of his comrades from the same part of the country +had been killed. + +But, he had better news to tell--that, at least, is what he wrote, only +the mother doubted whether any intelligence could be more important to +her than the fact of his safety! + +What would she think of hearing that he had been promoted to be an +officer "for gallantry in the field of battle," as the general order +read out to the whole army worded it? Would she not be proud of her +Fritz after that? + +Aye, would she not, would not Lorischen? + +And did not the entire gossiping community of Lubeck know all about it +by and through the means of the old nurse before the close of the self- +same day, eh? + +Certainly; still, would it be believed that the very first person whom +Lorischen told the news to was her special antipathy, Burgher Jans? She +actually went up to and accosted him of her own free-will on the Market +Platz for the very purpose of telling him of Fritz's promotion! Yes, +such was the case; and she not only was friendly to the little fat man +on this occasion, but she actually patted his dog at the same time! + +Still, Eric, the lost sailor laddie, was not forgotten in his brother's +success. The mother's grief was only chastened; and almost the very +first thought she had on receiving the news from Fritz, and afterwards +when she read it in official print, was "how pleased poor Eric would +have been at this!" + +Bye-and-bye, Fritz wrote again, telling that their task had become very +monotonous. The Tenth Army Corps was detained along with several others +to besiege Metz, so hemming in Bazaine and the remainder of the army +that had endeavoured so gallantly at Gravelotte to pierce the German +lines, that they were powerless to assist the rest of their countrymen +in driving the Teuton invader from their soil. The besieging army, +which was formed of the united forces of the different corps under +Prince Frederick Charles and Steinmetz, had nothing to do, said Fritz, +save to stand to their guns and perform sentry duty; for the French, +since the fearful battle of the 18th of August, had not once attempted +to push their way out beyond range of the guns of the fortress, under +whose shelter they were cantoned in an extended entrenched camp, and +were apparently being daily drilled and disciplined for some great +effort. + +On the 31st of the month, however, Fritz told his mother later on, +Bazaine made a desperate effort to break the German cordon around Metz; +and this being repulsed with heavy loss, the Marshal again remained +quiet for the space of another six weeks. + +During this period Madame Dort heard regularly from her son through the +field post. She sent him letters in return, telling him all the home +news she could glean, and saying that she expected him back before the +winter. She hoped, at least, that he would come by that time, for Herr +Grosschnapper had informed her that he would have to fill up Fritz's +place in his counting-house if the exigencies of the war caused his +whilom clerk to remain away any longer. + +Things went on like this up to the month of October, the anniversary of +poor Eric's going away; when, all at once, there came a cessation of the +weekly letters of Fritz from headquarters. + +His mother wrote to inquire the reason. + +She received no answer. + +Then she read in the papers of another heavy battle before Metz, in +which the Tenth Army Corps had taken part. The engagement had happened +more than a week before, and Fritz was silent. He might be wounded, +possibly killed! + +Madame Dort's anxiety became terrible. + +"No news," says the proverb, "is good news;" but, to some it is the very +worst that could possibly be; for, their breasts are filled with a storm +of mingled doubts and fears, while hope is deadened and there is, as +yet, no balm of resignation to soothe the troubled heart! The proverb +is wrong; even the most heartbreaking confirmation of one's most painful +surmise is infinitely preferable to being kept in a state of perpetual +suspense, where one dreads the worst and yet is not absolutely certain +of it. + +It was so now with Madame Dort. She thought she could bear the strain +no longer, but must go to the frontier herself and seek for information +of her missing son, as she had read in the newspapers of other mothers +doing. However, one afternoon, as she was sitting in the parlour in a +state of utter dejection by the side of the lighted stove, for winter +was coming on and the days were getting cold, Lorischen brought in a +letter to her which had just come by the post. + +It was in a strange handwriting! + +The widow tore it open hurriedly, glancing first at the signature at the +end. "Madaleine Vogelstein!" she said aloud. "I wonder who she is; I +never heard of her before!" She then went on to read the letter. + +It did not take her long to understand the sense of it. + +For, after scanning the contents with startled eyes, she exclaimed, "My +son! oh, my son!" and then fell flat upon the floor in a dead faint. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +WOUNDED. + +The stupendous events of the war rushed on with startling rapidity. + +The invasion of France, in retaliation for the projected invasion of +Germany, was now an accomplished fact; and, day after day, the Teuton +host added victory to victory on the long list of their triumphant +battle-roll, almost every engagement swelling the number of Gallic +defeats and lessening the power of the French to resist their relentless +foe, who now, with iron-clad hand on the throat of the prostrate +country, marched onward towards Paris, scattering havoc with fire and +sword wherever the accumulating legions of armed men trod. + +The battle of Woerth succeeded that of Weissembourg; Forbach that of +Woerth; and then came Vionville and Gravelotte to add their thousands of +victims to the valhalla of victory. The surrender of Sedan followed, +when the Germans passed on their way to the capital; but the brave +general Urich still held out in besieged Strasbourg, and Bazaine had not +yet made his last brilliant sortie from the invested Metz. The latter +general especially kept the encircling armies of Prince Frederick +Charles and Steinmetz on the constant alert by his continuous endeavours +to search out the weakest spot in the German armour. The real attempt +of the French Marshal to break through the investing lines was yet to +come; that of the 31st of August, to which Fritz alluded in his letter +to his mother, having been only made apparently to support Mcmahon as a +diversion to the latter's attack on Montmedy, before the surrender of +Sedan. + +From this period, up to the beginning of October, the French remained +pretty quiet, the guns of the different forts lying without the +fortifications of Metz only keeping up a harassing fire on the besieging +batteries that the Germans had erected around on the heights commanding +the various roads by which Bazaine's army could alone hope to force a +passage through their lines. Summer had now entirely disappeared and +cold weather set in, so the Teuton forces found it very unpleasant work +in the trenches when the biting winds of autumn blew through their +encampments of a night, making their bivouac anything but comfortable; +while the sharp morning frosts also made their rising most unpleasantly +disagreeable; add to this, whenever they succeeded in making their +quarters a trifle more cosy than usual, as certainly would the cannon of +Fort Quelin or the monster guns of Saint Julien send a storm of shot and +shell to awaken them, causing an instant turn-out of the men in a body +to resist a possible sortie. Bazaine made perpetual feints of this +sort, with the evident intention of wearying out his antagonists, even +if he could do them no further harm. + +The position was like that of a cat watching a mouse-hole, the timid +little occupant of which would every now and then put out its head to +see whether the coast were clear; and then, perceiving its enemy on the +watch, provokingly draw it in again, leaving pussy angry at her repeated +disappointments and almost inclined to bite her paws with vexation at +her inability to follow up her prey into its stronghold; for, the heavy +artillery of the fortress so protected the surrounding country adjacent +to Metz, that the Germans had to place the batteries of their works out +of its range, that is, almost at a distance of some four miles from the +French camp--of which any bombardment was found after a time to be worse +than useless, causing the most infinitesimal amount of damage in return +for an enormous expenditure of ammunition and projectiles that had to be +conveyed over very precarious roads all the way from the frontiers of +the Rhine into the heart of Lorraine. + +"Oh, that the French would only do something!" cried Fritz and his +companions, sick of inactivity and the wearisome nature of their duties, +which, after the excitement of battle and the stirring campaigning they +had already gone through, seemed now far worse than guard-mounting in +Coblentz. "Oh, that the French would only do something to end this +tedious siege!" + +Soon this wish was gratified. + +On the morning of the 6th of October, when the investiture of Metz had +lasted some six weeks or more--just at daybreak--a heavy, dull report +was heard at Mercy-le-Haut. It was like the bursting of a mine. + +"Something is up at last!" exclaimed one of the staff-officers, entering +the tent where Fritz and others were stretched on the bare ground, +trying to keep themselves as warm as they could with all the spare +blankets and other covering that could be collected heaped over +them--"Something is up at last! Rouse up; the general assembly has +sounded!" + +The ringing bugle notes without in the frosty air emphasised these +words, causing the young fellows to turn out hastily, without requiring +any further summons. + +Aye, something was up. The pioneers of the Seventh German army corps, +on the extreme right, had mined and blown up the farm buildings of +Legrange aux Bois, close to Peltre. These farm buildings had hitherto +served as a cover to the French troops when they made their foraging +sorties, but they could not be held by the Germans, for they were +situated within the line of fire of Fort Quelin; so, as may be imagined, +their destruction was hailed with a ringing cheer by the besiegers. The +artillerymen in the fort, however, apparently anticipating an attack in +force of which this explosion was but the prelude, were on the alert at +once; and, soon after sunrise, they began to pour in a heavy rain of +fire on the German works, which the conflagration of the buildings and +removal of intervening obstacles now clearly disclosed. Whole +broadsides of projectiles from the great guns flew into the valley of +the Moselle as far as Ars, sweeping away the entrenchments as if they +were mere packs of cards; and, presently, an onward movement of French +battalions of infantry, supported by field artillery and cavalry, showed +that, this time at least, something more was intended by Marshal Bazaine +than a mere feint. + +Trumpet called to trumpet in the German ranks, and speedily the whole of +the second army under Prince Frederick Charles mustered its forces in +line of battle, the men gathering in imposing masses towards the +threatened point at Ars. Here the 61st and 21st infantry regiments, +which were on outpost duty, were the first: to commence hostilities, +rushing to meet the French who were advancing from Metz. Aided by the +batteries erected by the side of the Bois de Vaux, the Germans, after a +sharp conflict, succeeded in repulsing the enemy, who had ultimately to +retire again under the guns of Fort Quelin, although they made a +vigorous resistance while the engagement lasted--only falling back on +suffering severe loss from the shower of shrapnel to which they were +subjected, besides losing many prisoners. During all the time of this +attack and repulse, Fort Saint Julien, on the other side of the +fortress, was shelling the Landwehr reserve, causing many casualties +amongst the Hanoverian legion; and, but that the men here were quite +prepared for their foe, the combat might have extended to their lines. + +As it was, the expected fight, for which the Tenth Corps was ready and +waiting, was only delayed for a few hours; when, if Fritz and his +comrades had complained of the cold of the weather, they found the work +cut out for them "hot" enough in all conscience! + +In the afternoon of the following day, Bazaine made a desperate effort +to break through the environment of the Germans in the direction of +Thionville. On the previous evening, in resisting the attack from Saint +Julien, which had been undertaken at the same time as that from Saint +Quelin on Ars, the French had been driven from the village of +Ladonchamps, and their adversaries had established foreposts at Saint +Remy, Petites et Grandes Tapes, and Maxe; and now, under cover of a +thick fog, the French Marshal advanced his troops again and commenced a +vigorous attempt, supported by a heavy artillery fire, for the recovery +of the lost Ladonchamps. Failing in this, although possibly the attack +might have been a blind, the general being such a thorough master of +strategy, Bazaine made a dash for Petites et Grandes Tapes, annihilating +the foreposts and hurling great masses of men at their supports. Having +occupied these villages, the French Marshal then sent forward a large +body of troops to the right, close to the Moselle. These advanced up +the valley against the German entrenchments on the heights until checked +by cannon fire from batteries on both sides of the river, and were only +finally stopped by an advance in force of two brigades of the Landwehr, +the men of whom occupied a position just in front of Petites et Grandes +Tapes. + +Amongst these latter troops was the regiment of our friend Fritz. + +The fighting was terrific here. + +Clouds of bullets came like hail upon the advancing men, reaping the +ranks down as if with a scythe, while bursting shells cleared open +spaces in their midst in a manner that was appalling; still, those in +the rear pressed on to fill the places of the fallen, with a fierce roar +of revenge, and the needle-gun answered the chassepot as quickly as the +combatants could put the cartridges into the breech-pieces and bring +their rifles again to the "present." + +Fritz felt the frenzy of Gravelotte return to him as he gripped the +sword which he now wielded in place of the musket; and, urging on his +company, the men, scattering right and left in tirailleur formation were +soon creeping up to the enemy, taking advantage of every little cover +which the irregularities of the ground afforded. + +Then, suddenly, right in front, could be seen a splendid line regiment +of the French, advancing in column. A sheet of flame came from their +levelled rifles, and the Fusilier battalion of the Landwehr regiment to +the left of Fritz's company were exterminated to a man, the enemy +marching over their dead bodies with a shout of victory. + +Their progress, however, was not to last. + +"Close up there, men!" came the order from Fritz's commanding officer; +when the troops hurriedly formed up in a hollow which protected them for +a moment from the galling fire. "Fix bayonets!"--and they awaited the +still steady advance of the French until they appeared above the rising +ground. "Fire, and aim low!" was the next order from the major; and +then, "Charge!" + +With a ringing cheer of "Vorwarts!" Fritz dashed onward at the head of +the regiment, a couple of paces in front of his men, who with their +sharp weapons extended in front like a fringe of steel, came on behind +at the double. + +Whiz, sang a bullet by his ear, but he did not mind that; crash, plunged +a shell into the ground in front, tearing up a hole that he nearly fell +into; when, jumping over this at the run, in another second he had +crossed swords with one of the officers of the French battalion, who +rushed out as eagerly to meet him. + +They had not time, though, to exchange a couple of passes before a +fragment of a bursting bomb carried away the French officer's head, +bespattering Fritz with the brains and almost making him reel with +sickness; while, at the same moment, the men of the German regiment bore +down the French line, scattering it like chaff, for the sturdy +Hanoverians seemed like giants in their wrath, bayoneting every soul +within reach! + +This was only the beginning of it. + +"On," still "on," was the cry; and, not until the lost villages were +recaptured and the unfortunate German foreposts avenged did the advance +cease. + +But the struggle was fierce and terribly contested. Three several times +did the Germans get possession of Petites et Grandes Tapes, and three +several times did the French drive them out again with their fearful +mitrailleuse hail of fire; the bayonet settled it at last, in the hands +of the northern legions, who had not forgotten the use of it since the +days of Waterloo, nor, as it would appear, the French yet learnt to +withstand it! + +Beyond a slight touch from a passing bullet which had grazed his lower +jaw, having the effect of rattling his teeth together, as if somebody +had "chucked him under the chin," Fritz had escaped without any serious +wound up to the time that the French were beaten back after the third +attempt to carry their positions; but then, as they turned to run and +the Hanoverians pressed on in pursuit, he felt suddenly hit somewhere in +the breast. A spasm of pain shivered through him as the missile seemed +to rend its way through his vitals; and then, throwing up his arms, he +fell across the corpse of a soldier who must have been shot almost +immediately before him, for the body was quite warm to the touch. + +How he was hurt he could not tell; he only knew that he was unable to +stir, and that each breath of air he drew came fainter and fainter, as +if it were his last. + +He heard, from the retreating tramp of footsteps and distant shouts, +that his regiment had moved on after the enemy; but, as he lay on his +back, he could not see anything save the sky, while each moment some +stray shot whistled by in the air or threw up earth over him, +threatening to give him his finishing blow should the wound he had +received not be sufficient to settle him. + +Then, he felt thirsty, and longed to cry out for help; but, no sound +came from his lips, while the exertion to speak caused such intolerable +agony that he wished he could die at once and be put out of his misery. +When charging the French battalion, he recollected putting his foot on +the dead face of some victim of the fight, and he could recall the +thrill of horror that passed through him as he had done this +inadvertently; now, each instant he expected, too, to be trampled on in +the same manner. + +Ha! He could distinguish footsteps pressing the ground near. "Oh, +mother!" he thought, "the end is coming now, for the fight must be +drawing near again. I wish a shell or bullet would settle the matter!" + +But the footsteps he imagined to be the tramp of marching men--on +account of his ear being so close to the ground and thus, of course, +magnifying the sound--were only those of the faithful Gelert, who with +the instinct of a well-trained retriever was searching for his new-found +friend. He had tracked his path over the valley from the advanced post +which the regiment had occupied in the morning, and where the dog had +been kept by Fritz to watch his camp equipments until he should return. +Gelert evidently considered that he had waited long enough for duty's +sake; and, that, as his adopted master did not come to fetch him, he +ought to start to seek for him instead, one good turn deserving another! + +At the moment, therefore, when Fritz expected to have the remaining +breath trampled out of him by a rush of opposing battalions across his +poor prone body, he felt the dog licking his face, whining and +whimpering in recognition and mad with joy at discovering him. + +"Dear old Gelert, you brave, good doggie," he ejaculated feebly, in +panting whispers. "You'll have to try and find a third master now!" and +then, overcome by the effort, which taxed what little strength was left +in him, he swooned away like a dead man--the last distinct impression he +had being that of seeing a bright star twinkle out from the opal sky +above him as he lay on the battlefield, which seemed to be winking and +blinking at him as if beckoning him up to heaven! + +His awakening was very different. + +On coming to his consciousness again, he felt nice and warm and +comfortable, just as if he were in bed; and, opening his eyes, he saw +the sweet face of a young girl bending over him. + +"I must be dreaming," he murmured to himself lazily. He felt so utterly +free from pain and at ease that he did not experience the slightest +anxiety or perplexity to know where he was. He was perfectly satisfied +to take what came. "I must be dreaming, or else I am dead, and this is +one of the angels come to take me away!" + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +MADALEINE. + +"I am glad you are better," said a soft voice in liquid accents, so +close to his ear that he felt the perfumed breath of the speaker wafted +across his face. + +Fritz stared with wide-opened eyes. "I'm glad you're better," repeated +the voice; "you are better, are you not; you feel conscious, don't you, +and in your right senses?" + +"Where am I?" at last said Fritz faintly. + +"Here," answered the girl, "with friends, who are attending to you. Do +not fear, you shall be watched over with every care until you are quite +well again." + +"Where is `here'?" whispered Fritz feebly again, smiling at his own +quaint question. + +The girl laughed gently in response to his smile. "You are at Mezieres, +not far from the battlefield where you fell. I discovered you there +early yesterday morning." + +"You?" inquired Fritz, his eyes expressing his astonishment. + +"Yes, I," said the girl kindly; "and I was only too happy to be the +means of finding you, and getting you removed to a place of safety; for, +I'm afraid that if you had lain there much longer on the damp ground you +would have died." + +"Oh!" interrupted Fritz as eagerly as his exhausted condition would +allow; "I remember all now! I was wounded and lay there close to the +battery; and then I saw the stars come out and thought--" + +"Hush!" said the girl, "you must not speak any more now. You are too +weak; I only spoke to you to find out whether you had regained +consciousness or not." + +"But you must let me thank you. If it had not been--" + +"No, I won't allow another word," she interposed authoritatively. "You +will do yourself harm, and then I shall be accused of being a bad nurse! +Besides, you haven't got to thank me at all; it was the dog who made me +see you." + +"What, Gelert," whispered Fritz again, in spite of her +admonition,--"dear old fellow!" + +He had hardly uttered these words, when the faithful dog, who must have +been close beside the bed, raised himself up, putting a paw on one of +Fritz's arms which lay outside the coverings and licking his hand, +whining rapturously the while, as if rejoiced to hear the voice of his +master again. + +"`Gelert!'" exclaimed the girl with some surprise. "Why, I know the dog +perfectly, and he recognises me quite well; but he is called `Fritz,' +not `Gelert,' as you said." + +"`Fritz!'" ejaculated he, in his turn. "Why, that is my name!" + +"Gracious me," thought the girl to herself, "he is rambling again, and +confusing his own name with that of the dog! I must put a stop to his +speaking, or else he will get worse. Here, take this," she said aloud, +lifting to his lips a wineglass containing a composing draught which the +doctor had left for her patient to take as soon as he showed any signs +of recovery from his swoon, and which she really ought to have given him +before; "it will do you good, and make you stronger." + +Fritz swallowed the potion unhesitatingly, immediately sinking back on +his pillow in a quiet sleep; when the girl, sitting down by the side of +the bed, watched the long-drawn, quivering respirations that came from +the white, parted lips of the wounded man. + +"Poor young fellow!" she said with a sigh; "I fear he will never get +over it. I wonder where Armand is now, and how came this stranger to +have possession of his dog! The funniest thing, too, is that `Fritz' +seems as much attached to this new master as he was to Armand, although +he has not forgotten me. Have you, `Fritz,' my beauty, eh?" + +The retriever, in response, gave three impressive thumps with his bushy +tail on the floor, as he lay at the girl's feet by the side of the bed. +He evidently answered to this other familiar appellation quite as +readily as he had done to that of "Gelert," being apparently on perfect +terms of friendship, not to say intimacy, with the young lady who had +just asked him so pertinent a question. + +He certainly had not forgotten her. He would not have been a gallant +dog if he had; nor would he have displayed that taste and wise +discrimination which one would naturally have expected to find, in a +well-bred dog of his particular class, for his interlocutor was a +remarkably pretty girl--possessing the most lovely golden-hued hair and +a pair of blue eyes that were almost turquoise in tint, albeit with a +somewhat wistful, faraway look in them, especially now when she gazed +down into the brown, honest orbs of the retriever, who was watching her +every moment with faithful attention. She had, too, an unmistakeable +air of refinement and culture, in spite of her being attired in a +plainly made black stuff dress such as a servant might have worn, and +having a sort of cap like those affected by nuns and sisters of charity +drawn over her dainty little head, partly concealing its wealth of fair +silky hair. No one would have dreamt of taking her to be anything else +but a lady, no matter what costume she adopted, or how she was +disguised. + +"Who ever thought, dear doggie," she continued, speaking the thoughts +that surged up in her mind while addressing the dumb animal, who looked +as if he would like to understand her if he only could,--"who ever would +have thought that things would turn out as they have when I last patted +your dear old head at Bingen, `Fair Bingen on the Rhine,' eh?" and she +murmured to herself the refrain of that beautiful ballad. + +The retriever gave a long sniff here to express his thorough sympathy +with her, and the girl proceeded, musingly, thinking aloud. + +"Yes, I mean, doggie, when Armand and I parted for the last time. Poor +mamma was alive then, and we never dreamt that this terrible war would +come to pass, severing us so completely! Poor Armand, he said he would +be true and return to me again when he was old enough to be able to +decide for himself without the consent of that stern father of his, who +thought that the daughter of a poor German pastor was not good enough +mate for his handsome son--although he was only a merchant, while my +mother was a French countess in her own right. Still, parents have the +right to settle these things, and I quite agreed with dear mamma that I +would never consent to enter a family against their will, especially, +too, when they despised our humble position!" + +The girl drew herself up proudly as she said this. + +"Never mind," she went on again presently, "it is all over and done for. +But, still, I believe Armand loved me. How handsome he looked that +last time I saw him when he came to our little cottage to say good-bye, +before he went to join his regiment in Algeria, where his father had got +him ordered off on purpose to separate us. However, perhaps it was only +a boy and girl affection at the best, and would never have lasted; my +heart has not broken, I know, although I thought it would break then; +for, alas! I have since seen sorrow enough to crush me down, even much +more than parting with Armand de la Tour. Fancy, poor darling mamma +gone to her grave, and I, her cherished child, forced to earn my bread +as companion to this haughty old baroness, who thinks me like the dust +under her feet! Ah, it is sad, is it not, doggie?" + +The retriever sniffed again, while the blue eyes continued to look down +upon him through a haze of tears; and then, the girl was silent for a +time. + +"Heigho, doggie," she exclaimed, after a short pause of reflection, +brushing away the tear drops from her cheeks and shaking her dainty +little head as if she would fain banish all her painful imaginings with +the action, "I must not repine at my lot, for the good Father above has +taken care of me through all my adversity, giving me a comfortable home +when I, an orphan, had none to look after me. And, the good baroness, +too--she may be haughty, but then she is of a very noble family, and has +been brought up like most German ladies of rank to look down upon her +inferiors in position; besides, she is kind to me in her way. I am +pleased that she took it into her head to come off here to seek for her +son, and bring him presents from home in person. Nothing else would +suit her, if you please, on his birthday, although the young baron, I +think, was not over-delighted at his mother coming to hunt for him in +war time, as if he were a little boy--he on the staff of the general! I +fancy he got no little chaff from his brother officers in consequence. +However, `it is an ill wind that blows nobody good,' for the good +baroness being here has been seized with a freak for looking after the +wounded, because the Princess of Alten-Schlossen goes in for that sort +of thing; and thus it is, doggie, that I'm now attending to this poor +fellow here. Though, how on earth Armand parted with you, and you +became attached to this new master, whom you seem to love with such +affection, I'm sure I cannot tell!" + +Fritz at this moment turned in the little pallet bed on which he was +lying, and in an instant the girl was up from her seat and bending over +him. + +"Restless?" she said, smoothing the pillows and laying her cool hand on +the hot brow of her patient, who gave vent to a sigh of satisfaction in +his sleep. "Ah! you'll be better bye-and-bye. Then, you will wake up +refreshed and have some nourishment; and then, too, you'll be able to +tell me all about yourself and master doggie here, eh?" + +But, it was many days before poor Fritz was in a condition to offer any +explanation about the dog--many days, when the possibility was trembling +in the balance of fate as to whether he would ever speak again, or be +silent for aye in this world! + +When he woke up, he was delirious; and the doctor, a grave German +surgeon of middle age, on coming into the room to examine him, when +making the rounds of the house--a villa in the suburbs of Mezieres, +which had been transformed into a sort of field hospital for the most +dangerous cases in the vicinity--declared Fritz to be in a very critical +state. His life, he said, was in serious peril, a change having taken +place for the worse. + +He had been struck by a chassepot conical rifle bullet in the chest; and +the ball, after breaking two of his ribs and slightly grazing the lungs, +had lodged near the spine, where it yet remained, the wounded man being +too prostrate for an operation to be performed for its extraction, +although all the while it was intensifying the pain and adding to the +feverish symptoms of the patient. + +"You've not been allowing him to talk, have you?" asked the surgeon, +scanning the girl's face with a stern professional glance. + +"No," she replied, blushing slightly under his gaze; "that is, he wanted +to, an hour ago, when he became conscious, but I gave him the sleeping +draught you ordered at once." + +"Donnerwetter!" exclaimed the other. "The potion then has done him harm +instead of good. I thought it would have composed him and made him +comfortable for the operation, as, until that bullet is taken out he +can't possibly get well. However, he must now be kept as quiet as +possible. Put a bandage on his head and make it constantly cool with +cold water. I will return bye-and-bye, and then we'll see about cutting +out the ball." + +The surgeon then went out softly from the room, leaving the girl to +attend to his directions, which she proceeded to do at once; shuddering +the while at what she knew her poor patient would have to undergo, when +the disciple of Aesculapius came back anon, with his myrmidons and their +murderous-looking surgical knives and forceps, to hack and hew away at +Fritz in their search for the bullet buried in his chest--he utterly +oblivious either of his surroundings or what was in store for him, +tossing in the bed under her eyes and rambling in his mind. He fancied +himself still on the battlefield in the thick of the fight:-- "Vorwarts, +my children!" he muttered. "One more charge and the battery is won. +Pouf! that shell had a narrow squeak of spoiling my new helmet. The +gunner will have to take better aim next time!" Then he would shudder +all over, and cry out in piteous tones, "Take it away, take it away--the +blood is all over my face; and his body, oh, it is pressing me down into +that yawning open grave! Will no one save me? It is terrible, terrible +to be buried alive, and the pale stars twinkling down on my agony!" +Presently, however, the cold applications to his head had their effect, +and he sank down into a torpid sleep, only to start up again in the +ravings of delirium a few moments afterwards. + +Fritz continued in this state for hours, with intervals of quiet, during +which his nurse, by the doctor's orders, administered beef tea and other +nourishment which sustained the struggle going on in his sinking frame; +until, at last, the ball was extracted, after an operation which was so +prolonged that the girl, who felt almost as if she were undergoing it +herself, thought it would never end. + +Then came the worst stage for the sufferer. Fever supervened; and, +although the wound began to heal up, his physical condition grew weaker +every day under the tearing strain his constitution was subjected to. + +Even the doctor gave him up; but the girl, who had attended to him with +the most unwearying assiduity had hopes to the last. + +Fritz had been unconscious from the time that he first recognised the +dog, on the evening after he was wounded and found himself in the villa, +until the fever left him, when he was so weak that he was unable to lift +a finger and seemed at the very gates of death. + +Now, however, his senses returned to him, and a glad look came into his +eyes on seeing, like as he did before and now remembered, the face of +the beautiful girl bending over him again; but he noticed that she did +not look so bright as when he first beheld her. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed feebly, "it was not a dream! How long have I been +ill?" + +"More than a fortnight," said the girl promptly. + +"Oh, my poor mother!" ejaculated Fritz with a sob, "she will have +thought me dead, and broken her heart!" + +"Don't fear that," said she kindly. "I wrote to her, telling her you +were badly hurt, but that you were in good hands." + +"You! Why, how did you know her name, or where she lived?" + +"I found the address in your pocket," answered the girl with a laugh. +"Don't you recollect putting a slip of paper there, telling any one, in +case you were wounded or killed, to write and break the news gently to +your mother, `madame Dort, Gulden Strasse, Lubeck'? I never heard +before of such a thoughtful son!" + +"Ah, I remember now," said Fritz; "and you wrote, then, to her?" + +"Yes, last week, when we despaired of your recovery; but, I have written +again since, telling her that the bullet has been removed from your +wound, and that if you get over the fever you will recover all right." + +"Thank you, and thank God!" exclaimed Fritz fervently, and he shut his +eyes and remained quiet for a minute or two, although his lips moved as +if in prayer. + +"And where is Gelert, my dog?" he asked presently. + +"`Fritz,' you mean," said the girl, smiling. + +"No, that is my name, the dog's is Gelert." + +"That is what I want explained," said the other. + +"But, please pardon my rudeness, Fraulein," interrupted Fritz, "may I +ask to whom I am indebted for watching over me, and adding to it the +thoughtful kindness of relieving my mother's misery?" + +"My name is Madaleine Vogelstein," said the girl softly. "Do you like +it?" + +"I do; it is a very pretty one," he replied. "The surname is German, +but the given name is French--Madaleine? It sounds sweeter than would +be thought possible in our guttural Teuton tongue!" + +"My mother was a Frenchwoman, and I take the name from her," explained +the girl. "But now, before I stop you from talking any more, for the +good doctor would blame me much if he came in, you must tell me how you +came to possess that dog; or, rather, why he so faithfully attached +himself to you, as it was entirely through him that I found you, and got +you picked up by the ambulance corps and brought here. You must first +take this soup, however, to strengthen you. It has been kept nice and +warm on that little lamp there, and it will do you good. I won't hear a +word more until you have swallowed it!" + +"A soldier should always obey the orders of his commanding officer," +said Fritz with a smile, as he slowly gulped down the broth, spoonful by +spoonful, as Madaleine placed it in his mouth, for he could not feed +himself. + +"That will do," she remarked, when he had taken what she thought +sufficient. "And now you can tell me about the dog. Here he is," she +continued, as the retriever came into the room; and, going up to the +side of the bed where Fritz was lying, put up his paws on the +counterpane and licked his master's face, in the wildest joy, +apparently, at his recovery and notice of him. "He must have heard his +name spoken, as I only just sent him out for a run with one of the men, +for all the time you were so ill we could not get him to leave the room. +Now, doggie, lie down like a good fellow, and let us hear all about +you." + +The retriever at once obeyed the girl, stretching himself on the floor +at her feet, although close beside his master all the while. + +Fritz then narrated the sad little episode of the battle of Gravelotte, +and how he had found the dead body of the French officer with the dog +keeping guard over it. + +The girl wept silently as he went on. + +"It must have been poor Armand," she said presently through her tears. +"Did you find nothing about him to tell who he was?" + +"There was a little bag I saw round his neck," said Fritz; "I took it +off the poor fellow before we buried him, and suspended it on my own +breast afterwards for security, thinking that I might restore it some +day to his friends, if I ever came across them." + +"Ah, that must be the little packet which got driven into your wound, +and, stopping the flow of blood, saved your life, the doctor says. I +have kept it carefully for you, and here it is," cried the girl, hastily +jumping up from her seat and bringing the article in question to Fritz. + +"Open it," he said; "I haven't got the strength to do it, you know." + +Madaleine unfastened the silken string that confined the mouth of the +bag, now stained with Fritz's blood; and then she pulled out the little +silver ring it contained. + +One glance was enough for her. + +"Yes," she faltered through her sobs. "It is the ring I gave him; but +that was months before the date engraved upon it, `July 18th, 1870,' +which was the day he said he would come back to Bingen, as then he would +be of age." + +"And he never came, then?" inquired Fritz. + +"No, never again," said she mournfully. + +"Ah, I would come if I had been in his place," exclaimed Fritz eagerly, +with a flashing eye. "I never fail in an appointment I promise to keep; +and to fail to meet a betrothed--why it is unpardonable!" + +He had raised his voice from the whisper in which he had previously +spoken, and its indignant tone seemed quite loud. + +"Perhaps he couldn't come," said Madaleine more composedly. "Besides, +we were not engaged; all was over between us." + +"I'm very glad to hear that," replied Fritz. "It would have been +dastardly on his part otherwise! But, would you like to keep the dog +for his sake, Fraulein Vogelstein? I have got no claim to him, you +know." + +"Oh dear no, I would not like to deprive you of him for the world, much +as I love the poor faithful fellow. Why, he would think nobody was his +proper master if he were constantly changing hands like this!" + +"Poor old Gelert!" said Fritz; and the dog, hearing himself talked +about, here raised himself up again from his recumbent attitude by the +side of the bed and thrust his black nose into the hand of his master, +who tried feebly to caress him. + +"`Fritz,' you mean," corrected Miss Madaleine, determined to have her +point about his right name. + +"Well, if you call him so, I shall think you mean me," said Fritz +jokingly, as well as his feeble utterance would permit his voice to be +expressive. He wanted, however, to imply much more than the mere words. + +"That would not be any great harm, would it?" she replied with a little +smile, her tears of sorrow at Armand de la Tour's untimely fate having +dried up as quickly as raindrops disappear after a shower as soon as the +sun shines out again; however, she apparently now thought the +conversation was becoming a little too personal, for she proceeded to +ply the invalid with more soup in order to stop his mouth and prevent +him from replying to this last speech of hers! + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +THE "LITTLE FAT MAN." + +"Hullo! What fails with the well-born and most worthy lady, her to make +in such pitiable plight?" inquired Burgher Jans, poking his little round +face into the parlour of the house in the Gulden Strasse, just as +Lorischen, bending over her mistress, was endeavouring to raise her on +to the sofa, where she would be better enabled to apply restoratives in +order to bring her to. + +The old nurse was glad of any assistance in the emergency; and, even the +fat little Burgher, disliked as he was by her, as a rule, with an +inveterate hatred, was better than nobody! + +"Madame has fainted," she said. "Help me to lift her up, and I'll be +obliged to you, worshipful Herr." + +"Yes, so, right gladly will I do it, dearest maiden," replied Burgher +Jans politely, with his usual sweeping bow, taking off his hat and +depositing it on an adjacent chair, while he lent a hand to raise the +poor lady and place her on the couch. + +This done, he espied the letter that had caused the commotion, which +Madame Dort still held tightly clutched in her hand when she fell; and +he tried to pull it away from her rigid fingers. "Ha, what have we +here?" he said. + +"You just leave that alone!" snapped out Lorischen. "Pray take yourself +off, with your wanting to spy into other people's business! If I were a +man I'd be ashamed of being so curious, I would. Burgher Jans, I'll +thank you to withdraw; I wish to attend to my mistress." + +"I will obey your behests, dearest maiden," blandly replied the little +man, taking his hat from the chair and backing towards the door, +although casting the while most covetous eyes on the mysterious letter, +which he would have cheerfully given a thaler to have been allowed to +peruse. "I will return anon to inquire how the gracious lady is after +her indisposition, and--" + +"If you are not out of the room before I count five," exclaimed the old +nurse, angrily interrupting him, "I declare I'll pitch this footstool at +your little round turnip-top of a head, that I will. One--two--three--" + +"Why, whatever is the matter, Lorischen?" interposed Madame Dort, +opening her eyes at this juncture, while the old nurse yet stood with +the footstool raised in her uplifted hands facing the door, half in and +half out of which peered the tortoise-shell spectacles of the little fat +burgher. "Who is there?" + +The poor lady spoke very faintly, and did not seem to know where she was +at first, her gaze wandering round the room. + +Lorischen quickly put down the heavy missile with which she was +threatening Burgher Jans; and he, taking advantage of this suspension of +hostilities, at once advanced again within the apartment, although still +keeping his hand on the door so as to be ready to beat a retreat in a +fresh emergency, should the old nurse attempt to renew the interrupted +fray. + +"High, well-born, and most gracious madame," said he obsequiously. "It +is me, only me!" + +"Hein!" grunted Lorischen. "A nice `me' it is--a little, inquisitive, +meddlesome morsel of a man!" + +"Oh, Meinherr Burgher Jans," said Madame Dort, rising up from the sofa. +"I'm glad to see you; I wanted to ask you something. I--" + +Just at that moment she caught sight of the letter she held between her +fingers, when she recollected all at once the news she had received, of +which she had been for the time oblivious. + +"Ah, poor Fritz!" she exclaimed, bursting into a fit of weeping. "My +son, my firstborn, I shall never see him more!" + +"Why, what have you heard, gracious lady?" said Burgher Jans, abandoning +his refuge by the door, and coming forwards into the centre of the room. +"No bad news, I trust, from the young and well-born Herr?" + +"Read," said the widow, extending the letter in her hand towards him; +"read for yourself and see." + +His owlish eyes all expanded with delight through the tortoise-shell +spectacles, the fat little man eagerly took hold of the rustling piece +of paper and unfolded it, his hands trembling with nervous anxiety to +know what the missive contained--and which he had been all along burning +with curiosity to find out. + +Lorischen actually snorted with indignation. + +"There, just see that!" she grumbled through her set teeth, opening and +clenching her fingers together convulsively, as if she would like to +snatch the letter away from him--when, perhaps, she would have expressed +her feelings pretty forcibly in the way of scratches on the Burgher's +beaming face: "there, I wouldn't have let him see it if he had gone down +on his bended knees for it--no, not if I had died first!" + +The widow continued to sob in her handkerchief; while the Burgher +appeared to gloat over the delicate angular handwriting of the letter, +as if he were learning it by heart and spelling out every word--he took +so long over it. + +"Ah, it is bad, gracious lady," he said at length; "but, still, not so +bad as it might otherwise be." + +Madame Dort raised her tear-stained face, looking at the little roan +questioningly; while Lorischen, who in her longing to hear about Fritz +had not quitted the apartment, according to her usual custom when +Burgher Jans was in it, drew nearer, resting her impulsive fingers on +the table, so as not to alarm that worthy unnecessarily and make him +stop speaking. + +The Burgher felt himself a person of importance, on account of his +opinion being consulted; so he drew himself up to his full height--just +five feet one inch! + +"The letter only says, most worthy and gracious lady,--and you, dearest +maiden," he proceeded--with a special bow to Lorischen, which the +latter, sad to relate, only received with a grimace from her tightly +drawn spinster lips--"that the young and well-born Herr is merely +grievously wounded, and not, thanks be to Providence, that he is--he +is--he is--" + +"Why don't you say `dead' at once, and not beat about the bush in that +stupid way?" interposed the old nurse, who detested the little man's +hemming and hawing over matters which she was in the habit of blurting +out roughly without demur. + +"No, I like not the ugly word," suavely expostulated the Burgher. "The +great-to-come-for-all-of-us can be better expressed than that! But, to +resume my argument, dearest maiden and most gracious lady, this document +does not state that the dear son of the house has shaken off this mortal +coil entirely as yet." + +"I'd like to shake off yours, and you with it!" said Lorischen angrily, +under her breath--"for a word-weaving, pedantic little fool!" + +"You mean that there is hope?" asked Madame Dort, looking a bit less +tearful, her grief having nearly exhausted itself. + +"Most decidedly, dear lady," said the Burgher. "Does not the letter say +so in plain and very-much-nicely-written characters?" + +"But, all such painful communications are generally worded, if the +writers have a tender heart, so as to break bad news as gently as +possible," answered the widow, wishing to have the faint sanguine +suspicion of hope that was stealing over her confirmed by the other's +opinion. + +"Just so," said Burgher Jans authoritatively. "You have reason in your +statement; still, dear lady, by what I can gather from this letter, I +should think that the Frau or Fraulein Vogelstein who signs it wishes to +prepare you for the worst, but yet intimates at the same time that there +is room to hope for the best." + +"Ah, I'm glad you say so," exclaimed the widow joyfully. "Now I read it +over, I believe the same; but at first, I thought, in my hurried glance +over it, that Fritz was slain, the writer only pretending he was still +alive, in order to prepare me for his loss. He is not dead, thank God! +That is everything; for, whilst there is life, there's hope, eh?" + +"Most decidedly, gracious lady," responded the little man with effusion. +"If ever I under the down-pressing weight of despondency lie, so I unto +myself much comfort make by that happy consolation!" + +Madame Dort experienced such relief from the cheering aspect in which +the Burgher's explanation had enabled her now to look upon the news of +Fritz's wound, that her natural feelings of hospitality, which had been +dormant for the while, asserted themselves in favour of her timely +visitor, who in spite of his curiosity had certainly done her much good +in banishing all the ill effects of her fainting fit. + +"Will you not have a glass of lager, Herr Jans?" said she. + +"Mein Gott, yes," promptly returned the little man. "Much talking makes +one dry, and beer is good for the stomach." + +"Lorischen, get the Burgher some lager bier," ordered Madame Dort, on +her invitation being accepted, the old nurse proceeding to execute the +command with very ill grace. + +"The Lord only knows when he'll leave now, once he starts guzzling beer +in the parlour! That Burgher Jans is getting to be a positive nuisance +to us; and I shall be glad when our poor wounded Fritz comes home, if +only to stop his coming here so frequently--the gossipping little time- +server, with his bowing and scraping and calling me his `dearest +maiden,' indeed--I'd `maiden' him if I had the chance!" + +Lorischen was much exasperated, and so she grumbled to herself as she +sallied out of the room. + +However, much to her relief, the "fat little man" did not make a long +stay on this occasion, for he took his leave soon after swallowing the +beer. He was anxious to make a round of visits amongst his +acquaintances, to retail the news that Fritz was wounded and lying in a +hospital at Mezieres, near Metz, for he had read it himself in the +letter, you know! He likewise informed his hearers, although he had not +so impressed the widow, that they would probably never see the young +clerk of Herr Grosschnapper again in Lubeck, as his case was so +desperate that he was not expected to live! His story otherwise, +probably, would have been far less interesting to scandal-mongers, as +they would have thus lost the opportunity of settling all the affairs of +the widow and considering whom she would marry again. Of course, they +now decided, that, as she had as good as lost both her sons and had a +nice little property of her own, besides being comparatively not old, so +to speak, and not very plain, she would naturally seek another partner +to console herself in her solitude--Burgher Jans getting much quizzed on +this point, with sly allusions as to his being the widow's best friend! + +Some days after Madaleine Vogelstein's first letter, Madame Dort +received a second, telling her that the ball had been extracted from her +son's wound, but fever had come on, making him very weak and prostrate; +although, as his good constitution had enabled him to survive the +painful operation, he would probably pull through this second ordeal. + +The widow again grew down-hearted at this intelligence, and it was as +much as Burgher Jans could do, with all his plausibility, to make her +hopeful; while Lorischen, her old superstitious fears and belief in +Mouser's prophetic miaow-wowing again revived, did all her best to +negative the fat little man's praiseworthy efforts at cheering. Ever +since the Burgher had been elected a confidant of Madaleine's original +communication, he had made a point of calling every day in the Gulden +Strasse, with his, to the old nurse, sickening and stereotyped +inquiry--"Any news yet?" until the field post brought the next despatch, +when, as he now naturally expected and wished, the letter was given him +to read. + +"He seems bent on hanging up his hat in our lobby here!" Lorischen +would say spitefully, on the widow seeking to excuse the little man's +pertinacity in visiting her. "Much he cares whether poor Master Fritz +gets well or ill; he takes more interest in somebody else, I think!" + +"Oh, Lorischen!" Madame Dort would remonstrate. "How can you say such +things?" + +"It is `Oh, mistress!' it strikes me," the other would retort. "I wish +the young master were only here!" + +"And so do I heartily," said Madame Dort, at the end of one of these +daily skirmishes between the two on the same subject. "We agree on that +point, at all events!" and she sighed heavily. The old servant was so +privileged a person that she did not like to speak harshly to her, +although she did not at all relish Lorischen's frequent allusions as to +the real object of the Burgher's visits, and her surmises as to what the +neighbours would think about them. Madame Dort put up with Lorischen's +innuendoes in silence, but still, she did not look pleased. + +"Ach Himmel, dear mistress!" pleaded the offender, "never mind my +waspish old tongue. I am always saying what I shouldn't; but that +little fat man does irritate me with his hypocritical, oily smile and +smooth way--calling me his `dearest maiden,' indeed!" + +"Why, don't you see, Lorischen, that it is you really whom he comes here +after, although you treat him so cruelly!" said the widow, smiling. + +This was more than the old spinster could bear. + +"What, me!" she exclaimed, with withering scorn. "Himmel, if I thought +that, I would soon scratch his chubby face for him--me, indeed!" and she +retreated from the room in high dudgeon. + +Bye-and-bye, there came another letter from the now familiar +correspondent, saying that Fritz was really recovering at last; and, oh +what happiness! the mother's heart was rejoiced by the sight of a few +awkwardly scrawled lines at the end. It was a postscript from her son +himself! + +The almost indecipherable words were only "Love to Mutterchen, from her +own Fritz," but they were more precious to her than the lengthiest +epistle from any one else. + +"Any news?" asked Burgher Jans of Lorischen soon afterwards, when he +came to the house to make his stereotyped inquiry. + +"Yes," said the old nurse, instead of replying with her usual negative. + +"Indeed!" exclaimed the little man. "The noble, well-born young Herr is +not worse, I hope?" and he tried to hide his abnormally bland expression +with a sympathetic look of deep concern; but he failed miserably in the +attempt. His full-moon face could not help beaming with a self- +satisfied complacency which it was impossible to subdue; indeed, he +would have been unable to disguise this appearance of smiling, even if +he had been at a funeral and was, mentally, plunged in the deepest woe-- +if that were possible for him to be! + +"No, not worse," answered Lorischen. "He is--" + +"Not dead, I trust?" said Burgher Jans, interrupting her before she +could finish her sentence, and using in his hurry the very word to which +he had objected before. + +"No, he is not dead," retorted the old nurse, with a triumphant ring in +her voice. "And, if you were expecting that, I only hope you are +disappointed, that's all! He is getting better, for he has written to +the mistress himself; and, what is more, he's coming home to send you to +the right-about, Burgher Jans, and stop your coming here any more. Do +you hear that, eh?" + +"My dearest maiden," commenced to stammer out the little fat man, +woefully taken aback by this outburst, "I--I--don't know what you mean." + +"Ah, but I do," returned Lorischen, not feeling any the more amiably +disposed towards him by his addressing her in that way after what Madame +Dort had said about his calling especially to see her. "I know what I +mean; and what I mean to say now, is, that my mistress told me to say +she was engaged when you came, should you call to-day, and that she is +unable to see you, there! Good-morning, Burgher Jans; good-morning, +most worshipful Herr!" + +So saying, she slammed the door in the poor little man's face, leaving +him without, cogitating the reason for this summary dismissal of him by +the widow; albeit Lorischen, in order to indulge her own feelings of +dislike, had somewhat exaggerated a casual remark made by her mistress-- +that she did not wish to be interrupted after the receipt of the good +news about Fritz, as she wanted to answer the letter at once! + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING! + +"Do you know what is going on to-day?" said Madaleine Vogelstein to her +patient, a couple of days after she had aided him to scrawl that +postscript to her letter to his mother in his own handwriting, when he +had so far recovered that he might be said to be almost convalescent. +"No, what--anything important?" he replied, answering her question in +questionable fashion by asking another. + +"Guess," said she teasingly, holding up her finger. "I'm sure I can't." + +"The capitulation of Metz!" she said slowly with some emphasis, marking +the importance of the news she was telling. + +"Never--it can't be!" ejaculated Fritz, making an effort to spring up in +the pallet bed on which he was still lying, but falling back with a +groan on finding himself too weak. "What an unlucky beggar I am!" + +"Lie still," said she, putting her hand gently on his, which was outside +the quilt. "You must keep quiet, or you'll never get better, so as to +be able to stand up and walk about again--no, you won't, if you try to +hurry matters now." + +"That's more than the French have done if they've only just given in! +Is it true, though? Perhaps you've only heard a rumour, for there are +always such false reports flying about. Why, in the camp it used to be +the current cry every morning, after we began the siege, that Metz had +fallen." + +"It is true enough now, I can tell you," said Madaleine. "The whole +French army commanded by Bazaine has capitulated, and the Germans have +marched in and taken possession of the fortress." + +"I must believe you; but, is it not aggravating that this should just +happen when I am invalided here, and not able to take part in the final +triumph? It is rather hard lines, after serving so long in the trenches +all during our wearisome environment, not to have had the satisfaction +in the end of being a witness to the surrender!" + +"It's the fortune of war," said she soothingly, noticing how bitterly +Fritz spoke. "Although all may fight bravely, it is not every one who +reaps the laurels of victory." + +"No," he replied, smiling at some thoughts which her words suggested--so +much is dry humour allied to sentiment that the mention of laurels +brought to his mind a comic association which at once dispelled his +chagrin. "When did you say the capitulation took place?" + +"Well, I heard that the formal agreement was signed by the French +officers on behalf of Marshal Bazaine two days ago; but the actual +surrender takes place to-day, the Marshal having already left, it is +said, to join his imprisoned emperor at Cassel." + +What Madaleine told Fritz was perfectly true. + +On the 27th of October, the seventieth day after it had been driven +under the guns of Metz on the disastrous termination of the battle of +Gravelotte, Bazaine's army, in addition to the regular garrison of the +fortress and an unknown number of Gardes Mobiles, was forced to +surrender to the Germans--thus now allowing the latter to utilise the +giant legions hitherto employed in investing the stronghold of Lorraine, +in further trampling out the last evidences of organised resistance in +France, and so, by coercing the country, sooner put an end to the +duration of the war. + +Notwithstanding all the comments made--especially those by his own +countrymen in their unreasoning prejudice against every one and +everything connected with the late empire, from its unfortunate and +much-maligned head downwards--in the matter of this capitulation, and on +Marshal Bazaine's conduct, it is absolutely certain that he held out as +long as it was possible to do so. Indeed, it is a surprising fact that +his provisions lasted such a length of time; and it would be a cause for +sorrow to believe that the brave defender of Metz was in any way stained +by the crime of "treachery" as his act was stigmatised by the demagogues +of Paris. Those who assert that a clever commander ought somehow or +other to have made his escape from the place, do not take into +consideration the strength of the investing force, which comprised the +united armies of Prince Frederick Charles and Steinmetz--more than two +hundred and fifty thousand men, in addition to their reserves, all +capable of being concentrated at any given point where an attack was +anticipated, and protected, besides, by entrenched lines of great +strength. Nor do these biassed critics consider the ruin that must have +fallen on Bazaine's army, even if it had succeeded in cutting its way +through the ranks of the besiegers, as the general tried gallantly, but +unsuccessfully, to do on more than one occasion, besides making numerous +sorties. It is apparent to most unprejudiced minds now, at this +distance of time from the momentous epoch of the struggle between the +two nations, that the Marshal, in his situation, accomplished all that +could have been expected in detaining for such a length of time a huge +German army nearly on the frontier, thus giving the invaded country +breathing time to collect its resources for just so long a period. The +fact is, that when an army like that of Bazaine's is severed from its +communications and supplies, its surrender can only be a question of +time; and, therefore, unparalleled as is the capitulation of Metz in +modern history, the unprecedented catastrophe--can be fully accounted +for on military grounds. + +"I'm sorry I missed the sight," said Fritz presently, after thinking +over the news. "It would have been some fair return for all that bitter +night work I had in the trenches before I was wounded. Still, I'm glad +it's all ended now, for my corps will be able to march onward on Paris +like the rest." + +"That will not benefit you much, my poor friend," remarked Madaleine +sympathisingly. "I'm afraid it will be some time before you will be +strong enough to move from this room, although you're improving each +day." + +"Oh, will it?" said Fritz triumphantly; "that's all you know about it, +young lady! Why, Doctor Carl said this morning that he thought I would +be able to report myself fit for duty in another week." + +"I suppose you'll rejoice to get back to your friends and comrades in +the regiment? You must find it miserable and dull enough in this +place!" + +"No, not quite that. I've been very happy and comfortable here the last +few days; and I shall never forget all your kindness and care of me--no, +never!" + +"Don't speak of that, pray; it's only what any one else would have done +in my place. Besides," she added demurely, "you know that in attending +to you as a wounded soldier, I have only been carrying out the orders of +the baroness, my employer." + +"Hang the fussy old thing!" said Fritz impatiently trying to shrug his +shoulders. He had had the honour of one interview with Madaleine's +distinguished patroness, and did not crave for another; for, she had a +good deal of that old-fashioned, starched formality which the German +nobility affect, mixed up with a fidgety, condescending, patronising +manner which much annoyed the generous-minded young fellow. He burned +with indignation all the time the visit of the old lady to him had +lasted, for she ordered Madaleine to do this and corrected her for doing +that, in, as he thought, the rudest manner possible. Her exquisitely +dignified patronage of himself, as a species of inferior animal, who, +being in pain and distress, she was bound in common charity to take some +notice of, caused him no umbrage whatever; but it annoyed him to see a +gentle, ladylike girl like Madaleine subjected to the whims and caprices +of an old woman, who, in spite of her high birth, was naturally vulgar +and inconsiderate. "Hang the fussy old thing!" he repeated, with +considerable heat. "I wish you had nothing to do with her. I'm sure +she would drive me mad in a day if I were constantly associated with +her!" + +"Ah, dear friend, beggars mustn't be choosers," said Madaleine sadly. +"You forget my position, in your kind zeal on my behalf! A poor orphan +girl such as I, left friendless and penniless, ought to be glad to be +under the protection of so grand a lady as the Baroness Stolzenkop. She +is kind to me, too, in her way." + +"But, what a way!" interposed Fritz angrily. "I wouldn't speak to a dog +in that fashion." + +"You are different." + +"I should hope so, indeed!" + +"Besides, Herr Fritz, remember, that if it hadn't been for this old +lady, of whom you speak in such disrespectful terms, I should never have +come here to Mezieres and been able to nurse you." + +"I forgot for the moment, Fraulein. My blessing on the old catamaran +for the fancy that seized her, so auspiciously, to go touring on the +trail of the war and thus to bring you here. I don't believe I would +have lived, if it had not been for your care and kindness!" + +"Meinherr, you exaggerate. It is to your own good constitution and to +Providence that your thanks are due; I have only been a simple means +towards that happy end." + +"Well, I shall always attribute my recovery to you, at all events; and +so will my good mother, who I hope will some day be able to thank you in +person for all that you've done for me and her." + +"I should like to see her," said Madaleine; "she must be a kind, good +lady, from her letters to you." + +"And the fondest mother in the world!" exclaimed Fritz with enthusiasm. +"But, you will see her--some day," he added after a pause. "I vow that +you shall." + +"I don't know how that will be," said Madaleine, half laughing in a +constrained fashion, as if wishing to conceal her real feelings. "In a +week or two you will be off to the wars again and forget me--like a true +soldier!" + +"Stay," interposed Fritz, interrupting her. "You have no right to say +that! Do you think me so ungrateful? You must have a very bad opinion +of me! I--" + +"Never mind explanations now," interrupted the girl in her turn, +speaking hurriedly in a nervous way, although trying to laugh the matter +off as a joke. "If the doctor says you can soon report yourself as fit +for duty, of course you'll have to rejoin your regiment." + +"Ah, I wonder where that is now?" said Fritz musingly. "Since our camp +round Metz is broken up, the army will naturally march on farther into +the interior. No matter, there's no good my worrying myself about it. +They'll soon let me know where I've got to go to join them; for, the +powers that be do not allow any shirking of duty in the ranks, from the +highest to the lowest!" + +"I saw that here," remarked Madaleine. "The baroness wanted to get her +son to return home with her; but she was told that, if he were allowed +to go he could never come back to the army, as his reputation for +courage would be settled for ever." + +"Yes, that would be the case, true enough. Hev would be thought to have +shown the white feather! But, about your movements, Fraulein +Madaleine--the baroness is not going to remain here long, is she?" + +"No; she spoke this morning about going away. She said that, as the +siege of Metz was raised, and the greater portion of the wounded men +would be removed to Germany, along with the prisoners of war, she +thought she would go back home--to Darmstadt, that is." + +"And there you will stop, I suppose?" asked Fritz. + +"Until she has a whim to go somewhere else!" replied Madaleine. + +"May I write to you there?" + +"I will be glad to hear of your welfare," answered she discreetly, a +slight colour mantling to her cheeks. "Of course, you have been my +patient; and, like a good nurse, I should like to know that you were +getting on well, without any relapse." + +"I will write to you, then," said Fritz in those firm, ringing tones of +his that clearly intimated he had made a promise which he intended to +keep. "And you, I hope, will answer my letters?" + +"When I can," replied the girl; "that is, you know, if the Baroness +Stolzenkop does not object." + +"Bother the Baroness Stolzenkop!" said he energetically, and he +stretched out his hand to her with a smile. "Promise to write to me," +he repeated. + +Madaleine did not say anything; but she returned his smile, and he could +feel a slight pressure of her fingers on his, so with this he was +perfectly contented for the while. + +"Ah, when the war is over!" he exclaimed presently, after a moment's +silence between the two, which expressed more than words would have done +perhaps. "Ah, when the war is over!" + +"Eh, what?" said the doctor, coming in unexpectedly at that instant and +catching the last words. + +"I--I--said," explained Fritz rather confusedly, "that when the war was +over, I'd be glad to get home again to my mother and those dear to me;" +and he looked at Madaleine as he spoke meaningly. + +"Eh, what?" repeated the doctor. "But, the war isn't over yet, my +worthy young lieutenant, and I hope we'll patch you up so as to be able +to play a good part in it still for the Fatherland!" + +"I hope so, Herr Doctor," answered Fritz. "I've no desire yet to be +laid on the shelf while laurels and promotion are to be won." + +"Just so, that is good; and how do you feel this afternoon, eh?" + +"Much better." + +"Ah yes, so I see! You will go on improving, if you take plenty of +food. I bet that in a week's time I shall be able to turn you out of +these nice quarters here." + +So saying, the surgeon bustled out of the room, with a kind nod to his +patient and a bow to Madaleine, who was shortly afterwards summoned by a +servant to the baroness--the footman telling her that her ladyship +requested her presence at once. + +She returned later on, but it was only for a very brief interval, to say +good-bye. The Princess of Alten-Schlossen, she said, was about to leave +Mezieres immediately for Germany, and the baroness could not think of +staying behind, even for the charitable consideration of nursing any +more wounded, if the exalted lady, whose actions traced the pattern for +her own conduct, thought fit to go away! Madaleine, therefore, had +orders to pack up all the old dowager's numerous belongings, being also +given permission to make any arrangements she pleased for the poor +fellows who remained in the villa, in order to have them handed over to +the regular authorities, now that this amateur ambulance of the baroness +was going to abandon its voluntary labours. + +"It's a shame," said Madaleine indignantly. "It is like putting one's +hand to the plough and then turning back!" + +"Never mind, Fraulein, do not fret yourself," interposed Fritz. "The +old lady has done some good by starting this hospital here, even if she +did it in imitation of the Princess; and, although she may now give it +up, it will be carried on all right by others, you see if it won't! As +I am getting well, too, and will have to go, as the doctor says; why, I +shall not regret it as I should otherwise have done." + +"Oh, you selfish fellow!" said she, smiling. "Now you have been +attended to and nursed into convalescence, you do not care what becomes +of those who may come after you!" + +"Not quite so bad as that," replied Fritz; "only, as I shall be away +serving with my regiment, I should prefer to think of you ensconced in +the quiet security of the baroness' castle on the Rhine, to being here +amidst the excitement of the war and in the very thick of bands of +stragglers to and from the front." + +"Especially since I would lose your valuable protection!" laughed +Madaleine. + +"Ah, wait till I get up and am strong!" said Fritz. "When you see me +again, I promise to be able to protect you." + +"Aye, when!" repeated the girl with a sigh. "However, I must say good- +bye now, Herr Lieutenant I have told our man Hans, whom the baroness +leaves behind, to see that you want for nothing until you shall be able +to attend to yourself. I'm sorry you'll have no female nurse now to +look after you." + +"I wouldn't let another woman come near me after you go!" exclaimed +Fritz impulsively. "Mind, you have promised to write to me, you know." + +"Yes," said she, "I will answer your letters; and now, good-bye! Don't +forget me quite when you get amongst the gay ladies of Paris, who will +quite eclipse your little German nurse!" + +"Never!" he ejaculated. "Good-bye, till we meet again!" and he pressed +her hand to his lips, looking up into her eyes. + +"Good-bye!" said she in a husky voice, turning away; when the dog, which +had been lying down in his usual place by his master's bedside, started +up, "Good-bye you, too, my darling `Fritz'!" she added, throwing her +arms round the retriever's neck and kissing his smooth black head; "I +nearly forgot you, dearest doggie, I do declare!" + +"Heavens!" exclaimed the other Fritz, mortally jealous of his dog for +the moment, "I wish you would only say farewell to me like that!" + +Madaleine blushed a celestial rosy red. + +But "Auf wiedersehen!" was all she said, as she left the room with a +speaking glance from her violet eyes; and, towards the evening, from the +confused bustling about which he heard going on within the villa, and +the sound of carriage wheels without driving off, Fritz knew that the +Baroness Stolzenkop and her party--amongst whom, of course, was +Madaleine--had quitted Mezieres, on their way back to the banks of the +Rhine. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +ON THE MOVE AGAIN. + +"I wonder if she cares about that French fellow still?" thought Fritz to +himself when Madaleine had gone. "I don't believe she could have felt +for him much, from the manner in which she listened when I told her of +his death and the way she looked at that ring. Himmel! Would she +receive the news of my being shot in the same fashion, I wonder?" + +Fritz, however, could not settle this momentous question satisfactorily +to his own mind just then; so he had, consequently, to leave the matter +to be decided at that blissful period when everybody thought that +"everything would come straight"--the period to which he had alluded at +the interesting instant when his slightly confidential conversation with +Madaleine was so inopportunely interrupted by the maladroit entrance of +Doctor Carl. In other words, "when the war should be over!" But, as +the worthy disciple of Aesculapius had sapiently remarked on the +occasion of his accidental interference with what might have been +otherwise a mutual understanding between the two, the war was not over +yet. The halcyon time had not arrived for the sword to be beaten into a +ploughshare, nor did there seem much prospect of such a happy +contingency in the near immediate future; for, although the contest had +already lasted three months--during which a series of terrible +engagements had invariably resulted in the defeat of the French--from +the commencement of the campaign to the capitulation of Metz, each +crushing disaster only seemed to have the effect of nerving the Gallic +race to fresh resistance and so prolong the struggle. Indeed, at the +beginning of November, 1870, with Paris laughing the idea of a siege to +scorn and new armies being rapidly organised, in the north at Saint +Quentin, in the west at Havre, and in the south at Orleans, the end of +the war appeared as far off as ever! + +Fritz missed the attentions of his unwearying little nurse much, and his +convalescence did not progress so rapidly in consequence; but one +morning, some three weeks after the departure of the party of the +baroness' from Mezieres, he was agreeably surprised by Doctor Carl +giving him permission to rejoin his corps. + +"I don't quite think you exactly strong enough yet, you know; but I've +received orders to clear out the hospitals here, sending forward all +such as are fit to their respective regiments, while those not +sufficiently recovered I am to invalid to Germany. Now, which is it to +be, Herr Lieutenant? I candidly don't believe you're quite up to the +mark for campaigning again yet; but still, perhaps, you would not like +being put on the shelf, and no doubt you'd gain strength from the change +of air as you moved on with the army. Which course will you select, +Herr Lieutenant? I give you the choice." + +"To rejoin my regiment, certainly, doctor!" answered Fritz, without a +moment's hesitation. "I'm tired of doing nothing here, and I fancy I've +been well enough to move for the past fortnight." + +"Ah, permit me to be the best judge of that, young man," said the other. +"No doubt you feel wonderfully strong just now! Can you lift this +chair, do you think, eh?" + +"Certainly," replied Fritz, laying his hand on the slight little article +of furniture the doctor had pointed out with his cane, and which he +could have easily held up with one finger when in the possession of his +proper strength. He was quite indignant, indeed, with Doctor Carl for +suggesting such a feeble trial for him, as if he were a child; but, much +to his astonishment, he found that he was utterly unable to raise the +chair from the ground. Besides which, he quite panted after the +exertion, just as if he had been endeavouring to lift a ton weight! + +"Ha, what did I say, Herr Lieutenant?" said the surgeon with a laugh. +"You will now allow, I suppose, that we doctors know best as to what is +good for our patients! But, come, you will not be wanted to raise or +carry about a greater weight than yourself until you come up with your +regiment, which is now with Manteuffel's division near Amiens, for, by +that time, you'll be yourself again. I'll now go and sign your +certificate and papers, so that you may get ready to start as soon as +you like." + +"Hurrah!" exclaimed Fritz. "It is `Forwards' again--the very word puts +fresh life in me!" and, trying once more, he lifted the chair this time +with ease. "You see, Herr Doctor, I can do it now!" + +"Ah, there's nothing like hope and will!" said the doctor, bustling out +of the room--which Fritz, unlike many poor victims of the war, had had +entirely to himself, instead of being only one amongst hundreds of +others in a crowded hospital ward. "By the time you join your comrades +again, you'll be double the man you were before you came under my care!" + +"Thanks to you, dear doctor," shouted out Fritz after him in cordial +tones; and he then proceeded to overhaul his somewhat dilapidated +uniform to see whether it was in order for him to don once more. + +On the termination of the siege of Metz, by its capitulation at the end +of October, the large German force which had been employed up till then +in the investment of Marshal Bazaine's entrenched camp before the +fortress, became released for other duties; thus enabling Von Moltke, +the great strategical head of the Teuton legions, to develop his plans +for the complete subjugation of the country. + +In accordance, therefore, with these arrangements, two army corps, each +of some thirty thousand men, proceeded at once to aid the hosts +encircling Paris with fire and steel; while two more corps were led by +Prince Frederick Charles towards the south of France, where they arrived +in the nick of time to assist the Duke of Mecklenburgh and the defeated +Bavarians under Van der Tann in breaking up the formidable army of the +Loire commanded by Chanzy, which had very nearly succeeded in altering +the condition of the war; the remainder of the German investing force +from Metz were sent northwards, under Manteuffel, in the direction of +Brittany and the departments bordering on the English Channel, so as to +crush out all opposition there. + +With this latter force marched the regiment of our friend Fritz, which +he was able to rejoin about the beginning of December at Amiens, where +were established the headquarters of General Manteuffel, the present +commander of the first army--"Old Blood and Iron." + +Steinmetz having been shelved, it was said, on account of his age and +infirmities, he having fought at Waterloo, but more probably on account +of his rather lavish sacrifice of his men, especially at Gravelotte. +This force kept firm hold of Normandy with a strong hand, threatening +Dieppe and Havre on either side. + +Fritz had a tedious journey to the front. + +Partly by railway where practicable, and partly by roads that were +blocked by the heavy siege guns and waggon loads of ammunition going +forwards for the use of the force besieging Paris, the young lieutenant +made his way onwards in company with a reserve column of Landwehr +proceeding to fill up casualties in Manteuffel's ranks--the journey not +being rendered any the more agreeable by the frequent attacks suffered +from franc-tireurs when passing through the many woods and forests +encountered on the route, in addition to meeting straggling bands of the +enemy, who opposed the progress of the column the more vigorously as it +abandoned the main roads leading from the frontier and struck across +country. + +It was not by any means a pleasure trip; but, putting all perils aside, +regarding them merely as the vicissitudes of a soldier's lot, what +impressed Fritz more than anything else was the ruin and devastation +which, following thus in the rear of a triumphant army, he everywhere +noticed. + +The towns he entered on his way had most of their shops shut, and the +windows of the private houses were closed, as if in sympathy with a +national funeral, those which had been bombarded--and these were many-- +having, besides, their streets blocked up with fallen masonry and +scattered beams of timber, their church steeples prostrate, and the +walls of buildings perforated with round shot and bursting shells that +had likewise burnt and demolished the roofs; while, in the more open +country, the farms and villages had been swept away as if with a +whirlwind of fire, only bare gables and blackened rafters staring up +into the clouds, like the skeletons of what were once happy homes. The +vineyards and fields and gardens around were destroyed and running to +waste in the most pitiful way, for every one connected with them, who +had formerly cherished and tended them with such care and attention, had +either been killed or else sought safety in flight to the cities, where +their refuge was equally precarious. Along the highway, the trees, +whose branches once gave such grateful shade to wayfarers, were now cut +down, only rows of hideous, half-consumed stumps remaining in their +stead; while here and there, as the scene of some great battle was +passed, great mounds like oblong bases of flattened pyramids rose above +the surface of the devastated plain--mounds under whose frozen surface +lay the mouldering bodies of thousands of brave men who had fallen on +the bloody field, their last resting-place unmarked by sepulchral cross +or monumental marble. Everywhere there was terrible evidence of the +effects of war and the price of that "glory" which, the poet sings +truly, "leads but to the grave!" + +Fritz was sickened with it all; but, what struck his keen sense of +honour and honesty more, was the wholesale pillage and robbery permitted +by the German commanders to be exercised by their soldiery on the +defenceless peasantry of France. A cart which he overhauled, proceeding +back to the frontier, contained such wretched spoil as women's clothes, +a bale of coffee, a quantity of cheap engravings and chimney ornaments, +an old-fashioned kitchen clock, with an arm-chair--the pride of some +fireside corner--a quantity of copper, and several pairs of ear-rings, +such as are sold for a few sous in the Palais Royale! + +The sight of this made his blood boil, and Fritz got into some trouble +with a colonel of Uhlans by ordering the contents of the cart to be at +once confiscated and burnt, the huckster being on the good books of that +officer--doubtless as a useful collector of curios! + +It was a current report amongst the French at the time that the German +army was followed by a tribe of Jew speculators, who purchased from the +soldiers the plunder that they certainly could not themselves expect to +carry back to their own country; and this incident led Fritz to believe +the rumour well founded. + +"Heavens, little mother," as he wrote home subsequently to Madame Dort, +after his experience of what went on at headquarters under his new +commander. "I do not fear the enemy; but the only thing which will do +us any harm, God willing that we come safely home, is that we shall not +be able to distinguish between mine and thine, the `meum' and `tuum' +taught us at school, for we shall be all thorough thieves; that is to +say, we are ordered to take--`requisition' they call it--everything that +we can find and that we can use. This does not confine itself alone to +food for the horses and people, but to every piece of portable property, +not an absolute fixture, which, if of any value, we are directed to +appropriate and `nail' fast! + +"Through the desertion of most of the castles here in the neighbourhood +by their legitimate proprietors, the entry to all of them is open to us; +and now everything is taken out of them that is worth taking at all. +The wine-cellars in particular are searched; and I may say that our +division has drank more champagne on its own account than I ever +remember to have seen in the district of Champagne, when I visited it +last year before the war. + +"In the second place, our light-fingered forces carry off all the horses +we can take with us; all toilet things, glasses, stockings, brushes, +boots and shoes, linen--in a word, everything is `stuck to!' + +"The officers, I may add, are no exception to the private soldiers, but +steal in their proper precedence, appropriating whatever objects of art +or pictures of value they can find in the mansions we visit in these +archaeological tours of ours. Only yesterday, the adjutant of my +regiment, a noble by birth, but I am sorry to say not a gentleman either +by manners or moral demeanour, came to me and said, `Fritz Dort, do me +the favour to steal for me all the loot you can bring me. We will at +all events show Moltke that he has not sent us into this war for +nothing.' Of course, this being an order from a superior officer, I +could not say anything but `At your command, your highness!' But what +will come of it all only God knows! I'm afraid, when there is nothing +left to lay our hands on, we will begin to appropriate the goods and +chattels of each other; although, little mother, I will endeavour to +keep my fingers clean, if only for your sake!" + +Fritz, however, soon had something more exciting to think about than the +morals of his comrades; for, only a few days after he joined his +regiment, he went into action again at the battle of Amiens, when the +Germans drove back Faidherbe's "army of the north," routing them with +much slaughter, and taking many prisoners, besides thirteen cannon. A +French regiment of marines was ridden down by a body of German Hussars, +who were almost decimated by the charge--which resembled that of +Balaclava, the "sea soldiers" standing behind entrenchments with their +guns. + +Later on, too, Fritz was in a more memorable engagement. It occurred on +the morning of the 23rd of December at Pont Noyelles, where the army of +General Manteuffel, numbering about fifty thousand men with some forty +guns, attacked a force of almost double the strength, commanded by +Faidherbe, the last of the generals on whom the French relied outside of +Paris. The two armies confronted each other from opposing heights, +separated by the valley of the Somme and a small, winding stream, which +falls into the larger river at Daours, on the right and left banks of +which the contending forces were respectively aligned; and the combat +opened about eleven o'clock in the forenoon with a heavy cannonade, +under cover of which the German tirailleurs smartly advanced and took +possession of several small villages, although the French shortly +afterwards drove them out of these at the point of the bayonet, +exhibiting great gallantry. In the evening, both armies rested in the +same positions they had occupied at the commencement of the fight; but, +although the French greatly outnumbered their antagonists, being +especially superior in artillery, the fire of which had considerably +thinned the German ranks, they did nothing the whole of the succeeding +day. On the contrary, they rested in a state of complete inactivity, +when, if they had but pushed forwards, they might have compelled the +retreat of Manteuffel. + +The next morning was that of Christmas Day. + +Fritz could not but remember it, in spite of his surroundings, for he +received a small parcel by the field post, containing some warm woollen +socks knitted by Lorischen's own fair fingers, and sent to him in order +"to prevent his appropriating those of the poor French peasantry," as he +had intimated might be the case with him in his last letter home, should +he be in need of such necessaries and not have any of his own. His good +mother, too, did not forget him, nor did a certain young lady who +resided at Darmstadt. + +It was the morning of Christmas Day; but not withstanding its holy and +peaceful associations, Fritz and every one else in Manteuffel's army +corps expected that the anniversary would be celebrated in blood. Judge +of their surprise, however, when, as the day advanced, the vedettes and +outposts they sent ahead returned with the strange intelligence that the +enemy had abandoned the highly advantageous ground they had selected on +Pont Noyelles, retiring on Arras. + +The news was almost too good to be true; but, nevertheless, the German +cavalry were soon on the alert, pursuing the retreating force and +slaughtering thousands in the chase--thus Christmas Day was passed! + +The new year opened with more fighting for Fritz; for, on the 2nd of +January, occurred the battle of Bapaume, and on the 19th of the same +month the more disastrous engagement for the French of Saint Quentin, +which finally crumbled up "the army of the north" under Faidherbe, which +at one time almost looked as if it would have succeeded in raising the +siege of Paris, by diverting the attention of the encircling force. +However, in neither of these actions did Fritz either get wounded or +gain additional promotion; and from thence, up to the close of the war, +his life in the invaded country was uneventful and without interest. + +Yes, to him; for he was longing to return home. + +"Going to the war" had lost all its excitement for him, the carnage of +the past months and the sorrowful scenes he had witnessed having fairly +satiated him with "glory" and all the horrors which follow in its train. + +Now, he was fairly hungering for home, and the quiet of the old +household at Lubeck with his "little mother" and Lorischen--not +forgetting Mouser, to make home more homelike and enjoyable, for Fritz +thought how he would have to teach Gelert, who had likewise escaped +scathless throughout the remainder of the campaign in the north of +France, to be on friendly terms with the old nurse's pet cat. + +He was thinking of some one else too; for, lately, the letters of +Madaleine had stopped, although she had previously corresponded with him +regularly. He could not make out the reason for her silence. One +despatch might certainly have been lost in transmission through the +field post; but for three or four--as would have been the case if she +had responded in due course to his effusions, which were written off to +Darmstadt each week without fail--to miss on the journey, was simply +impossible! + +Some treachery must be at work; or else, Madaleine was ill; or, she had +changed her mind towards him. + +Which of these reasons caused her silence? + +It was probably, he thought, the former which he had to thank for his +anxiety; and the cause, he was certain, was the baroness. What +blessings he heaped on her devoted head! + +It was in this frame of mind that Fritz awaited the end of the war. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +A PLEASANT SURPRISE! + +That winter was the dullest ever known in the little household of the +Gulden Strasse, and the coldest experienced for years in Lubeck--quiet +town of cold winters, situated as it is on the shores of the ice-bound +Baltic! + +It was such bitter, inclement weather, with the thermometer going down +to zero and the snow freezing as it fell, that neither Madame Dort nor +old Lorischen went out of the house more than they could help; and, as +for Mouser, he lived and slept and miaow-wowed in close neighbourhood to +the stove in the parlour, not even the temptation of cream inducing him +to leave the protection of its enjoyable warmth. For him, the mice +might ravage the cupboards below the staircase, his whilom happy +hunting-ground, at their own sweet will; and the birds, rendered tame by +their privations, invade the sanctity of the balcony and the window- +sills, whereon at another season their lives would not be worth a +moment's purchase. He heeded them not now, nor did he, as of yore, +resent the intrusion of Burgher Jans' terrier, when that predatory +animal came prowling within the widow's tenement in company with his +master, who had not entirely ceased his periodic visits, in spite of +"the cold shoulder" invariably turned to him by Lorischen. Mouser +wasn't going to inconvenience himself for the best dog in Christendom; +so, on the advent of the terrier, he merely hopped from the front of the +stove to the top, where he frizzled his feet and fizzed at his enemy, +without risking the danger of catching an influenza, as he might +otherwise have done if he had sought refuge elsewhere out in the cold. + +Aye, for it was cold; and many was the time, when, rubbing their +tingling fingers, both the widow and Lorischen pitied the hardships to +which poor Fritz was exposed in the field, almost feeling angry and +ashamed at themselves for being comfortable when he had to endure so +much--as they knew from all the accounts published in the newspapers of +the sufferings which the invading armies had to put up with, although +Fritz himself made light of his physical grievances. + +At Christmas-tide they were sad enough at his absence, with the memory +of the lost Eric also to make that merry-making time for others doubly +miserable to them; but, on the dawn of the new year, their hopes began +to brighten with the receipt of every fresh piece of news from France +concerning the progress of the war. + +"The end cannot be far off now," they said to one another in mutual +consolation, so as to cheer up each other's drooping spirits. "Surely +the campaign cannot last much longer!" + +The last Sunday in the month came, and on this day Madame Dort and +Lorischen went to the Marien Kirche to service. + +Previously they had been in the habit of attending the Dom Kirche, from +the fact of Eric's liking to see, first as a child and afterwards as a +growing boy, the great astronomical clock whose queer-looking eyes +rolled so very curiously with the swing of the pendulum backwards and +forwards each second; but, now, they went to the other house of God for +a different reason. It, too, had an eccentric clock, distinguished for +a procession of figures of the saints, which jerked themselves into +notice each hour above the dial; still it was not that which attracted +the widow there. The church was filled with large monumental figures +with white, outstretching wings, that hovered out into prominence above +the carvings of the old oak screens, black with age. These figures +appeared as if soaring up to the roof of the chancel; and Madame Dort +had a fancy, morbid it might have been, that she could pray better +there, surrounded as it were by guardian angels, whose protection she +invoked on behalf of her boy lost at sea, and that other, yet alive, who +was "in danger, necessity," and possibly "tribulation!" + +After she and Lorischen had returned home from the Marien Kirche, the +day passed quietly and melancholy away; but the next morning broke more +cheerfully. + +It was the 30th of January, 1871. Both the lone women at the little +house in the Gulden Strasse remembered that fact well; for, on the +morrow, the month from which they had expected such good tidings would +be up, and if they heard nothing before its close they must needs +despair. + +Seeing that the morning broke bright and cheerily, with the sun shining +down through the frost-laden air, making the snow on the roofs look +crisper and causing the icicles from the eaves to glitter in its +scintillating rays, Lorischen determined to go to market, especially as +she had not been outside the doorway, except to go to church, since the +previous week. + +She had not much to buy, it is true; but then she might have a gossip +with the neighbours and hear some news, perhaps--who knows? + +Anything might have happened without the knowledge of herself or her +mistress, as no one, not even Burgher Jans, had been to visit them for +ever so long! + +Clad, therefore, in her thick cloak and warm boots, with her wide, red- +knitted woollen shawl over her head and portly market-basket on arm, +Lorischen sallied out like the dove from the ark, hoping perchance to +bring back with her an olive branch of comfort; while the widow sat +herself down by the stove in the parlour with her needle, stitching away +at some new shirts she was engaged on to renew Fritz's wardrobe when he +came back. Seeing an opportunity for taking up a comfortable position, +Mouser jumped up at once into her lap as soon as the old nurse had left +the room, purring away with great complacency and watching in a lazy way +the movements of her busy fingers, blinking sleepily the while at the +glowing fire in front of him. + +Lorischen had not been gone long when Madame Dort heard her bustling +back up the staircase without. She knew the old nurse's step well; but, +besides hers, she heard the tread of some one else, and then the noisy +bark of a dog. A sort of altercation between two voices followed, in +which the old nurse's angry accents were plainly perceptible; and next +there seemed a hurried scuffle just without the parlour door, which +suddenly burst open with a clatter, and two people entered the room. + +They were Lorischen and Burgher Jans, who both tried to speak together, +the result being a confused jangle of tongues from which Madame Dort +could learn nothing. + +"I say I was first!" squeaked the Burgher in a high treble key, which he +always adopted when excited beyond his usual placid mode of utterance. + +"And I say it was me!" retorted the old nurse in her gruff tones, which +were much more like those of a man. "What right have you to try and +supplant the servant of the house, who specially went out about it, you +little meddlesome teetotum, I'd like to know, hey?" + +"But I was first, I say! Madame Dort--" + +"Don't listen to him, mistress," interposed Lorischen. "I've just--" + +"There's news of--" + +But, bang just then came Lorischen's market-basket against the side of +the little man's head, knocking his hat off and stopping his speech +abruptly; while the old nurse muttered savagely, "I wish it had been +your little turnip-top of a head instead of your hat, that I do!" + +"Good people! good people!" exclaimed Madame Dort, rising to her feet +and dropping her needlework and Mouser--who rapidly jumped on to the top +of the stove out of the reach of Burgher Jans' terrier, which, of +course, had followed his master into the parlour and at once made a dart +at the cat as he tumbled on to the floor from the widow's lap. "Pray do +not make such a noise, and both speak at once! What is the matter that +you are so eager to tell me--good news, I trust, Lorischen, or you would +not have hurried back so soon?" + +Madame Dort's voice trembled with anxiety, and tears of suspense stood +in her eyes. + +"There," said Lorischen triumphantly to the Burgher, who remained silent +for the moment from the shock of the old nurse's attack. "You see for +yourself that my mistress wishes me to tell her." + +"Oh, what is it--what have you heard?" cried the widow plaintively. "Do +not keep me in this agony any longer!" + +And she sat down again nervously in her chair, gazing from one to the +other in mute entreaty and looking as if she were going to faint. + +"There now, see what you've done!" said Lorischen, hastening to Madame +Dort's side. "I told you what it would be if you blurted it out like +that!" + +Burgher Jans' eyes grew quite wide with astonishment beneath the broad +rims of his tortoise-shell spectacles, giving him more than ever the +appearance of an owl. + +"Peace, woman!" he exclaimed. "I--" + +"Yes, that's it, dear mistress," interrupted the old nurse, half +laughing, half crying, as she knelt down beside the widow's chair and +put her arm round her caressingly. "There's peace proclaimed at last, +and the dear young Herr will come home again to you now!" + +"Peace?" repeated the widow, looking up with an anxious stare from one +to the other. + +"Yes, peace, most worthy lady," said Burgher Jans pompously in his +ordinary bland voice; adding immediately afterwards for Lorischen's +especial benefit--"and I was the first to tell you of it, after all." + +"Never mind," replied that worthy, too much overpowered with emotion at +the happiness of the widow to contest the point. "We both brought the +glad tidings together. Madame, dearest mistress, you are glad, are you +not?" + +But Madame Dort was silent for the moment. Her eyes were closed, and +her lips moving in earnest prayer of thankfulness to Him who had heard +her prayers and granted the fervent wish of her heart at last. + +"Is it really true?" she asked presently. + +"Yes, well-born and most worthy lady," replied the little fat man, whom +Lorischen now allowed to speak without further interruption. "Our +Bismark signed an armistice with the French at Versailles on Saturday by +which Paris capitulates, the forts defending it being given over to our +soldiers, and the starving city allowed to be reprovisioned by the good +English, who have prepared ever so many train-loads of food to go in for +the use of the population." + +"Ah, those good English!" chimed in Lorischen. + +"You have reason to say that, dearest maiden," continued the Burgher, +bowing suavely to the old woman. "They subscribed, ah! more than a +million thalers for this purpose in London." + +"And I suppose the war will now cease?" said Madame Dort. + +"Most certainly, worthy lady," replied Burgher Jans. "The armistice is +to last for three weeks to enable the French to have an election of +members to an assembly which will decide whether the contest shall go on +any further; but there is no doubt, as their armies have all been +defeated and their resources exhausted, that hostilities will not be +again resumed. All parties are sick of fighting by this time!" + +"So I should think," exclaimed Lorischen warmly. "It has been a bloody, +murdering work, that of the last six months!" + +"Yes, but good for Germany," put in the little man in his bland way. + +"Humph! much good, with widows left without their husbands and children +fatherless, and the stalwart sons that should have been the help of +their mothers made food for French powder and the chassepot! Besides, I +don't think the German states, Meinherr," added the old nurse more +politely than she usually addressed the Burgher, "will get much of the +plunder. Mark my words if Prussia does not take the lion's share!" + +"You have reason, dearest maiden," answered the other, agreeing with his +old opponent for once. "I've no doubt that, like the poor Bavarians who +had to do the heaviest part of the fighting, we shall get only the kicks +and Prussia the halfpence!" + +"That's more than likely," said Lorischen, much pleased at the +similarity of their sentiments; "and I suppose we can expect Herr Fritz +home soon now, eh?" + +"Probably as soon as peace is regularly established; for then, our +troops will commence to evacuate France and march back to the Rhine," +replied Burgher Jans,--"that Rhine whose banks they have so valiantly +defended." + +"Ah, we'd better begin at once to prepare to receive our soldier lad," +said the old nurse with much cheerfulness, as if she wished to set to +without a moment's delay at making things ready for Fritz; seeing which, +Burgher Jans took his departure, the widow and Lorischen both expressing +their thanks for the good news he had brought, and the old nurse +actually escorting him to the door in a most unusual fit of civility! + +The definite treaty of peace between France and Germany was completed on +the 28th February, 1871, when it was ratified by the constituent +assembly sitting at Bordeaux, the conquered country surrendering two of +her richest provinces, Alsace and Lorraine, together with the fortresses +of Metz and Belfort--the strongest on the frontier--besides paying an +indemnity of no less a sum than five milliards of francs, some two +hundred millions of pounds in English money, to the victors! + +It was a terrible price to pay for the war; for, in addition to these +sacrifices must be reckoned:-- 2,400 captured field guns; 120 eagles, +flags, and standards; 4,000 fortress guns; and 11,669 officers and +363,326 men taken prisoners in battle and interned in Germany--not +counting 170,000 men of the garrison of Paris who must be held to have +surrendered to their conquerors, although these were not led away +captive like the others, who were kept in durance until the first moiety +of their ransom was paid! + +But, Prince Bismark over-reached himself in grinding down the country as +he did. He thought, that, by fixing such an enormous sum for the +indemnity, France would be under the heel of Germany for years to come, +as the Prussian troops were not to leave until the money was paid. +Instead of which, by a general and stupendous movement of her +population, inflamed by a praiseworthy spirit of patriotism, the five +milliards were paid within a year and the French soil clear of the +invader--this being the most wonderful thing connected with the war, +some persons think! + +Meanwhile, Madame Dort's anxiety to behold her son again at home and his +earnest wish to the same effect had to await gratification. + +The news of the armistice before Paris reached Lubeck on the 30th +January; but it was not until March that the German troops began to +evacuate their positions in front of the capital of France, and nearly +the end of the month before the last battalion turned its face homeward. + +Before that wished-for end was reached, Fritz was terribly heart-sick +about Madaleine. + +After a long silence, enduring for over a month, during which his mind +was torn by conflicting doubts and fears, he had received a short, +hurried note from her, telling him that she had been ill and was worried +by domestic circumstances. She did not know what would become of her, +she wrote, adding that he had better cease to think of her, although she +would always pray for his welfare. + +That was all; but it wasn't a very agreeable collapse to the nice little +enchanted "castle in Spain" he had been diligently building up ever +since his meeting with Madaleine at Mezieres:-- it was a sad downfall to +the hopes he had of meeting her again! + +Of course, he wrote to his mother, telling her of his misery; but she +could not console him much, save by exhorting him to live in hope, for +that all would come well in good time. + +"Old people can't feel like young ones," thought Fritz. "She doesn't +know what I suffer in my heart." + +And so time rolled on slowly enough for mother and son; he, counting the +days--sadly now, for his return was robbed of one of its chief +expectations; she, gladly, watching to clasp her firstborn in her arms +once more. Ample amends she thought this would be to her for all the +anxiety she had suffered since Fritz had left home the previous summer, +especially after her agonised fear of losing him! + +Towards the close of March, the Hanoverian regiments returned to their +depot, Fritz being forwarded on to Lubeck. + +As no one knew the precise day or hour when the train bearing him home +might be expected to arrive, of course there was no one specially +waiting at the railway station to welcome him back. Only the ordinary +curiosity-mongers amongst the townspeople were there; but these were +always on the watch for new-comers. They raised a sort of cheer when he +and his comrades belonging to the neighbourhood alighted from the +railway carriages; but, although the cheering was hearty, and Fritz and +the others joined in the popular Volkslieder that the townspeople +started, the young sub-lieutenant missed his mother's dear face and +Lorischen's friendly, wrinkled old countenance, both of whom, somehow or +other without any reason to warrant the assumption, he had thought would +have been there. + +It was in a melancholy manner, therefore, that he took his way towards +the Gulden Strasse and the little house he had not seen for so long-- +could it only have been barely nine months ago? + +How small everything looked now, after his travels and experiences of +the busy towns and handsome cities of France which he had but so lately +passed through! All here seemed quiet, quaint, diminutive, old- +fashioned, like the resemblance to some antique picture, or the dream +city of a dream! + +Presently, he is in the old familiar street of his youth. It seemed so +long and wide then; now, he can traverse its length in two strides, and +it is so narrow that the buildings on either side almost meet in the +middle. + +But, the home-coming charm is on him; love draws him forward quickly +like a magnet! He sees his mother's house at the end of the street. He +is up the outside stairway with an agile bound. + +With full heart, he bursts open the door, and, in a second, is within +the parlour. He hears his mother's cry of joy. + +"My son, my son!" and she throws herself on his neck, as he clasps her +in a fond embrace, recollecting that once he never expected to have +lived to see her again. + +And Lorischen, too, she comes forward with a handshake and a hug for the +boy she has nursed on her knee many a time in the years agone. + +But, who is this besides? + +"What! Madaleine?" exclaims Fritz. + +"Yes, it is I," she replies demurely, a merry smile dancing on her face, +and a glad light in the bright blue eyes. + +This was the surprise Madame Dort had prepared for Fritz--a pleasant +one, wasn't it, with which to welcome him home? + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +FAMILY COUNCILS. + +"I have to thank you, dear mother, for this!" said Fritz, with an +affectionate smile, to Madame Dort. "How did you contrive such a +pleasant surprise?" + +"You told me of your trouble, my son," she replied; "so I did my best to +help you under the circumstances." + +"And you, little traitress," exclaimed he, turning to Madaleine. "How +could you keep me in suspense all those weary weeks that have elapsed +since the year began?" + +"I did not think you cared so much," said she defiantly. + +"Cared!" he repeated. + +"Well, it was not my fault," she explained. "When I wrote to you last, +I really never thought I should see you again." + +"You don't know me yet," said Fritz. "I should have hunted you out to +the world's end! I had determined, as soon as I had seen mother, to go +off to Darmstadt and find out what had become of you." + +"And a nice wild-goose chase you would have had," answered Madaleine, +tossing her head, and shaking the silky masses of golden hair, now +unconfined by any jealous coiffe, with her blue eyes laughing fun. "You +wouldn't have found me there! The baroness--" + +"Hang her!" interrupted Fritz angrily; "I should like to settle her!" + +"Ah, I wouldn't mind your doing that now," continued the girl naively; +"she treated me very unkindly at the end." + +"The brute!" said Fritz indignantly. + +"Her son--the young baron, you know--came home from the war in January. +He was invalided, but I don't think there was anything the matter with +him at all; for, no sooner had he got back to the castle than he began +worrying me, paying all sorts of attention and pestering me with his +presence." + +"Puppy!" exclaimed Fritz; "I would have paid him some delicate little +attentions if I'd been there!" + +"Oh, I knew how to treat him," said Madaleine. "I soon made him keep +his distance! But it is the Baroness Stolzenkop that I complain of; she +actually taxed me with encouraging him!" + +"Indeed?" interrogated Fritz. + +"Yes; and, when I told her I wouldn't choose her fop of a son if there +wasn't another man in Germany, why she accused me of impertinence, +telling me that the fact of my having attracted the young baron was an +honour which an humble girl in my position should have been proud of-- +she did, really!" + +"The old cat!" said Fritz indignantly; "I should like to wring her neck +for her." + +"Hush, my son," interposed Madame Dort. "Pray don't make use of such +violent expressions. The baroness, you know, is exalted in rank, and--" + +"Then all the greater shame for her to act so dishonourably," he +interrupted hotly. "She ought to be--I can find no words to tell what I +would do to her, there!" + +"Besides, Master Fritz," said old Lorischen, "I won't have you speak so +disrespectfully of cats, the noblest animals on earth! Look at Mouser +there, looking his indignation at you; can't you see how he feels the +reproach of your comparing him to that horrid baroness?" + +This remark at once diverted the conversation, all turning in the +direction the old nurse pointed, where a little comedy was being +enacted. + +Mouser--with his tail erected like a stiff bottle-brush, and every +individual hair galvanised into a perpendicular position on his back, +which was curved into the position of a bent bow with rage and +excitement, his whiskers bristling out from each side of his head and +his mouth uttering the most horrible anathemas the cat language is +capable of--was perched on the back of Madame Dort's arm-chair in the +corner; while poor Gelert, the innocent cause of all this display of +emotion on Mouser's part, was calmly surveying him and sniffing +interrogatory inquiries as to whom he had the pleasure of speaking. The +dog had not yet been formally introduced to his new cat friend, and from +the commanding position he had taken up, with his hind legs on the +hearthrug and his fore paws on the seat of the easy chair, he had +considerable advantage over pussy, should that sagacious creature think +of fleeing to another vantage-ground; although the thought of this, it +should be added, never crossed for an instant the mind of old Mouser; he +knew well when he was safe. + +Fritz burst out laughing. + +"Lie down, Gelert!" he cried; and the retriever at once obeyed. + +"Is that the dear dog?" inquired Madame Dort, stooping to pat him. + +"Yes," said Fritz, "this is Gelert, the brave, faithful fellow but for +whom I would have bled to death on the battlefield and never have been +saved by Madaleine!" + +"Thanks be to God!" exclaimed the widow piously. "What a nice dog he +is!" + +"He is all that," replied Fritz; "still, he must be taught not to molest +Master Mouser. Here, Gelert!" + +The dog at once sprang up again from his recumbent position on the +hearthrug; while Mouser, his excessive spiny and porcupinish appearance +having become somewhat toned down, was now watchfully observing this new +variety of the dog species, which his natural instinct taught him to +regard with antagonism and yet who was so utterly different from Burgher +Jans' terrier, the only specimen of the canine race with whom he had +been previously acquainted. + +"See," said Fritz to the retriever, laying one hand on his head and +stroking the cat with the other, "you mustn't touch poor Mouser. Good +dog!" + +The animal gave a sniff of intelligence, seeming to know at once what +was expected of him; and, never, from that moment, did he ever exhibit +the slightest approach of hostility to pussy--no, not even when Mouser, +as he did sometimes from curiosity, would approach him at the very +delicate juncture when he was engaged on a bone, which few dogs can +stand--the two ever after remaining on the friendliest of friendly +terms; so friendly, indeed, that Mouser would frequently curl himself to +sleep between Gelert's paws on the hearthrug. + +This little diversion had drawn away the conversation from Madaleine's +treatment by the old Baroness Stolzenkop; but, presently, Madame Dort +proceeded to explain to Fritz that, on account of his telling her in one +of his letters home how anxious he was in the matter, and knowing +besides how much she was indebted to Madaleine for saving his life by +her kindly nursing when he was in the villa hospital at Mezieres, she +had written to her at Darmstadt, asking her to pay her a visit and so +light up a lonely house with her presence until her son should have +returned from the war. "And a veritable house fairy she has been," +concluded the widow, speaking from her heart, with tears in her eyes. +"She has been like sunshine to me in the winter of my desolation." + +"And Mouser likes her, too," said Lorischen, as if that settled the +matter. + +"She's the best manager in the world," next put in Madame Dort. "She +has saved me a world of trouble since she's been in the house." + +"And she cooks better than any one else in Lubeck!" exclaimed the old +nurse, not to be beat in enumerating all the good qualities of Fritz's +guardian angel, who had taken her heart, as well as the widow's, by +storm. + +Meanwhile, the subject of all these remarks stood in the centre of the +room, blushing at the compliments paid her on all sides. + +"Dear me, good people, I shall have to run away if you go on like that," +she cried at last. "I have been so happy here," she added, turning to +Fritz. "It's the first time I've known what home was since my mother +died." + +"Poor child," said Madame Dort, opening her arms. "Come here, I'll be +your mother now." + +"Ah, that's just what I've longed for!" exclaimed Fritz rapturously. +"Madaleine, will you be her daughter in reality?" + +The girl did not reply in words, but she gave him one look, and then hid +her face in the widow's bosom. + +"Poor Eric," said the widow presently, resigning Madaleine to the care +of Fritz, who was nothing loth to take charge of her--the two retreating +to a corner and sitting down side by side, having much apparently to say +to each other, if such might be surmised from their bent heads and +whispered conversation. "If he were but here, my happiness would now be +almost complete!" + +"Yes," chimed in Lorischen as she bustled out of the room, Madame Dort +following her quietly, so as to leave the lovers to themselves--"the +dear flaxen-haired sailor laddie, with his merry ways and laughing eyes. +I think I can see him now before me! Ah, it is just nineteen months to +the day since he sailed away on that ill-fated voyage, you remember, +mistress?" + +But, she need not have asked the question. Madame Dort had counted +every day since that bright autumn morning when she saw her darling for +the last time at the railway station. It was not likely that she would +forget how long he had been absent! + +Later on, when the excitement of coming home to his mother and meeting +with Madaleine had calmed down, Fritz, having ceased to be a soldier, +his services not being any longer required with the Landwehr, turned his +attention to civil employment; for, now, with the prospect of marrying +before him, it was more urgent than ever that he should have something +to do in order to occupy his proper position as bread-winner of the +family, the widow's means being limited and it being as much as she +could do to support herself and Lorischen out of her savings, without +having to take again to teaching--which avocation, indeed, her health of +late years had rendered her unable to continue, had she been desirous of +resuming it again. + +Madaleine, of course, could have gone out as a governess, Madame Dort +being, probably, easily able to procure her a situation in the family of +one of her former pupils; or she might have resumed the position of a +hospital nurse, for which she had been trained at Darmstadt, having been +taken on as an assistant in the convalescent home established in that +town by the late Princess Alice of Hesse, when the Baroness Stolzenkop +turned her adrift. But Fritz would not hear of Madaleine's leaving his +mother. + +"No," said he decisively to her, "your place is here with mutterchen, +who regards you as a daughter--don't you, mother?" + +"Yes, indeed," answered the widow readily enough--"so long as I'm +spared." + +"There, you see, you've no option," continued Fritz triumphantly. +"Mother would not be able to do without you now. Besides, it is not +necessary. I will be able to earn bread enough for all. Look at these +broad shoulders and strong arms, hey! What were they made for else, I'd +like to know?" + +Still, Fritz did not find it so easy to get employment as he thought. + +Herr Grosschnapper had kept the clerkship he had formerly filled in his +counting-house open for him some time after the commencement of the war; +but, finding that Fritz would be away much longer than he had expected, +he had been forced to employ a substitute in his place. This young man +had proved himself so diligent and active in mastering all the details +of the business in a short time, that the worthy shipowner did not wish +to discharge him now when his original clerk returned, and Fritz himself +would have been loth to press the matter; although, he had looked upon +his re-engagement in the merchant's office as a certainty when he came +back to Lubeck. + +Fritz had thought, with that self-confidence which most of us possess, +that no one could possibly have kept Herr Grosschnapper's books or +calculated insurances with such ability as he could, and that the worthy +merchant would have been only too delighted to welcome so able a clerk +when he walked into the counting-house again. He had not lived long +enough to know that as good, or better, a man can always be found to +fill the place of even the best; and that, much as we may estimate our +own value, a proportionate equivalent can soon be supplied from other +sources! + +So, much to Fritz's chagrin, on going down to the merchant's place of +business on the quay, all eagerness to resume work again on the old +footing, he found that he was not wanted: he would have to apply +elsewhere for employment. + +"Oh, that will not be a hard matter," he thought to himself. + +"Softly, my friend," whispered fickle Dame Fortune in his ear, "not +quite so fast! Things don't always turn out just as you wish, young +sir, with your reliant impetuosity!" + +Lubeck had never been at any time a bustling place, for it had no trade +to speak of; and now, since the war had crippled commerce, everything +was in a state of complete stagnation. Ships were laying up idle all +along the banks of the great canal, although spring was advancing and +the ice-chains that bound up the Baltic would soon be loosed. There +were no cargoes to be had; and perforce, the carriers of the sea were +useless, making a corresponding dearth of business in the houses of the +shipping firms. Why, instead of engaging fresh hands at their desks, +they would have need soon to discharge some of their old ones! This was +the answer that met his ear at every place he applied to, and he had +finally to give up all hope of finding work in his native town. + +It was the same elsewhere. + +The five milliards of ransom paid by France, brought no alleviation of +the enormous taxation imposed on Germany to bear the expense of +organising the great military machine employed to carry out the war. +The Prussian exchequer alone reaped the benefit of this plunder of the +conquered nation; as for the remaining states of the newly created +empire, they were not a farthing to the good for all the long train of +waggons filled with gold and silver and bales of bank-notes that +streamed over the frontier when the war indemnity was paid. If +possible, their position was made worse instead of better; as, from the +more extravagant style of living now adopted, in lieu of the former +frugal habits in vogue--on account of the soldiers of the Fatherland +learning to love luxury through their becoming accustomed during the +campaign to what they had never dreamt of in their lives before-- +articles of food and dress became increased in price, so that it was a +difficult matter for people with a small income to make both ends meet. + +Ah, there was wide-spread poverty and dearth of employment throughout +the length and breadth of the land, albeit there might be feasting and +hurrahing, and clinking of champagne glasses Unter den Linden at Berlin! + +However, Fritz was not the sort of fellow to grow despondent, or fail to +recognise the urgency of the situation. + +Long before Eric had gone to sea, he had fancied that Lubeck, with its +slow movements and asthmatic trade, offered little opening for the +energy and ability with which he felt himself endowed; for, he might +live and die a clerk there, without the chance of ever rising to +anything else. He had frequently longed to go abroad and carve out a +fortune in some fresh sphere; but the thought of leaving his mother +alone prevented him from indulging in this day-dream, and he had +determined, much against the grain, to be satisfied with the humble lot +which appeared to be his appointed place in life. + +Now, however, circumstances had changed. His place was filled up in the +old world; Providence itself forced him to seek an opening in the new. + +His mind was made up at once. + +"Little mother," said he one evening, when he had been home a month, +seeing every prospect of employment shut out from him--his last hope, +that of a situation in the house of a comrade's father at Coblentz, from +which he had expected great things, having failed--"I've determined to +emigrate to America--that is, if you do not offer any objection; for I +should not like to go without your consent, although I see there's no +chance for me here in Germany." + +"What!" exclaimed Madame Dort, so startled that she let her knitting +drop. "Go to America, across the terrible sea?" + +Fritz had already explained matters to Madaleine, and she, brave-hearted +girl that she was, concealing her own feelings at the separation between +them which her lover's resolve would necessitate, did not seek to urge +him against his will to abandon his project. She believed in his +honesty of purpose, relying on his strong, impulsive character; and what +he had decided on, she decided, too, as a good wife that was to be, +would be best not only for them both but for all. + +"Yes, to America, mutterchen," he replied to the widow's exclamation, +speaking in a tender voice of entreaty. "It is not so very far, you +know, dear little mother, eh? It will be only from Bremerhaven to +Southampton in England,--you recollect going there with me for a trip, +don't you, the year before last?--and from Southampton to New York; and, +there, I shall be in my new home in ten days' time at the outside! Why, +it's nothing, a mere nothing of a voyage when you come to consider it +properly." + +"Across the wide, wild ocean that has already robbed me of Eric, my +youngest," went on poor Madame Dort, unheeding his words; "you, my +firstborn--my only son now--I shall never see you more, I know!" and she +gave way to a burst of tears. + +"Say not so, darling mother," said Madaleine, throwing her arms round +her and joining in her weeping with a sympathetic heart, feeling quite +as great grief at the idea of parting with her lover. "He will return +for us both bye-and-bye. He is only going to make that home for us in +the Far West we've read about so often lately, which he cannot hope to +establish here; and then, my mother,--for you are my mother too, now, +are you not?--he will come back for you and me, or we will go out and +join him." + +"And I should like to know what will become of me, Fraulein Madaleine," +interposed Lorischen indignantly. "Am I to be left behind to be +bothered all my life long by that little plague, Burgher Jans?" + +"No, no, Lorischen," laughed Fritz; "a home across the sea in America +would not be a home without you--or Mouser, either," he added. + +"That's all right, then," said the old nurse affably; her digression +serving to break the gravity of the conversation, and make Madame Dort +take a better view of the matter. + +"But, it's a terrible journey, though, a terrible journey--almost worse +than parting with him to go to the war," said the widow sadly to +herself. + +"Ah, but you did not have Madaleine with you then," replied Fritz, +turning a look of affection to the fair girl clinging to his mother. +"She will be a daughter to you, and comfort you in my absence, I know." + +"Aye, that I will," exclaimed Madaleine fondly, caressing her adopted +parent and gazing at Fritz with the blue eyes full of love, although +blinded with tears. "I shall love her dearly for your sake, my darling, +as well as for her own--and my own too; and we will all look forward to +meeting again happily after our present parting, with hope and trust in +the good God who will protect and watch over you in return for our +prayers!" + +"Amen to that," said Lorischen heartily. "And I tell you what it is, +Master Fritz--we'll be all ready when you give the word to follow you +across the sea to that wonderful America! I declare I'm quite longing +to see it, for I don't think much of this Lubeck now, with such curious, +meddling, impertinent people in it like that odious little fat man, +Burgher Jans." + +These words of the old nurse put them all in a merry mood, and the +family council thus terminated more cheerily than it had begun. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. + +Fritz was as prompt in action as he was rapid in resolve; so in a few +days after he had imparted to Madaleine and his mother his intention of +emigrating to America, his last good-byes were exchanged with the little +household in the Gulden Strasse--not forgetting the faithful Gelert, now +domiciled in the family, whom it was impossible to take with him on +account of the expense and trouble his transit would have occasioned, +besides which, the good doggie would be ever so much better looked after +by those left behind and would serve "as a sort of pledge," Fritz told +Madaleine, "of his master's return!" + +Yes, within a week at the outside, he had left Lubeck once more, and was +on his way to that western "land of the free" which Henry Russell the +ballad writer, has sung of:-- where the "mighty Missouri rolls down to +the sea," and where imperial autocrats and conscription are undreamt +of--although, not so very, very many years ago, it was convulsed in the +throes of a civil war which could boast of as gigantic struggles between +hostile forces and as terrible and bloodthirsty battles as those which +had characterised that Franco-German campaign, in which Fritz had but so +recently participated and been heartily sick of before it terminated! + +The love of colonisation seems to be the controlling spirit of modern +times. + +Some sceptics in the truth of historical accuracy, have whispered their +suspicions that, the "New World" was actually discovered at a date long +anterior to the age of Columbus; but, even allowing that there might be +some stray scrap of fact for this assertion, it may be taken for granted +that the first nucleus of our present system of emigration, from the +older continent to the "new" one, originated in the little band of +thirty-nine men left behind him by Christopher in Hispaniola, at the +close of his first "voyage beyond seas," in the year 1493, or +thereabouts. This small settlement failed, as is well-known, and the +bones of the Genoese mariner who founded it have been mouldering in dust +for centuries. Sir Walter Raleigh--the gallant imitator of Columbus, +treading so successfully in his footsteps as to illustrate the old adage +of the pupil excelling the master, the original expounder, indeed, of +the famous "Westwards Ho!" doctrine since preached so ably by latter-day +enthusiasts--has also departed to that bourne from whence no traveller +returns. So have, likewise, a host of others, possessing names proudly +borne on the chronicle of fame as martyrs to the universal spread of +discovery and spirit of progress. But, the love of enterprise, and +consequent expansion of civilisation and commercial venture, inaugurated +by the brave old pioneers of Queen Elizabeth's day, have not ceased to +impel similar seekers after something beyond ordinary humdrum life. The +path of discovery, although narrowed through research, has not yet been +entirely exhausted; for "fresh fields and pastures new," as hopeful as +those about which Milton rhapsodised and as plenteously flowing with +typical milk and honey as the promised land of the Israelites, are being +continually opened up and offered to the oppressed and pauperised +populations of Europe. Thus, the tide of emigration, swelled from the +tiny ocean-drop which marked its first inception more than three hundred +years ago to its present torrentine proportions and bearing away +frequently entire nationalities on its bosom, still flows from the east +to the west, tracing the progress of civilisation from its Alpha to its +Omega, as steadily as when it originally began--aye, and as it will +continue to flow on, until the entire habitable globe shall be peopled +as with one family by the intermixture and association of alien races! + +It is curious how this migratory spirit has permeated through the odd +corners of the old world, leading the natives of different countries to +flock like sheep to every freshly spoken of colony; and how, by such +means, Englishmen, Celts, Germans, French, Hollanders, Italians, +Norsemen, Africans, as well as the "Heathen Chinee," are scattered in a +mixed mass over the whole face of the earth now-a-days, as widely as the +descendants of Noah were dispersed from the plain of Shinar after their +unsuccessful attempt at building the tower of Babel--the result being, +that some of the highest types of advancement are at present to be found +where, but a few years back, uncultivated savages, as rude but perhaps +not quite so inquisitive as the late Bishop Colenso's apocryphal Zulu, +were the sole existing evidences of latent humanity! + +Fritz, however, was not proceeding to any of these newly colonised +countries. Like the majority of other Germans who had emigrated before +him, he was aiming for "the States," where, according to the popular +idea in Europe, money can be had for nothing in the shape of any +expenditure of labour, time, or trouble. Really, the ne'er-do-well and +shiftless seem to regard America as a sort of Tom Tiddler's ground for +the idle, the lazy, and the dissolute--although, mind you, Fritz was +none of these, having made up his mind to work as hard in the New World +as he would have been forced to do in the Old for the fortune he could +not win there, and which he had been forced to turn his back on. + +Bremerhaven to Southampton; Southampton to Sandy Hook, as he had told +his mother; and, in ten days altogether, the ocean steamer he travelled +in, one of the North German line, had landed him safely in New York. + +Seven years before, when he would have reached the "Empire City" during +the height of the Secession War, he might have sold himself to a "bounty +jumper," as the enlisting agents of the northern army were termed, for a +nice little sum in "greenback" dollars; now, he found sharpers, or +"confidence men," ready to "sell" him in a similar way--only, that the +former rogues would have been satisfied with nothing less than his body +and life, as an emigrant recruit for Grant or Sherman's force; while the +present set cared but for his cash, seeking the same with ravenous maw +almost as soon as he had landed at Castle Garden! + +Fritz had taken a steerage passage, so as to save money; and, being +dressed in shabby clothes, in keeping with his third-class ticket, the +loafers about the Battery, at the end of Manhattan Island, on which the +town of New York is built, thought he was merely an ignorant German +peasant whom they might easily impose on. They, however, soon found +that he had not been campaigning six months for nothing, and so their +efforts at getting him to part with the little capital he had were +pretty well thrown away--especially as Fritz, in his anxiety to find +some work to do at once, did not "let the grass grow under his feet," +but proceeded up Broadway instead of wasting his time by lounging in the +vicinity of the emigrant depot, as the majority of his countrymen +generally do, apparently in the expectation that employment will come in +search of them. + +Still, he soon discovered that New York was overstocked with just the +species of labour he was able to supply. + +Of course, if he had been at the pitch of desperation, he might have +found a job of some sort to his hand; but, writing and speaking English +and French fluently in addition to his native tongue, besides being a +good correspondent and book-keeper, he did not feel disposed to throw +away his talents on mere manual labour. He had emigrated to "make his +fortune," or, at all events, to achieve a position in which he could +hope to build up a home for the dear ones left behind at Lubeck; and +there would not be much chance of his accomplishing this by engaging +himself out as a day labourer--to assist some skilled carpenter or +bricklayer--which was the only work offered him. + +"No, sir; nary an opening here!" was the constant reply he met with at +every merchant's office he entered from Wall Street upwards along +Broadway until he came to Canal Street; when, finding the shops, or +"stores" as the Americans call them, going more in the "dry goods" or +haberdashery line, he wended his way back again "down town," +investigating the various establishments lying between the main +thoroughfare and the North and East rivers, hoping to find a situation +vacant in one of the shipping houses thereabouts. + +But, "No, sir; all filled up, I guess," was still the stereotyped +response to his applications, with much emphasis on the "sir"--the +majority of the Manhattanese uttering this word, as Fritz thought, in a +highly indignant tone, although, as he discovered later on, this was the +general pronunciation adopted throughout the States. + +"I suppose," he said to one gentleman he asked, and who was, it seemed +to Fritz, the master, or "boss," of the establishment, from the fact of +his lounging back in a rocking chair contiguous to his desk, and +balancing his feet instead of his hands on the latter,--"I suppose it's +because I can give no references to former employers here, that all the +men I speak to invariably decline my services?" + +"No, sirree; I reckon not," was the reply. "Guess we don't care a cuss +where you come from. We take a man as we find him, for just what he is +worth, without minding what he might have been in the old country, or +bothering other folks for his ka-racter, you bet! I reckon, mister, +you'd better start right away out West if you want work. Book-keepers +and sich-like are played out haar; we're filled up to bustin' with 'em, +I guess!" + +It was good advice probably; but, still, Fritz did not care to act upon +it. Having been accustomed all his life to the shipping trade, he +wished to find some opening in that special branch of business; and, if +he went inland to Chicago or elsewhere, he thought, he would be +abandoning his chances for securing the very sort of work he preferred +to have. Besides, going away from the neighbourhood of ships and quays +and the sea would be like cutting adrift every old association with +Lubeck and Europe; while, in addition, he had directed his letters from +home to be sent to the "Poste Restante, New York," and if he left that +city, why he would never hear how Madaleine and his mother were getting +on in his absence! + +So, for days and days he patrolled the town in vain; seeking for work, +and finding none. The place, as his candid informer had said, was +filled with clerks like himself in search of employment; and they, +linguists especially, were a drug in the market--the cessation of the +Franco-German War having flooded the country with foreign labour. + +What should he do? + +Before making a move, as everybody advised him, he determined to await +the next mail steamer. This would bring him a letter from home, in +answer to the one he had written, immediately on landing, telling of his +safe arrival in the New World. He was dying to have, if only, a line +from those dear ones he had left with a good-bye in the Gulden Strasse, +recounting all that had happened since he had started from home--his +passage across the Atlantic having lasted, according to his morbid +imagination, at least as long as the war he had lately served through! + +At last, a letter came; and, as it really put fresh heart in him-- +cheering up his drooping energies and banishing a sort of despondent +feeling which had begun to prey upon him, altering him completely from +his former buoyant self--he made up his mind in his old prompt fashion +to visit some of the other seaports on the coast, "Down East," as +Americans say, in order to try whether he might not be able there to get +a billet. + +He had very little money left now; for, he had not brought much with him +from home, originally and the greater part of what he had in his pockets +when he came ashore had melted away in paying for his board and lodging +while remaining in New York. Although he had put up at the cheapest +boarding-house he could find, it was far dearer than the most expensive +accommodation in Lubeck or even at a first-class hotel in any large town +on the Continent. Living in such a city was actually like eating hard +cash! + +Fritz saw that he would have to proceed on his journey along the coast +as cheaply as possible:-- he had not much to spare for railway and +steamboat fares. + +With this resolution staring him in the face, he made his way one +afternoon to the foot of Canal Street, from the quays facing which, on +the North River, start the huge floating palaces of steamers that +navigate the waters of Long Island Sound--visiting on their way those +New England States where, it may be recollected, the Pilgrim Fathers +landed after their voyage in the _Mayflower_, of historic renown, a +couple of odd centuries ago. + +One of these vessels had "Providence" marked on her; and the name at +once arrested the attention of Fritz. + +"Himmel!" he said to himself, with a superstitious sort of feeling like +that which he used to ridicule in old Lorischen when she read omens in +Mouser's attitudes and cat language of a night--"this looks lucky; +perhaps providence is going to interpose on my behalf, and relieve me +from all the misery and anxiety I'm suffering! At all events, I will go +on board and see where the steamer is bound for." + +No sooner said than done. + +Fritz stepped on to the gangway; and, quickly gaining the vessel, asked +one of the deck hands he saw forward where she was going to. + +"Ha-o-ow?" repeated the man--meaning "what?" + +"Where are you bound for?" said Fritz again. + +"Providence, Rhode Island, I guess, mister. Can't ye see it writ up?" + +"And where's that?" further inquired Fritz. + +"New England way, I reckon, whar I wer raised." + +"Any ships or shipping trade there?" + +The man laughed out heartily. + +"Jerusalem, that's prime, anyhow!" he exclaimed. "Any ships at +Providence? Why, you might as well ask if thar wer any fish in the sea! +Thar are heaps and heaps on 'em up to Rhode Island, mister, from a +scoop up to a whaler; so I guess we can fix you up slick if you come +aboard!" + +"All right, I will," said Fritz; "that is, if the fare is not too high." + +"Guess two-fifty won't break you, hey?" responded the deck hand, meaning +two-and-a-half dollars. + +"No," said Fritz; "I think I can manage that. What time do you start?" + +"Five o'clock sharp." + +"That will just give me time to fetch my valise," said Fritz, thinking +aloud. + +"Where away is that?" asked the man. + +"Chatham Street," answered Fritz, "just below the town hall." + +"Oh, I know, mister, well enough whar Chatham Street is! Yes, you'll +have plenty of time if you look smart." + +"Thank you, I will," said Fritz; and, going back to the boarding-house +where he had been stopping, he soon returned to the quay with the little +valise that carried all his impedimenta--reaching the steamer just in +the nick of time as she was casting off. + +As he jumped on to her deck, the gangway was withdrawn. + +"All aboard?" sang out the captain from the pilot-house on the hurricane +deck. + +"Aye, aye, all aboard," was the response from Fritz's friend the deck +hand, who, with only a red flannel shirt on and a pair of check +trousers--very unsailorlike in appearance altogether--stood in the bows. + +"Then fire away and let her rip!" came the reply from the captain above, +followed by the tinkle of an electric bell in the engine-room, the +steamer's paddles revolving with a splash the moment afterwards and +urging her on her watery way. + +Round the Battery at Manhattan Point she glided, and up the East River +through Hell Gate into Long Island Sound--one of the most sheltered +channels in the world, and more like a lake or lagoon than an arm of the +sea--leaving a broad wake of creamy green foam behind her like a mill- +race, and quivering from stem to stern with every revolution of her +shaft, with every throb of her high-pressure engines! + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. + +The Rhode Island steamer was a splendid boat, Fritz found, when he came +to look about him; for, she was a "floating palace," every inch of her, +with magnificent saloons and state-cabins stretching away the entire +length of the vessel fore and aft. A light hurricane deck was above +all, on which the passengers could promenade up and down to their +hearts' content, having comfortable cane-bottomed seats along the sides +to sit down upon when tired and no gear, or rope coils, or other +nautical "dunnage," to interrupt their free locomotion on this king of +quarter-decks, which had, besides, an awning on top to tone down the +potency of the western sun. + +With three tiers of decks--the lowermost, or main, containing the +engine-room and stowage place for cargo, as well as the men's quarters; +the lower saloon, in which were the refreshment bars, and what could +only appropriately be called the "dining hall," if such a term were not +an anachronism on board ship; and, thirdly, the upper saloon, containing +the principal cabins and state-rooms, in addition to the graceful +promenading hurricane deck surmounting the whole--the steamer had the +appearance of one of those bungalow-like pretended "houses" which +children build up with a pack of cards. Only that, this illusion was +speedily destroyed by the huge beam of the engine, working up and down +like a monster chain-pump on top of the whole structure--not to speak of +the twin smoke-stacks on either side of the paddle-boxes emitting +volumes of thick, stifling vapour, and the two pilot-houses, one at each +extremity of the hurricane deck; for, like most American river steamers, +the boat was what was called a "double-ender," built whale-boat fashion +to go either backwards or forwards, a very necessary thing to avoid +collision in crowded waters. + +Fritz could not but realise that the ingenious construction which he was +gazing at was essentially a Yankee invention, resembling nothing in +European waters. + +If he had not yet been fully convinced of this fact, the eldritch +screech which the steam whistle shortly evolved, in obedience to the +pressure of the captain's finger on a valve in the pilot-house forward-- +whence the vessel was steered--would have at once decided his mind on +the point. It was the most fearful, ear-deafening, blood-curdling sound +he had ever heard in his life! + +Fritz thought something had happened--that the boiler was in danger of +bursting, or the vessel sinking at the least--but, on making a startled +inquiry of the nearest person, he was reassured by learning that the +"whistle," as the frightful noise was called, was only emitted in +courteous salutation to another steamer passing in the distance, bound +down to New York; and soon, an answering squeal from the boat in +question, mercifully tempered by the distance into a faint squeak that +lent more "enchantment" to its notes than was possessed by the one which +had just startled him, corroborated the truth of this statement. + +After enjoying the scenery from the hurricane deck for some little time, +Fritz made his way below to the forward part of the main deck running +into the bows, where he had noticed, while looking down from above, his +friend the deck hand of the Garibaldi shirt and blue cotton check +trousers--or "pants" as the man would himself probably have called these +garments. + +He was busily engaged coiling down ropes and otherwise making himself +useful, singing the while in a light-hearted way a queer sort of serio- +comic and semi-sentimental ditty, the most curious composition Fritz had +ever come across. + +He, therefore, could not help laughing when the singer arrived at the +end of his lay. + +The man turned round at once on hearing the sound of his merriment. + +"Nice song, that," said Fritz, as soon as he could compose his face +sufficiently to speak. "Just the sort of tender tone about it that I +like!" + +"None o' your gas, mister," replied the other with a smile, which showed +that he was not offended at Fritz's chaff. "It's only a lot o' nonsense +I picked up somehow or other out West." + +"It is a very funny mixture," said Fritz. "It is a wonder to me who +imagines these absurd things and makes them up!" + +"Right you air," replied the man. "A heap more curious it is than the +folks who write the clever things; and the queerest bit about it is, +too, that the nonsense spreads quicker and faster than the sense!" + +"Human nature," said Fritz laconically, expressing thus his opinion of +the matter. + +"You're a philosopher, I reckon?" observed the deck hand in reply. + +"No, not quite that," answered Fritz, rather surprised at such a remark +from a man of the sort. "I merely form conclusions from what I see. +I'm only a clerk--and you?" + +"I'm a deck hand now," said the other, speaking rather bitterly. "Last +fall, I was a cow boy, Minnesota way; next year, I'll be goodness knows +what. Once, I was a gentleman!" + +"And how--" began Fritz, when the other interrupted him brusquely. + +"Put it all down to the cussed drink, mister, and you won't be far out," +said he, laughing mockingly, so as to disguise what he really felt by +the avowal; "but," he added, to turn the conversation, "you speak very +good English for a German, which I ken see you are." + +"I was educated partly in England," said Fritz. + +"Ah, that accounts for it. Been long in this country?" + +"About six weeks," replied Fritz. + +"Travelling for pleasure, or looking about you?" was the next query from +the deck hand, whom Fritz thought strangely inquisitive for an utter +stranger. Still, the man did not mean any harm; it was only the custom +of the country, as all new-comers speedily find out. + +"I'm looking about for work," he answered rather curtly. "I wish you +would get me some." + +Fritz thought this would have silenced his interlocutor; but, instead of +that, the deck hand proceeded with a fresh string of questions. + +"What can you do?" he asked amiably, his smile robbing the words of any +impertinence. "You don't look like one who has roughed it much." + +"No?" said Fritz, somewhat amused. "You would not think, then, that I +had been all through the terrible war we've had with France, eh?" + +"Pst!" ejaculated the other. "You don't call that a war, do you? Why, +you don't know what a war is in your miserable, played-out old +continent! Look at ours, lasting nearly four years, and the battle of +Gettysburgh, with thirty thousand dead alone! What do you think of +that, hey?" + +"Gravelotte had nearly as many," said Fritz quietly. + +"All right, mister; we won't argy the p'int now; but you haven't +answered me yet as to what you ken do." + +"Well, then," answered Fritz, "I can speak and write three languages, +keep books, and act as a good correspondent and manager." + +"I like that," exclaimed the other admiringly. "You speak slick and +straight to the p'int, without any bunkum or blarney, like some of them +that come over here. But, what line have you run on in the old +country?" + +"The shipping business is what I know best about," replied Fritz. + +"Ah, that's the reason, I suppose, you asked me if thar wer any ships up +to Providence, hey, mister?" + +"Yes," said Fritz. "I have applied to all the houses in New York in +vain, and I thought I would try my chance at some other seaport town." + +"Didn't like going inland, then!" + +"No," he answered. + +"And so you selected Providence?" + +"I only did so from chance. If I had not seen the name painted on the +steamer, I would not have thought of speaking to you and asking where +she was going." + +"And if you had not spoken to me again, why, I would not have known +anything about you, nor been able to put you in the way of something," +replied the deck hand, more earnestly than he had yet spoken. + +"You can do that?" said Fritz eagerly. + +"Yes; but wait till we get to Providence. As soon as the old ship is +moored alongside the wharf and all the luggage ashore, you come along of +me, and I'll show you whar to go. I shall be my own boss then, with no +skipper to order me about." + +The man hurried off as he said these last words, in obedience to a hail +from above--telling him to go and do something or other, "and look smart +about it too"--which had probably influenced his remark about being his +own "boss" when he got to land; and Fritz did not see him again until +the next morning, by which time the steamer had reached its destination. + +To Fritz's eyes, Providence was more like a European town than New York, +the more especially from his being accustomed to the look of seaports on +the Baltic and banks of the Elbe; for the houses were mostly built of +stone, and there was much less of that wooden, flimsy look which the +newly sprung up cities of America possess. + +This old-fashioned appearance is a characteristic of all the New England +states--Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut--for, here the +original "Pilgrim Fathers" settled down and built unto themselves +dwellings as nearly like those they had left behind them as it was +possible with the materials to their hands, their descendants seemingly +keeping up the habit of building in like manner. If this is not the +case, then, most certainly, the old buildings of two centuries ago have +lasted uncommonly well! + +Fritz waited to go ashore until his friend the deck hand should be +disengaged. He had seen him soon after they reached the steamer's +wharf; and, again, a second time when the crowd of passengers, with the +exception of himself, brought up from New York had all disembarked--the +man telling him he was just going to "clean himself down a bit," and he +would then be ready to take him to a decent place to stop, where he +would not be charged too exorbitantly for his board. + +And so Fritz waited on the steamer's deck alongside the quay, gazing +with much interest at the scene around him. + +There were not quite so many ships as his casual acquaintance had led +him to expect when he told him he would "see heaps up thaar"; but, +still, the port evidently had a large import trade, for several big +vessels were moored in the harbour and others were loading up at the +wharves or discharging cargo, the latter being in the majority, while +lots of smaller sailing craft and tiny boats were flying about, +transporting goods and bales of merchandise to other places further up +the river. + +He had hardly, however, seen half what was in view when some one tapped +him on the shoulder, and he turned round. + +It was his friend the deck hand of the red flannel shirt and blue check +cotton trousers; but, a wonderful transformation had taken place in his +dress! + +Clad now in an irreproachable suit of black, with a broad, grey felt hat +on his head, the man looked quite the gentleman he had represented +himself as once being. His manners, too, seemed to have changed with +his outer apparel, the off-hand boorishness of the whilom "deck hand" +having vanished with his cast-off raiment. + +"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, sir," he said to Fritz, still, +however, with the strongly accentuated "sir" he had noticed in those who +had spoken to him at New York, "but I've hurried up as quickly as I +could. Shall we now go ashore?" + +"Certainly," said Fritz, "although you've not detained me, I assure you. +I have had plenty to look at during the little time I've been waiting." + +"Ah, you've not seen half of Providence yet," replied the other, as the +two stepped from the gangway that led from the deck of the steamer on to +the stone quay alongside. "Why, some of the houses further up are finer +than those of Broadway!" + +"This is your native place, I suppose?" said Fritz slyly. + +"Yes," answered his companion, "but I do not flatter it on that +account." + +The two walked on, until presently the Rhode Islander stopped in front +of one of the smaller hotels. This looked, despite its lesser +proportions, in comparison with its larger rivals, far more respectable +and aristocratic--if such terms may be permitted to anything +appertaining to the land of so-called "equality" and "freedom," where, +according to the poetical belief, there is no aristocracy save hat of +merit and shoddy! + +"Let's go in here," said the deck hand. "It is a great place for the +merchants and sea-captains, and I might be able to introduce you to some +one I know while we're having a drink." + +"It's too early for that," said Fritz, feeling inclined to draw back, +remembering what his companion had confessed the night before about his +habits. + +"Ah, I see," exclaimed the other, colouring up as he took the hint, +being evidently highly sensitive. "But you need not be afraid of that +now. I'm always on my good behaviour whenever I come up to Providence. +I'm really not going in here to drink now, I assure you; this is a house +of call for business people, and I want to see some one just come home +whom I know." + +"All right, then," said Fritz, going into the hotel without any further +protest; when, following his companion through several long passages, +they at length entered a large room at the back. + +"Jerusalem!" ejaculated the Rhode Islander almost the very instant he +had crossed the threshold of this apartment. "If that aren't the +identical coon right oppo-site, mister!" + +"Where?" asked Fritz. + +"There," said the other, pointing to where a rather short, broad- +shouldered man was engaged in conversation with a lithe lad, whose back +was turned but the colour of whose hair reminded Fritz of poor Eric. + +"Hullo, Cap'en Brown," sang out the whilom deck hand at this juncture; +and, the broad-shouldered man looking round in the direction whence the +voice proceeded, the lad also turned his face towards Fritz. + +Good heavens! It was his brother Eric, whom he and every one at home +had believed to be buried beneath the ocean with the rest of the boat's +crew that had escaped when the _Gustav Barentz_ foundered, nothing of +them having been heard since! + +With one bound he was across the room. + +"Eric!" he exclaimed in astonishment. + +"Fritz!" ejaculated the other; and, forgetting their surroundings in the +joy of thus meeting again, the two brothers fell into each other's arms, +almost weeping with joy. + +"By thunder!" said the Rhode Islander to his friend the sea captain, +both looking on with much interest at the affecting scene, "I'm glad I +made him come in here anyhow, and we'll have a licker-up on the strength +of it, Cap'en Brown. It seems it wer a sort of providence that made him +take our boat away haar, after all!" + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +THE YANKEE SKIPPER. + +"And how on earth did you escape?" asked Fritz, when he and Eric had +somewhat recovered from their first surprise and emotion at meeting +again in so unexpected a manner. + +"Well, it's a long story to tell, brother," replied Eric, as soon as he +could speak calmly, putting his arm through that of Fritz and drawing +him towards a sort of long sofa, like a divan, which stretched across +one side of the wide apartment where they had so strangely encountered-- +the other and opposite side of the room being occupied by the usual long +hotel "bar," common in most American towns, in front of which various +little detached groups of people were standing up, drinking and chatting +together. "Suppose we come to an anchor here awhile, and I'll reel you +off a yarn about all that has happened to me since I left Lubeck." + +"All right, we may as well sit down, at all events," said Fritz. "They +won't charge us for that, eh?" + +"Oh no, I guess not," answered Eric, with that old light-hearted laugh +of his, which his brother had never thought he should ever hear again. +"This is a free country, they say, you know!" + +"Now tell me all about yourself," said Fritz, when they had ensconced +themselves comfortably in the furthest corner of the divan, or settee, +which they had pretty much to themselves. "I'm dying to know how you +were saved!" + +"Right you are, my hearty," replied Eric, in sailor fashion. "Here goes +for the log of my cruise in the poor old _Gustav Barentz_!" + +"Fire away!" said Fritz; and then, the lad thereupon began his story. + +The ship, Eric declared, was found to be terribly leaky almost as soon +as they had started on the voyage, and this necessitated their having to +put into Plymouth for repairs, which detained them a considerable time. +Indeed, it was as much as they could do to patch her up at all; for, her +timbers were so rotten and the vessel had been strained so much from +overloading that she was really unfit to be sent to sea. However, as +Fritz already knew, the _Gustav Barentz_ managed to clear out of the +Channel, reaching the latitude of the Cape de Verde Islands all right, +and it was shortly after passing Teneriffe that Eric had been enabled to +forward that letter of his which had so gladdened his mother's heart, to +Lubeck by a homeward-bound ship. After that, however, all went wrong +with the ill-fated vessel. She had knocked about in the doldrums for +weeks; and, after making a long leg over to the South American coast, +had succeeded at last in getting round the Cape of Good Hope safely-- +although taking a terrible time over it, and dragging out a most tedious +passage from Plymouth--when she met a south-east gale, just as she had +entered the Indian Ocean and was shaping a course towards the Straits of +Sunda, so as to fetch Java. + +Leaky and strained and overladen as the ship was, she was in no +condition to fight the elements on fair terms; so the result of it was, +that, after being buffetted by the gale for some four days and then, +finally, pooped by a heavy following sea as she tried to run before the +wind, it was discovered that she was making water too fast for the pumps +to be of any avail. Consequently, as nothing further could be done, it +was determined to abandon her. Accordingly, the jolly-boat and pinnace +were provisioned and launched over the side, the crew being divided +between the two, under the direction of the captain and chief officer; +and they had hardly time to get into these frail craft, to encounter +once again on worse terms the perils of the ocean that had already +proved too strong for their vessel, and push off from her side, when +they saw the old _Gustav Barentz_ go down before their eyes--foundering +almost without a moment's warning. + +"It was terrible for you all to be left tossing about on the raging sea +in a couple of open boats!" said Fritz sympathisingly, pressing his +brother's arm,--"worse than being in a leaky ship, I should think." + +"Yes," answered Eric; "but we kept up our courage well, the captain +sustaining us with brave words, saying that, as we were not many miles +south of Cape Arguilhas and had the wind blowing right on to the land, +we must soon reach shore. But, I don't know, I'm sure, how he came to +place the ship where he did; for, according to my reckoning, we were +several degrees, at the least, to the eastward of the Cape. However, I +suppose he said what he did to prevent our giving way to despair, which, +perhaps, we might otherwise have done, eh?" + +"Most probably," said Fritz, agreeing with his brother. "It would be +very unlikely for the captain to make so great an error in his +calculations as that. He was esteemed a good navigator, you know, by +Herr Grosschnapper." + +"Well, anyway," continued Eric, without waiting to argue this point with +his brother, "we did not reach land that day, which some of the men +expected from his words; nor did we the next morning, although, then +much to our sorrow, we could see the pinnace no longer near us, she +having parted company in the night time and gone to the bottom, as we +thought." + +"You were wrong," interrupted Fritz; "the boat was picked up by an +Australian ship, the survivors being taken on to Melbourne. It was +through these that we heard later on of the loss of the _Gustav +Barentz_; and naturally, as you had not been rescued at the same time, +we all gave you and the captain's party up." + +"Oh, indeed!" said Eric. "I'm right glad to hear that! Why, we thought +that they were the lost ones, not us, lamenting them much accordingly! +That Groots, the first mate, was a capital chap, as fine an officer as +ever stepped aboard a ship; so I'm pleased to know he's safe. But, to +go on with my yarn, there we found ourselves alone in the morning on the +wild waste of waters, dancing about in an angry sea that threatened +every moment to overwhelm us, and with the gale increasing instead of +having blown itself out, as we hoped. We didn't feel very comfortable, +I can tell you, Fritz." + +"I should think not," responded his brother. + +"No; for it was as much as we could do to prevent the boat from filling +every moment, the waves were breaking over her so continually. It only +escaped sinking by constantly baling her out with our boots and keeping +her head to the wind with a floating anchor, which we rigged together +out of all the spare oars and spars we had aboard, veering the little +craft to leeward of this by the painter. All that day, too, the gale +kept up; and the sea, you may be sure, did not calm down, rolling +mountains high, as it seemed to us just down to its level in the jolly- +boat! So it was the next night, there not being the slightest lull, we +having to ride it out all the while; but, on the third morning, the gale +moderated sufficiently for us to be able to scud before it in the +direction of the Cape. It was lucky for us that the wind, by the way, +did not shift once while we were lying-to, blowing steadily from the +same quarter it began in, from the south-east. If it had changed at +all, especially during the night at any time, it would have been all up +with us!" + +"Yes?" said Fritz interrogatively. + +"Why, of course it would, for it was as dark as pitch, so that you could +not see your hand before your face; and if the wind had chopped round, +bringing us athwart the heavy rolling sea that was running, we should +have been swamped in a moment, without the chance of saving ourselves by +turning the boat's head so as to meet the waves; do you see now?" + +"I see," said Fritz, with a shudder. "It was bad enough to confront +your peril in daylight, but it would have been awful to have been +engulfed in the darkness!" + +"That was what was in our minds," proceeded Eric; "at least, I can +answer for my own thoughts. However, on the morning of the third day, +as I've told you, the wind slackening down somewhat, although still +blowing steadily from the south-east, we hauled up to our floating +anchor, which we quickly proceeded to take to pieces, hauling on board +again the oars and old boat-stretchers that had composed it, and which +had served the purpose of fending off somewhat the rollers, these +breaking over the spars, under whose lee we had comparatively still +water. We then, with a great deal of difficulty, as it was a dangerous +operation on account of getting broadside on to the waves, managed to +slew the jolly-boat's head round; when, rigging up a scrap of a sprit- +sail amidships, so as not to bury the little craft's nose, which might +have been the case if we had tried to step our proper mast more forward, +with the captain steering with an oar out to windward to give him +greater command of her than the rudder would have done, we scudded away +towards the African coast, giving up the pinnace as lost, and looking +out only for ourselves." + +"You had plenty to do," said Fritz, "without thinking of any one else." + +"Yes," replied Eric; "but still, we could not forget them so easily as +all that. Shore folk think sailors are heartless, and that when a poor +chap is lost overboard, they only say that `So-and-so has lost the +number of his mess!' and, after having an auction over his kit in the +fo'c's'le, then dismiss him from their memory! But, I assure you, this +is not always the case. You see, a ship is a sort of little world, and +those on board are so closely bound together--getting to know each other +so thoroughly from not having any others to associate with--that when +one is taken away from amongst them, particularly by a violent death, +his absence, cannot but be felt. A sailor often misses even a messmate +whom he may dislike. How much the more, therefore, did we feel the loss +of the whole boat's crew of the pinnace, every man of whom was almost as +much a brother to me as you!" + +"I beg your pardon if I spoke thoughtlessly," said Fritz; "but I should +have imagined that being in such imminent danger, you would not have had +much time to mourn your lost comrades." + +"Nor did we," continued Eric, "so long as we had something to do, either +in helping to bale the boat out or keeping her head to wind; but, when +we began to run before the gale, the men stretched out in the bottom and +along the stern-sheets, doing nothing,--for there was nothing for us to +do,--we began to think of the poor fellows. This was only for a short +time, however, as presently we had a more serious consideration on our +minds than even the fate of the others. During all the strain on us, +when we were in such danger, none of us had thought of eating or +drinking; and, consequently, we had not examined the provisions--put +hastily on board as we were leaving the sinking ship. But, now, feeling +almost famished, on proceeding to overhaul the lockers, we found to our +dismay that the sea water had spoilt everything, our biscuit being paste +and the other food rendered unfit for use." + +"What a calamity!" exclaimed Fritz. + +"Yes," said Eric, "it was. Fortunately, we had some water, although our +two barricoes did not contain an over-abundant supply for seven men as +there were of us in the jolly-boat all told, including me. The captain, +too, had stowed away a bottle of rum in the pocket of his pea jacket; +and this being served out all round in a little tin pannikin we had, +diluted to the strength of about four-water grog, it strengthened us all +up a bit, bracing up our energies for what lay before us." + +"What did you do?" asked Fritz. + +"Why, what could we do, save let the boat go where the wind chose to +take us, and trust in providence!" said Eric, seemingly surprised at the +question. + +"Ah, we had an awful time of it," he resumed presently. "When you come +to being five days in an open boat, with nothing to eat and only a small +quantity of water to assuage your burning thirst with at stated +intervals, exposed all the time, too, to rough seas breaking over you-- +encrusting your hair and skin and everything with salt that blistered +you when the sun came out afterwards, as it did, roasting us almost as +soon as the gale lessened--why it was a painful ordeal, that's all! The +rum did not last out long; and soon after the final drop of this was +served out, the captain succumbed to weakness, having been dying by +inches, and the stimulant only sustaining him so long. We kept him a +couple of days, and then flung the body overboard, along with those of +two other men who had died in the meantime from exposure and want of +food; thus, only three others were now left in the jolly-boat besides +me." + +"And then?" interrupted Fritz anxiously. + +"I don't know what happened afterwards," said Eric. "I got delirious, I +suppose, for I remember fancying myself at home again in Lubeck, with +Lorischen bending over me and offering me all sorts of nice things to +eat! Really, I do not recollect anything further as to what occurred in +the boat." + +"How were you saved, then?" asked Fritz. + +"It was that good Captain Brown there, talking to the gentleman whom you +came in here with," replied Eric, pointing out the broad-shouldered, +jolly-looking, seafaring man whom Fritz's friend, the deck hand of the +steamer, had accosted and was now conversing with, close to where the +two brothers were seated on the divan. + +"Oh, he rescued you!" said Fritz, looking at the seafaring man with some +interest. "I should like to thank him." + +"Yes; he's a good fellow," Eric went on. "The first thing I saw when in +my right senses again, I think, after we had heaved the bodies of our +dead shipmates overboard the boat, was Captain Brown bending over me. I +must have confused his face with that of Lorischen, whom I had been +dreaming of, for I thought it was hers, and called the captain by her +name." + +"You did?" + +"Yes; I remember his laughing and saying, `poor little chap,' meaning +me. He took care of me well, though; and it was only through his kind +care that they were able to bring me round again. They told me +afterwards that I was in a most pitiable state of emaciation--a +skeleton, they said, with only fragments of burnt, blistered skin +covering my poor bones!" + +"And the others," inquired Fritz,--"did they recover too?" + +"No; not one of the three was alive when Captain Brown's ship came +across our boat. I was the only one who had any life remaining. They +thought me a corpse, too, and would have left me to die with the rest, +if it hadn't been for the captain, who declared there was breath still +in my apparently dead body, and kindly had me hoisted on board and +attended to." + +"But how was it you never wrote home?" said Fritz after a bit, the +recollection of what he had gone through overcoming Eric and making him +silent for a moment. + +"How could I, when the first land I touched, since I was picked up in +the ocean south of the Cape, was when I stepped ashore here last week!" + +"I can't make that out," said Fritz, puzzled at this. + +"Why," replied the other, "you must know that Captain Brown's ship, the +_Pilot's Bride_, is a whaling vessel; and she was on her usual cruise +for her fishing ground in the Southern Ocean, when I was rescued. If +there had been a boatload of us, or had our skipper been alive, perhaps +Captain Brown would have put in to the Cape to land us and so give news +of the loss of our ship; but, as there was only me, a boy, and I was for +days insensible and unable to give him any particulars about the vessel +I belonged to, of course he continued his voyage. When I came to +myself, he promised to put me on board the first home-going ship we met; +but, as we were far out of the track of these, we never came across a +sail. We did land at Tristan d'Acunha, about which I'll have to tell +you something bye-and-bye as to a plan I've got in my head, however, as +no vessel with the exception of ourselves had been there for six months, +there was not much use in my leaving a letter to be forwarded home, on +the chance of its being called for, was there?" + +"No," said Fritz, laughing. "A bad sort of post office that!" + +"So," continued Eric, "I had to wait till I landed here last Friday, +when I wrote at once to dear mother and you, whom I thought would of +course still be at Lubeck." + +"Ah, you don't know all that has happened since you left," said Fritz +solemnly. + +"Nothing is the matter with mother, dear mutterchen?" asked Eric in a +frightened voice. + +"No; she's quite well, thank God," said Fritz, who then proceeded to +give his brother a history of all that had transpired in his absence-- +the account taking all the longer from Eric's ignorance of the war and +everything connected with it, he not having seen a newspaper from the +time of his leaving home until his arrival at Rhode Island, when, the +events of the past memorable year being of course stale news, they had +no chance of being communicated to him. + +"And now," said Fritz, when he had made an end of his confidences in +return for his brother's story, "I want to know Captain Brown, and thank +him for all his kindness to you, Eric." + +As Fritz said this, the broad-shouldered, jolly, seafaring man Eric had +pointed out--who was still talking to Fritz's acquaintance of the +steamboat, close to the divan and within sound of the brothers' voices-- +hearing his name spoken, looked towards Fritz, who at once raised his +hat politely. + +"Sarvint, sir," said he, coming forward and stretching out an open hand +about the size of a small-sized ham. + +"You're the brother, I reckon from the likeness, of this young shaver I +picked up off the Cape, hey? My name's Brown, Cap'en Brown, sir, of the +_Pilot's Bride_, the smartest whaling craft as ever sailed out o' +Providence, I guess. Glad to know you, mister!" + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +AN INVITATION. + +"Yes, I'm Eric's brother," said Fritz, grasping the huge paw of the +other, and shaking hands cordially,--"Fritz Dort, at your service. I'm +only too glad to have the pleasure of personally thanking you, on my own +and my mother's behalf, for your bravery in saving my poor brother here +from a watery grave, as well as for all your kindness to him afterwards! +He has told me about you, captain, and how you rescued him at sea, +besides treating him so very handsomely afterwards." + +"Avast there!" roared out the Yankee skipper in a voice which was as +loud as if he were hailing the maintop from his own quarter-deck, albeit +it had a genial, cheery tone and there was a good-natured expression on +his jolly, weather-beaten face. "Stow all thet fine lingo, my hearty! +I only did for the b'y, mister, no more'n any other sailor would hev +done fur a shepmate in distress; though, I reckon I wer powerful glad I +overhauled thet there jolly-boat in time to save him, afore starvation +an' the sun hed done their work on him. I opine another day's exposure +would hev settled the b'y's hash; yes, sir, I du!" + +"I've no doubt of that," said Fritz kindly. "From what he says, you +must have picked him up just in the nick of time." + +"Yes, sirree, you bet on thet," responded the skipper. "Six hours more +driftin' about in thet boat, with the sun a-broilin' his brain-box an' +his wits wool-gatherin' in delirimums, would ha' flummuxed him to a +haar, I guess. He wer so mad when we got him aboard thet he took me fur +his gran'mother, Lorry sunthin' or other--I'm durned if I ken kinder +rec'lect the name!" + +"So he tells me," said Fritz, laughing at the idea of old Lorischen +being mistaken for the broad-shouldered, red-faced, whaling captain. +The old nurse, who was very particular about her personal appearance, +would have had a fit at the bare supposition, much less at such an +allusion to her age as would have supposed her ancient enough to be +Eric's grandmother! + +"Never mind, mister," continued the skipper, giving Eric a hearty slap +on the back, which made the lad wince although he smiled at what the +worthy sailor intended for a little friendly attention. "He's all right +now, the b'y is--ain't you, my bully, hey?" + +"Yes; all right, captain, all right, sir, thanks to you," replied Eric. + +"Thet's your sort," said the skipper exultantly. "We've coddled him up +an' made a man of him ag'in, we hev, sirree. Jerusalem, mister, you +wouldn't know him ag'in for the skillagalee young shaver we h'isted +aboard! An', what is more, mister, look here, we've made a sailor of +the b'y since he's been along of us in the _Pilot's Bride_--none of your +lazy, good-for-nothin' idlers; but, a reg'ler downeaster cat block, +clear grit an' no mistake, a sailor every inch of him, yes, sir!" + +"I should have thought he had seen enough of the sea, eh?" said Fritz, +turning to Eric with a smile. + +"Thunder, mister!" exclaimed the Yankee skipper indignantly. "What d'ye +mean with your `'nough of the sea,' when he's only jest cut his eye- +teeth an' taken to larnin'? Why, mister, it would be a sin to let thet +b'y turn his hand to anythin' else, fur he's a born sailor to the very +backbone!" + +"What say you, Eric?" said Fritz to his brother. + +"Oh, I'm with the captain," replied he. "I always loved the sea, and +the wreck of the old _Gustav Barentz_ has not altered my thinking about +it just the same. I don't believe I could ever settle down to a shore +life now! I have learnt a lot of seamanship, too, with Captain Brown; +and he says, that if I will go with him on his next whaling voyage, +he'll make me third mate of the _Pilot's Bride_." + +"Jest so, my young cock shaver," said that gentleman; "an' what old Job +Brown sez, why I guess he'll stick to! You rec'lect what I told you +'bout wages, hey? We whalin' men don't gen'rally give a fixed sum, as +we go shares in the vally o' the venture; but, if yer brother haar likes +it better, I'll give you twenty dollars a month, besides yer keep an' +mess money, thaar!" + +"I'm sure, Captain Brown, that is a very generous offer," replied Fritz, +acting as spokesman for his brother; "still, I hardly think my poor +mother would like his being away for so long a time as your voyage would +last." + +"We'll be away, I reckon, fur a twelvemonth, countin' from next month, +when we'll start--thet is if my shep's ready for the v'y'ge, as I kinder +guess she'll be, with me to look arter her an' see the longshore men +don't lose time over the job," interrupted the skipper. "Say now, she +sails latter end o' July, so as to git down to the Forties afore +October, or tharabouts; waall, I guess we'll cast anchor in Narraganset +Bay ag'in 'fore next fall--will that du for you, mister, hey?" + +"You see," explained Fritz, "my poor mother thinks him dead; and, of +course, after she gets the letter he tells me he has just sent home, it +will be as bad as a second death to her to know that he has now started +on another voyage without returning to see her first! Besides that, +I've read and heard that whaling life is terribly dangerous--isn't it?" + +"Not a bit of it," said the skipper bluntly, in sea-dog fashion. "I +reckon it's nary half so dangerous as sailin' back'ards an' for'ards +across the herrin' pond 'twixt Noo Yark an' your old Eu-rope in one o' +them ocean steamers, thet are thought so safe, whar you run the risk o' +bustin' yer biler an' gettin' blown up, or else smashin' yer screw-shaft +an' goin' down to Davy Jones' locker! Why, thaar ain't a quarter the +per'l 'bout it, much less half, as I sed jest naow! You jest ax my +friend haar, whom you seem to hev known afore. Say, Nat, what d'ye +think o' whalin' life?" + +"Safe as the National Bank, I guess, Job," promptly responded the +individual addressed, Fritz's acquaintance the "deck hand," whose full +name he now learnt was Nathaniel Washington Slater--usually addressed as +"Nathaniel W Slater," or called familiarly "Nat" by his friends! + +"Thaar!" exclaimed the skipper, "what more d'ye want than thet, hey? +You see, mister, the _Pilot's Bride_ don't do whalin' up in Baffin's Bay +an' further north, whar I'll allow the fishin' is a bit risky. We only +makes reg'ler trips once a year to the Southern Ocean, callin' in on our +way at Saint Helena an' the Cape o' Good Hope. Thaar, I guess, we meets +a fleet of schooners thet do all the fishin' fur us 'mongst the islands. +We fetch 'em out grub, an' sich-like notions, an' take in return all +the ile an' skins they've got to bring home. In course, sometimes, we +strike a fish on our own 'count; but, we don't make a trade of it, 'cept +the black fins comes under our noses, so to speak! The b'y'll run no +risk, you bet, if you're skeart about him." + +"No, not a bit, mister," corroborated Nat; "and it's a downright capital +openin' for him, I guess, too. Why, there are scores of people would +give something handsome as a premium to get the cap'en to take their +sons along o' him!" + +"Thet's a fact," said the skipper; "though I reckon I don't kinder like +to be bothered with b'ys--'specially sich as are mother's darlin's. +They're gen'rally powerful sassy, or else white-livered do-nuthins! +I've taken a fancy to this lad, howbeit; an' thet's the reason I wants +fur to hev him with me." + +"Besides, Fritz," put in Eric, who had refrained from speaking as yet +throughout the conversation, although so interested in it, "you must +recollect what a sum mother paid for my outfit? Well, I have lost every +stitch of it, and shall not get the slightest return from the owners for +what went down in the _Gustav Barentz_--merchant sailors have to run the +risk of all such casualties, you know! Now, I should not like to go +back on mother's hands again, like a bad penny, with nothing to bless +myself with; but, here's a capital chance for me. As Captain Brown +says, I shall return in a year, and then my wages would be something +handsome to take home to mutterchen, even if I then gave up the sea." + +"Did you tell mother of this in your letter?" asked Fritz. + +"Certainly; for, of course, I did not expect to see you here. I told +her that I had almost pledged my word with Captain Brown to go with him, +even if it were only to pay him for what he had already done for me, in +advancing me money to buy clothes and other necessaries, for I hadn't a +rag on when he rescued me, as well as promising to keep me here till the +vessel is ready to start again on her next voyage. Why, Fritz, he's so +kind, that he actually offered to pay my passage home, if I were bent on +seeing mother first before deciding about his offer!" + +"That settles it then, Eric, for mother will be certain to say that the +right thing to do will be to pay your debts first; in addition to which, +knowing I am now out here, she will not expect you to return yet. +Really, Captain Brown," added Fritz, turning to the skipper, who +appeared to be anxiously awaiting the result of the colloquy between the +two brothers, "I'm quite at a loss to express my gratitude to you, both +on my brother's and my own behalf! I hope you will not think me +lukewarm in the matter, from my taking so long to make up my mind?" + +"Sartenly not, sirree," said the Yankee skipper with emphasis, as he +gripped Fritz's hand again. "Sartenly not, sirree. Bizness is bizness, +an' pleasure's another kind o' notion altogether! I only gev' the b'y +an invitation, thet's all, I reckon!" + +"An invitation which he now accepts with thanks," replied Fritz. "Eh, +Eric?" he added, turning to the lad, who was looking at Captain Brown +with a face as beaming as his own. + +"Of course I will," answered Eric, without a moment's hesitation. "I +should be a donkey to refuse such an offer." + +"Waall," drawled out the skipper in high good humour, "I'm raal glad to +hear you say thet so. You won't repent j'inin' me, I ken tell you, nor +regret slingin' yer hammock aboard the _Pilot's Bride_!" + +He then proceeded to wring Eric's hand as cordially, and forcibly too, +in his big fist as he had done his brother's. + +"Now thet's all settled an' fixed up slick," said Captain Brown, when he +had finished hand-shaking, passing on the friendly civility to Mr Nat +Slater. "I guess we'd better hev a liquor-up to seal the barg'in; an' +when thet's done, if you've got nuthin' better to du, I reckon you'd +better come along o' me to my little shanty at the head of the bay--your +brother's ben made welcome thaar already." + +"You are very kind," replied Fritz, to whom this courteous speech was +addressed; "but this gentleman here," indicating Nat, "was just going to +show me a boarding-house where I can put up at. He has also promised to +introduce me to some shipping firm where I can get work." + +"Out o' collar, then?" asked the skipper, with deep interest. + +"Yes," answered Fritz. "I could get no employment in New York, and that +is what made me come up here, so providentially as it has now turned +out." + +"Waall, come home along o' me, anyhow, till you find sunthin' to put yer +hand to," said the other kindly. "My folks'll make you downright +welcome, you bet, mister." + +"Thank you, I will," replied Fritz, accepting the kind invitation in the +same spirit in which it was offered; and presently the two brothers, +reunited so strangely, were on their way, in company with the good- +hearted skipper to his "shanty," as he called it, on Narraganset Bay--a +comfortable, old-fashioned house, as Fritz presently found out, +commanding a fine view of the Providence river on one hand, and of the +wide Atlantic, rolling away into the illimitable distance, on the other. + +"Nat" declined to accompany the party, on the plea of an engagement He +made an appointment, however, with Fritz for the morrow, promising then +to introduce him to some business men, who, he said, would probably find +the young German employment; after which he took leave of the Yankee +skipper and the two brothers, with a brief parting, "So long!" + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +ERIC'S PROJECT. + +Fritz was not long in the company of Mr Nathaniel Washington Slater on +the following day before he discovered, much to his disappointment, that +he was one of those superficial characters who are given largely to +dealing in promises that they either have no intention of keeping when +making them originally, or which they never were or would be in a +position to carry out. + +When coming up Long Island Sound on board the Rhode Island steamer and +having that friendly chat in the bows of the boat, the deck hand had +been lavishly expansive as to what he would be able to accomplish for +his newly-made acquaintance, in the way of procuring him employment; +but, when Fritz met him again, according to their arrangement of the +previous afternoon, "Nat" did not appear to exhibit that eager alacrity +in introducing him to business men--or "big bugs," as he termed them-- +which his words of the night before had led Fritz naturally to expect. + +Whether this arose from the fact that the deck hand's desire to aid the +young German had evaporated as rapidly as it had arisen, or because his +morning reflections had convinced him that he had too rashly promised +something which he was unable to perform, Fritz, of course, could not +precisely tell. Whatever was the reason, the result came to the same +thing, that Mr Slater showed a most unmistakable inclination to "back +out" of the matter in the same easy way in which those double-ender +floating palaces Fritz had noticed on the way up could go astern in +order to avoid an obstruction; albeit Nat was prolific in the extreme +with all manner of excuses--excuses that were as baseless and +unsubstantial as the foam churned up by the steamboat's paddle-wheels! + +He "felt ugly" and was "no end sorry," but he really "hadn't the time +that morning." This was his first attempt at shunting the engagement; +but then, when Fritz, in the exuberance of hopeful possibilities, +offered to meet him at the same place and time on the following day, +"Nat" "couldn't think of putting him to the trouble," as he "might have +to return to New York in the boat at a moment's notice." Besides, he +said, it would be "better to put off the appointment awhile," as he'd +just heard that the "boss" of the very identical shipping firm where he +thought he could have got Fritz a berth had started "right away" for +Boston, and he was such a "durned electric eel of a cuss, here, there, +and everywhere," that it would be "just dubersome to kalkerlate" when he +would "reel his way back to hum!" + +Fritz could not understand many of these very choice Americanisms; +still, he was sufficiently gifted with common sense to see pretty +plainly that all the deck hand's "tall talking" of the previous evening +had been, to use his own expressive vernacular, nothing but "bunkum," +and that, if he wished to get any situation in the place, he must trust +more to his own good fortune than to Mr Slater's kind offices as a go- +between. + +This disheartened him at the time; but when he got back to Captain +Brown's shanty later on, the worthy old skipper, noticing his +despondency, soon cheered him out of it. + +"Bless you, sonny," said he affectionately, for he seemed to have taken +as great a fancy to Fritz as he had to Eric--the young fellow having +told him all his plans and prospects, besides giving him an epitome of +his adventures during the war when narrating the same for his brother's +edification,--"Bless you, sonny, nary you mind what thet ne'er-do-well +Nat Slater sez. I'd half a mind to tell you thet yesterday, when I seed +you so thick with him! Jerusalem, mister, he's a coon thet's bin allers +a loafer all his life, stickin' to nuthin' even fur a dog-watch, an' as +shifty as one o' them sculpens in the creek thaar! You jest wait an' +make yourself comf'able haar till bye-em-bye, an' I reckon we'll fix you +up to sunthin'." + +The same evening, when the two brothers were alone together, and +speaking of old Captain Brown's kindness, Eric suddenly, as if in a +moment of inspiration, said, "Why should you not come along with me in +the _Pilot's Bride_ when we start next month?" + +"What!" exclaimed Fritz in astonishment. + +"Don't look so startled, brother," said Eric, laughing at the expression +of the other's face. "Recollect, that as you say, you've been unable to +get any work here, so, why not go with me? I'm sure Captain Brown would +take you with us if you ask him." + +"But I'm not a sailor," argued Fritz; "and, besides, if I were one, +going to sea would not be the way to make the fortune I have planned, so +that I may be able to return home and marry Madaleine." + +"Ah, that dear Madaleine!" said Eric. "I wonder when I'll see her, and +whether I shall think her all that you describe? Never mind," he added, +seeing that Fritz appeared vexed at this speech, "I've no doubt she's a +beautiful maiden, and that you'll both be as happy as the day is long! +But, I'm going to speak about business now, my brother; and, if you +listen, you'll see that my idea of your coming in the _Pilot's Bride_ is +not such a wild-goose chase, after all." + +"I confess I don't see it yet," interposed Fritz, with a smile at Eric's +boyish eagerness. "In what way will going whaling with Captain Brown +and your important self advance my fortunes?" + +"Listen," said the other, "and I'll soon tell you. Do you recollect +when I was recounting my story, that after I was picked up from the boat +and taken on board the _Pilot's Bride_, I mentioned the fact of the ship +calling at Tristan d'Acunha?" + +"Yes; and you also said that you would inform me of something important +about the place `bye-and-bye,' if you alluded then to what you're going +to tell me now." + +"Precisely, `bye-and-bye' is `now,'" said Eric, laughing again and +tossing his mane-like hair back from his forehead in the old fashion. +"We landed at Tristan d'Acunha--" + +"Where on earth is that place?" interrupted Fritz. "I've a confused +notion that it is an island of some sort; but, in what precise spot it +is situated, I'm sure I can't tell!" + +"Well, then," commenced Eric grandiloquently--only too glad of the +opportunity of having to instruct his elder brother, who had been +regarded in the family circle as the centre of all wisdom--"`Tristan +d'Acunha' is the centre island of a group, so-called after the +Portuguese navigator who discovered them in the early beginning of the +sixteenth century. The islands are probably the most isolated and +remote of all the abodes of men, lying as they do almost in the middle +of the Atlantic Ocean, and nearly equidistant from the continents of +America and Africa; for, they are situated nearly on the line that could +be drawn between Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope--from the latter of +which they are distant some fifteen hundred miles in a westerly +direction, while Saint Helena, the nearest other land to them on the +north, is thirteen hundred miles away." + +"You're very explicit, I'm sure," said Fritz in a chaffing way; "you +must have been coaching up your geography recently." + +"I disdain vulgar interruption and idle clamour," returned the other in +a similar vein. "But, to proceed. The group consists of the larger +island of Tristan and two smaller islands--Inaccessible Island, some +eighteen miles to the south-west, and Nightingale Island, twenty miles +to the south. These islands are uninhabited, save by penguins and +seals; but an interesting little colony of some eighty souls occupies +Tristan, breeding cattle and cultivating vegetables, with which they +supply passing vessels, mostly whalers--these calling there from time to +time, on their way to and from their fishing grounds in the great +Southern Ocean." + +"Your account is highly interesting, my dear Eric," said Fritz, when his +brother had completed this exhaustive description of the Tristan +d'Acunha group; "still, I confess I do not see in what way it affects +me." + +"Don't you?" + +"No." + +"Then you will soon; listen a moment longer. I told you that, with the +exception of the larger one, these islands are uninhabited save by the +penguins and seals and such-like marine animals." + +"Yes, you've told me that; and I don't wonder at it when they are +situated so remotely from all civilisation." + +"That fact has its advantages none the less," proceeded Eric. "Being so +cut off from communication with men makes these islands just the +favourite resort of those animals that shun the presence of their +destroyers. Seals, as you know, are very nervous, retiring creatures +seeking their breeding-places in the most out-of-the-way, deserted spots +they can find; and the advance of the human race, planting colonies +where the poor things had formerly undisputed sway around the shores of +the South American continent, has driven them further and further +afield, or rather to sea, until they are now only to be met with in any +numbers in the Antarctic Ocean, and such islands as lie adjacent to that +great Southern continent which has never yet been discovered--although +Lord Ross pretty nearly put foot on it, if any explorer can be said to +have done that." + +"Really, Eric," exclaimed Fritz jokingly, "you surpass yourself!" + +"Oh, I've read up all this in some books Captain Brown lent me," said +the boy. "I wanted to learn everything that was to be learnt about a +whaler's life, and to become acquainted with the special parts of the +ocean that have to be visited by vessels in the trade in order to find a +profitable fishing ground." + +"But you've been talking about seals, not whales," remarked Fritz. + +"Yes, because it is with seals that my present business lies," said the +other, not a bit put out by the correction. + +"Banished now from their once favourite waters around Cape Horn, +adjacent to the islands of the Pacific, there are yet some stray +outlandish spots left which the animals frequent, so as to be able to +breed in peace and multiply, without fear of that wholesale +extermination which is their unhappy lot elsewhere. Amongst such +isolated places is the Tristan d'Acunha group; and, to Inaccessible +Island as well as the other islets they come in countless numbers every +year. Seal fishing is a very profitable concern; for, not only is the +oil valuable, but the skins fetch the most extravagant prices in the +market, especially those of the finer sort. Now, do you see what I'm +after, brother?" + +"You want to go sealing, I suppose; but, won't you have plenty of that +in the _Pilot's Bride_ with Captain Brown, eh?" + +"Not in the way I mean," replied Eric. "I have an idea of settling for +a time at Tristan d'Acunha, going in thoroughly for the thing as a +business on shore." + +Fritz appeared to prick up his ears at this. + +"But, I thought you said there was a colony there already; why don't the +people manage to cultivate the trade? Besides, if they have it all +their own way, I think they would not like a couple of strange +interlopers, like you and me, going amongst them to rob them of their +harvest from the sea!" + +"Ah, I see you're bitten with the idea," exclaimed Eric, clapping his +hands triumphantly. "But, it was not of Tristan, the larger island, I +was thinking; it was of Inaccessible Island, where there wouldn't be +another living soul but ourselves, the seals, and sea birds." + +"`Monarchs of all we survey,' eh, like Robinson Crusoe?" said Fritz with +a smile. "That would be very nice, wouldn't it?" + +"Don't laugh, brother," returned Eric, speaking earnestly. "I assure +you I've considered this thing well. The people living at Tristan told +me that they went fishing to the other islands once a year; but, the +weather is generally so rough and the beach so hard to land at or get +off from, on account of the heavy ocean rollers coming in when the wind +is up at all, that the islanders can never make a long stay at the +islets--and so cannot get half the number of sealskins which might be +easily procured by any one stopping ashore there for any length of time. +I really thought, I assure you, of asking Captain Brown, when I went on +my next voyage with him, to land me at Inaccessible Island, with +provisions enough to last me six months or so, and to call for me on his +return voyage from the Cape, as he was wending his way back home again +here." + +"And you would have gone there alone?" + +"Yes; why not? But now, oh, Fritz, if you would only go with me, we +might settle at this place like regular Robinson Crusoes--as you said +just now--and make a pile of money, or, rather, of skins, in a year or +two!" + +"The idea is feasible," said Fritz in a reflective way. "I'll talk to +Captain Brown, and see what he says of it." The elder brother had a +good deal of German caution in his composition; so that, although prompt +of action, he was never accustomed to undertake anything without due +deliberation. + +Eric, on the contrary, all impulse, was thoroughly carried away by the +notion, now that he saw that Fritz, instead of ridiculing it, thought it +worth consideration. + +The project of going to settle on a real uninhabited island, like +Robinson Crusoe, that hero of boyhood throughout the world, exceeded the +realisation of his wildest dreams, when first as a little chap he had +planned how he should go to sea as soon as he was big enough. Why, he +and Fritz would now be "Brother Crusoes," if his project were carried +out, as there seemed every likelihood of its being--crusoes of their own +free-will and not by compulsion, besides having the satisfaction of +knowing that within a certain period it would be in their power to end +their solitary island life; that is, should they find, either that it +did not come up to their expectations in a business point of view, or +that its loneliness and seclusion combined with the discomforts of +roughing it were more than they could bear. + +It was a glorious plan! + +This was Eric's conclusion, the more he thought of it; while Fritz, on +his part, believed that there was something in the suggestion--something +that had to be weighed and considered carefully--for, might he not +really conquer Fortune in this way? + +Captain Brown did not throw any cold water on the matter either, when it +was brought before him. + +"By thunder! it's a durned good plan, it air, mister," said he to Fritz, +"thet it air, fur a young scaramouch like thet youngster thaar! I seed +him palaverin' with one o' them islanders at Tristan--they're a sort of +half-caste tan colour there, like mulattoes in the States. I rec'lect +one of the men who wer oncest on a whaler with me a v'y'ge or two to +Kerguelen Land an' back, tellin' me 'bout the lot of seals thet were on +Inaccessible Island, now I come to think of it; but I've never been +thaar myself. Its name's good enough fur me, since most of us thet go +by thaar gives it a pretty wide berth, you bet; fur it air inaccessible, +with a vengeance--a rocky coast plungin' down abruptly into the sea, +with a terrible surf breakin' ag'in the cliffs, an' no anchorage ground +anywheres nigh thet's safe!" + +"And how could we land then?" asked Fritz. + +"Oh, it ken be done, mister, fur the Tristaners go over thaar, as the +b'y told you, every year fur a week or so; an' they hev to git ashore +somehow or other. Yes, we'll manage to land you, safe enough, in a +whale-boat when the time comes. What I meant to say was, thet the ship +couldn't stay any while lyin' off, so as to see whether you liked the +place or not. If you land, thaar you'll hev to stay till we come back +fur you next v'y'ge!" + +"All right, I shan't mind that, with Eric. If I were alone, of course +it would be another matter." + +"Jest so," replied the Yankee skipper; and he then proceeded to advise +the brothers what would be best to take with them, Fritz wishing to lay +out his small remaining stock of money to advantage. + +He also told them, good-naturedly, that he would convey them to their +contemplated destination for nothing, so that they would have no passage +to pay. Eric, indeed, would work his, being considered as attached to +the ship, his name besides being retained on the list of the crew while +sealing on shore; and, as for Fritz, Captain Brown said, he would "grub +him and give him a bunk into the barg'in." + +Then, again, in respect of the provisions they would need for their +maintenance during their stay on the island, the skipper promised to +supply them from the ship's stores, on their arrival there, at cost +price; so that, not only would they thus get them much cheaper than they +would have been able to purchase them in open market, but they would +likewise save the cost of their freightage to Inaccessible Island, which +any one else would have expected them to pay. + +Could Fritz desire more? + +Hardly. + +"I guess, mister," concluded the skipper, "so be it as how you kinder +makes up yer mind fur the venture, thet you two coons will start in +bizness with a clean sheet an' no book debts, like the boss of a dry +goods store; an' if you don't make a pile in less than no time, why it +won't be Job Brown's fault, I reckon!" + +This settled the matter; when, the captain giving them a short +memorandum of certain necessary articles which they would find useful on +the island and which they could readily procure in Providence while the +_Pilot's Bride_ was refitting, the two brothers set to work making their +preparations without delay for the novel enterprise to which Eric's +project had given birth--that of going crusoeing in the South Atlantic! + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +THE "PILOT'S BRIDE." + +The more Fritz thought over the project, the more enthusiastic he became +about it. + +Unlike Eric, he was deeply reflective, never adventuring into any scheme +or undertaking action in any matter until he had fully weighed the pros +and cons and had considered everything that could be said for and +against it; but, once his judgment was convinced, there was no more +hearty co-operator than he. + +It was so in this instance. + +Eric's idea had struck him as feasible at the first blush, the boy being +so eager in giving vent to his own impressions and experiences of what +he had seen at Tristan d'Acunha with regard to the advantage of starting +a new sealing station of their own; but, when Fritz came to ponder over +the plan, it seemed so chimerical that he felt inclined to be angry with +himself for having entertained it for a moment. These second thoughts, +however, did not long stand their ground after old Captain Brown had +been consulted; for, that experienced mariner, who had, as he thought, +such better means of judging than himself, immediately took so sanguine +a view of the enterprise, that Fritz's original opinion in favour of it +became confirmed, and he entered upon the preparations for the +expedition with even greater zest than Eric, its first inceptor and +propounder. + +"Brother," said he to the latter, on Captain Brown's approving of the +plan and promising his cordial assistance in helping them to carry it +out to a successful issue, "we'll not leave anything to chance. We will +put our shoulders to the wheel and determine to win!" + +"Aye," responded the other, "and we oughtn't to make a failure either; +for, you know, the old adage has it that, `Fortune favours the brave,' +eh?" + +"Yes," said Fritz, the practical. "However, it is in little things that +success is attained, so we must not neglect these." + +Nor did they. Indeed, so much did Fritz impress Eric with the value of +carefully considering every petty detail of their outfit, so that they +might not find something omitted at the last moment which would be of +use, that there was danger of their forgetting more important articles-- +the "little things," apparently, absorbing all their attention. + +So engrossed were they in this enthusiasm for collecting and packing up +the most out-of-the-way trifles which it struck one or other of the two +brothers that they might want--getting these ready, too, for their +departure weeks before the _Pilot's Bride_ could possibly be refitted +for her voyage--that they were the subject of many a joke from the +hospitable household of the little "shanty" on Narraganset Bay. + +The captain and Mrs Brown, or else Celia their daughter--a lively +American lassie of Eric's age, who seemed to have taken as great a fancy +to the young sailor as her father had done towards Fritz--would ever be +suggesting the most extraordinary things as likely to "come in handy on +the island," such as a warming pan or a boot-jack; with which latter, +indeed, the skipper gravely presented the elder brother one day, telling +him it would save him time when he was anxious to get on his slippers of +an evening after sealing on the rocks! + +But, although they "chaffed" them, the kind people helped them none the +less good-naturedly in completing their equipment, the old captain's +"missis" and his "gal" plying their needles as energetically on their +behalf as Madame Dort and Lorischen would have done in the little house +at home in the Gulden Strasse of Lubeck. The very eagerness and +"thoroughgoingness" of the hopeful young fellows enlisted sympathy for +them, in addition to those good qualities which had already made them +prime favourites. + +"Bully for them, old woman," as the skipper said, when talking them over +to his wife. "They're raal grit an' bound to run into port with a fair +wind an' no mistake, you bet; they're such a tarnation go-ahead pair o' +coons, with no empty gas or nonsense about 'em!" + +But, full as he was of the venture, and embarking heart and soul into +its details with every energy he possessed, Fritz did not neglect to +write home a long letter to his mother and Madaleine, telling them all +about the new undertaking in which his hopes and prospects alike were +centred and expressing his feelings thoroughly in the matter--thus +showing the amount of reflection he had given to the scheme. + +Eric, he said, was a sailor; and, therefore, should the venture not +succeed, its failure would not affect him much, as it would be merely an +episode in his nautical life, Captain Brown promising to retain his name +on the books of the _Pilot's Bride_ and allow him to ship again as third +mate in the event of his taking to the sea once more when the two got +tired of their sojourn on the island or found that sealing did not +answer their expectations; but, for him, Fritz, the enterprise was a far +more important one, changing the whole aspect of his career. + +However, he wrote, he not only hoped for the best, but believed the +undertaking would result more favourably than his most sanguine wishes +led him to estimate its returns; still, in any case, it was better, he +thought, to engage in it, rather than waste any further time in vainly +searching for employment in the States. + +But, whether successful or unfortunate, he was fully determined, so he +concluded his letter, to return home within the period of three years to +which he had limited his absence when leaving Lubeck; and, he prayed +that his coming back would be the opening of a new era of happiness for +them all--that is should the good God, who had so mercifully preserved +their Eric from the dangers of the deep and restored the dead to life, +prosper the joint enterprise of the reunited brothers, who, come what +may, would now be together. + +"Good-bye, dear mutterchen, and you, my darling Madaleine," were his +last words. "Watch and pray for us, and look forward to seeing us again +beneath the old roof-tree in time for our third Christmas festival from +now; and, then, won't there be a home-coming, a house-warming, with us +altogether once more!" + +Much to Fritz's satisfaction, before the _Pilot's Bride_ was ready to +put to sea, a reply was received to this communication, bidding the +brother crusoes a cheery "God speed!" from home. Madame Dort was so +overjoyed with the unexpected news of Eric's safety that she made no +demur to the prolongation of his absence from home, the more especially +now that he would be in Fritz's company. As for Madaleine, she +expressed herself perfectly contented with her betrothed's plans, +considering, as she did, that he would know best; but she was all the +better pleased, she wrote, that he was going to an uninhabited island, +as then he would be unable to come across other girls, who might blot +her image from his heart. + +"The little stupid!" as Fritz said fondly to himself when he read +this,--"as if that were possible, the darling!" + +If Madaleine, however, could have known that, when she penned those +words, Master Fritz was engaged making himself agreeable to a party of +New York belles who had come up from the stifling "Empire City" to see +their cousins the Browns and sniff the bracing sea breezes of +Narraganset Bay, she might not have been quite so easy in her mind! + +But, she need not have alarmed herself much, for Fritz was too busily +engaged, along with Eric, in helping Captain Brown to prepare the +_Pilot's Bride_ for her forthcoming voyage, to spare much time to the +fascinating fair ladies from Fifth Avenue. + +The elder brother could do but little to aid the skipper in a nautical +way; still, as a clerk, he proved himself of great assistance, attending +to all the captain's correspondence and acting as a sort of supercargo. + +Eric, however, having now had considerable experience of the sea, +besides, as the skipper had said, being "a born sailor," came out in +strong colours in all those minutiae required in getting a vessel ready +for sea. + +Really, he showed himself so active and intelligent that the skipper +looked upon him as "his right-hand man"--at least, so declared he one +day in the presence of Mrs Brown, Celia, and the entire family at the +shanty, in full and open conclave; and no one disputed his statement, +albeit Master Eric was sadly confused at the compliment. + +But, how was it with the ship, in which, like twin Caesars, the brothers +were about to embark "all their fortunes?" + +Well, the _Pilot's Bride_, after going into dry dock and discharging +cargo on her return home, first had her sheathing stripped and the +exterior of her hull carefully examined to see that no rotten timber- +work should be overlooked that might subsequently be fatal to her when +battling with the billows in mid-ocean. She had then been recaulked and +coppered; besides having her rigging set up again and tarred down, as +well as the coverings and seizings replaced, and the chaffing gear paid +over. Finally, on the yards being sent up and the rigging completed, +with all the running gear seen to and thoroughly overhauled, a good coat +of paint, and an overcoat, too, in addition was given to the vessel from +bow to taffrail down to the water-line, with a white streak, in regular +Yankee fashion, running along her ports. The stern gallery and rail +were then gilded, as was also the figure-head--a wooden damsel, with +arms akimbo, of the most unprepossessing appearance, representing the +bride of the "pilot" whose name she bore. + +This completed the exterior refitting of the ship. + +Much remained to be done to her interior, however; and, here it was that +Eric was able to be of considerable service, having learnt all of a +sailor's duty in reference to the stowage of a vessel's hold--a matter +that might seem easy enough to a landsman who only has to do with the +packing of boxes, but which is of serious importance on board a ship, +where the misplacement of the cargo may not only affect her sailing +properties but also the safety of those she carries. + +To commence with, the _Pilot's Bride_ being a whaler would have to start +from her home port comparatively "light"--as, having no cargo to speak +of, save the provisions for her own crew for twelve months and the +stores she carried for the use of the sealing schooners amongst the +islands, she was forced to take in a great deal of ballast to ensure her +stability, and this had to be so apportioned in her hold as to make her +of good trim. + +This being done, the water and provisions were then shipped and a large +number of empty casks placed on top of all the stores in the hold, +amidships. These latter were carried to be subsequently filled with the +oil and skins that might be collected by the schooners acting as tenders +to the _Pilot's Bride_ amongst the islands; and, besides, the ship had +"trying pots" of her own to melt down the blubber of any whales or odd +fish she might capture "on her own hook." + +The brothers' belongings were next taken on board and placed in the +cabin appropriated by Captain Brown to Fritz's use; and then, only the +live stock remained to be shipped and the crew mustered for the vessel +to be ready for sea, as now, with her sails bent she lay along the wharf +at Providence, waiting but to be hauled out into the stream. + +She was a barque of some three or four hundred tons, riding rather high +out of the water in consequence of being mostly in ballast. In +appearance she looked somewhat wall-sided, and she had those heavy round +bows that are seen mostly in whaling vessels, which are thus protected +forwards in order to resist the pressure of the ice in those arctic +regions whither they go to and fro; but, in spite of her build, which +resembled more that of a Dutch galliot--such as Fritz's eyes were +accustomed to see in the ports of the North Sea--than an American +merchantman, with her freshly painted hull, whose ports were picked out +in white, and her tall shapely spars all newly varnished, the _Pilot's +Bride_ looked as dapper and neat as her namesake. Eric certainly +thought this, no matter what his brother's opinion might be, and +believed there was every reason for Captain Brown taking the pride in +the vessel that he did. + +"There you are," said the skipper to the brothers, taking them with him +to survey her from the jetty when all her preparations were finished, +the vessel only waiting his mandate to haul out into the river--"did you +ever see sich a tarnation duck of a beauty in all yer born days, hey?" + +"She looks very pretty," observed Fritz admiringly. + +"Blow thet!" exclaimed the skipper with a laugh. "Folks would think you +were talkin' 'bout a gal; but, what ken a longshore fellow know 'bout a +shep!" he added compassionately. "What d'ye say 'bout her Mas' Eric, +hey?" + +"I say she's a regular clipper, captain," answered the lad in prompt +sailor fashion, much to the skipper's delight. Eric's encomium was all +the more appreciative from the fact of his having been familiar with the +ship through part of her last voyage. Then, she was all battered and +bruised from her conflict with the elements during her cruise in +southern seas; so, now, her present transformation and gala trim made +the difference in her appearance all the more striking to him, causing +her good points to shine out with all the greater display and hiding +most of her drawbacks. + +"Ah, thet's your sort of 'pinion I likes," said the skipper in reply to +Eric's tribute to the vessel's merits. "Yes, suttenly, she's a clipper, +if ever there wer one; an' a beauty to the back of thet, I reckon, hey, +sonny?" and he gave the lad one of his thundering pats of approval +across the shoulders with his broad hand that almost jerked him off the +jetty. + +"I guess," he added presently, "the only thing we've got to do now is to +shep a tol'able crew aboard; an' then, I kalkerlate, mister, she'll be +the slickest whaler this v'y'ge as ever loos'd tops'les an' sailed out +o' Narraganset Bay!" + +"Will there be any difficulty in getting men?" asked Fritz. + +"No, I reckon not, mister," replied the skipper, with a huge guffaw at +his ignorance. "Why, the crimpers would send 'em to me in shoals, fur +Job Brown is as well-known in Providence as Queen Victoria is in +England, God bless her fur a good woman, too! The diff'culty lies in +pickin' out the good ones thet air worth their salt from the green +hands, as ain't up to a kid of lobscouse fur all the work they ken do +aboard a shep!" + +"Well, I hope you'll get the men you want," said Fritz cordially. + +"Nary a doubt 'bout thet," answered the other, slewing round and +trotting across the wharf to a line of warehouses and merchants' offices +on the other side. "I'm just a-goin' to my agents now; an' I ken tell +you, fur a fact, thet Job Brown is never licked, no, sir, not when he +makes up his mind to anythin'!" + +In the evening of the same day he astonished Fritz somewhat. + +"Who d'ye think wished fur to sign articles with me to-day fur the +v'y'ge?" said he, after he mentioned that he had shipped his crew and +that the _Pilot's Bride_ would haul out into the stream the next +morning, preparatory to starting off altogether on the following day. + +"I'm sure I can't say," replied Fritz. + +"Who but our old friend Nat Slater!" said the skipper with a broad grin. +"I guess Nathaniel Washington hez come down in the world ag'in, fur all +his tall talkin' about what he wer goin' to do to help you, hey?" + +"Have you taken him on?" asked Fritz, somewhat dubious about the +pleasure which the society of the whilom "deck hand" of the steamboat +would afford him when the two of them should be cooped together on board +the same vessel for any length of time, especially after the way in +which that individual had behaved to him. + +"Yes, I let him jine," answered the skipper. "I couldn't do else, +considerin' the poor cuss wer so down on his luck as to ask me; 'sides, +mister, I knewed him afore he went to the bad; an' if he du come with +me, it'll do him good in one way. He'll never get none o' thet infarnal +drink till he comes back ag'in to Providence, fur I never allows a drop +o' pizen in any craft I sails from the time we leaves port till we casts +anchor ag'in!" + +"I'm glad to hear that," said Fritz. "There's mischief enough done with +it on land without taking it to sea." + +"Right you air, mister," rejoined the other; "but, mind you, I don't ask +my men to do what I don't do myself. This old hoss doesn't believe in a +fellow's preachin' one thing and practisin' another; no, sirree! I +ain't a teetotaler, nohow; but I never touches a drop o' licker from the +time I sots foot aboard ship till I treads land ag'in--an' what I does, +every man Jack o' my crew shall do ditto, or I'll know an' larn 'em the +reason why, you bet! Howsomedever, mister, I guess we'd all better turn +in now," he added, making a signal which Mrs Brown and Celia always +interpreted as meaning their departure to bed. "Recollect, this'll be +our last night ashore, fur we shall all hev to rise airly in the mornin' +to git the _Pilot's Bride_ under weigh." + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +THE VOYAGE OF THE SHIP. + +When Fritz awoke the next day, however, he could not quite make out what +was going on in the place. There was a strong smell of gunpowder in the +air, and he could hear the cracking reports of small cannon, let off at +frequent intervals with much noise in the streets by a crowd of boys, +whose voices mingled with the excruciating sound of squeaking trumpets +and the shrill, ear-piercing scream of penny whistles. + +For the moment, he thought he was dreaming again of the old days of the +war, and that the confused medley, which became each moment louder, was +but the half-waking recollection of the bivouac around Metz, with its +many constant alarms of sallies and sorties from the beleaguered +fortress; but, when he came downstairs from his bedroom, he was speedily +undeceived as to the reason for the pandemonium without. + +The captain and Eric had already started off for the ship, and only Mrs +Brown and Celia were below waiting breakfast for him. + +"What on earth is the matter?" he asked. "It seems like Bedlam broken +loose. Is there an insurrection going on?" + +"Ah, they're having a fine time, ain't they!" said Miss Celia. + +"But, what is it all about?" he repeated, gazing from one to the other +of the smiling ladies, almost bewildered by the uproar out of doors. + +"Fourth of July," replied the lady of the house, as if that was quite a +sufficient answer and accounted for everything. + +"The fourth of July!" he repeated mechanically. "What has the day of +the month got to do with it--is it an anniversary of some sort--some +national holiday?" + +"An anniversary, indeed!" exclaimed Miss Celia indignantly. "I thought +you were such a good hand at history. Why, haven't you ever heard of +our glorious Declaration of Independence, when the free states of +America severed the hated yoke that bound them under the thraldom of the +tyrant England?" + +"Oh, yes, I forgot. I'm sure I beg your pardon for not recollecting +what must be to you a sacred day!" said Fritz, somewhat deceived by the +girl's affected enthusiasm, Celia having spoken as grandiloquently as if +she were an actress declaiming tragedy. + +"Sacred day, fiddlesticks!" she replied, laughing at his grave face and +solemn manner. "I guess we don't worry ourselves much about that! We +try and have a good time of it, and leave it to the politicians and +skallywags to do the speechifying and bunkum! The boys have the best +time of it, I reckon." + +"Yes," he replied, his ideas as to the patriotic associations of +American citizens considerably modified. "They seem to enjoy +themselves, if the noise they're making affords any criterion of that!" + +"I guess so," answered the girl. "They've burnt a few fire crackers +this morning; but, it's nothing to what they do at Boston. Law, why you +should see the goings on there'll be in front of Faneuil Hall to-night, +when the `Bonfire Boys' set to work!" + +"By that time, I imagine, I'll be on the sea," said Fritz. "Your father +told us last evening that he would start to-day if the wind was fair, +and I noticed a bit of a breeze blowing through my window when I was +dressing." + +"Yes," put in Mrs Brown; "and he said this mornin', 'fore he went off +down town, to tell you to be sure and hurry up as soon as ever you'd +swallowed your breakfast--not for what I want to hasten you away, +though!" + +"Did he?" said Fritz, bolting a bit of buckwheat cake and hastily rising +from the table. "If that's the case, I'd better be off to see about my +traps." + +"Bless you, they're all aboard hours ago! Eric took them with him when +he started off with pa," remarked Celia demurely. + +"Oh, you saw him before he went, then?" said Fritz. + +"Yes, I wished your brother good-bye," replied the girl, colouring up. + +"Oh!" repeated Fritz meaningly, with a sly glance at her. + +"And now, Mr Dort, we must wish you good-bye, too," interposed Mrs +Brown, in order to distract his attention from Celia, who looked a bit +confused by Fritz's interrogatories respecting Master Eric. + +"Aren't you coming down to see us off?" said he. + +"Guess not," replied Mrs Brown with much composure, her husband's +departure with his ship being of such periodic occurrence as to have +long since lost all sense of novelty. "We'll see you when you get out +in the bay, and wish you good luck in the distance. I hope, mister, +that you and your brother will be successful in your venture--that I do +heartily." + +"Thank you," said Fritz, shaking the hand of the good-natured woman +cordially. "I can't express how grateful we both are to you and your +husband for all your kindness to us, strangers in a foreign land!" + +"What, do you leave me out?" put in Miss Celia saucily. + +"I should think not," returned Fritz gallantly. "I included you, of +course, when thanking your mother. I'm sure words would fail to give +you any idea of my feelings on the subject; but I dare say Eric spoke on +my behalf this morning." + +"Indeed, he had too much to say for himself," retorted the girl; "and, +instead of his behaving like a quiet German lad, as I thought him, he +was more of a saucy American sailor boy! Not that I minded that much," +she added demurely. "It made him more sparkish-like and all the +pleasanter." + +"Really?" said Fritz, smiling. "I think I shall have to talk to Master +Eric when I get on board the ship." + +"No, nary you mind that," pleaded Miss Celia most magnanimously. "I +forgive him this time; but you can tell him, though, I'll pay him out +when he comes back to our shanty, that I will!" + +"All right, I will give him your message," replied Fritz, as he shook +hands with the fair little Rhode Islander, whose eyes were full of tears +as she said good-bye, in spite of her sprightly manner and off-hand way. +"And now, ladies," he added, addressing them both collectively, "I must +say farewell, hoping to have the pleasure of seeing you again on our +return from Inaccessible Island, somewhere about two years hence." + +"I'm sure I hope so, too," said the lady of the house kindly, Celia +joining cordially in the wish; and Fritz then left the shanty, directing +his steps down to the quay, where he expected to find the _Pilot's +Bride_ still moored. + +She was not here, however; but, after a moment, he could discern the +vessel lying out in the river some little distance from the shore. +There, anchored almost in mid-stream and with a blue peter flying at the +fore as well as the American stars and stripes trailing over her stern, +she looked even more picturesque than when Fritz had seen her lying +along the wharf on his first view of her. + +It was much earlier in the month than Captain Brown had stated was his +usual time for starting on his annual voyage to the South Atlantic; but +the skipper had accelerated his departure in order to have time to go to +Tristan d'Acunha on his outward trip, instead of calling there as he +usually did just before returning to Providence--so as to allow the +brothers to pick up a little information that might be of use to them +from the little colony at Tristan, before proceeding to their own +selected settlement on Inaccessible Island. + +The ship was now, therefore, quite ready to start as soon as the wind +and her captain willed it; for, her sails were bent, with the gaskets +cast-off and the topsails loose, ready to be let fall and sheeted home +at the word of command. A nautical man would have noticed, too, that +she was hove short, right over her anchor, so that no time should be +lost in bowsing that up to the cathead and getting under weigh, when the +time came to man the windlass and heave up the cable, with a "Yo-heave +ho!" + +Presently, Fritz observed a boat that had been towing astern of the ship +hauled up alongside, and then this put off for the shore, with some one +in the stern-sheets whom he did not recognise at first, on account of +the person having a gilt-banded cap on; but, as soon as the boat got +nearer, he saw that it was Eric, who now hailed him while yet a hundred +yards away. + +"Hullo!" he shouted; "how is it you're so late? The captain is only +waiting for you to set sail, for the pilot's coming on board now!" + +"I didn't think you were going until the evening," replied Fritz, +descending the steps of the jetty, which the boat had now nearly +approached. + +"Nor were we, if this breeze hadn't sprung up since morning so very +suddenly, when we least expected it! I suppose it's because of all that +gunpowder firing that the air's got stirred up a bit? But, jump in, old +fellow, the skipper seems a bit impatient; and the sooner we're all on +board the better he'll be pleased." + +With these words, Eric stretched out a hand to help his brother into the +little dinghy, which could barely carry two comfortably besides the man +pulling amid-ship, and then the frail little craft started on her way +back to the mother ship, of which she seemed the chicken! + +No sooner were they alongside and up the ladder, than Captain Brown's +voice was heard rapidly giving orders, as if no time were to be lost. + +"Veer thet boat astern an' hook on the falls," he roared in stentorian +accents. "I want her walked up to the davits 'fore I can say Jack +Robinson! There, thet's the way to do it, men. Now, get her inboard +an' secure her; we shan't want her in a hurry ag'in, till we come back +to the bay!" + +"Mr Dort," he sang out presently to Eric, who was standing by ready for +the skipper's orders and watching his eye--prepared to jump anywhere at +a second's notice, and looking so full of eagerness and attention that +Fritz felt quite proud of him! + +"Aye, aye, sir," answered the lad, touching his cap; for, nowhere is +deference insisted on so stringently from inferior officers to their +superiors as on board ship, especially in merchantmen commanded by +captains worth their salt. In no other way can proper respect be paid +to authority, or the necessary orders requisite for the safety and +comfort of all enforced. + +"I give you charge o' the mizzen mast," said Captain Brown, meaning that +Eric would have to see to all that was necessary for making sail in the +after part of the ship. At the same time, the second mate stationed +himself amidships, and the first officer went forward to the bows, to +superintend the getting up of the anchor, each of them repeating the +several directions of the captain in turn. + +"All hands make sail!" then shouted the skipper, who, with his hands in +the pockets of his monkey jacket, stood on the poop deck aft, looking +everywhere apparently in one glance, it was so comprehensive of +everything that was going on below and aloft; whereupon, the men, racing +up the rigging with alacrity, the topsails were soon sheeted home and +the yards hoisted, after which more canvas was unfolded to the breeze, +that came in short, sharp puffs off the land. + +The headsails were then backed, as the ship brought up over her anchor; +and, the windlass coming round with a ringing "clink, clank!" of the +pawl to the hearty long heaves of the sailors--who worked at it with a +will, singing in chorus the while--the heavy weight of metal that still +attached the _Pilot's Bride_ to the sand and shells at the bottom of +Narraganset Bay was ere long lifted gradually above the water and run up +to the cathead. The jib and foretop-sail were then allowed to fill +again and the yards squared; when, the vessel, paying off, began to +move, at first slowly, and then more rapidly as she gathered way, out of +the harbour away towards the open sea, some thirty miles beyond. + +The wind being light and flickering, the crew were soon ordered aloft +again to set the top-gallant-sails, for the breeze was so far favourable +that the ship did not have to beat out of the bay; consequently, she was +able to spread more canvas than if she had been forced to tack, or had +to be steered by her sails. + +Nor was Captain Brown satisfied with top-gallants alone; for, quickly, +the order came to set the royals and flying jib before the men could +climb down the ratlins; and, soon, the vessel was under a cloud of sail +alow and aloft, taking advantage of every breath of air. Towards the +afternoon, the north-westerly breeze still lasting, the ship cleared +Narraganset Bay, running before the wind; when, shaping a course between +the treacherous Martha's Vineyard on the one hand and Gardiner's Island +on the other, she was steered out into the open Atlantic. + +No sooner had they got to sea than Captain Brown called all hands aft, +mustering the crew--who numbered some twenty in all, including the cook +and a couple of boys. He then gave them a short speech from the poop. + +Some of the men had been with him before, he said, so they knew what he +was; but, as for those who didn't, he would tell them that, as long as +they did their duty manfully, they would find him always considerate +towards them. If they "turned rusty," however, why then "they'd better +look out for squalls," for they would discover, should they try on any +of their notions, that he was "a hard row to hoe!" + +The men were next divided into watches and dismissed to their several +duties; after which the _Pilot's Bride_ settled down steadily to her +voyage. + +At first, Fritz found the life on board very enjoyable. The motion of +the ship was so slight, as she slipped through the water with the wind +on her quarter, that there was no rolling; and the difference of her +arrangements, with clean cabins and the absence of that sickening smell +of the engine-room which had permeated the steamer in which he had made +the passage from Bremen to New York--his only previous acquaintance with +the ocean-made him fancy that he could spend all his days on the deep +without discomfort. But, after a time, the routine grew very +monotonous; and long ere the _Pilot's Bride_ had reached tropical +latitudes, Fritz would have been glad if she had reached their appointed +destination. + +Truth to say, the vessel was not that smart sailer which a stranger +would have imagined from all the skipper had said about her. It was +nearly three weeks before she ran into the north-east trades; and three +more weeks, after she got within these favouring winds, before she +managed to cross the Line, which she did somewhere about 24 degrees +West. All this time, too, to add to Fritz's disgust, they never passed +a single other sail! + +The weather throughout the voyage, up to now, had treated the vessel +fairly enough, so no complaint could be made on that score; but, no +sooner had they arrived at the equator, than the wind suddenly shifted +round to the west and south-west, accompanied by a violent squall that +would have settled the _Pilot's Bride_, if Captain Brown had not +fortunately anticipated it and prepared in time. + +The ship was nearing Pernambuco, off the South American coast, on a +short "leg," before taking the long one that would fetch down towards +Tristan d'Acunha, proceeding in the ordinary track of vessels going +round the Cape of Good Hope; when, suddenly, towards evening, it fell +nearly calm and sheet lightning was noticed towards the eastward, where +a dense bank of dark clouds had mounted up, obscuring the sky. + +This was enough for Captain Brown, who had gone through a similar +experience before. + +"All hands take in sail!" came his order, without a moment's delay. + +The men sprang aloft immediately and furled the royals and top-gallant- +sails; while others below took in the flying jib and hauled up the +mainsail and trysail--the hands wondering all the time what on earth the +skipper was at, taking in all the spread of the vessel's canvas, when +there wasn't a breath of air blowing! + +However, the "old man," as he was generally called by the crew, knew +better than they; and so, with the ship's yards stripped and squared, he +awaited what science and forethought had taught him to expect. + +Science and forethought had not caused him to make these preparations in +vain! + +The blackness in the south-east extended round the horizon to the west, +and, presently, a thick mist came rolling up from that quarter, +enveloping the vessel in its folds and covering the stars in front like +a curtain, although those lesser lights of the night shone out brightly +in other parts of the sky. + +Then, all at once, the squall burst with a furious blast that made the +ship heel over almost on her beam ends, the wind being followed by a +shower of rain and hail that seemed as if it would batter in the decks. + +"Let go the halliards!" sang out Captain Brown; and, his order being +promptly attended to, the vessel was not taken aback--otherwise every +spar would have snapped away, or else she would have gone down stern +foremost. + +Now, however, instead of any accident happening, the good ship, although +reeling with the blow like a drunken man, paid off from the wind +handsomely--running on for some time before the gale and tearing through +the water with everything flying, "as if old Nick were after her," the +men said! + +All hands being then called again, the topsails and trysails were close- +reefed, the courses furled, and the foretopmast-staysail set; when, the +barque was brought round nearly to her course again, with the weather- +braces hauled in a bit to ease her. + +This was the first rough weather Fritz experienced, and it cannot be +said to have increased his admiration for a sea life, all he saw of +which only tended to make him wonder more and more every day what could +induce his brother Eric to have such a passionate inclination towards +it! It was a strange fancy, he thought, as he watched the disturbed +state of the wild ocean, lashed into frenzy by the force of the gale, +which seemed to wax more lusty each hour; for, the ship appeared to be, +now, careering like a mad thing through some deep watery valley, between +lofty mountainous peaks of spray, and, the next moment, seeming to be on +the toppling edge of a fathomless abyss, into which she looked about to +plunge headlong to destruction as she rose above the plane of tempest- +tossed water, borne aloft on the rolling crest of one of the huge waves +that were racing by each other as if in sport--the broken, billowy +element boiling and seething as far as the eye could reach, in eddies of +creamy foam and ridges of turbid green, with the clouds above of a +leaden tinge that deepened, as they approached the horizon, to a dark +slatish hue, becoming blue-black in the extreme distance. + +"That Shakespeare was a fine fellow!" Fritz said to Captain Brown, who +stood close by the binnacle, keeping an eye to the two men who were now +at the wheel steering; for, the ship required careful handling in the +heavy sea that was running to prevent her from broaching to, and it +needed very prompt action frequently to jam down the helm in time, so as +to let her fall off her course before some threatening mountain of water +that bore down on her bows. + +"Ha-ow?" ejaculated the skipper inquiringly, turning to the other, who +was looking over the taffrail surveying the scene around and had spoken +musingly--uttering his thoughts aloud. + +"I mean Shakespeare, the great dramatist," replied Fritz, who, like all +educated Germans, had a keen appreciation of the bard and could quote +his pregnant sayings at pleasure. "He wrote plays, you know," he added, +seeing that Captain Brown did not quite comprehend him. + +"Oh, I rec'lect now," replied the skipper, understanding him at last, +and his face beaming with curious intelligence. "Him as wrote a piece +called `Hamlet,' hey? I reckon I see it once when I wer to Boston some +years ago, an' Booth acted it uncommon well, too, yes, sirree!" + +"Well then," said Fritz, going on to explain the reason for his original +remark, "Shakespeare exactly expresses my sentiments, at this present +moment, in the words which he puts into the mouth of one of his +characters in the `Tempest,' Gonzalo, I think. `Now would I give a +thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground; long heath, brown +furze, anything: the wills above be done, but I would fain die a dry +death!'" + +The young fellow laughed as he ended the apt quotation. + +The skipper, however, did not appear to see the matter in the same +light. + +"I guess thet there Gonzalo," he remarked indignantly, "wer no sailor; +an' Mister Shakespeare must hev hed a durned pain in his stummick when +he writ sich trash!" + +Some hours afterwards, fortunately for Fritz's feelings, the gale broke; +when, the wind shifting round to the northward of west, the _Pilot's +Bride_ was enabled to steer away from the South American coast and shape +a straight course for Tristan d'Acunha. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +ARRIVAL AT TRISTAN D'ACUNHA. + +"This air prime, now ain't it?" said the skipper to Fritz, as the ship, +with her nose pointing almost south, was driving away before the north- +west wind and making some ten knots an hour. + +"Yes, she's going along all right," replied he; adding frankly, however, +"I should like it all the better, though, if the vessel didn't roll +about so much." + +"Roll?" exclaimed Captain Brown indignantly; "call this rolling? Why, +Jee-rusalem, she only gives a kinder bit of a lurch now an' ag'in! I +thought you would hev got your sea-legs on by this time." + +Fritz could only bow to this statement, of course; but, all due +deference to the skipper, nevertheless, the _Pilot's Bride_ did roll, +and roll most unmercifully, too. + +She was just like a huge porpoise wallowing in the water! + +It may be remembered that she had sailed from port light, with a pretty +considerable freeboard; and now, with the wind almost right aft, so that +she had no lateral pressure to steady her--as would have been the case +if the breeze had been abeam or on her quarter--she listed first to port +and then to starboard, with the "send" of the sea, as regularly as the +swing of a clock's pendulum. Really, the oscillation made it almost as +impossible for Fritz to move about as if the ship had been contending +with all the powers of the elements in a heavy storm, whereas the +skipper said she was only "going easy," with a fair wind! + +Why, the "breeze" had not lasted a day, before nearly every particle of +glass and crockery-ware in the steward's cabin was smashed to atoms; +while preventer stays had to be rove to save the masts from parting +company. + +Roll, eh? She did roll--roll with a vengeance! + +Fortunately, this did not last long; the wind shifting round to the +north-east, after a three days' spell from the west, which brought the +ship on a bow line, steering, as she was, south-east and by south. Had +not this change come when it did, "the old tub would hev rolled her +bottom out," as Mr Slater, the whilom deck hand, "guessed" one morning +to Fritz, while the crew were engaged in washing decks. + +Of course, the brothers themselves had many a chat together while the +voyage lasted, talking over their plans as well as chatting about the +different scenes and circumstances surrounding the endless panorama of +sea and sky, sky and sea, now daily unfolded before them. + +Naturally--to Fritz, at least--all was new; and it was deeply +interesting to him to notice the alteration in the aspect of the heavens +which each night produced as the ship ran to the southward. The north +star had disappeared with its pointers, as well as other familiar +stellar bodies belonging to higher latitudes; but, a new and more +brilliant constellation had risen up in the sky within his new range of +view, which each evening became more and more distinct. + +This was the Southern Cross, as it is called, consisting of four stars, +three of the first magnitude and the fourth somewhat smaller, arranged +in the form of an oblique crucifix, pointing across the firmament +"athwartship-like," as the skipper explained one night-watch when the +brothers were looking out together. Only once in the year, Captain +Brown said, is this cross perfectly perpendicular towards the zenith; +for, as it circles round our planet, it reverses its position, finally +turning upside-down. + +When the _Pilot's Bride_ ceased to roll and began to make steady way +towards Tristan, with the wind from the northward and eastwards on her +beam, she ran along steadily on one tack, with hardly a lurch, covering +some two hundred miles a day as regularly as the log was hove and the +sun taken at noon. + +All this time, no sight could now have been more glorious than the +heavens presented each night after sunset. The myriads upon myriads of +stars that then shone out with startling brilliancy was something +amazing; and the puzzle to Fritz was, how astronomers could name and +place all these "lesser lights"--following their movements from day to +day and year's end to year's end, without an error of calculation, so +that they could tell the precise spot in the firmament where to find +them at any hour they might wish! + +"And yet," said Fritz, musingly, "these wise men are puzzled sometimes." + +"Nary a doubt o' thet," responded the skipper, who, in spite of his +rough manner and somewhat uncultivated language, thought more deeply +than many would have given him credit for; "I guess, mister, all the +book-larnin' in the world won't give us an insight inter the workin's o' +providence!" + +"No," said Fritz. "The study of the infinite makes all our puny efforts +at probing into the mysteries of nature and analysing the motives of +nature's God appear mean and contemptible, even to ourselves." + +"Thet's a fact," assented the skipper. "Look thaar, now! Don't thet +sky-e, now, take the gildin' off yer bunkum phi-loserphy an' tall +talkin' 'bout this system an' thet--ain't thet sight above worth more'n +a bushel o' words, I reckon, hey?" + +Fritz gazed upwards in the direction the other pointed, right over the +port quarter of the ship and where the starry expanse of the stellar +world stretched out in all its beauty. + +Eastwards, near the constellation Scorpio, was the Southern Cross, which +had first attracted their attention, the figurative crucifix of the +heavens; while the "scorpion," itself, upreared its head aloft, +surmounted by a brilliant diadem of stars that twinkled and scintillated +in flashes of light, like a row of gems of the first water--the body of +the fabled animal being marked out in fine curves, in which fancy could +trace its general proportions, half-way down the heavens. In a more +southerly direction, still, the parallel stars of the twin heroes Castor +and Pollux could be seen, shining out with full lustre in a sky that was +beautifully, intensely blue, conveying a sense of depths beyond depths +of azure beyond; and, as the wondering lookers gazed and the night +deepened, fresh myriads of stars appeared to come forth and swell the +heavenly phalanx, although the greater lights still maintained their +glittering superiority, Jupiter emitting an effulgence of radiant beams +from his throne at the zenith, while the Milky Way powdered the great +celestial dome with a smoke wreath of starlets that circled across the +firmament in crescent fashion, like a sort of triumphal arch of flashing +diamonds which the angels could tread in their missions from heaven to +earth, or the feet of those translated to the realms of the blest! + +"Grand, ain't it?" repeated the skipper. + +But Fritz said nothing; his thoughts went deeper than words. + +A day or two after this, the north-east wind suddenly failed and a dead +calm set in, lasting for twenty-four hours. This circumstance did not +please Captain Brown much, for he hardly knew what to make of it; +however, after a day and night of stagnation, the breeze returned again, +although, in the interim of lull, it took it into its head to shift +round more to the southwards, causing the _Pilot's Bride_ to run close- +hauled. + +On the evening before this change of wind, and while the calm yet +continued, the sea presented what seemed to Fritz--and Eric too, for he +had never seen such a sight before, although he had much better +acquaintance with the wonders of the deep than his brother--a most +extraordinary scene of phosphorescent display, the strange effect of it +being almost magical. + +The sun had set early and the moon did not rise till late; but, as soon +as the orb of day had disappeared below water, the horizon all round +became nearly as black as ink, without any after-glow, as had invariably +been noticed at previous sunsets. The whole sky was dark and pitchy +like; only a few stars showing themselves momentarily for a while high +up towards the zenith, although they were soon hidden by the mantle of +sombre cloud that enveloped the heavens everywhere. + +Meanwhile, the entire surface of the sea, in every direction as far as +their eyes could reach, seemed as if covered with a coating of frosted +silver; and, all around the ship, at the water-line, there appeared a +brilliant illumination, as if from a row of gas jets or like the +footlights in front of the stage of a theatre. Where the sea, too, was +broken into foam by the slight motion of the ship, it also gave out the +same appearance; and the faint wake astern was as bright as the track +usually lit up by the moon or rising sun across the ocean, resembling a +pathway of light yellow gold. + +When Fritz first saw the reflection, on looking over the side of the +ship, he thought that something had happened down below, and that the +appearance he noticed was caused by different lights, streaming through +the portholes and scuttles. + +"What are they doing with all those lanterns in the hold?" he asked Eric +in surprise. + +The sailor lad laughed. + +"No ship lanterns," said he, "are at work here. They say that this +queer look of the sea is occasioned by thousands of little insects that +float on the surface and which are like the fireflies of the tropics. +Don't you recollect reading about them?" + +"But then, this light is so continuous," replied Fritz. "It is bright +as far away as we can see." + +"Yes, I suppose the shoal of insects stretches onward for miles; still, +it is only when it is dark like this, with the sky overcast, that you +can see them. At least, that is what I've been told, for I never saw +such a display before." + +"You're 'bout right, my lad," observed Captain Brown, who had come over +to leeward, where the brothers were. "I forgit what they call the +durned things; but, they're as thick as muskitters on the Florida coast. +You'll see 'em all clear away as soon as the moon shows a streak, +though. They can't stand her candlelight, you bet!" + +It was as the skipper said. Although the illumination of the sea was so +vivid that it lit up the ship's sails with flashes as the water was +stirred, it died away when the moon shone out. Then, too, the sky +lightened all round and the clouds cleared away before the approaching +wind which had thus apparently heralded its coming. + +Nothing occurred after this to break the monotony of the voyage, beyond +a school of whales being noticed blowing in the distance away to the +windward one day, about a week after the change of wind. + +"There she spouts!" called out a man who was up in the fore cross-trees, +overhauling some of the running gear; but the hail only occasioned a +little temporary excitement, for the animals were much too far off for +pursuit and, besides, Captain Brown wished to land the brothers and +clear his ship of all cargo before going whaling on his own account. + +This consummation, however, was not long distant; for some sixteen days +or so after they had turned their backs on the South American coast, the +skipper told Fritz he hoped to be at Tristan on the morrow. This was +when he and the captain were having their usual quarter-deck walk in the +first watch, the evening of the same day on which they passed the school +of whales. + +"Yes, sirree," he said, "we've run down to 36 degrees South latitude, I +guess, an' wer 'bout 13 degrees West when I took the sun at noon; so I +kalkerlate, if the wind don't fail an' the shep keeps on goin' as she +is, which is bootiful, I reckon, why we'll fetch Tristan nigh on +breakfus-time to-morrow,--yes, sir!" + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Fritz. He did not think they were anywhere near the +place yet; for, although it was more than two months since they had left +Narraganset Bay, the ship appeared to sail so sluggishly and the voyage +to be so tedious, that he would not have been surprised to hear some day +from the captain that they would not reach their destination until +somewhere about Christmas time! + +"Ya-as, really, I guess so, mister. No doubt you're a bit flustered at +gettin' thaar so soon; but the _Pilot's Bride's_ sich a powerful clipper +thet we've kinder raced here, an' arrove afore we wer due, I reckon!" + +The skipper innocently took Fritz's expression of surprise to be a +compliment to the ship's sailing powers; and so Fritz would not +undeceive him by telling him his real opinion about the vessel. It +would have been cruel to try and weaken his belief in the lubberly old +whaler, every piece of timber in whose hull he loved with a fatherly +affection almost equal to that with which he regarded his daughter +Celia. + +Fritz therefore limited himself to an expression of delight at the +speedy termination of their voyage, without hazarding any comment on the +_Pilot's Bride's_ progress; by which means he avoided either hurting the +old skipper's feelings or telling an untruth, which he would otherwise +have had to do. + +He was undoubtedly glad to have advanced so far in their undertaking; +for, once arrived at Tristan d'Acunha, a few more days would see them +landed on Inaccessible Island, when, he and Eric would really begin +their crusoe life of seal-catching and "making the best" of it, in +solitary state. + +Wasn't he up on deck early next morning, turning out of his bunk as soon +as he heard the first mate calling the captain at four bells--although, +when he got there, he found Eric had preceded him, he having charge of +the morning watch and having been up two hours before himself! + +However, neither of the brothers had much the advantage of the other; +for, up to breakfast time, Tristan had not been sighted. + +But, about noon, "a change came o'er the spirit of their dream!" + +Captain Brown had just gone below to his cabin to get his sextant in +order to take the sun, while Fritz, to quiet his impatience, had sat +down on the top of the cuddy skylight with a book in his hand, which he +was pretending to read so as to cheat himself, as it were; when, +suddenly, there came a shout from a man whom the skipper had ordered to +be placed on the look-out forward--a shout that rang through the ship. + +"Land ho!" + +Fritz dropped his book on to the deck at once and Eric sprang up into +the mizzen rigging, hurriedly scrambling up the ratlins to the masthead, +whence he would have a better point of observation; the skipper +meanwhile racing up the companion way with his sextant in his hand. + +"Land--where away?" he sang out, hailing the man on the fore cross- +trees. + +"Dead away to leeward, two points off the beam," was the answer at once +returned by the man on the look-out, who happened, strangely enough, to +be Fritz's whilom acquaintance, the "deck hand!" + +"Are you sure?" hailed the captain again to make certain. + +"As sure as there's claws on a Rocky Mountain b'ar," replied the man in +a tone of voice that showed he was a bit nettled at his judgment being +questioned; for he next added, quite loud enough for all to hear, "I +guess I oughter know land when I see it. I ain't a child put out to dry +nurse, I ain't!" + +"There, thet'll do; stow thet palaver!" said Captain Brown sharply, +"else you'll find thet if Rocky Mountain b'ars hev claws, they ken use +'em, an' hug with a prutty good grip of their own too, when they mean +bizness, I guess, Nat Slater; so, you'd better quiet down an' keep thet +sass o' yourn for some un else!" + +This stopped the fellow's grumbling at once; and Captain Brown, after +proceeding aloft to have a look for himself and see how far the island +was off, gave directions for having the ship's course altered, letting +her fall off a point or two from the wind. + +"I guess I wer standin' a bit too much to the northward," he said to +Fritz, who was waiting on the poop, longing to ask him a thousand +questions as to when they would get in, and where they would land, and +so on; "but thet don't matter much, as we are well to win'ard, an' ken +fetch the land as we like." + +The island, which at first appeared like a sort of low-lying cloud on +the horizon, was now plainly perceptible, a faint mountain peak being +noticeable, just rising in the centre of the dark patch of haze. + +"Is it far off?" asked Fritz. + +"'Bout fifty mile or so, I sh'u'd think, mister," answered the +skipper--"thet is more or less, as the air down below the line is +clearer than it is north, so folks ken see further, I guess. I don't +kinder think it's more'n fifty mile, though, sou'-sou'-west o' whar the +shep is now." + +"Fifty miles!" repeated Fritz, somewhat disconcerted by the +announcement; for, he would not have thought the object, which all could +now see from the deck, more than half that distance away. "Why, we'll +never get there to-day!" + +"Won't we?" said the skipper. "Thet's all you know 'bout it, mister. +The _Pilot's Bride_ 'll walk over thet little bit o' water like a race +hoss, an' 'ill arrive at Tristan 'fore dinner time, you bet!" + +The skipper's prognostication as to the time of their arrival did not +turn out quite correct, but Fritz's anxiety was allayed by their +reaching the place the same night; for, the mountain peak, which had +been noticed above the haze that hung over the lower part of the island, +began to rise higher and higher as the ship approached, until its sharp +ridges could be plainly seen beneath a covering of snow that enveloped +the upper cone and which changed its colour from glistening white to a +bright pink hue as it became lit up by the rays of the setting sun--the +latter dipping beneath the western horizon at the same instant that the +_Pilot's Bride_ cast anchor in a shallow bay some little distance off +the land, close to Herald Point, where the English settlement on the +island lies. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +AN OCEAN COLONY. + +Fritz and Eric wished to go ashore the moment the anchor plunged into +the water and the chain cable grated through the hawse hole; but, +darkness setting in almost immediately after sunset, as is usual in such +southerly latitudes, their landing had to be postponed until the next +morning, when the skipper told them they would have plenty of time to +inspect the little ocean colony of Tristan d'Acunha--that is, should not +a westerly-wind set in, bringing with it a heavy swell, as it invariably +did; for, this would cause them "to cut and run from their anchorage in +a jiffy," if they did not desire to lay the ship's bones on the rocks by +Herald Point, which he, "for one," he said, had no intention of doing. + +However, the wind still remained in the same quarter, blowing steadily +from the south-east, which made it calm where the _Pilot's Bride_ was +lying--Captain Brown from previous experience knowing the safest berth +to take up--so she did not have to shift her berth. When morning broke, +too, the brothers had a better view of the place than on the evening +before; for then, only a hasty peep at it could be obtained before it +was hidden by night. + +The small bay in which the ship was moored opened to the westward; and, +on the right, a slope of rough pasture land, about a quarter of a mile +in width, ran up from the beach to an almost precipitous wall of rock, a +thousand feet or more in height--although a sort of misty vapour hung +over it, which prevented Fritz from gauging its right altitude. On the +left-hand side, the wall of rock came sheer down into the sea, leaving +only a few yards of narrow shingle, on which the surf noisily broke. A +stream leaped down from the high ground, nearly opposite the vessel, and +the low fall with which it tumbled into the bay at this point indicated +that there would be found the best landing-place, an opinion which +Captain Brown confirmed as soon as he came on deck. + +"I guess, though," said the skipper, pointing out a red flag which Fritz +could notice just being hoisted on one of the cottage chimneys in the +distance, "we needn't hurry 'bout launchin' a boat, fur some o' them +islanders are comin' off to pay us a visit an' will take you ashore. +Thet's their signal for communicatin' with any vessel thet calls in +here. Run up our ensign, Mr Dort," he added to Eric, who stood at his +station on the lee side of the mizzen mast; "an' tell 'em to fire the +gun forrud, jest to give 'em a kinder sort o' salute, you know. Uncle +Sam likes to do the civil, the same as other men-o'-war when they goes +to foreign ports!" + +These orders were obeyed; and no sooner were the "Stars and Stripes" run +up to the masthead and the report of the little gun on the topgallant +fo'c's'le heard reverberating through the distant mountain tops--the +sound of the discharge being caught up and echoed between the narrow +arms of the bay--than a smart whale-boat, pulled by eight men and with a +white-bearded, venerable-looking individual seated in the stern-sheets, +was seen coming out from the very spot which Fritz had determined to be +the landing-place. + +They were soon alongside the _Pilot's Bride_; when the old man--who +introduced himself as Green, the oldest inhabitant of the island and +with whom Captain Brown had already had an acquaintance of some years' +duration--cordially invited Fritz to land, the skipper having explained +that he wished to see the place and hear all about it. He told the +brothers aside, however, that perhaps they'd better not mention their +intention of settling on Inaccessible Island, for the inhabitants of +Tristan, who sent expeditions every year on sealing excursions there, +might not like to hear this news. + +While on their way to the shore with the old man and four of the +islanders--the other Tristaners remaining on board the ship to select +certain articles they required from her stores and arrange for the +barter of fresh meat and potatoes with Captain Brown in exchange--Fritz +observed that, some distance out from the land, there was a sort of +natural breakwater, composed of the long, flat leaves of a giant species +of seaweed which grew up from the bottom, where its roots extended to +the depth of fifteen fathoms. This, old Green pointed out, prevented +the rollers, when the wind was from the westward, from breaking too +violently on the shore, between which and the floating weed was a belt +of calm water, as undisturbed as the surface of a mountain tarn. + +The landing-place was of fine black sand, showing the volcanic character +of the mountain peak above, which Green said was over eight thousand +feet high and had an extinct crater on the top; and, when Fritz and his +brother had jumped out of the boat, they proceeded up to the little +settlement of the islanders, which was called "Edinburgh" out of +compliment to his Royal Highness Prince Alfred, who had visited the +place when cruising in HMS _Galatea_, just four years before their +landing. + +The village consisted of some dozen cottages or so, roughly built of +square blocks of hewn stone dovetailed into each other, without mortar, +and thatched with tussock-grass. The houses were scattered about, each +in its own little garden, enclosed by walls of loosely piled stones +about four feet high; but, as it was now the early spring of Tristan, +these had very little growing in them. One of the enclosures, Fritz +noticed, had a lot of marigolds in flower, another, several dwarf +strawberry plants just budding, while a third was filled with young +onions; but the majority displayed only the same coarse, long tussock- +grass with which the cottages were thatched. + +When the brothers came to examine the houses more closely, they were +particularly struck with the neatness with which they were constructed +and the extreme labour that must have been expended on them. + +Apart from the difficulty of procuring wood, which they could only get +from stray whaling ships, the islanders are obliged to build their +dwellings of stone, in order to prevent their being demolished by the +fierce and frequent hurricanes that assail the isolated little spot, +exposed as it is to all the rude blustering blasts that career over the +expanse of the Atlantic. The cottages are, therefore, put together with +a dark-brown, soft sort of stone, which is hewn out in great blocks from +the cliffs above the settlement and afterwards shaped with great +accuracy and care with the axe. Many of these masses of stone are +upwards of a ton in weight; but, still, they are cut so as to lock into +one another in a double row to form the main wall, which is some +eighteen inches thick, with smaller pieces of stone, selected with equal +care as to their fitting, placed in between. There is no lime on the +island, so that the blocks are put together on the cyclopean plan, +without cement. They are also raised into their places in the same +primitive fashion, strong spars being used for inclined planes, up which +these monoliths are pushed by manual labour in a similar way to that +described in the old hieroglyphics of the Nineveh marbles. With all +these precautions as to strength, however, the sou'-westers blow with +such fierceness into the little bay where the colony is situated, that +many of these massive buildings, Green said, were constantly blown down, +the huge blocks being tumbled about like pieces of cork! + +The roofs were thatched with the long grass that Fritz had seen growing +in the gardens and with which he had later on a closer and more painful +acquaintance, the tussock fibres being fastened inside to light poles +that were attached to rafters placed horizontally, while the ridges +outside were covered with bands of green turf, firmly fixed on. + +As for the colony, which numbered some eighty souls in all, it consisted +of fifteen families, who possessed from five to six hundred head of +cattle and about an equal supply of sheep, with lots of pigs and +poultry, each family having its own stock in the same way that each +cultivated its own garden; but, there was a common grazing ground, where +also large quantities of potatoes were raised--the trade of the island +being principally with the American whalers, who take supplies of fresh +meat and vegetables, for which they barter manufactured goods, household +stuffs, and "notions." + +During their visit, Fritz and Eric were hospitably entertained by the +old man Green at his cottage, which had three large rooms and was the +best in the place; and the roast pig which furnished the main dish of +the banquet was all the more toothsome, by reason of the long time the +brothers had been at sea and so deprived of fresh meat and those good +things of the land, to which they had grown somewhat accustomed during +their stay at the comfortable shanty on Narraganset Bay under Mrs +Brown's auspices. + +Indirectly, too, Fritz found out a great deal about Inaccessible Island; +and, the more he heard, the more firmly rooted became his determination +to settle there. The seals, old Green said, were numerous enough; but, +he added that the islanders were only able to pay a short visit in +December every year, and so lost considerable chances of taking more of +them. + +"Aha," thought Fritz, "we'll be there altogether, and so will have +opportunities for taking them all the year round. Tristaners, my good +people, look out for your sealskins and oil in future; we, crusoes, are +going into the business wholesale!" + +When the brothers were rowed back to the ship in the evening--having +spent the entire day on the island in noticing what would be most useful +to themselves subsequently for the new life they were about to adopt-- +the other Tristaners who had remained on board choosing goods returned +to the shore, promising to send the value of the articles they had +selected in beef and potatoes on the following morning. Before turning +in for the night, however, Captain Brown gave Fritz to read a newspaper +extract which he had posted into his logbook. This detailed the early +history of the little colony, and the gist of it was as follows:-- + +Although discovered as early as the year 1506 by d'Acunha, the first +comparatively modern navigator who visited the island was the captain of +an American ship--the _Industry_, a whaler sailing from Philadelphia-- +who remained at Tristan from August, 1790, to April, 1791, his people +pitching their tents on almost the precise spot now occupied by the +settlement. At the time of this vessel's visit, it was mentioned that +there was plenty of wood of a small growth excellent for firewood; but +this Fritz noticed was not the case when he inspected the place during +the day, hardly anything but slight brush being apparent beyond the +tussock-grass. The American captain also stated that the amount of sea +animals of all kinds on the island--whales, seals, and penguins--was +almost inexhaustible, his party having procured over six thousand +sealskins during their stay of seven months, besides killing more whales +than they could find room for the oil from them in their ship! This, +too, had become altered during the years which had elapsed, the seals +getting scarcer at Tristan now, through the wholesale war carried on +against them by the islanders, who latterly, with the exception of the +visits they paid to Inaccessible Island and Nightingale Islet--according +to old Green's account--had almost abandoned the pursuit for sheer want +of sport. + +The next mention of Tristan d'Acunha, as related in the printed +chronicle Fritz read, was in the year after the American captain's +sojourn there, when two British ships of war, the _Lion_ and +_Hindostan_, which were probably East Indiamen, with the English embassy +to China on board, anchored off the north side of the island under the +cliff of the mountain peak; but, a sudden squall coming on, these +vessels had to leave without investigating the place thoroughly, +although their commanders described it as being uninhabited at that +time. + +Nine years later, the captain of another ship that called there found +three Americans settled on the island, preparing sealskins and boiling +down oil. Goats and pigs had been set adrift by some of the earlier +visitors, as well as vegetables planted, and these colonists appeared to +be in a very flourishing condition, declaring themselves perfectly +contented to pass their lives there. One of the men, indeed, had drawn +up a proclamation, stating that he was the king of the country, a title +which the others acknowledged; and the three, the monarch and his two +subjects, had cleared about fifty acres of land, which they had sown +with various things, including coffee-trees and sugar-canes; but, +whether this plantation turned out unsuccessful, or from some other +notion, the "king" and his colleagues abandoned the settlement--the +place remaining deserted until the year 1817, when, during Napoleon +Buonaparte's captivity at Saint Helena, the island was formally taken +possession of by the English Government, a guard of soldiers being +especially drafted thither for its protection, selected from the Cape of +Good Hope garrison. + +This was, undoubtedly, the foundation of the present colony; for, +although the military picket was withdrawn in the following year, a +corporal of artillery with his wife and two brother soldiers, who +expressed a desire to remain on the island, stayed behind. Since then, +Tristan has always been inhabited--the original little colony of four +souls having formed the nucleus of the present settlement of over +eighty, men joining it at various times from passing whalers, while +women were imported from the Cape when wives were wanted. From the fact +of these latter being mostly Hottentots, the complexion of the younger +men, Fritz noticed, was somewhat darker than that of Europeans. This +explained what the skipper meant, on first telling him about the island, +when he said the inhabitants were "mulattoes"; although Fritz thought +them only of a brunette tinge, for they were of much lighter hue than +many Spaniards and Italians whom he had met on the Continent. + +Glass, the ex-artilleryman and original founder of the English +settlement, was a Scotchman, born at Kelso. He seems to have been a man +of great principle and energy, these qualities gaining for him the +complete confidence of the little community over which his authority was +quite of a patriarchal character. For thirty-seven years he maintained +his position as leader, representing the colony in all its transactions +with passing ships and showing himself just and honest in his dealings. +The islanders had always been English-speaking, and having strong +British sympathies, "Governor Glass," as he was styled, received +permission from one of the naval officers visiting the island to hoist +the red ensign, as a signal to vessels going by. This slight official +recognition was all the notice that the settlement has received from +England ever since its establishment--that is, beyond the sending out of +a chaplain there by the "Religious Tract Society," who remained for five +years and when leaving spoke of the members of the little settlement as +being so highly moral that they did not require any spiritual +ministration, "there not being a vice in the colony to contend with!" + +To this latter statement, Fritz found the skipper had appended an +eccentric footnote:-- "'Cos why, there ain't no rum handier than the +Cape, the little to be got from the whalers visiting the spot--an' they +have little enough from me, you bet!--being speedily guzzled down by the +old birds, an' the young uns never gettin' a taste o' the pizen!" + +On Glass's death, he was succeeded in the leadership of the colony by +Green, the next oldest man, who now lived in the house of the late +founder of the settlement and hoisted the English ensign in his turn. +Green was a venerable-looking man, with a long white beard, and seemed, +from what Fritz could gather in his different conversations with the +islanders, to have successfully followed in his predecessor's footsteps. + +Since the Duke of Edinburgh's visit in the _Galatea_, many other stray +men-of-war have occasionally called to see how the islanders were +getting on; but the principal trading communication they have has always +been with American whalers, some round dozen of which call at Tristan +yearly for the purposes of barter. + +"An' I guess it's a downright shame," said Captain Brown, when +mentioning this latter fact to Fritz, "thet they don't fly the star- +spangled banner instead o' thet there rag of a British ensign! If it +weren't for us whalers, they'd starve fur want of wood to warm +themselves in winter; an', who'd buy their beef an' mutton an' fixins, +if we didn't call in, hey?" + +"That's a conundrum, and I give it up," answered Fritz with a laugh. + +"Ah, you're a sly coon," said the skipper, sailing away to his cabin. +"I guess it's 'bout time to bunk in, mister, so I'm off. Good-night!" + +"Good-night!" returned Fritz, shutting up the log book and going his way +likewise to the small state room set apart for the use of himself and +his brother, where he found Eric asleep and snoring away soundly, the +tramping about ashore having completely tired out the lad. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +"ALONE!" + +The next morning, when Fritz got on deck, he found the ship diving and +courtesying to her anchor, while an ominous swell came rolling in past +her from the westward towards the beach. The surf, too, was breaking +against the boulders of the high rocky ramparts that came down sheer +from the cliff on the left-hand side of the bay, which was now to the +right of where Fritz was standing at the stern of the _Pilot's Bride_, +she having swung round during the night and now laying head to sea. + +There was no wind to speak of, although there was evidently a change +brewing; still, any one with half an eye could see that the skipper was +quite prepared for any emergency, for the headsails of the vessel, +instead of being furled up, now hung loose, the gaskets being cast-off +and the bunts dropped. The men, also, were forward, heaving away at the +windlass and getting up the cable, of which a considerable length had +been paid out, the ship riding in over forty fathoms of water. + +"Hullo, mister," exclaimed Captain Brown, when he noticed Fritz looking +about him, as if perplexed as to what these signs meant,--"I told you we +might hev to cut an' run any moment!" + +"Why?" said Fritz. + +"Can't you see, man," retorted the other. "I thought you'd hev been +half a sailor by this time, judgin' by your smart lad of a brother! +Why, the wind is jest choppin' round to the west'ard, I reckon; an', as +I don't kinder like to let the ship go to pieces on them thaar cliffs to +loo'a'd, I guess we're goin' to make tracks into the offin' an' give the +land a wide berth." + +"Are you going to start soon?" asked Fritz. + +"Waall, there ain't no 'mediate hurry, mister; but I allers like to be +on the safe side, an' when them islanders bring their second boatload o' +taters an' t'other grub, I reckon we'll be off. They've brought one lot +already, in return for the dry goods an' bread-stuffs I've let 'em hev; +an' when they bring the second, I guess the barg'in'll be toted up!" + +Not long afterwards, Fritz saw the islanders' boat coming off from the +landing-place. It was pretty well laden, and the swell had increased so +greatly that it sometimes was lost to sight in the trough between the +heavy rollers that undulated towards the shore. The Tristaners, +however, being accustomed to the water and experienced boatmen, did not +make much of the waves; but, pulling a good steady stroke, were soon +alongside--the bowman catching a rope which was hove from the chains and +holding on, while the various contents of the cargo brought were handed +on board. This operation had to be performed most dexterously; for, one +moment, the little craft would be almost on a level with the ship's +bulwarks, while the next she would be thirty feet below, as the billowy +surface of the sea sank below her keel. + +Eric was beside the skipper, checking the quantities of provisions which +had been accurately calculated beforehand, for the Tristaners showed a +keen eye to business and weighed everything they bartered for the +whaler's goods, when one of the men hailed him. This was the identical +young fellow of whom he had spoken to Fritz when first expounding his +projected scheme for going sealing to Inaccessible Island, and who, he +mentioned besides, had told him all about the place. Indeed, he had +actually suggested his going there. Eric had wondered much at not +having come across this young man on the previous day when they had +visited the settlement, although he looked about for him, so he was +doubly pleased to see him now. + +"Hullo!" cried out this Tristaner to the young German. "So you are back +again, eh?" + +"Yes," said Eric. "Come aboard a moment; I want to speak to you." + +"All right," exclaimed the other, who was a fine, stalwart young fellow, +with jet-black hair and a bronzed face that appeared to be more tanned +by the weather than owing its hue to coloured blood; when, in a jiffy, +he had swung himself into the chains by the rope attached to the boat's +bows and was by Eric's side on the deck of the _Pilot's Bride_, his face +all over smiles. + +"You're the very chap I was wanting to see," said Eric, shaking hands +with him cordially. "I was puzzled to know what had become of you +yesterday. I did not see you anywhere." + +"I was away up the mountain, gathering grass," replied the young fellow. +"So, you've returned here, as you said you would, early in the year?" + +"You told me such fine accounts of the fishing," retorted Eric with a +laugh, "that, really, I couldn't stop away. I want to talk to you about +it again now. This is my brother," he added, introducing Fritz. + +"Glad to know him," said the Tristaner, bowing politely--indeed, the +manners of all the islanders struck Fritz as being more polished than +what he had observed in so-called civilised society. "Is he going to +join you in settling on Inaccessible Island?" + +"Yes," replied Eric. "He and I have determined to start sealing there. +We have come from America on purpose. Is there anything more you can +tell us about it?" + +"Have you got provisions to last you a year at the least? You must +calculate to hold out so long, for no ship may be able to visit you +earlier and you cannot count on procuring much food on the island." + +"Oh, yes; we've got plenty of grub," said Eric, using the sailor's term +for food. + +"And the things besides that I told you would be necessary?" + +"You may be certain of that," replied Eric. "The only thing I see that +we'll have any difficulty about will be in rigging up a house. I'm sure +that Fritz and I will never be able to build a substantial shanty like +one of those you have here in your island." + +"No, perhaps not," said the young fellow, smiling. "You see, when we +are going to run up a house, we all join together and lend a hand, which +makes it easy work for us. It would be impossible for one or two men-- +or many more, indeed. I'll tell you what I'll do for you, though. If +the captain of your ship here will promise to bring me back again to +Tristan, I will go over there with you for a couple of days or so, to +see you comfortably fixed up, as you Americans say, at Inaccessible +Island, before you and your brother are left to yourselves." + +"Agreed!" exclaimed Eric joyfully. "I will ask the skipper at once." + +To dart across the deck to where Captain Brown was now standing by the +open hatchway, overseeing the provisions being passed down into the +ship's hold, was, for the sailor lad, but the work of a moment! + +"Oh, Captain Brown,"--commenced Eric breathlessly, his excitement almost +stopping his speech for a second. + +"Waall, what's all the muss about?" said the old skipper, turning round +and scanning the lad's eager face. "Do you an' your brother want to +back out o' the venture naow? I saw you talkin' to thet Tristaner you +met here with me in the spring." + +"Back out of the project?" repeated Eric very indignantly. "Give up my +pet plan, when everything is turning more and more in favour of it, +captain? I should think not, indeed!" + +"Then, what's the matter?" asked the skipper. + +"I want you to grant me a favour," said Eric, hesitating a bit as the +other looked at him steadfastly, a half-smile, half-grin on his weather- +beaten countenance. + +"Thought sunthin' wer up!" ejaculated the skipper. "Waall, what's this +durned favour o' your'n?" he added in his good-natured way. "Spit it +out, sonny, an' don't make sich a mealy mouth of it!" + +"This Tristaner--young Glass, you recollect him, don't you, captain?" +said Eric, proceeding with his request--"says he'll come with us and +help to build our cabin for us at Inaccessible Island, and settle us--" + +"Show you the ropes, in fact, hey?" interrupted the skipper. + +"Yes," continued Eric. "He agrees to stop a day or two with us, till we +feel at home, so to speak, if you will undertake to bring him back again +and land him at Tristan before you go on to the Cape." + +"Oh!" exclaimed the skipper, giving expression to a long, low whistle +from between his closed teeth. "Thet's the ticket, is it? Waall, I +guess I don't mind doin' it to oblige you an' your brother, though it'll +take me a main heap out o' my way coastin' up haar ag'in!" + +"Thank you; oh, thank you, captain," said Eric, quite delighted with +this promise; and he rushed back across the deck to tell the others the +good news. + +While the young Tristaner was explaining matters to his comrades in the +boat--from which all the stores had now been removed that had been +brought off from the island and a few extra articles put in, which +Captain Brown had made them a present of, as "boot" to the bargain of +barter--the wind began to spring up in gusts, causing the ship's sails +to flap ominously against the masts. + +"Guess you'd better be off," cried the skipper, coming to the side, +where the two brothers and the young Tristaner who was going to +accompany them stood leaning over, having a parting palaver with those +in the boat below. "The breeze is risin', an' if you don't kinder care +'bout startin', I reckon we must. Shove off thaar!" + +"All right," sang out one of the islanders, casting off the rope which +attached them still to the ship. "Good-bye, and mind you bring our +countryman back safe." + +"You bet," shouted the skipper. "I'll take care o' him as if he wer my +own kin. Now, Eric," he added, "you've got to tend your duties to the +last aboard, you know; away aft with you an' see to the mizzen sheets. +All hands make sail!" + +The topsails were dropped at the same moment and sheeted home, while the +jib was hoisted; and the ship, paying off, forged slowly up to her +anchor. + +"Now, men," sang out Captain Brown sharply. "Put your heart into thet +windlass thaar, an' git the cable in! It's comin' on to blow hard, an' +if you don't look smart we'll never git out of this durned bay in time!" + +Clink, clank, went round the unwieldy machine, as the crew heaved with a +will, their movements quickened by the urgency of getting under weigh +without delay, and each man exerting the strength of two. + +"Heave away, men!" chorussed the mate, standing over them and lending +his voice to their harmonious chant. "Heave! Yo ho, heave!" + +A few hearty and long pulls, and then the anchor showed its stock. + +"Hook cat!" shouted the mate; whereupon, the fall being stretched along +the deck, all hands laid hold. + +"Hurrah, up with her now, altogether!" came the next cry; and then, the +anchor was bowsed up to the cathead to the lively chorus that rang +through the ship, the men walking away with the fall as if it had no +weight attached to it. The yards were now braced round and the _Pilot's +Bride_ began to beat out of the bay against the head wind, which was now +blowing right on to the shore. + +"Guess we aren't a bit too soon," said the skipper, when the vessel, +after her second tack to starboard, just cleared Herald Point. "If we'd +stopped much longer, we'd been forced to stop altogether, I reckon!" + +"Was there any danger?" asked Fritz innocently. + +"Yes, mister; there's allers danger to a shep with a gale comin' on an' +a nasty shore under her lee. There's nothin' like the open sea for +safety! When you can't come to an anchor in a safe harbour, the best +thing is to up cable an' cut and run, say I!" + +Inaccessible Island was only about eighteen miles distant from Tristan; +but, as it lay to the south-west of that island and the wind blew +strongly from almost the same quarter, the _Pilot's Bride_ had to make a +couple of long tacks before she could approach sufficiently near for +Fritz to see the spot where he and his brother had elected to pass so +many weary months of solitary exile. + +As the ship beat to windward, passing the island twice on either tack, +he was able to notice what a bare, inhospitable-looking place it was. + +Its structure seemed pretty much the same as that of Tristan, with the +exception that the snow-white cone projecting into the clouds, which was +the most noticeable feature in the latter island, was here wanting; but, +a wall of volcanic rocks, about the same height as the cliff of Tristan +d'Acunha, entirely surrounded the desolate spot, falling for the most +part sheer into the sea and only sloping, as far as could be seen from +the distance the ship was off, sufficiently on one side to allow of any +access to the top. Against this impenetrable, adamantine barrier, on +the west, the heavy rolling sea that had travelled all the way from Cape +Horn was breaking with a loud din, sending columns of spray flying over +almost the highest peaks and making the scene grand but awesome at the +same time. + +"Well might it be called Inaccessible Island!" exclaimed Fritz, gazing +intently at the threatening cliffs and cruel surge. + +"Yes, sirree, it kinder skearts one to look at it, don't it now, hey?" + +"I should think it more dangerous to approach than Tristan?" said Fritz +presently. + +"I rayther guess so, mister," replied the skipper. "I rec'lect readin', +when I was a b'y, of the wreck of a big East Indyman here bound fur +Bombay. She wer called the _Blenden Hall_, an' I ken call to mind, +though it must be nigh fifty year ago, the hull yarn as to how she wer +lost." + +"Do you?" said Fritz. "I should like to hear about it." + +"Waall, here goes, I reckon. You see as how there wer several ladies +aboard, an' it wer the plight they wer put in thet made me 'member it +all. It wer in the month of July thet it happen'd, an' the vessel, as I +said afore, wer bound to Bombay. The weather bein' thick an' the master +funky about his latitudes, findin' himself by observation near these +islands, he detarmined to look for 'em, in order to get a sight of 'em +an' correct his reck'nin'. I guess he hed too much of a sight soon; +fur, a thick fog shortly shut out everythin' from gaze, an' lookin' over +the side he found the vessel in the midst of a lot o' floatin' weed. +The helm wer put down, but by reason of light winds and a heavy swell +settin' in to the shore, the same as you just now saw at Tristan, the +shep's head couldn't be got to come round. Breakers were now heard +ahead, so the jolly-boat wer lowered with a tow-line to heave the bows +round; but it wer of no use, as the wind hed failed entirely an' the +swell was a-drivin' the shep on to the rocks. An anchor wer then let +go, but the depth of water didn't allow it to take hold, so, they +lowered the cutter to help tow the shep's head round, along with the +jolly-boat, when all of a sudden she struck. The fog wer so thick by +then, thet those on board couldn't see the boats alongside, much less +the shore. Howsomedever, they cut away the masts, to ease the vessel +an' stop her grindin' on the rocks. Soon arter this, the fog lifted +when those on board were frit by seein' right over their heads +apparently, those very terrific-lookin' cliffs you see in front, just +thaar--only thet they wer close into 'em, not more nor half a cable's +length off, an' the heavy seas, sich as you ken now see runnin' up the +face of the rocky wall thaar, wer breaking boldly right over the shep--" + +"And," interrupted Fritz, "what happened then?" + +"What could you expect?" replied the skipper. "I guess she wer beaten +into matchwood in five minutes; although, won'erful to say, the hull of +the passengers, ladies an' all, wer got ashore safely, only one man +bein' drowned--an' it sarved him right, as he was one of the crew who +tried to escape when the shep first struck, an' leave all the rest to +perish! They wer all got to land by a hawser rigged from a peak of +projectin' rock to a bit of the wreck; an' the ladies, I read, mister, +an' all o' them, lived from July to November on penguins an' seal flesh, +which they cooked in part of an iron buoy that they sawed in half fur a +kittle, shelterin' themselves from the cold in tents thet they made out +of the vessel's sails. I reckon, mister, you'll be kinder better +provided fur an' lodged, hey?" + +"Yes, thanks to your kindness," said Fritz; "but the island seems +completely encompassed by this rocky wall. I don't see where and how +we're going to land and get our things on shore!" + +"Don't you?" chuckled the skipper. "I guess you'll soon see how we'll +fix it." + +Presently, Fritz's doubts were solved. + +When the _Pilot's Bride_ had worked her way well to windward of the +island, the captain fetched down towards the eastern side, where, on +rounding a point, a narrow bay lay right before the ship, quite +sheltered from the rough swell and wind that reigned paramount on the +other side of the coast, storming and beating against the wall-like +cliffs in blind fury! + +Here, it was as calm as a mill pond; so, the ship was brought to an +anchor right in front of a pretty little waterfall that leaped its way +by a series of cascades from the cliff above to a level plateau at the +base, where a narrow belt of low ground extended for about a mile in +front of the bay, its seaweed face being bordered by a broad sandy beach +of black sand. + +"Oh, that is pretty!" exclaimed Fritz and Eric, almost together in one +breath. "It is like the falls of the Staubbach at home in dear +Germany." + +"I don't know nary anythin' 'bout thet," said the skipper laconically, +for the brothers spoke for the moment in their native tongue, carried +away by old associations; "but I guess we'll hev to see 'bout gettin' +your fixins ashore pretty sharp, fur the wind may change agin, an' then +I'd hev to cut an' leave you." + +"All right, captain, we're quite at your service," said Fritz; and, a +boat being lowered, the various packages containing the brothers' +personal belongings, as well as the supply of provisions furnished by +the skipper from the ship's stores for their use, were put on board, +after which the two then jumped in accompanied by Captain Brown and the +young Tristaner, the little party being rowed ashore by four seamen whom +the skipper had ordered to assist. + +As soon as they landed, the things were carried up the beach; when, the +seamen bearing a hand,--directed by Captain Brown, who seemed quite used +to the sort of work,--all devoted their efforts towards building a rough +sort of house, which would serve the adventurous brothers for a +temporary habitation until they could make themselves more comfortable. + +Young Glass selected the best site for the building; and the skipper +having caused a lot of timber to be placed in the boat, a makeshift +cottage was hastily run up, the walls being of blocks of stone without +and of wood inside. The islander then thatched this neatly with +tussock-grass, which grew all up the face of the cliff, where, as he +showed the brothers, it could be utilised as a sort of ladder to gain +the plateau on top--on which, he also told Fritz and Eric, they would +find droves of wild hogs and a flock of goats that would come in handy +for food when their provisions failed. + +The Tristaner had promised to remain with them as long as Captain Brown +would stay with the _Pilot's Bride_, that is, for a week or so, if the +weather was favourable. However, quite unexpectedly, towards afternoon +on the next day--when the cottage was completed, it is true, but they +had not as yet had time to explore the island in company with young +Glass, in order to be familiarised as to the best spots for sealing, +planting their potatoes and vegetable seeds, and so on--the wind shifted +again round to the south-east; and no sooner was this change apparent +than the skipper had to weigh anchor without a moment's delay, when of +course the Tristaner had to embark, or else submit to share the young +crusoes' exile. + +Captain Brown had remained on shore with them all the time from their +landing, and he appeared now very loth to leave them at the last. +Really, as they went down with him to the whale-boat in which they had +come ashore, there were tears in the old man's eyes, which he tried +vainly to hide. + +"Pooh!" he exclaimed, stamping his foot vigorously. "It's all them +dratted 'skeaters or flies, or sunthin's got inter my durned old optics +as I can't see! Hail the ship, Eric my lad, an' tell 'em to send a boat +to take us off, will you, sonny?" + +"But the whale-boat that we landed in is here, captain," said Eric, +thinking the skipper had forgotten all about it. + +"Nary you mind thet, my lad," shouted the good-hearted old man; "I'm +goin' to leave thet with you fur a present, b'ys, in case you sh'u'd get +tired an' want ter shift your quarters to Tristan some day. It's allers +best to be purvided with the means of escape, you know, in case of the +worst, for the _Pilot's Bride_ might get wracked down 'mongst the +islands Kerguelen way, an' no shep might ever call to take you off." + +"Oh, captain, how can we thank you!" exclaimed Fritz, overcome with +emotion at the skipper's thoughtfulness. "Still, you will come and look +us up next year should all be well with you, eh?" + +"You bet on thet," replied the worthy old man. "I guess you'll see me +next fall, if I'm in the land o' the livin'!" + +"And you'll call to see if there are any letters for us at the Cape of +Good Hope, won't you? I told our people at home to write there, on the +chance of their communications being forwarded on." + +"I'll bring 'em sure, if there's any," replied the skipper; and, by this +time, a second boat having been sent off from the ship, in which the +seamen who had pulled the first whale-boat ashore now took their places, +along with the Tristan islander, it only remained for the kind old +captain to embark--and then, the brothers would be crusoes indeed! + +"Good-bye, an' God bless you, my b'ys," he said, wringing first the hand +of Fritz and then that of Eric, in a grip that almost crushed every +feeling in those respective members. "Good-bye, my lads; but keep a +stiff upper lip an' you'll do! Trust in providence, too, an' look arter +the seals, so as to be ready with a good cargo when I come back next +fall!" + +"Good-bye, good old friend," repeated Fritz, wringing his honest hand +again on the old man stepping into the boat, the crew of which raised a +parting cheer as it glided away to the ship, leaving the young crusoes +behind on the beach! + +They watched with eager eyes the sails being dropped and the anchor +weighed, the _Pilot's Bride_ soon after spreading her canvas and making +way out of the little bay. + +Then, when she got into the offing, the skipper, as a final adieu, +backed the vessel's main-topsail and dipped her colours three times, +firing the bow gun at the same time. + +It was a nautical farewell from their whilom comrades: and then the +brothers were left alone! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +TAKING AN INVENTORY. + +The westerly wind being, of course, fair for the _Pilot's Bride_ in her +run back to Tristan d'Acunha, she soon disappeared in the distance--the +snow-capped cone of the larger island being presently the only object to +be seen on the horizon, looking in the distance like a faint white cloud +against the sky. The evening haze shut out everything else from their +gaze: the lower outlines of the land they had so recently left: the +vessel that had conveyed them to their solitary home. + +Nothing was to be seen but the rolling tumid sea that stretched around +them everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, heaving and swelling and +with the breeze flecking off the tops of the billows into foam as its +resistless impetus impelled them onwards, away, away! + +"Well," exclaimed Eric, after a long pause, during which neither of the +brothers had spoken, both being anxiously watching the _Pilot's Bride_-- +until, first, her hull and then her gleaming sails, lit up for awhile by +the rays of the setting sun, had sunk out of sight--"well, here we are +at last!" + +"Yes, here we are," said Fritz, "and we've now got to make the best of +our little kingdom with only our own companionship." + +"We won't quarrel, at all events, brother," replied Eric, laughing in +his old fashion at the possibility of such a thing. The lad was quite +overwrought with emotion at parting with the old skipper as well as his +late companions in the ship; and, tears and mirth being closely allied, +he would have felt inclined to laugh at anything then--just because he +couldn't cry! + +"I don't suppose we will," said the other--"that is, not intentionally. +But, brother, we will have to guard our tempers with a strong hand; for, +when two persons are thrown together in such close association as we +shall be during the next ensuing months--with no one else to speak to +and no authority to control us, save our own consciences and the +knowledge of the all-seeing Eye above, weighing and considering our +actions--it will require a good deal of mutual forbearance and kindly +feeling on the part of one towards the other to prevent us from falling +out sometimes, if only for a short while. Even brothers like us, Eric, +who love each other dearly, may possibly fall out under such trying +circumstances!" + +"Aye, but we mustn't," said Eric. "Instead of falling out, we'll fall +into each other's arms whenever we agree to differ, as old nurse +Lorischen would have said!" and he gave his brother an enthusiastic hug +as he spoke, putting his words into action with a suddenness that almost +threw Fritz off his feet. + +"Hullo!" exclaimed the latter good-humouredly, smiling as he disengaged +himself from Eric's bear-like embrace. "Gently lad. Your affectionate +plan, I'm afraid, would sometimes interfere with the progress of our +work; but talking of that, as the vessel has now disappeared, there's no +use in our standing here any longer looking at the sea. Suppose we +begin to make ourselves at home and arrange our things in the snug +little cottage which our good friends have built for us?" + +"Right you are!" responded Eric, starting off towards the cliff, under +the lee of which the Tristaner had directed the hut to be built, so that +it might be sheltered from the strong winds of the winter, which would +soon have blown it down had it been erected in a more exposed situation. + +Fritz followed more leisurely to the level plateau by the waterfall, +where stood their cottage. + +Here, arresting his footsteps, he remained a moment surveying the little +domain before joining his brother, who had already rushed within the +building. + +That boy was all impulse: always eager to be doing something! + +The territory of the young crusoes was of limited dimensions. Extending +about a mile laterally, it was bounded on either side by lofty headlands +that projected into the sea, enclosing the narrow strip of beach that +lay between in their twin arms. The depth of the valley inwards was +even more confined by a steep cliff, down whose abrupt face slipped and +hopped through a gorge, or gully, a little rivulet. This stream, on its +progress being arrested by a shelf in front of the rocky escarpment, +tumbled over the obstacle in a sheet of cloud-like spray, being thus +converted into a typical "waterfall" that resembled somewhat that of +Staubbach, as the brothers had noticed when making their first +observations from the ship. The rivulet, collecting its scattered +fragments below, made its way to the beach in a meandering course, +passing by in its passage the slight hollow in the plateau at the base +of the furthermost crag, close by where the cottage was situated. + +The "location," as Captain Brown would have termed the sloping ground +between the cliff and the sea, was certainly not an extensive one; for, +in the event of their wishing to expand their little settlement, in the +fashion of squatters out West, by "borrowing" land from adjacent lots, +the inexorable wall of volcanic rock to the rear of the plateau and on +its right and left flank forbade the carrying out of any such scheme; +still, the place was big enough for their house, besides affording room +for a tidy-sized garden--that is, when the two had time to dig up the +soil and plant the potatoes and other seed which the skipper had +provided them with, so that they might have a supply of vegetables anon. + +At first sight, there did not appear to be any means of exit from this +little valley; for, the steep cliffs that hedged in its sides and back +lifted themselves skywards to the height of nearly a thousand feet, +while their fronts were generally so smooth and perpendicular that it +would have been impossible even for a monkey to have climbed them--much +less human beings, albeit one was a sailor and pretty well accustomed to +saltatory feats! But, on their inspecting the apparently insurmountable +breastwork a little closer, Fritz noticed, as the young Tristaner had +pointed out to them, that, by the side of the gorge through which the +waterfall made its erratic descent to the lower level, the face of the +cliff was more strongly indented; so that, by using the tussock-grass, +which grew there in great abundance, as a sort of scaling ladder, and +taking advantage of the niches in the rock to step upon where this +failed, the summit could be thus easily gained. The top, however, was +so far away from the beach and the foothold so insecure that the work of +ascending the crag would be a most hazardous proceeding at the best of +times, to the elder brother at all events. + +While Fritz was thus cogitating, and diligently studying the features of +the scene around, Eric was waiting for him impatiently at the door of +the rough-looking hut which the sailors had built for them under the +superintendence of Captain Brown and the Tristaner. + +The young sailor was too restless to remain quiet very long. + +"Do come along, brother!" he called out after a while. "What a time you +are, to be sure; we'll never be able to unpack our things before it's +dark, unless you look sharp!" + +"All right, I'm coming," replied the other; and he was soon by the side +of Eric, who had already begun to overhaul the various articles that had +been brought up from the boat by the sailors and piled up in a corner of +the hut. + +"What a lot of things!" exclaimed the lad. "Why, there are ever so many +more parcels than I thought there were!" + +"Yes," said his brother; "it is all that good Captain Brown's doing, I +suppose. When we were parting, he told me that he had left me a few +`notions,' besides our own traps." + +"He has too, brother. Just look here at this barrel of beef; you didn't +pay him for that, eh?" + +"No," said Fritz; "I only bought some pork and ship's biscuits, besides +flour and a few groceries." + +"Then he has thought of much that we forgot," remarked Eric with +considerable satisfaction. "I don't think our groceries included +preserved peaches and tinned oysters, Fritz; yet, here they are!" + +"You don't say so--the kind old fellow!" exclaimed Fritz; and then he, +too, set to work examining the stores as eagerly as his brother. + +Before leaving Providence, the two had purchased a couple of spades and +shovels, an American axe, a pick, a rake, a wheelbarrow, and a hoe for +agricultural purposes--the skipper having told them that the soil would +be fertile enough in the summer at Inaccessible Island for them to plant +most sorts of kitchen produce, which they would find of great help in +eking out the salted provisions they took from the ship, besides being +better for their health; while, to give emphasis to his advice, he +presented them with a plentiful stock of potatoes to put into the +ground, besides garden seed. + +For cooking, the brothers were provided with a large kettle and frying +pan, a couple of saucepans, several knives and forks, some crockery, +and, in addition, a large iron cauldron for melting down seal blubber; +for hunting purposes, to complete the list of their gear, they had two +harpoons, a supply of fishing hooks and a grapnel, two Remington +rifles--besides Fritz's needle-gun which he had used in the first part +of the Franco-German war, before he became an officer and was entitled +to carry a sword--a supply of cartridges, five pounds of loose powder, +lead for making bullets, and a mould. + +Among their weapons, also, was an old muzzle-loading fowling piece for +which shot had been taken, Fritz thinking that it might come in handy +for shooting birds--although, as he subsequently found out, all of the +feathered tribe they saw were penguins, and these did not require any +expenditure of powder and shot on their behalf, being easily knocked +down with a stick. + +Nor did they forget to bring with them three or four strong sheath +knives, for skinning the seals and any other use for which they were +applicable; and, to add to their stock of cutlery implements, the +skipper had presented Fritz with a serviceable bowie knife, whose broad +double-dagger-like blade was powerful enough to cut down a tree on an +emergency or make mince-meat of an enemy! + +Fritz had likewise purchased in Rhode Island a good stock of winter +clothing for himself and Eric, a couple of thick blanket rugs, and two +empty bed-tick covers--to be afterwards filled with the down they should +procure from the sea birds. He bought, too, a strong lamp, with a +supply of paraffin oil, and several dozen boxes of matches; so that he +and Eric should not have to adopt the tinder and flint business, or be +obliged to rub two pieces of dry stick together, in the primitive +fashion of the Australian aborigines, when they wanted a light. + +So much for their equipment. + +For their internal use, Fritz had selected from the ship's stores a +barrel of salt pork, two hundred-weight of rice, one hundred pounds of +hard biscuit, two hundred-weight of flour, twenty pounds of tea and +thirty of coffee, and a barrel of sugar; besides which, in the way of +condiments and luxuries, their stores included three pounds of table +salt, some pepper, a gallon of vinegar, a jar of pickles, a bottle of +brandy and some Epsom salts in the view of possible medical +contingencies. The skipper also advised their taking a barrel of coarse +salt to cure their sealskins with, as well as empty casks to contain +what oil they managed to boil down. + +These were their own stores; but, imagine the surprise of Fritz and his +brother, when they found that Captain Brown had added to their stock the +welcome present of a barrel of salt beef and a couple of hams, a good- +sized cheese, and some boxes of sardines, besides the preserved fruits +and pickled oysters which Eric had already discovered. + +Nor did the skipper's kindness stop here. He had packed up with their +things a couple of extra blankets, which they subsequently found of +great comfort in the cold weather, in addition to their rugs; a wide +piece of tarpaulin to cover their hut with; a few short spars and spare +timber; and, lastly, a clock--not to speak of the valuable whale-boat +which he had thought of just as he was going away and had presented to +them all standing, with oars, mast and sails in complete trim. + +"I declare," said Fritz, "he has been better than a father to us all +through. I never heard of such good nature in my life!" + +"Nor I," responded Eric, equally full of gratitude. "Celia, too, before +I left Providence, gave me a nice little housewife, wherewith I shall +mend all our things when they want repairing, besides which, she made ma +a present of quite a little library of books." + +"And I've brought all mine as well," said Fritz, unrolling a large +package as he spoke. + +"We'll not be hard up for reading, at any rate," remarked Eric, laughing +joyously. "Food for the mind as well as food for the body, eh?" + +"Yes," said Fritz; "plenty of both." + +"But, how on earth shall we ever be able to get through all this lot of +grub?" + +"Ah, we won't find it a bit too much," said Fritz. + +"What, for only us two, brother?" exclaimed Eric in astonishment. + +"You forget it has got to last us more than a year, for certain; while, +should the _Pilot's Bride_ not visit us again next autumn, it will be +all we may have to depend on for twice that length of time." + +"Oh, I forgot that." + +"If you could see the pile of rations which one regiment alone of men +manages to consume in a week, the same as I have, Eric, you would not +wonder so much at the amount of our supplies." + +"But think, brother, a regiment is very different to two fellows like +us!" + +"Just calculate, laddie," answered the other, "the food so many men +would require for only one day; and then for us two, say, for seven +hundred days--where's the difference?" + +"Ah, I see," said Eric, reflecting for a moment. "Perhaps there won't +be too much, after all, eh?" + +"Wait till this time next year, and see what we shall have left then, +laddie!" + +"But, remember the goats and pigs on the top of the mountain which the +Tristaner spoke to us about. We'll have those for food as well, won't +we?" + +"Wait till we catch them," remarked Fritz dryly; adding shortly +afterwards, "We'd better stop talking now, however, and see about +getting our bed things ready for turning in for the night. Recollect, +we'll have a busy day of it to-morrow." + +"Ah, I shall go up and explore the mountain top, brother, the first +thing in the morning," said Eric impulsively. "I'm dying to see what +it's like!" + +"We have more important things to do, before satisfying our curiosity," +observed the other. "Don't you recollect the garden?" + +"I declare I forgot it, brother, for the moment, although there's no +need for us to hurry about that." + +"The sooner we plant the seed, the sooner it will grow up," said Fritz +gravely. "Remember, old fellow, it is late in the spring now here; and, +unless the things are put into the ground without further delay, Captain +Brown said we need not hope to have any return from them this year." + +"All right, Fritz," replied Eric cheerfully, the name of the skipper +having the talismanic effect of making him curb his own wishes anent the +immediate exploration of the island, which he had planned out for the +next day's programme. "We'll do the garden first, brother, if you +like." + +"I think that will be wisest," said Fritz. "But now let us arrange our +bunks and have a bit of something to eat from the little basket the +steward put up for us before coming ashore. After that, we must go to +roost like the penguins outside, for it is nearly dark." + +"Aye, aye, sir," responded Eric, touching his cap with mock deference. + +"You just do that again!" said Fritz, threatening him in a joking way. + +"Or, what?" asked the other, jumping out of his reach in make-believe +terror. + +"I'll eat your share of this nice supper as well as mine." + +"Oh, a truce then," cried Eric, laughing and coming back to his +brother's side; when the two, sitting down in the hut, whose interior +now looked very comfortable with the lamp lit, they proceeded to +demolish the roast fowl and piece of salt pork which Captain Brown had +directed the steward to put into a basket for them, so that they should +be saved the trouble of cooking for themselves the first day of their +sojourn on the island, as well as enjoy a savoury little repast in their +early experience of solitude. + +"I say," remarked Eric, with his mouth full. "This is jolly, ain't it!" + +"Yes, pretty well for a first start at our new life," replied Fritz, +eating away with equal gusto. "I only hope that we'll get on as +favourably later on." + +"I hope so, too, brother," responded the other. "There's no harm in +wishing that, is there?" + +"No," said Fritz. "But, remember, the garden to-morrow." + +"I shan't forget again, old fellow, with you to jog my memory!" + +"Ah, I'll not omit my part of it, then," retorted Fritz, joining in +Eric's laughter. Then, the brothers, having finished their meal, turned +out their lamp; and, throwing themselves down on a heap of rugs and +blankets which they had piled together in a corner of the hut, they were +soon asleep, completely tired out with all the fatigues and exertions of +the eventful day. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +GARDENING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. + +If the brothers thought that they were going to hold undisputed sway +over the island and be monarchs of all they surveyed, they were speedily +undeceived next morning! + +When they landed from the ship on the day before, in company with the +captain and boat's crew, all had noticed the numbers of penguins and +rock petrels proceeding to and from the sea--the point from whence they +started and the goal they invariably arrived at being a tangled mass of +brushwood and tussock-grass on the right of the bay, about a mile or so +distant from the waterfall on the extreme left of the hut. + +The birds had kept up an endless chatter, croaking, or rather barking, +just like a number of dogs quarrelling, in all manner of keys, as they +bustled in and out of the "rookery" they had established in the arm of +the cliff; and Fritz and Eric had been much diverted by their movements, +particularly when the feathered colonists came out of the water from +their fishing excursions and proceeded towards their nests. + +The penguins, especially, seemed to possess the diving capabilities of +the piscine tribe, for they were able to remain so long under the +surface that they approached the beach without giving any warning that +they were in the neighbourhood. Looking out to sea, as the little party +of observers watched them, not a penguin was to be seen. Really, it +would have been supposed that all of them were on shore, particularly as +those there made such a din that it sounded as if myriads were gathered +together in their hidden retreat; but, all at once, the surface of the +water, some hundred yards or so from the beach, would be seen disturbed, +as if from a catspaw of a breeze, although what wind there was blew from +the opposite quarter, and then, a ripple appeared moving in towards the +land, a dark-red beak and sometimes a pair of owlish eyes showing for a +second and then disappearing again. The ripple came onwards quickly, +and the lookers-on could notice that it was wedge-shaped, in the same +fashion as wild geese wing their way through the air. A moment later, a +band of perhaps from three to four hundred penguins would scramble out +on to the stones with great rapidity, at once exchanging the vigorous +and graceful movements for which they were so remarkable while in the +water for the most ludicrous and ungainly ones possible now that they +were on terra firma; for, they tumbled about on the shingle and +apparently with difficulty assumed the normal position which is their +habit when on land--that of standing upright on their feet. These +latter are set too far back for their bodies to hang horizontally; so, +with their fin-like wings hanging down helplessly by their sides, they +look ashore, as Fritz said to Eric, "just the very image of a parcel of +rough recruits" going through their first drill in the "awkward squad!" + +When the penguins got fairly out of the water, beyond reach of the +surf--which broke with a monotonous motion on the beach in a sullen sort +of way, as if it was curbed by a higher law for the present, but would +revenge itself bye-and-bye when it had free play--they would stand +together in a cluster, drying and dressing themselves, talking together +the while in their gruff barking voice, as if congratulating each other +on their safe landing; and then, again, all at once, as if by +preconcerted order, they would start scrambling off in a body over the +stony causeway that lay between the beach and their rookery in the +scrub, many falling down by the way and picking themselves up again by +their flappers, their bodies being apparently too weighty for their +legs. The whole lot thus waddled and rolled along, like a number of old +gentlemen with gouty feet, until they reached one particular road into +the tussock-grass thicket, which their repeated passage had worn smooth; +and, along this they passed in single file in the funniest fashion +imaginable. The performance altogether more resembled a scene in a +pantomime than anything else! + +This was not all, either. + +The onlookers had only seen half the play; for, no sooner had this party +of excursionists returned home than another band of equal numbers +appeared coming out of the rookery from a second path, almost parallel +with the first but distinctly separated by a hedge of brushwood--so as +to prevent the birds going to and from the sea from interfering with +each other's movements. + +These new--comers, when they got out of the grass on to the beach--which +they reached in a similar sprawling way to that in which the others had +before traversed the intervening space, "jest as if they were all drunk, +every mother's son of 'em!" as the skipper had said--stopped, similarly, +to have a chat, telling each other probably their various plans for +fishing; and then, after three or four minutes of noisy conversation, in +which they barked and growled as if quarrelling vehemently, they would +scuttle down with one consent in a group over the stones into the water. + +From this spot, once they had dived in, a long line of ripples, +radiating outwards towards the open sea, like that caused by a pebble +flung into a pond, was the only indication, as far as could be seen, +that the penguins were below the surface, not a head or beak showing. + +Such was the ordinary procedure of the penguins, according to what Fritz +and the others noticed on the first day of the brothers' landing on the +island. + +A cursory glance was also given to the movements of the curious little +rock hoppers and petrels. These made burrows in the ground under the +basaltic debris at the foot of the cliffs, just like rabbits, popping in +and out of their subterranean retreats in the same way as people +travelling in the American backwoods have noticed the "prairie dogs" do; +but, both the brothers, as well as the men from the _Pilot's Bride_, +were too busy getting the hut finished while daylight lasted and +carrying up the stores from the beach to the little building afterwards, +to devote much time to anything else. + +When, too, the captain and seamen returned on board and the ship sailed, +leaving Fritz and Eric alone, they had quite enough to occupy all their +time with unpacking their things and preparing for the night, without +thinking of the penguins; although they could hear their confused +barking noise in the distance, long after nightfall, above the singing +of the wind overhead through the waterfall gully and the dull roar of +the surf breaking against the western side of the coast. The brothers, +however, were too tired to keep awake long, soon sinking into a heavy +sleep that was undisturbed till the early morning. + +But, when day broke, the penguins would not allow their existence to be +any longer forgotten, the brothers being soon made aware of their +neighbourhood. + +Eric, the sailor lad, accustomed to early calls at sea when on watch +duty, was the first to awake. + +"Himmel!" he exclaimed, stretching his arms out and giving a mighty kick +out with his legs so as to thoroughly rouse himself. He fancied that he +heard the mate's voice calling down the hatchway, while summoning the +crew on deck with the customary cry for all hands. "What's all the row +about--is the vessel taken aback, a mutiny broken loose, or what?" + +"Eh?" said Fritz sleepily, opening his eyes with difficulty and staring +round in a puzzled way, unable at first to make out where he was, the +place seemed so strange. + +"Why, whatever is the matter?" repeated Eric, springing up from amongst +the rugs and blankets, which had made them a very comfortable bed. "I +thought I was on board the _Pilot's Bride_ still, instead of here! +Listen to that noise going on outside, Fritz? It sounds as if there +were a lot of people fighting--I wonder if there are any other people +here beside ourselves?" + +"Nonsense!" said his brother, turning out too, now thoroughly awake. +"There's no chance of a ship coming in during the night; still, there +certainly is a most awful row going on!--What can it be?" + +"We'll soon see!" ejaculated Eric, unfastening a rude door, which they +had made with some broken spars, so as to shut up the entrance to the +hut, and rolling away the barrels that had been piled against it, to +withstand any shock of the wind from without. The brothers did not fear +any other intruder save some blustering south-easter bursting in upon +them unexpectedly. + +"Well!" sang out Fritz, as soon as the lad had peered without--"do you +see anybody?" + +"No," replied Eric, "not a soul! I don't notice, either anything moving +about but some penguins down on the beach. They are waddling about +there in droves." + +"Ah, those are the noisy gentlemen you hear," responded the other, +coming to the doorway and looking around. "Don't you catch the sound +more fully now?" + +"I would rather think I did," said Eric. "I would be deaf otherwise!" + +There was no doubt of the noise the birds made being audible enough! + +The barking, grunting, yelping cries came in a regular chorus from the +brushwood thicket in the distance, sometimes fainter and then again with +increased force, as if fresh voices joined in the discordant refrain. + +The noise of the birds was exactly like that laughing sort of grating +cry which a flock of geese make on being frightened, by some passer-by +on a common, say, when they run screaming away with outstretched wings, +standing on the tips of their webbed feet as if dancing--the appearance +of the penguins rushing in and out of the tussock clump where their +rookery was, bearing out the parallel. + +"They are nice shipmates, that's all I can say!" remarked Eric +presently, after gazing at the movements of the birds for some little +time and listening to the deafening din they made. "They seem to be all +at loggerheads." + +"I dare say if we understood their language," said Fritz, "we would know +that each of their different cries has a peculiar signification of its +own. Perhaps, they are talking together sociably about all sorts of +things." + +"Just like a pack of gabbling old women, you mean!" exclaimed Eric. "I +should like to wring all their necks for waking us up so early!" + +"Not a bit too soon," observed Fritz. "See, the sun is just rising over +the sea there; and, as we turned in early last night, there is all the +better reason for our being up betimes this morning, considering all +there is for us to do before we can settle down regularly to the +business that brought us here. What a lovely sunrise!" + +"Yes, pretty fairish to look at from the land," replied the other, +giving but a half-assent to his brother's exclamation of admiration. +"I've seen finer when I was with Captain Brown last voyage down below +the Cape near Kerguelen. There, the sun used to light up all the +icebergs. Himmel, Fritz, it was like fairyland!" + +"That might have been so," responded the elder of the two, in his grave +German way when his thoughts ran deep; "but, this is beautiful enough +for me." + +And so it might have been, as he said--beautiful enough for any one! + +The moon had risen late on the previous night, and when Fritz and Eric +turned out it was still shining brightly, with the stars peeping out +here and there from the blue vault above; while, the wind having died +away, all the shimmering expanse of sea that stretched away to the +eastwards out of the bay shone like silver, appearing to be lazily +wrapped in slumber, and only giving vent to an occasional long hum like +a deeply drawn breath. But, all in a moment, the scene was changed--as +if by the wave of an enchanter's wand. + +First, a rosy tinge appeared, creeping up from below the horizon +imperceptibly and spreading gradually over the whole arc of sky, melting +presently into a bright, glowing madder hue that changed to purple, +which faded again into a greenish neutral tint that blended with the +faint ultramarine blue of the zenith above. The bright moonlight now +waning, was replaced for an instant or two only--the transition was so +short--by a hazy, misty chiaro-oscuro, which, in another second, was +dissolved by the ready effulgence of the solar rays, that darted here, +there, and everywhere through it, piercing the curtain of mist to the +core as it annihilated it. + +Then, the sun rose. + +But no, it did not rise in the ordinary sense of the expression; it +literally jumped up at once from the sea, appearing several degrees +above the horizon the same instant almost that Fritz and Eric caught +sight of it and before they could realise its presence, albeit their +eyes were intently fixed all the while on the point where it heralded +its coming by the glowing vapours sent before. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Fritz, drawing a deep breath when this transformation of +nature was complete, the light touching up the projecting peaks of the +cliff and making a glittering pathway right into the bay. "This sight +is enough to inspire any one. It ought to make us set to our work with +a good heart!" + +"Right you are," responded Eric, who was equally impressed with the +magic scene--in spite of his disclaimer about having seen a better +sunrise in antarctic seas. "As soon as we've had breakfast, for I +confess I feel peckish again--it's on account of going to bed so early, +I suppose!--I'm ready to bear a hand as your assistant and help you with +the garden. But, who shall be cook? One of the two of us had better +take that office permanently, I think; eh, Fritz?" + +"You can be, if you like," said the other. "I fancy you have got a +slight leaning that way, from what I recollect of you at home." + +"When I used to bother poor old Lorischen's life out of her, by running +into the kitchen, eh?" + +"Yes, I remember it well." + +"Ah, that was when I was young," said Eric, laughing. "I wouldn't do it +now, when I am grown up and know better!" + +"Grown up, indeed! you're a fine fellow to talk of being of age with +your seventeen years, laddie!" + +"Never mind that," retorted Eric; "I mayn't be as old as you are; but, +at all events, I flatter myself I know better how to cook than a sub- +lieutenant of the Hanoverian Tirailleurs!" + +So saying, the lad proceeded to make a fire and put the kettle on in +such a dexterous manner that it showed he was to the manner born, so to +speak; Fritz helping to aid the progress of the breakfast by fetching +water from a pool which the cascade had hollowed out for itself at the +point where it finally leapt to level ground and betook itself to the +sea in rivulet fashion. + +The brothers only trenched on their stores to the extent of getting out +some coffee and sugar, the remains of their supper being ample to +provide them with their morning meal; and, after partaking of this, +armed with their wheelbarrow and other agricultural implements, besides +a bag of potatoes and some seed for planting, they sallied forth from +the hut in the direction of the penguin colony. + +Here, the Tristaner told them, they would find the best spot for a +garden, the soil being not only richer and easier to cultivate but it +was the only place that was free from rock, and not overrun by the +luxuriant tussock-grass which spread over the rest of the land that was +not thicket. + +Proceeding to the right-hand side of the cliff under which their hut was +built, they descended the somewhat sloping and broken ground that led in +the direction of the penguin colony, the noise from which grew louder +and louder as they advanced, until it culminated in a regular ear- +deafening chorus. + +When they had reached the distance of about a quarter of a mile, they +came to a closely grown thicket, principally composed of a species of +buckthorn tree that grew to the height of some thirty feet although of +very slender trunk, underneath which was a mass of tangled grass and the +same sort of debris from the cliff as that whereon their hut stood. The +place was overgrown with moss and beautiful ferns, while several +thrushes were to be seen amongst the branches of the trees just like +those at home, although the brothers did not think they sang as sweetly: +they whistled more in the way of the blackbird. The ground here, too, +was quite honeycombed with the burrows of the little petrels, and into +these their footsteps broke every moment. It was odd to hear the +muffled chirp and feel the struggling birds beneath their feet as they +stepped over the grass-grown soil. The ground had not the slightest +appearance of being undermined by the mole-like petrels, its hollowness +being only proved when it gave way to the tread; although, after the +first surprise of the two young fellows at thus disturbing the tenants +of the burrows, they walked as "gingerly" as they could, so as to avoid +hurting the little creatures. The birds, however, seemed too busy with +their domestic concerns to take any notice of them. + +After passing through the strip of wood, which was not of very extensive +dimensions, Fritz and Eric found the ground on the other side level and +pretty free from vegetation. This open land was just at the angle +between the cliffs, occupying a space of perhaps a couple of acres, +exactly as the Tristaner had told them; so, here they began at once +their operations for laying out their projected garden, which was to be +the first task they had to accomplish before settling down, now that +they had been saved the trouble of building a house to live in. + +Eric, impetuous as usual, wanted to dig up and plant the entire lot; but +Fritz was more practical, thinking it the wisest plan not to attempt too +much at once. + +"No," said he, "we had better begin with a small portion at first; and +then, when we have planted that, we can easily take in more land. It +won't be such easy work as you think, laddie!" + +Accordingly, they marked out a space of about twenty yards square; and +then, the brothers, taking off their coats, commenced digging at this +with considerable energy for some length of time. But, Eric soon +discovered that, easy as the thing looked, it was a much tougher job +than he had expected, the ground being very hard from the fact of its +never having had a spade put into it before; besides which, the exercise +was one to which the lad was unaccustomed. + +"Really, I must rest," he exclaimed after a bit, his hands being then +blistered, while he was bathed in perspiration from head to foot. He +did not wish to give in so long as he saw Fritz plodding on laboriously, +especially as he had made light of the matter when they began; but now +he really had to confess to being beaten. "I declare," he panted out, +half-breathlessly--"my back feels broken, and I couldn't dig another +spadeful to save my life!" + +"You went at it too hard at first," said his brother. "Slow and sure is +the best in the long run, you know! Why, I haven't tired myself half as +much as you; and, see, I have turned over twice the distance of hard +ground that you have." + +"Ah, you are used to it," replied Eric. "I'm more accustomed to +ploughing the sea than turning up land! But, I say, Fritz; while you go +on digging--that is if you're not tired--I've just thought of something +else I can do, so as not to be idle." + +"What is that--look on at me working, eh?" + +"No," said the lad, laughing at the other's somewhat ironical question; +"I mean doing something really--something that will be helping you and +be of service to the garden." + +"Well, tell me," replied Fritz, industriously going on using his spade +with the most praiseworthy assiduity, not pausing for a moment even +while he was speaking; for, he was anxious to have the ground finished +as soon as he could. + +"I thought that some of the guano from the place where the penguins make +their nests would be fine stuff to manure our garden with before we put +in the seeds, eh?" + +"The very thing," said Fritz. "It's a capital idea of yours; and I am +glad you thought of it, as it never occurred to me. I recollect now, +that the Tristaner said they used it for the little gardens we saw at +their settlement. It will make our potatoes and cabbages grow finely." + +"All right then; shall I get some?" + +"By all means," responded Fritz; "and, while you are collecting it, I +will go on preparing the ground ready for it; I've nearly done half now, +so, by the time you get back with the guano I shall have dug up the +whole plot." + +"Here goes then!" cried Eric; and, away he went, trundling the +wheelbarrow along, with a shovel inside it for scraping up the bird +refuse and loading the little vehicle--disappearing soon from his +brother's gaze behind the tussock-grass thicket that skirted the extreme +end of the garden patch, close to the cliff on the right-hand side of +the bay, and exactly opposite to the site of their cottage, this being +the place where, as already mentioned, the penguins had established +their breeding-place, or "rookery." + +Prior to Eric's departure, the birds had been noisy enough, keeping up +such a continual croaking and barking that the brothers could hardly +hear each other's voice; but now, no sooner had the lad invaded what +they seemed to look upon as their own particular domain, than the din +proceeding from thence became terrific, causing Fritz to drop his spade +for the first time since handling it and look up from his work, +wondering what was happening in the distance. + +He could, however, see nothing of Eric, the tussock-grass growing so +high as to conceal his movements; so, he was just about resuming +digging, fancying that his brother would shortly be back with his +wheelbarrow full of guano manure and that then the uproar would be over, +when, suddenly, he distinguished, above all the growling and barking of +the penguins, the sound of the lad's voice calling to him for aid. + +"Help, Fritz, help!" cried Eric, almost in a shriek, as if in great +pain. "Help, Fritz, help!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +ERIC'S COOKERY. + +To throw down his spade a second time and rush off in the direction from +whence his brother's cries for assistance proceeded was but the work of +an instant for Fritz; and when he had succeeded in pushing his way +through the tangled tussock-grass, which grew matted as thick as a cane- +brake, he found the lad in a terrible plight. + +At first, the strong ammoniacal smell of the guano was so overpowering, +combined with the fearful noise the penguins made--all screaming and +chattering together, as if the denizens of the monkey house at the +Zoological Gardens, which Fritz had once visited when in London, had +been suddenly let loose amongst the parrots in the same establishment-- +that his senses were too confused to distinguish anything, especially as +the thicket was enveloped in semi-darkness from the overhanging stems of +the long grass which shut out the sunlight; but, after a brief interval, +Fritz was able to comprehend the situation and see his brother. Poor +Eric was lying face downwards, half-suffocated amidst the mass of bird +refuse, with the wheelbarrow, which had got turned over in some +mysterious way or other, lying over him and preventing him from rising. +Really, but for Fritz's speedy arrival, the lad might have lost his life +in so strange a fashion, for he was quite speechless and his breath gone +when his brother lifted him up. + +Nor was this the worst either. + +The penguins had made such a determined onslaught on Eric with their +heavy beaks and flapping wings, and possibly too with their webbed feet +when he was down struggling amongst them, that his clothes were all torn +to rags; while his legs and body were bleeding profusely from the bites +and scratches he had received. His face alone escaped injury, from the +fact of its being buried in the guano debris. + +Fritz took hold of him, after pulling away the wheelbarrow, and lugged +him outside the penguin colony; when the lad, recovering presently, was +able to tell the incidents of the adventure, laughing subsequently at +its ridiculous aspect. It seemed funny, he explained, that he, a sailor +who had battled with the storms of the ocean and feared nothing, should +be ignominiously beaten back by a flock of birds that were more stupid +than geese! + +He had thought it easy enough to get the guano for the garden, he said, +but he had overrated his ability or rather, underrated the obstacles in +his way; for, no sooner had he left the level ground which they had +selected for their little clearing, than he found that the tussock- +grass, which appeared as light and graceful in the distance as waving +corn, grew into a nearly-impenetrable jungle. + +The root-clumps, or "tussocks" of the grass--whence its name--were two +or three feet in width, and grew into a mound about a foot high, the +spaces intervening between, which the penguins utilised for their nests, +averaging about eighteen inches apart, as if the grass had been almost +planted in mathematical order. + +It would have been hard enough to wheel in the wheelbarrow between the +clumps, Eric remarked, if all else had been plain sailing; but since, as +he pointed out and as Fritz indeed could see for himself, the stems of +the thick grass raised themselves up to the height of seven or eight +feet from the roots, besides interweaving their blades with those of +adjoining clumps, the difficulty of passing through the thicket was +increased tenfold. He had, he said, to bend himself double in stooping +so as to push along the wheelbarrow into the birds' breeding-place, +which he did, thinking his path would become more open the farther he +got in. + +So, not to be daunted, Eric trundled along the little vehicle right into +the heart of the birds' colony, beating down the grass as he advanced +and crushing hundreds of eggs in his progress, as well as wheeling over +those birds that could not, or stupidly would not, get out of his way; +when, as he was beginning to load up the wheelbarrow with a mass of the +finer sort of guano which he had scraped up, the penguins, which had +been all the while grumbling terribly at the intruder who was thus +desolating their domain--waiting to "get up steam," as the lad expressed +it--made a concerted rush upon him all together, just in the same manner +as they appeared always to enter and leave the water. + +"In a moment," Eric said, "the wheelbarrow got bowsed over, when I +managed, worse luck, to fall underneath; and then, finding I couldn't +get up again, I hailed you, brother." + +"I came at once," interposed Fritz, "the moment I heard you call out." + +"Well, I suppose you did, old fellow," said Eric; "but whether you did +or didn't, in another five minutes I believe it would have been all up +with me, for I felt as if I were strangled, lying down there on my face +in that beastly stuff. It seemed to have a sort of take-away-your- +breath feeling, like smelling-salts; and, besides, the penguins kicked +up such a hideous row all the while that I thought I would go mad. I +never heard such a racket in my life anywhere before, I declare!" + +"But they've bitten you, too, awfully," remarked Fritz sympathisingly. +"Look, your poor legs are all bleeding." + +"Oh, hang my legs, brother!" replied the other. "They'll soon come +right, never fear, when they have had a good wash in salt water. It was +the noise of the blessed birds that bothered me more than all their +pecking; and, I can say truly of them, as of an old dog, that their bark +is worse than their bite!" + +So chuckling, the lad appeared to think no more of it; albeit he had not +escaped scathless, and had been really in imminent peril a moment +before. "The penguins do bark, don't they, Fritz?" he presently asked +when he had stopped laughing. + +"Yes," said his brother, "I don't think we can describe the sounds they +make as anything else than barking. Talking of dogs, I wish I had my +old Gelert here; he would soon have made a diversion in your favour and +routed the penguins!" + +"Would he?" exclaimed Eric in a doubting tone, still rather sore in his +mind at having been forced to beat a retreat before his feathered +assailants. "I fancy the best dog in the world would have been cowed by +those vicious brutes; for, if he didn't turn tail, he would be pecked to +death in a minute!" + +Eric was not far wrong, as a fine setter, belonging to one of the +officers of HMS _Challenger_, when that vessel was engaged in surveying +the islands of the South Atlantic, during her scientific voyage in 1874, +was torn to pieces by the penguins in the same way that Eric was +assailed, before it could be rescued. + +"Never mind," said Fritz, "I wish dear old Gelert were here all the +same." + +"So do I," chorussed Eric, jumping up on his legs and shaking himself, +to see whether his bones might not have received some damage in the +affray. "We should have rare fun setting him at the penguins and +interrupting their triumphant marches up and down the beach!" And he +raised his fist threateningly at his late foes. + +"Do you know," observed Fritz, who had been cogitating awhile, "I think +I see the reason for their methodical habit of going to and from the +water." + +"Indeed?" said Eric. + +"Yes. Don't you recollect how an equal number seem always to come out +from the rookery and proceed down the beach when the other batches land +from the sea, just as if they took it in rotation to go fishing?" + +"Of course. Why, Captain Brown specially pointed that out to us." + +"Well," said Fritz, "the reason for that is, that the males and females +mind the nests in turn, just as you sailors keep watch on board ship. +First, let us say, the gentlemen penguins go off to the sea to have a +swim, and see what they can catch; and then, at the expiration of a +fixed time, these return to the shore and take charge of the nests, +sitting on the eggs while their wives, whom they thus relieve for a +spell, have a spell off, so as to get a mouthful of fresh air--" + +"Water, you mean," interposed Eric, jokingly. + +"All right, water then, and perhaps a fish or two as well; after which +they come back to attend to their own legitimate department. Look now +at that group there, just in front of us?" + +Eric glanced towards the spot where his brother directed his attention, +and noticed a party of penguins returning from the sea. These separated +as soon as they approached the line of nests, different individuals +sidling up to the sitting birds and giving their partners a peck with +their beaks, by way of a hint, barking out some word of explanation at +the same time. In another moment, the home-coming penguin had wedged +itself into the place of the other, which struggling on to its feet then +proceeded outside the thicket, where, being joined by others whose guard +had been thus similarly relieved, the fresh group proceeded together, in +a hurried, scrambling sort of run, to the beach, whence they shortly +plunged into the sea, having, however, their usual gabbling colloquy +first in concert before taking to the water. + +"They're a funny lot," said Eric; "still, they're not going to get the +better of me, for I intend to load the wheelbarrow with their guano, +whether they like it or not!" + +"I wouldn't disturb them again, if I were you," observed Fritz. "They +seem to have quieted down, and do not mind our presence now." + +"I won't trouble them, for I shall not go inside their rookery," said +Eric. "I only intend to skirt round the place, and see what I can pick +up outside." + +"Very well then, I will go on digging the garden, which I have been +neglecting all this time, if you will get the manure. I should like to +plant some of our potatoes to-day, before knocking off work, if we can +manage it." + +"All right, fire away; I will soon come and join you," said Eric, and +the brothers separated again--Fritz proceeding back to the ground he had +been digging, which now began to look quite tidy; while the sailor lad, +lifting up the handles of the wheelbarrow, trundled it off once more +along the edge of the tussock-grass thicket, stopping every now and +again to shovel up the guano, until he had collected a full load, when +he wheeled his way back to where Fritz was working away still hard at +the potato patch. + +A piece of ground twenty yards long by the same in breadth is not easy +to dig over in a day, even to the most industrious toiler, and so Fritz +found it; for, in spite of the interruption his brother had suffered +from on his first start after the manure from the bird colony, the lad +managed to cover the whole of the plot they had marked out with the +fertilising compound, which he wheeled up load after load, long before +he had accomplished half his task, although he dug away earnestly. + +Fritz had been a little more sanguine than he usually was. He thought +he could have finished the job before the middle of the day; but, when +it got late on in the afternoon and the sun gave notice as he sank +behind the western cliff that the evening was drawing nigh, there was +still much to finish; and so, much to the elder brother's chagrin, the +task had to be abandoned for the day in an incomplete state. + +"Never mind," he said to Eric--when, putting their spades and other +tools into the wheelbarrow, they trundled it homeward in turn, like as +their friends the penguins practised their domestic duties--"we'll get +it done by to-morrow, if we only stick to it." + +"I'm sure I will do my best, brother," responded Eric; "but, really, I +do hate digging. The man who invented that horrible thing, a spade, +ought to be keel-hauled; that's how I would serve him!" + +"Is that anything like what the penguins did to you this morning?" asked +Fritz with a chuckle. + +"Pretty much the same," said Eric, grinning at the allusion. "I declare +I had almost forgotten all about that! However, I'll now go and get a +change of clothes, and have a bath in the sea before sitting down +comfortably to our evening meal;" and, anxious to carry out this resolve +at once, the lad set off running towards the hut with the wheelbarrow +before him, he having the last turn of the little vehicle. + +"There never was so impetuous a fellow as Eric," Fritz said to himself, +seeing the lad start off in this fashion. "Himmel, he is a regular +young scatter-brain, as old Lorischen used to call him!" + +"Pray be quick about your bath," he called out after him. "I will get +the coffee ready by the time you come back." + +"Good!" shouted Eric in return. "Mind and make it strong too; for, I'm +sure I shall want something to sustain me after all my exertions!" + +The day terminated without any further incident; although the wind +having calmed down, the young fellows heard the penguins much more +plainly through the night than previously. Still, this did not much +affect their rest; for in the morning they turned out fresh and hearty +for another day's experience of gardening. + +But, again, they were unable to finish the plot of land properly on this +second day, to Fritz's satisfaction, so as to begin planting their +seeds. The ground was so hard and there were such numbers of roots and +weeds to remove from the soil, that it took them up to the middle of the +afternoon of the third day ere their little plot could be said to be +clear of all extraneous matter. Then, however, it was really ready for +the reception of their seedling potatoes and other vegetables, with the +guano well dug in. + +"Hurrah!" exclaimed Fritz, as he and Eric began fixing a piece of line +across the fresh mould, so as to be able to make the furrows straight +for the potatoes, which they had ready cut in a basket, only pieces with +an "eye" in them being selected, "now, we'll soon be finished at last! +When we've put in the cabbage seed and onions, I think we'll have a +holiday for the rest of the day." + +"Right you are," said Eric, in high glee at the prospect of a little +respite from the arduous toil they had been engaged in almost since they +had landed. He would have struck work long before, had it not been for +Fritz labouring on so steadily, which made him ashamed to remain idle. +"I tell you what we'll do to celebrate the event, now the garden is +done. We will have a feast there." + +"I don't know where that's to come from," observed Fritz in his sober +way, just then beginning to place carefully the pieces of potato in the +drills prepared for them. "I don't think there's much chance of our +having any feasting here." + +"Oh, indeed," replied Eric; "am I not cook?" + +"Well, laddie, I haven't noticed any great display of your skill yet +since we landed," said Fritz dryly. + +"Ah, we've been too busy; you just wait till I have time, like this +afternoon. Then you shall see what you shall see!" + +"No doubt," said Fritz, laughing at this sapient declaration. "However, +I assure you, brother mine and most considerate of cooks, I'll not be +sorry to have a change of diet from the cold salt pork and biscuit on +which we have fared all the time we've been gardening." + +"How could I cook anything else, when you wanted me here?" replied Eric +indignantly, handing the last piece of potato to put in the sole +remaining drill. "I couldn't be up at the hut with my saucepans and +down here helping you at the same time, eh?" + +"No," said Fritz, proceeding to give the plot a final rake over; after +which he sowed some cabbage seed and onions in a separate patch, while +Eric put in the peas and scarlet runners which the skipper had given +him. "We'll consider the past a blank, laddie. See what you can do +with your saucepans to-day; you've got the whole afternoon before you." + +"All right," replied Eric. "Only, you must promise not to interfere +with me, you know; mind that, old fellow!" + +"What, I have the temerity to offer advice to such a grand cuisinier as +the noble ex-midshipman? no, not if I know myself." + +"Thanks, Herr Lieutenant," said Eric, with a deferential bow; "I will +summon your lordship when the dinner is ready." + +With this parting shot, the lad went off laughing towards the hut. +Fritz proceeded down to the shore; and, in order that he might keep his +promise to Eric of not disturbing him, he determined to devote his time +to watching the penguins, so as to get up an appetite for the +forthcoming banquet--although the hard work he had just gone through +rendered any stimulus to eating hardly necessary. Indeed, Fritz would +have been well enough satisfied to have sat down and demolished a fair +quantity of the despised cold pork and biscuits long before Eric +summoned him up to the hut, which he did presently, with a hail as loud +as if he were calling "all hands" at sea, in a heavy squall. + +"Ahoy, Herr Lieutenant!" shouted out the lad in his funny way. "Your +gracious majesty is served!"--screeching out the words so distinctly +that, though he was on the opposite side of the valley, the portentous +announcement sounded to Fritz as if it had been bellowed in his ears. + +"I'm coming," he answered; and, with no lagging footsteps, he quickly +hastened towards the left cliff, where in front of the hut he could see +Master Eric had made the most elaborate preparations in his power for +the promised feast. The lad had even gone so far as to spread the piece +of tarpaulin which the skipper had given them, on the ground in lieu of +a tablecloth! + +Everything looked charming. + +Eric had arranged some plates and a couple of dishes round the tarpaulin +with great artistic effect, and a carving knife and fork before the +place where he motioned Fritz to seat himself. The lad's own position, +as host, was in front of a large mess tin which was covered with a +cloth. A most agreeable odour filled the air, albeit the faint smell as +of burnt meat somewhat struck Fritz as Eric proceeded to take off the +covering cloth with a flourish. + +"Well, Monsieur Cuisinier, what is the bill of fare?" asked the elder +brother with a gratified smile, the unaccustomed smell of a hot dinner +almost making his mouth water before he knew what he was going to have. + +"Roast beef to begin with," announced Master Eric pompously. + +"Himmel!" exclaimed Fritz, "roast beef! How have you managed to provide +that?" His heart sank within him as he asked the almost unnecessary +question; for, quickly came the answer he feared. + +"Oh," said Eric in an off-hand way, "I opened the cask Captain Brown +gave us and roasted a piece over the fire." + +"But, that was salt meat!" ejaculated Fritz in consternation. + +"Well, what matter?" rejoined Eric; "I suppose it was as good to roast +as any other. Besides, we didn't have any fresh." + +Fritz heaved a sigh of despair. + +"Let us try it, anyhow," he said in a melancholy tone, and Eric having, +carved off with extreme difficulty a knob--it could be called nothing +else--of the black mass in the mess tin he had before him, handed the +plate containing it over to Fritz, who, sawing off a fragment, +endeavoured to chew it unsuccessfully and then had finally to eject it +from his mouth. + +"Good heavens, Eric!" he exclaimed, "it's as hard as a brickbat, as salt +as brine, and burnt up as thoroughly as a piece of coke. How could you +even think of trying to roast a bit of salt junk? Why, your own +experience of the article on board ship should have told you better!" + +"Well, I know it is tough when boiled; but I fancied it might be better +roasted for a change. I'm very sorry, old fellow, but, still, we +haven't come to the end of our resources yet; I have got another dish to +surprise you." + +"I hope not in the same way!" said Fritz with a shudder. "What is the +other string to your bow, eh, Mr Cook?" + +"A stew," replied Eric laconically. + +"Ho, that sounds better," said his brother, the complacent look which +had stolen over his face on sitting down to the banquet now returning +again in the expectation of having something savoury at last. "A stew, +eh? Why, that used to be my favourite dish at home; don't you remember, +laddie?" + +"Yes, I remember," responded Eric, not quite so joyously as his brother +evidently expected; "but," he added hesitatingly, "you'll find this a +little different, because, ah, you know, ah, I hadn't got all the proper +things. Still, it's very nice, very nice indeed!" + +The amateur cook brought out the last words with great earnestness, as +if wishing to impress Fritz with the fact that, although the dish might +not be quite what he expected, yet it would be certainly "tasty"--that +is, according to his notions! + +It was; for, hardly had Fritz tasted a spoonful of it, than he spat it +out again, making the most terrible faces. + +"Why, this is worse than the other!" he cried rather angrily. "What on +earth have you made it of. Eric?" + +"Well, I put in some pork and the tinned oysters--" + +"That mixture would be almost enough to settle one!" said Fritz, +interrupting him. "Anything else?" + +"Oh, yes. As there were only a few potatoes left from those we used for +planting in the garden I put them in; and, as I had no other vegetables, +I also shook in some preserved peaches, and--" + +"There, that will do," shouted Fritz, quite put out at having his +expected dinner treat spoilt in such a fashion,--"salt pork, pickled +oysters, and preserved peaches,--good heavens! The stew only wanted +some cheese to be added to make it perfect." + +"I did put some in," said Eric innocently. + +This naive acknowledgment quite restored Fritz's good humour, and he +burst out laughing; his anger and disgust dispelled at once by the +comical confession. + +"If ever I let you cook for me again," he observed presently when he was +able to speak again, "I'll--yes, I will eat a stewed penguin, there!" + +Eric laughed, too, at this; although he remarked, wisely enough, +"Perhaps you might have to eat worse than that, old fellow!" + +"I don't know what could be," said Fritz. + +"Nothing!" curtly replied Eric, the truism silencing his brother for the +moment and setting him thinking; but he presently spoke again to the +point at issue. + +"Is there nothing left for us to eat?" he asked. "I'm famishing." + +"There's the cheese and some raw ham if you can manage with those," said +Eric sadly, quite disheartened at the failure of all his grand +preparations for giving his brother a treat. + +"Capitally," replied Fritz, "fetch them out, and let us make a good +square meal. We can have some coffee afterwards. Next time, laddie," +he added to cheer up Eric, "I dare say you'll do better." + +The lad was somewhat relieved at his brother taking the matter so good- +humouredly, and quickly brought out the cheese and ham, which with some +biscuits served them very well in place of the rejected viands; and, +soon, the two were chatting away together again in their old +affectionate way as if no misunderstanding had come between them, +talking of home and old familiar scenes and recollections of Lubeck. + +While they were yet sitting in front of the hut, over their coffee, the +setting sun cast the shadow of the cliff right before their feet; and, +at the very edge of the craggy outline, they perceived the shadow of +something else which was in motion. + +This somewhat aroused their attention and made them look up towards the +heights above the waterfall. + +What was their astonishment, there, to see a large animal, which, in the +strong light behind it from the descending orb, appeared almost of +gigantic proportions. + +The beast appeared to be right over their heads; and, as they looked up, +it seemed as if about to jump down on them! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +THE WILD GOATS. + +"Ach, Himmel! What is it?" exclaimed Eric, getting closer to his +brother, who also was at first a bit frightened. + +"I sure I don't know," said Fritz, quite perplexed for the moment; but +he was soon reassured, for the animal, which had hitherto presented +itself end on towards them, so that its head and body were humped up +together, now turning sideways, its change of position enabled him +better to judge of its proportions. "Pshaw!" he cried out, "it's only a +goat, after all!" + +"A goat?" repeated Eric, still surprised, not catching at once the +meaning of the word. + +"Yes; don't you remember that young Glass said there was a flock of +goats on the tableland above the cliff?" + +"Oh, I recollect now," said Eric, his mind quite relieved. For the +moment, he really believed that some terrible monster inhabited the +desert island besides themselves; and thought that this unknown animal +might possibly sally forth as soon as the sun set and darkness reigned, +in search of its prey, when he and Fritz would fall victims to its +rapacity. "I did not understand you at first." + +"Well, it's all right now, brother, so you need not be afraid. I cannot +wonder at your alarm, however for I was startled, I must confess. +Fancy, me, a soldier, to show such want of nerve! Why, I'm as bad as +you were the other morning when the penguins attacked you!" + +"Don't say any more about that, please," pleaded Eric, whose fright of +the birds was still a standing joke with Fritz. "I'm sure when they +rushed at me so fiercely they seemed quite as awful as the sight of that +big brute up there on the cliff, who looked just as if he were going to +leap down on us." + +"Very well, we'll let the matter drop, then," said the other, laughing. +"I can't afford to boast of my courage now! If all goes well, laddie, +we will ascend the cliffs to-morrow and have a peep at my gentleman at +closer quarters." + +"All right," replied Eric, using his stock phrase for everything; and +then, as it was getting dark, the brothers turned in for the night--the +sailor lad taking particular care, by the way, to see that the door of +the hut was carefully barricaded, a precaution which had been omitted +since the first evening of their taking possession of the little +dwelling. + +The next morning was a bright and cheerful one, with no wind to speak +of, save a pleasant breeze, while the sun was warm and cheerful--its +light dancing on the curly little waves that rippled on the beach, +causing the plumage of the penguins as they made their pilgrimages to +and from the rookery to gleam with iridescent colours. This was +especially the case when the birds emerged from the water, the light +just then giving them the tints which the dolphin displays when first +caught and before death has deadened its changing hues. + +"A splendid day for our exploring trip!" sang out Eric, the early riser, +waking up Fritz by rolling away the barrels from before their frail +doorway and fussing about the hut. "Rouse up, brother. The old sun has +been up for an hour or more, and it will be soon time for us to start." + +"Eh, what? oh, yes," cried Fritz, rubbing his eyes and yawning; but, +Eric, pulling away his blankets, soon made him bestir himself, when his +brother jumped up with his usual alertness--first running down to the +beach and imitating the penguins in having a dip in the sea, to wash the +cobwebs out of his head, as he laughingly said on his return to their +little domicile, when proceeding to dress. + +For a sailor, Eric was, strangely enough, not half so fond of a daily +bath; but, as he said in excuse to his brother, this was perhaps owing +to his having so many impromptu and unexpected douches on board ship. +Most seamen, especially those of foreign nationality, have seemingly a +horror of water for ablutionary purposes, in contradistinction to +landsmen. + +However, there was one advantage in this, to Fritz at least; for, while +he was performing his swim and making his subsequent toilet, Eric had +lit a fire and was preparing coffee for their breakfast, to which, when +ready, Fritz was able to sit down comfortably without any trouble or +exertion on his part. + +A cup of the steaming fluid apiece warmed the two, invigorating them for +the business of the day; and, as soon as the matutinal meal was +finished, they set about getting their traps ready. + +"Of course, we'll take our guns, eh?" asked Eric; although, as far as he +was concerned, he had evidently already come to a decision on the point, +for he had carefully selected one of the Remington rifles from their +armoury for his own especial weapon. + +"Yes, I suppose we had better take something to shoot with," replied +Fritz. "We need not pot our old friend the goat yet, however. Judging +by his horns and beard, he must be the kaiser of the flock, and so may +be a little tough; still, we may find some daintier morsel to shoot. I +confess I should be glad of a little fresh meat for a change--a real +roast this time, eh, Eric?" + +"Oh, bother that roast salt beef; I suppose I'll never hear the end of +it!" cried the lad pathetically, although he could not refrain from +laughing at Fritz's allusion to the unsuccessful banquet. "You just get +me something proper to cook, and I bet you'll not be disgusted with the +way in which I dress it!" + +"We'll see," replied Fritz, taking up the fowling piece and slinging a +powder flask and shot case round his neck. "As you're going to carry a +rifle for heavy game, laddie, I'll take this for the benefit of any +likely-looking birds we may come across." + +"All right," responded Eric; when the two, packing up some biscuit and +cheese for their refreshment by the way and barricading the door of the +hut from the outside--lest the penguins might chance to pay them a visit +in their absence--set forth towards the base of the waterfall up the +gorge. Here, the Tristaner had told them, they would be able to climb +up by the aid of the tussock-grass should they wish to reach the summit +of the cliff. + +It was a tedious ascent, the top of the ridge being over a thousand feet +above the little valley in which they lived. + +As for Fritz, he was quite worn-out when they arrived at the head of the +crags above the waterfall; but Eric found the climbing easier work from +his practice in the rigging aboard the _Pilot's Bride_. This was just +as well, for he had to pull his brother up nearly all the way. + +However, once arrived at the summit, the two had the whole tableland +exposed to their view. This sight alone well rewarded them for their +trouble, for the plateau stretched like an undulating plain before them, +occupying the entire extent of the island--with the exception of the +three-cornered slice taken out of it by their valley, like a segment cut +from a round cheese. There was, also, a slight depression on the +western side, where there was a little cave, although this was not +nearly so wide as the bay on the east fronting their valley. + +Groups of stunted trees grew in the hollows, in which sprang up in great +luxuriance the inevitable tussock-grass; while, amongst the little +thickets that were sparsely scattered over the plain, were grazing large +numbers of hogs, headed by a monster boar. This animal had tusks nearly +a foot long; and he almost impaled Eric against a buckthorn tree, under +the shelter of which he had been lying until surprised by the lad, when, +after making a rush at him, he ran grunting away, followed by his +numerous family. + +As the brothers proceeded across the tableland, they also saw numbers of +a small bird, about the size of a bantam, called by young Glass the +"island hen." Its plumage was almost entirely black, and its wings were +so short that they were useless for flight, the bird running in and out +of the long grass and ferns with which the surface of the plateau was +covered in the open, like the partridge does amongst the turnips in +England. Fritz shot a couple of the little things, and the brothers +plucked and roasted them over an extemporary fire which Eric lit with +the box of matches he invariably "carried in his pocket--as a sort of +badge of his culinary office," Fritz said. The birds were found to be +very palatable for lunch, along with the biscuit and cheese which the +brothers had brought with them. + +The goats were the main object of the excursion; but Fritz could not see +anything of them until they had nearly made the circuit of the plain. + +When they had almost given up the animals as a myth, feeling inclined to +believe that the old "billy" they had seen the evening before was the +creature of their imagination, they suddenly came upon the flock. The +goats were secreted in a thicket of buckthorn trees and tussock-grass, +close to where the tableland sloped to the beach at its western +extremity. + +There were twenty-three in all, and must have been the produce of a pair +which some whaling vessel had turned loose on the island; for, they were +every one marked in the same way as the patriarchal-looking male,-- +evidently their progenitor. He was a stately old fellow, with a fine +pair of curving horns that nearly reached to his tail; in addition to +which, he could boast of a long silky beard that a Turkish pasha might +have envied. + +Seeing three kids amongst the number, Fritz told Eric to shoot one; and +the lad, after a third attempt with the repeating rifle he carried, +succeeded in making a successful shot. There was some excuse for Eric's +not killing his kid at first; for, the old male was extremely wary, +keeping at a very respectful distance from the two sportsmen and making +the flock remain in his rear, while he fronted the intruders-- +continually retreating as they advanced, and dexterously shifting his +position, by a flank movement every now and then, so as not to be driven +over the cliffs. + +"Master Billy can't be ignorant of men folk or firearms," said Eric, +when he had missed his second shot, "otherwise, he would not remain so +far off!" + +"He was probably brought here originally from the Cape," replied Fritz, +telling his brother to aim lower next time, his last bullet having only +missed by too great an elevation. "So, like all animals that have once +heard a gun go off, he knows what it means! Most likely, if I had not +fired twice at those little birds, we might have got up quite close to +the flock; but, the old gentleman must have heard the report and that +has made him so cautious about letting us approach. Look out, Eric; +now's your chance! Only aim low and steadily, and you will bring down +that kid there to the right!" + +Puff, bang! No sooner said than done. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Eric, "I've got him this time, without fail!" + +He had; for, although the flock of goats scampered off from the thicket +they were at that moment occupying towards another woody clump on the +opposite side of the plain, darting away with the rapidity of the wind, +they left one of their number behind. + +The unfortunate victim was a pretty little kid, about three months old; +and it lay stretched out, bleeding, on the grass. Its body had been +perforated by the bullet from Eric's rifle. + +"That was a capital shot!" exclaimed Fritz, when the two came up to +where the poor little kid lay. "The ball has passed right through its +heart; so, you must have aimed, as I told you, behind the shoulder." + +"I did," said Eric, alike proud of his powers and the compliment; "but, +poor little thing, it seems a pity to have killed it!" + +"Ah," remarked Fritz the practical, "still, roast mutton will taste nice +after our living on salt meat for so many days, eh?" + +"Yes," replied Eric, with much satisfaction, his sympathy for the +slaughtered kid quickly disappearing at the thought of all that young +Glass had told him as to the flavour of the animal when cooked. "It is +better than the tenderest pork, they say." + +"Very well, we'll try it for dinner to-morrow and see whether we agree +with that verdict. It will be too late to cook it when we get home this +evening." + +"Dear me, I really did not think the time was going so fast! Why, it +must be within a hour of sunset; don't you think so?" + +"Not far off," said Fritz; "so, therefore, there's all the greater +reason for our returning down the gully as soon as possible. If the +darkness came on while we were descending, I should never be able to +scramble down." + +"Never fear, brother; I'll look after you," cried Eric. + +On their approaching the eastern end of the clift again, the sailor lad +first lowered down the dead kid by a piece of rope he had taken with +him, on to one of the niches in the gorge above the waterfall, and then +prepared for the descent of Fritz and himself. "Never fear brother," he +repeated. "Although you may be stronger than I, still my eye is steady +and my hand sure!" + +"Good!" said Fritz. "You had better then go down first, and direct me +where to put my feet. After we've been up and down once or twice, of +course, I shall not find it so difficult." + +"All right," responded Eric, "here goes!" So saying, he swung himself +over the top of the cliff, when, holding on firmly to the tussock-grass +and half slipping down and half stepping on the projections in the face +of the crag, he reached in a few minutes the first broad ledge over +which the rivulet from above tossed its spray. + +"Are you quite safe?" asked Fritz, before adventuring on the descent. + +"Certainly," said the other. "Hold on to the grass stems the same as I +did, and let yourself slide over at the corner--there! Now, feel with +your foot for a projecting bit of stone just below where you are +standing and about a yard to the right. Have you got it?" + +"Yes," replied Fritz. + +"All right, then, let yourself down on it and take a fresh grip of the +tussock-grass, for you will have to bear more to the left this time. +Hold on tight and take a long step down, now, and you'll be beside me; +there you are, you see!" + +Eric then proceeded down to the next step, or leap, of the waterfall in +the same way, lowering the kid first, and then descending and directing +his brother's steps; so that, in a much shorter time than they had +ascended, they arrived once more in the valley--although, from the fact +of the tableland being more open and exposed and the cliffs obscuring +the light, the lads found it quite dark when they reached their hut, the +sun having sunk below the western ocean while they were climbing down +the crags. + +"Thank goodness, we're here at last!" exclaimed Fritz, when, having got +within their hut, he sank upon the bed in the corner. "I didn't tell +you before, for fear of alarming you; but, as I came down the cliff, I +sprained my ankle fearfully. Once, I thought I should never reach the +bottom alive, laddie. Really, if we had but another step now to go, I'm +certain I would not have been able to limp it." + +"Himmel!" ejaculated Eric, "I couldn't see that you walked lame on +account of its being dark; and, you wouldn't tell me, of course, or lean +on my arm so as to let me help you!" + +Eric spoke in quite an aggrieved tone, which struck his brother keenly, +although he refrained from answering him; but, while expressing his +sense of hurt feeling at Fritz not asking his aid, the lad was busily +employed in lighting the lamp and examining the injured ankle, which, to +his consternation, he found so badly dislocated that the bone protruded. +The foot, too, was already swollen to more than twice its size! + +"It looks awful," he said; "and, just think, if it had given way when we +were descending the crag you might have tumbled down the precipice and +made me brotherless! Why did you not tell me and ask my help?" + +"Because," replied Fritz, with some reason, "my doing so might perhaps +have frightened you, causing you to lose your nerve at a moment when the +safety of both of us depended on your keeping cool and steady." + +"That might have been so," said Eric; "but, still, I would have been +able to help you more if I had known! However, `everything that is, is +for the best,' isn't that so, brother?" + +With this consoling reflection, the sailor lad, under Fritz's +directions, set about bandaging the wounded limb with a long +handkerchief dipped in cold water and wrapped round it as tightly as +possible. + +This surgical operation accomplished, the two then went to bed, pretty +well tired with the day's excursion. + +They had had a long chase after the wild goats, in addition to first +exploring the tableland above and the exertion of ascending and +descending the cliff--which latter was quite an arduous enough +enterprise in itself and sufficiently dangerous, as was amply proved by +the fact of Fritz's accident, that might lay him up for some time. + +However, the next day, the invalid thought roast kid ample payment for +sprained ankle; and he was not sorry for the enforced rest he was +obliged to take after the rough exercise he had undergone since landing +on the island, having now an opportunity of reading and investigating +the little library of books given by Celia Brown to Eric, which he had +not yet had the chance of overhauling. + +Indeed, Master Fritz had a nice easy time of it; for Eric not only +waited on him, but saw to everything that had to be done until he was +able to move about again. + +"That old billy-goat was bound to do me an injury! I thought so when I +first saw him that evening, standing out against the sunset sky over our +heads," said the elder brother to Eric, when he was once more out of +doors and felt again like his old self. "Aha, though, I've not done +with the old rascal yet! Some day, I'll pay him out, never fear!" + +"Right you are!" was Eric's answer, laughing the while. + +The lad was really so overjoyed to see his brother on his legs again, +that he went off into fits of laughter every now and then about nothing +at all. + +He could not contain himself! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +SEALING. + +It was well on in the month of September--the spring of the year in +South Atlantic latitudes--when the brothers commenced their crusoe-like +life on Inaccessible Island; and, by the time that Fritz had recovered +from the effects of his sprained ankle, so far as to be able to hobble +about the place, it was nearly the end of October. This was the +beginning of the early summer at Inaccessible Island; and, the season +being but a short one, not an hour of it could be wasted if they wished +to carry out to advantage the special purpose that had taken them away +from the haunts of men. + +The sealing season would soon begin; and, it behoved them to be ready +for it, so that they should lose no chance of securing as many skins as +they could get. The amount of oil they might procure from the boiled- +down blubber was also a consideration, but only a secondary one in +comparison with the pelts; for, owing to the market demand for sealskins +and the wholesale extermination of the animal that supplies them that is +now continually going on in arctic and antarctic seas alike, the pursuit +is as valuable as it is more and more precarious each year--the +breeding-grounds now being almost deserted to what they once were, even +in the most out-of-the-way spots, the Esquimaux to the north and +American whalers in the south having depopulated the whilom numerous +herds. + +The garden was the first point Fritz aimed for, when he found he could +put his foot to the ground; and he proceeded thither slowly, with the +aid of a stick to lean upon and with Eric "frisking round him," as he +said, just like old Gelert would have done! + +In the comparatively short space of time since Fritz had last seen the +little plot, a wonderful transformation had been effected--thanks to the +richness of the virgin soil, the productiveness of the climate, and, +lastly, the super-stratum of guano which Eric had suggested being placed +over the clearing. + +The sailor lad, too, had not forgotten each morning to water the newly +planted land, which was exposed all day to the sun's heat, with the +exception of a brief period in the afternoon when the shade of the +cliffs extended over it; so, now, the garden presented a smiling +appearance, with the potatoes just sprouting above their ridges, and +cabbages and radishes coming up in clusters, while rows of peas and +scarlet runners were sprouting as thick as hedges--not to speak of the +slender onion stems, like tiny spears, each bearing its own seed back +above ground after it had performed its creative mission below the +surface, leaving a root behind. + +"This looks well," said Fritz, delighted at the result of their joint +handiwork. "Bye-and-bye, we ought to reap a good return for all our +labour. I'm glad we got the job done when we did; otherwise, we should +not have such a charming prospect before us." + +"I'm jolly glad we haven't got to do it now!" replied Eric, with a shrug +of his shoulders and laughing as usual. "Himmel! I shall never forget +that digging!" + +"Nor the penguins either, I suppose, when you went to get the guano that +day?" said Fritz slyly, with a meaning glance. + +"Ah, brother, `no more of that, an thou lovest me!'" quoted Eric. +"Still, the guano, perhaps, has made the things come on so well, eh?" + +"No doubt of that," replied Fritz. "But, we'll have to thin out those +cabbage plants shortly, laddie; that will necessitate our digging up +some more ground, so as to make a place ready for them." + +"Oh!" groaned the other in a lachrymose way, making a hideous grimace. + +"However, we needn't hurry about it," continued Fritz, smiling at his +grimace. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Eric, much relieved. He knew that if the thing had to +be done, he should have to accomplish it; for, in spite of all his +disgust for spade work, he certainly would not have allowed Fritz to +attempt gardening so soon with his invalided foot. + +"No, there's no hurry," went on Fritz, as if thinking aloud. "We'll +have to confine our attention to the seals now for the next two months +or so, as that is our special business here. When we can capture no +more of those gentry, we'll have plenty of time to attend to the garden; +although, probably, we shall get something out of it ere long, if only a +few radishes--at all events we ought to have some new potatoes by +Christmas, that is if they ripen as rapidly as they have jumped out of +the ground!" + +"Fancy, new potatoes at Christmas!" cried Eric. "I wonder what they +would say to that at home in Lubeck?" + +"Aye, what!" repeated Fritz; and, in a second, his thoughts were far +away across the rolling Atlantic. His mental eyes could see--as plainly +as if the scene was there before him, now, in that little valley between +the cliffs of the desert isle where the two brothers were--the house in +the Gulden Strasse, with the dear home faces belonging to it. Yes, +there they were in a loving vision, the "little mother," Lorischen, and +Madaleine, not forgetting Gelert or Mouser even; while the old-fashioned +town, with its antique gateway and pillared market platz, and quaint Dom +Kirche and clock of the rolling eyes, seemed moving past in a mental +panorama before him! + +Eric recalled him presently to himself by a pertinent inquiry. + +"We'll have to see to our boat to hunt the seals in, won't we?" he +asked. + +"Yes, certainly," said Fritz, fixing his mind on present things with an +effort. "I hope it's all right!" + +"You may make sure of that," answered Eric. "I wasn't going to let any +harm happen to the boat which the good captain so kindly gave us! No. +I have been down to look at and overhaul it every day--keeping water in +it besides, that the seams should not open with the heat and make it +leak." + +"Then it is quite seaworthy?" + +"Oh, yes, without doubt." + +"Well, I tell you what we'll do," said Fritz. "As the exertion will not +compel me to have any walking to speak of, nor interfere with the +strengthening of my poor foot, I vote that we sail round the headland to +the western beach on the other side of the island. We can then see +whether there is any appearance yet of the seals coming to take up their +summer residence here." + +"Won't that be jolly!" shouted out Eric. "Why, it is the very thing I +have been longing to do since we went up the cliffs and saw the beach +there from the tableland! I would not speak to you about it, because I +knew, of course, you could not move, and feared that talking of it might +excite you." + +"That was very considerate of you, laddie," replied Fritz; "so, now to +reward you for your thoughtfulness, I vote that we proceed there as soon +as we can get the boat ready and prepare for the excursion. Apart from +its being in the nature of a little pleasure trip--my convalescent tour, +as it were, for change of air--it is really necessary work for us to +know when we can begin, if we are going to be seal hunters and trade in +skins and oil!" + +"Right you are," said Eric, quite convinced by this argument that +nothing could be more wise or sensible than a voyage round the island in +the whale-boat, especially as the plan agreed with his own views of the +matter to an iota; and, in his usually impulsive way, in spite of having +already inspected the little craft that morning, he rushed off down to +the beach, scaring multitudes of penguins on his way, to see whether she +was as sound and seaworthy as he had said, and thoroughly fit for the +cruise. + +Everything was right, fortunately; so, early on the following day, they +shoved off the whale-boat from the beach. This was a rather fatiguing +operation, although it was greatly facilitated by some rollers which +Eric sawed off a spare topgallant mast that was amongst the old spars +the skipper gave them. The brothers then started on their trip round +the island, the wind being fair from the south-east--the same point, +indeed, from which it had blown almost entirely during their stay, with +the exception of a short spell from the south-west just after their +arrival. + +The coast, after clearing the headland, was bold and precipitous, the +wall of rock continuing round to the west side; although here it broke +away, with a lower ridge of soft dolomite that had caves worn into its +face from the action of the sea, and one or two creeks that the boat +could run into. This was evidently the haunt of the seals, for numbers +of fish bones were scattered about on the floor of the caves and on the +fragments of volcanic rock that were scattered on the beach below, piled +and heaped up in pyramid fashion. + +Landing at one of the little caves, just under a tussock-grass-grown +gully, like that close to their hut on the eastern side, Eric ascended +with his rifle to the ridge above. He soon gained the tableland, +returning anon with a well-grown kid which Fritz had told him to shoot, +so that they might take it home with them. The ascent to the plateau, +the lad said, was much easier from this part of the coast than by the +waterfall; but, of course, as it would necessitate a voyage almost round +the island whenever they attempted it, the other way was more +preferable, although dangerous by contrast. + +One or two seals were seen sunning themselves on the rocks; but these +quickly slid off into the sea when the boat approached. Their breeding- +season had certainly not yet arrived, else they would not only have been +more numerous, but have been too much engaged with their families to +mind ordinary intruders. When separated from their fellows, as the +brothers now saw them, however, they were naturally extremely timid +animals. + +Proceeding round the southern extremity of the island, the cliff that +encircled the coast seemed the more precipitous the further they +advanced, frowning down destruction on any ship that might approach it +unawares in the darkness--should the wind blow on shore and the set of +the sea prevent escape from its terrors! + +Eric steered the boat out a bit here, so that they might tack further on +inwards and so weather the eastern promontory, which stretched to the +left of the bay outwards into the ocean. They were thus able to have a +grand view of the whole island, getting back to their little home, not +long before sundown. Nor did they return empty-handed, either; for, the +kid furnished fresh meat for their dinner, to which their trip besides +added a piquant relish. + +What with making things more comfortable in their hut and attending to +the garden, which bloomed out apace each day, the hours did not lag on +their hands by any means during the next week or two. There was +occupation enough, even in this interval, to pass the time pleasantly +away; but, when the month of November was ushered in, the seals then +coming to the island in shoals, they found plenty to do from morning +till night. + +There was work of all kinds to be done:-- first, boating round the coast +after their prey; secondly, hunting the animals into their caves and +killing them, taking care to secure their bodies before they sank into +deep water and were thus irrecoverably lost; thirdly, getting off the +skins and salting them down to prevent their putrefying; and, lastly, +boiling blubber--oh, yes, they had enough work to employ them, and no +time to be idle! + +Before this busy period, however, every morning, again at midday, and in +the afternoon, Eric would go up and down the tussock-grass ladder by +which he scaled the precipice on to the tableland above, whence he was +able to reconnoitre the west coast, the favourite resort of the seals, +according to the information of young Glass, the Tristaner who +instructed them in the matter. + +The lad did this daily as a matter of duty, "climbing the fore cross- +trees for a look-out," as he termed the scramble up the gorge; and, as +regularly, three times every day, after his morning, midday, and +afternoon observations, he would come back to Fritz with the same +unsatisfactory tale--that no seals were in sight. + +One afternoon, however, towards the end of the month, he reported more +cheering news. + +"Oh, there are such a lot of seals on the rocks!" he called out from the +top of the cliff, without waiting to come down. "Why, there must be +hundreds of them there, crawling in and out of the caves on their +flappers, to and from the sea! Which will be the best way to tackle +them, brother, we can reach them from here, you know?" + +Fritz, who was below seated outside the hut, just preparing to mend some +of his clothes that had long needed looking after, in a moment became +equally excited, pitching the dilapidated garments back inside the hut +and putting off the work of repairing to some future day. + +"Come down sharp, Eric, and help me to get the boat out," he cried. "We +must attack them from seaward; for, if we went at them from the cliff, +they would at once take to the water, and so escape us. Descend at +once, while I am getting the guns and tackle ready!" + +"Right you are!" shouted the sailor lad in answer. "I'll be down with +you in a brace of shakes!" + +No sooner had he uttered the words than he was scrambling down by the +tussock-grass through the waterfall gully; while, at the same time, +Fritz below was proceeding hurriedly to collect the various articles +required for the sealing expedition, which had been put away on one side +so as to be handy for just such an emergency:-- the loaded rifles, with +spare cartridges; the two harpoons, to each of which a long coiled-up +line was attached; the strong boat-hook to pull in the carcases of their +victims; and, other little etceteras. + +The common seal, which is frequently seen on the north coast of Scotland +amongst the Hebrides and Shetland Islands, and the sea bear of Cape Horn +and the Magellan Straits, are both very similar in their general habits +to the Greenland seal of the Esquimaux; and the animals usually herd +together in flocks or droves of some thirty to a hundred, each male +having a certain number of females under his charge--the males being +some six to eight feet long and the females of less dimensions. + +The seals invariably frequent the most desolate rocks and caverns, where +they can have ready access to the sea, which is their proper element; +and, in the north and extreme south, they live on the ice-peaks as a +rule, getting the fish they require for their food by diving off and +catching their prey in the same way that an otter does. + +The wildest and stormiest seas appear to delight them most. In such +they may be seen, sporting amidst the breakers and rough water, in the +highest of spirits apparently, and escaping scatheless where other +creatures would be dashed to pieces on the rocks that form their +temporary homes. Although they do not assemble on shore in any numbers, +except during the summer months of the latitudes in which they are +found, they are never far-distant from their favourite haunts at any +time, the reason for their not being seen, most probably, being that +they only leave the water at night during the winter, or else because +the stormy weather prevents those who go after them from approaching +their habitats and so noticing them. + +By the time Eric descended the cliff, Fritz had the boat ready to shove +off, with their hunting gear inside and all necessary weapons for the +chase; so, the two were soon on their way round the headland, steering +towards the seal-caves on the western side of the island. + +"You never saw such a lot, brother," Eric went on to say, when they had +embarked and were working round the coast. "There were hundreds of +small ones, while some were big monsters that had long noses and seemed +to be double the size of the others!" + +"Ah, those were probably sea elephants," said Fritz. "I should like to +catch one. The fur, they say, is not so good as that of the common +seal, but they yield an immense lot of oil from their blubber--from +eight to ten barrels, I have been told." + +"Really?" observed Eric. "Why, one or two of those gentlemen would soon +fill up our casks!" + +"Yes, and I shouldn't regret it," said Fritz. "We should then have a +good stock ready against the time Captain Brown returns to visit us with +the _Pilot's Bride_!" + +"Aye, I should like that," replied the other; and then, as both rowing +and sailing--for the wind was light--the boat neared the rock caves of +the western coast, the brothers grew too excited to talk any more. + +Presently, they hove in sight of their hunting-ground; whereupon, they +at once stopped the way of the boat in order to map out their campaign. + +It did not take long for them to do this; and the gist of the plan could +be seen in the arrangements they made for battle. + +Fritz and Eric both put their rifles ready on the thwarts of the boat, +and the harpoons were also placed handy in the bows along with the boat- +hook; then, lowering the lugsail which the little craft carried, they +muffled their oars with some rags they had prepared and pulled in +steadily towards the beach. + +As they got nearer, the seals could be seen swarming on the rocks, while +the noise they made--something like the bleating of sheep mingled with a +hoarse growling roar, not dissimilar to that of an angry bull in the +distance--could be heard plainly while the brothers were yet more than a +mile off. + +Some of the seals were swimming about in the water, but the majority +were basking on the huge slabs of rocks that had been broken off from +the face of the cliff by the onslaught of the waves and which now lay on +the beach at its base, partly in and partly out of the sea. + +"Now, Eric, be ready!" called out Fritz in a hoarse whisper. "Do you +see those two fellows on that boulder nearest us?" + +"Yes," whispered Eric in return, almost breathless with excitement. + +"Then, you take the right-hand one, and I will make sure of the one to +the left. Aim low and steadily at the head, for that is the only vital +part a ball will reach. Remember, if you only wound him, he'll slip +into the water and dive out of our reach!" + +"Right you are; I'm ready," was Eric's reply. + +"Wait till I give the word, then," said Fritz. + +There was a moment of suspense as the boat crept closer to the poor +seals, who were playing away, thoughtless of danger, and then-- + +"Fire!" exclaimed Fritz. + +The two murderous rifles, at the same instant, at once belched forth +their contents; and, a moment after, the dropped heads of the animals +aimed at showed that the respective bullets had accomplished their +mission. + +"Now, let us push in," cried Fritz, seizing his oar again, when, his +brother following his example, they beached the boat in a few strokes. + +Then, each taking up a harpoon, they attacked the cluster of animals, +killing fifteen before the frightened creatures could escape into their +native element, although they came off the rocks with a rush, looking +most formidable as they opened their mouths and showed their fangs, +emitting the while terrific roars; and, as they waddled in a crowd into +the water, they rolled down the brothers with their impetus as if they +had been ninepins. + +"I don't mind the bruises," said Fritz, picking himself up again with a +laugh. "Not when I have such a sound salve for them as the thought of +the oil we'll get out of all the carcases!" + +"Nor I," chimed in Eric, rubbing his nose ruefully though all the same. +"Think of fifteen--no, seventeen sealskins, counting in the two we shot +first on the rocks! They ought to fetch something handsome when we send +them to the States, eh?" + +"Yes," said Fritz; "but now, out with your knife, laddie! Let us set to +work, taking off the pelts while they are still warm." + +"Right you are," replied Eric; and the two were soon at work, skinning +the animals and taking off the layer of blubber which lay immediately +beneath the inner lining of the skin--rolling up the greasy and reeking +mass of skin and fat together in bundles and placing them in the boat as +soon as each seal had his toilet thus attended to. + +It was very dirty work and neither was sorry when all the blubber and +skins were stowed in the whale-boat; their last care being to roll the +poor bodies of the seals now bereft of those coveted coats which had +caused their destruction, into the sea. This was done in order that the +remains might not scare away others of the herd from such inhospitable +shores. The task was soon accomplished, for the rocks shelved down +abruptly into the water; and, when the place was made tidy again, the +brothers set sail for home with their cargo, going back the contrary way +they came, so as to have the advantage of the wind and save the labour +of rowing. + +Since their onslaught, not another live seal was to be seen in the +vicinity, the first to make off before the boat was pulled into the +beach after Fritz and Eric had fired being the couple of sea elephants +which they had noticed amongst the mass of animals, clustered together +on the rocks; and these, consequently, they were unable to secure. + +However, they consoled themselves on their way back to the bay with the +reflection that they had done a very good day's work. They were by no +means dissatisfied with the result of their sport--seventeen seals at +one haul were not to be despised! + +For some time after reaching the hut they were busily engaged, cleaning +the skins and salting them down for preservation. They had both been +instructed how to do this on board the whaler; although Eric, having had +previous practical experience with all the details of the operation, now +acted as superintendent. + +They had also to boil the blubber in the iron cauldron, which they had +brought from the States for the purpose of "trying out the oil," as +whaling men technically term the procedure; and they found when they had +finished that the result realised some ten barrels full. + +This was a splendid start for them and it made them so contented that it +was upwards of a fortnight before they undertook another expedition to +the west beach. + +But, apart, from the satisfactory results of their first venture, they +thought it best to let the seals have a little interlude of calm before +attacking them again. Besides this, Eric's reports from his look-out +station on the tableland were most unfavourable, as, for some days after +their last foray, hardly a seal was to be seen in the neighbourhood of +the scene of the fray. + +However, one fine morning in December, Eric reported the arrival of a +fresh batch of the fur-bearing animals on the west rocks; so, making +their boat ready, the brothers soon sailed round thither once more. + +They had turned the last projecting point of the headland, before +opening the beach frequented by the seals, and Fritz had brought up the +boat's head to the wind, preparatory to their lowering the sail and +taking to their oars to pull into shore, when Eric, who had been looking +out over the bows, arrested his brother's intention. + +"Hullo, Fritz!" he exclaimed, "there's some one there before us. I can +see a boat, with a lot of men in it, close to the beach!" + +"Indeed!" said Fritz, quite as much astonished. "I wonder who they +are?" + +He felt almost as indignant as a landlord on finding that a party of +poachers had invaded his choicest preserves and were ruthlessly +appropriating his pet pheasants! + +"Himmel!" he repeated, "I wonder who the fellows can be?" + +Just then, the discharge of several rifles all together, as if +practising platoon firing, struck on his ear; and, as Fritz sniffed the +smell of the burnt gunpowder floating by him in the air to seaward, +driven off from shore by the wind, the saltpetrous scent did not tend to +restore his equanimity! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +SOME VISITORS. + +"What donkeys we are!" exclaimed Eric presently, a moment or so after +the discharge of the firearms. "We are real stupids to be astonished at +all!" + +"How, in what way?" asked Fritz. "Why, the strange boat must have come +from Tristan d'Acunha. Don't you recollect, we were told that a party +always came sealing here, as well as at Nightingale Island, during the +summer?" + +"Oh yes; I forgot," said Fritz. "I wonder, though, you didn't see their +boat pass your look-out station--you, with your fine observant eyes!" + +"Ah, they must have come round to leeward of the promontory, close under +the land," replied Eric to this taunt:--"that is how they escaped my +notice. But, what shall we do now--go on, or return home?" + +"It strikes me we had better go home, for we shall have uncommon little +sport to-day, since they have been first in the field!" said Fritz +dryly. "Still, I suppose we'd better be friendly with them. Let us go +on to shore first before leaving, and have a chat. No doubt, they'll be +as much surprised to see us as we were just now at their unexpected +appearance here." + +"Well, I don't know about that," observed Eric. "I should think young +Glass would have told them about our having settled here." + +"But, I asked him not to mention it," replied Fritz, "and, as he seemed +a very decent sort of young fellow, I dare say he has obeyed my wish-- +especially as he was your friend, you know." + +"It's all right then," said Eric; "my Tristaner would be certain to keep +his word if he promised it. Let us proceed now and astonish them with +our presence, which must therefore, as you say, be quite unexpected." + +"Pull away then, brother." + +"Right you are!" said Eric in response; and the two, putting their backs +into the oars, the boat was soon speeding to the point where the +islanders were gathered in a group on the shore--far too busy with the +seals they had shot to notice their approach. + +"Now," cried Fritz, when they were close to the others, although still +unobserved, "let us give them a call." + +"Shout away!" said Eric; when, he and his brother joining their voices, +they gave utterance to a ringing hail that must have frightened all the +fish near. + +"Boat ahoy!" + +The party on shore, who had their backs turned seawards, jumped round at +this as if they had been shot; but soon, an answering hail assured them +that some one amongst the islanders had recognised them. + +"Hillo, whar be you sprung from?" inquired a voice with a strong nasal +twang. + +It was that of Nat Slater, the "deck hand" of the Rhode Island +steamboat! + +Fritz was perfectly astounded to find him now amongst the Tristaners. +How came he there? What could possibly have become of the _Pilot's +Bride_ and Captain Brown? + +These were the anxious thoughts that at once flashed through the mind of +the young German, and his brother shared his anxiety to an equal extent. + +Nat Slater however did not keep them long in suspense. + +"I guess," he said--as soon as they reached the beach and accosted the +islanders, who received them very coldly they could perceive, as if +looking upon them now as rivals in the same pursuit--"me and the old man +couldn't drive the same team long. We had a muss together, soon as you +parted company, an' I asked him to put me ashore at Tristan, thinking to +ship in another whaling craft; but, I'm blest if ary a one's called thar +since the _Pilot's Bride_ sailed, so I've ben forced to chum in with +these islanders!" + +"Did you get on a spree, or what, to make Captain Brown leave you +behind?" asked Fritz, judging by what the skipper had told him of Mr +Nathaniel Slater's character that the real facts of the case might put +quite another complexion on his plausible statement, that the skipper +had quarrelled with him. + +"Waall, I reckon, I did go on a bit of a bender aboard," said the whilom +deck hand in a drawling way. "I managed to stow away a couple o' +bottles of Bourbon whisky I got to Providence after I left hum, an' I +thought I would have a licker-up arter we parted with you an' your +brother, mister, I felt so kinder lonesome." + +"And I suppose you got so drunk that Captain Brown kicked you out of the +ship?" exclaimed the young German indignantly. "Why, you knew his +particular orders about never allowing any spirituous liquors on board +his vessel when at sea!" + +"I guess he wern't boss of everybody," said the American coolly. "An' +so I told him, too! But, say, mister, I've a kinder hankering to jine +you and your brother haar; will you let a poor coon chum in?" + +"No, I confess I would rather not," was the instant reply that came from +Fritz--a decision which, from his quick look of satisfaction, Eric most +cordially shared in. "We did not appear to get on together very well +before, and I certainly do not care to associate with any one who does +not keep his word!" + +"I guess this here island don't belong to you, mister?" said Nat Slater +sneeringly, on purpose apparently to make Fritz angry; but the young +German remained perfectly cool and collected. + +"I never said it did," he answered. "Of course, you have every right to +settle here if you like; but I and my brother decline having any +association with you." + +"Oh, jist as you like, mister," replied the American, now showing +himself in his true colours, having evidently nourished a spite against +the two brothers on account of Captain Brown's friendship for them. +"I'm durned if I kinder kear now to hang out along with you, as I sed at +first; I'd rayther a durned sight stick to these good chaps haar, as hev +more friendly feelins than a pair o' blessed foreign coons that don't +know how to treat a free-born American citizen like a man! I guess, +though, I'll spile your sealing for you, if I hev any influence with the +islanders." + +"You are welcome to do your worst," said Fritz; and then, as young Glass +was not amongst the Tristaners--who now seemed, either from the deck +hand's threat or on account of some other reason, to look upon them in +rather a hostile manner--he and Eric withdrew from the party. Retiring +at once to their boat, they returned to their own little settlement in +the eastern bay, with the resolve of not coming out after the seals +again until after the islanders had left the coast, so as not to risk +any further altercation with them. + +"It's a great nuisance, though," grumbled Eric, who was especially +annoyed by the fact of their going back to the hut with an empty boat +instead of the full cargo | he expected, similar to their first day's +experience of sealing. "I should like to pay out that mean Yankee for +his spite. He's not like a true sailor, for he wasn't worth his salt +aboard the _Pilot's Bride_; and I've heard the skipper say that he only +took him out of good nature and nothing else!" + +"Yes, I know he only allowed him to come in order to save him from ruin +at home," Fritz said. "But, he might just as well have left him at +Providence, for all the good the voyage has done him!" + +"Well, he has spoilt our sealing, as he said he would," observed Eric +after a bit, when they were rounding the western promontory of their own +little bay, and their cottage home was just in sight. + +"Only to-day, or, at the worst, for but a short time longer," replied +Fritz. "The islanders will not stay for any period after they've filled +their boat; and, of course, he will return with them to Tristan. He's +too lazy to stop here and shift for himself, although he would have been +glad to sponge upon us." + +"Joy go with him when he leaves!" cried Eric heartily on the keel of +their whale-boat touching the beach, when they then proceeded to draw +her up on the shingle and take all their traps and gear out of her. +They did this in case their American friend might persuade the islanders +to come round to the bay and make a raid on their property, so as to +prevent them from interfering with their sealing--that being the only +grievance which they could possibly have against them. + +However, as next morning, the whale-boat lay intact where they had left +her, their suspicions of the Tristaners' bad faith proved to be quite +unfounded. + +Still, the brothers were glad to find, from Eric's observations on the +tableland, whence he kept a constant watch on the visitors' movements, +that, after a ten days' stay they left the little island once more to +them alone; although, as they also discovered to their grief a short +time after their departure, the Tristaners took away with them the +greater number of the goats on the plateau, or else killed them for +their sustenance whilst they remained. + +This was a sad discovery. The islanders were quite welcome to the pigs, +thought the brother crusoes; but the flesh of the goats was so delicate +and needful besides, as a change of diet to their ordinary salt +provision, that any diminution of their numbers was a serious loss to +them. + +It was not until a week at least after the Tristaners had left, that +Eric reported the presence of seals again on the west beach, where, +probably, the fact of the islanders camping on the spot had quite as +much to do with scaring away the timid creatures from the coast as the +warfare waged upon them. Fortunately, however, the poor animals had an +affection for the place; for, having now observed, no doubt from some of +their number sent out as scouts, that their enemies had departed, they +once more returned to the rock caverns they had before frequented. + +"There are some of those `elephants,' as you call them, amongst them, +too," said Eric when he came down the cliff with the news to Fritz. +"There are a great many more than I saw last time." + +"Ah, we must try and catch some of the gentlemen this trip," remarked +Fritz. "Perhaps it will be the last chance we may have of capturing sea +elephants!" + +"Right you are," replied the lad. "I'll do my best to kill them; but +really, brother, they look awfully formidable fellows!" + +"Oh, they're not half so dangerous as they look," said Fritz. "They're +like your friends the penguins; their bark is worse than their bite!" + +"Ha, ha!" laughed Eric good-temperedly; "you will continue to chaff me +about those wretched birds I suppose! Never mind, though, I've got the +joke about the billy-goat frightening you as a set-off, eh, brother?" + +"That's nothing--nothing!" said Fritz in an off-hand way. "We'd better +see about starting round after the seals, I think." + +"Ah, it's all very well your trying to get out of it like that!" +retorted Eric, going off, laughing, to haul the whale-boat down into the +bay; when, as soon as she was afloat and all their preparations made, +they set off again round the headland for the sealing ground. + +They noticed, as they approached, that the animals were much more wary +now than at the time of their first visit, many plunging into the water +from off the outlying rocks on the boat nearing the shore; consequently, +they had to use their rifles at once to secure any seals at all, without +trusting to their harpoons. + +Fritz fired six shots rapidly from the Remington he carried, Eric, who +was not so handy in the use of the weapon, managing about half the +number; and then, seeing that some of the animals which were only +wounded were endeavouring to wriggle down the beach into the sea, the +two dashed in at them with the harpoons and boat-hook--Master Eric +selecting the latter weapon from his being more accustomed to its use. + +They had a great scrimmage amongst the struggling seals, which roared +and bellowed like so many bull calves, looking when they opened their +mouths as if they would swallow up the brothers at one gulp; but, it was +all bravado, for the poor things had not an ounce of fight in them. +They suffered themselves to be knocked on the head without the slightest +resistance, only bleating piteously when they received their death-blow +and dropping down in their tracks at once. + +One enormous sea elephant Fritz made for, just as he was on the point of +sliding off into the sea from a little rocky jetty where he had +ensconced himself. + +The animal reared itself on its fore flappers and seemed to tower over +the young German; but, on Fritz pluckily piercing it with his harpoon +right through the chest, the warm blood gushed over him in a torrent and +the portentous sea elephant sank down lifeless. + +The creature was upwards of eighteen feet long, from the point of his +queer-looking nose or snout, which was elongated like an elephant's +trunk--hence its name of "sea elephant"--to the hind flappers; while it +must have been pretty nearly ten feet in girth. + +"Ah, here are eight barrels of oil at least!" shouted Fritz when he had +given the monster his death-blow. "Fancy all that quantity from one sea +elephant!" + +"You don't say you've caught one of those fellows?" cried Eric, who was +kneeling down and trying to detach a little cub seal from its dead +mother. "I wish I had killed him, instead of my victim here. I wonder +what this poor little baby thing will do without its parent?" + +"You'd better knock it on the head," said Fritz. "It is safe to pine +away, if left alone to take care of itself, now that its mother is +dead." + +"I'm sure I can't do that," replied the lad, turning away from the +pitiful sight. "It would seem to me exactly like committing a murder in +cold blood!" + +"You are too tender-hearted for a sealer," said Fritz in his matter-of- +fact way; and then, with one tap from the butt end of his harpoon on its +nose, he settled the fate of the poor little beast. + +The result of this day's sport was, some thirteen sealskins, in addition +to that of the sea elephant, which, although much larger of course than +the others, did not appear to be of the same quality of fur. From the +number of animals they bagged, it was apparent that the bullets from +their rifles must have penetrated more than one seal at a time, passing +through the one aimed at and hitting some of those behind. This would +be quite feasible if the leaden messenger of death did not come in +contact with the bone, for the bodies of the mammals were very soft and +yielding from the amount of adipose tissue they contained. + +These sealskins, with those which they had previously obtained, made up +their quota to thirty. The oil, likewise, extracted from the blubber +filled up their remaining empty casks, so that they had now no +receptacle wherein to stow any more should they succeed in killing more +seals. But, the brothers need not have troubled themselves on this +account, for their last onslaught on the breeding-ground had the effect +of the final straw on the camel's back, not one of the cat-faced +animals--as Eric called them, from their fancied resemblance to old +Mouser--being to be seen in the neighbourhood of the coast for months +afterwards, albeit the young crusoes were constantly on the watch for +them! + +Boiling down the blubber was, certainly, a tedious operation. + +The brothers had made a rocky bed for their cauldron, near the hut, with +an ingeniously constructed fireplace beneath it which had a cross-cut +trench for creating a draught, in the way Fritz noticed that the +soldiers made their camp fires during the war--the whole affair when +finished looking like one of those "coppers" placed in back kitchens for +washing days. Over this laboratory, the two were busy enough for some +days, making themselves so black with smoke and begrimed with oil that +they resembled a couple of chimney sweepers, or engine fitters for the +nonce! + +Eric, who superintended the details by reason of the superior knowledge +which his whaling experience gave him, first cut up the blubber into +long thin strips, which Fritz again subdivided into smaller portions +with the aid of his sheath knife. These strips of blubber were then +heaped into the pot, under which a roaring fire was kept up, the +operation being continued until the cauldron was full; when, as it came +to the boil, the refuse matter and pieces of flesh adhering to the fat +were skimmed off from the top, and the melted oil allowed to cool +gradually, after which it was emptied into the casks kept ready by the +side of the hut. + +The brothers were very glad when the job was ended, for the blubber +smelt terribly fishy and almost suffocated them with its fumes as the +pot came to the boiling point; but, they persevered with their task +until their casks were all full and headed up, when they proceeded to +dress their sealskins roughly and salt them down in a large puncheon +which they had reserved especially for their storage. + +Next, they had a grand clean up, putting the hut and place in order, the +blubber boiling having covered everything with a deposit of oily soot; +and, the morning after they had made things comfortable again, they +proceeded down to the garden to see how matters were progressing there, +not having visited the spot since the day they had started on their last +sealing excursion. + +"I say, brother," observed Eric, as they directed their steps towards +the little wood beyond the waterfall, where they could hear the thrushes +chirping and whistling as they came near; for, the penguins were not so +noisy now, having hatched their eggs and abandoned the nests they used +to make such a fuss over. "I say, brother, how are the days going--it +must be nearly the end of December now, eh?" + +Fritz thought for a moment. + +He was the methodical member of the family and had always been looked up +to as having the best memory for dates at home. + +"Himmel!" he exclaimed. "What day do you think it is?" + +"I'm sure I can't imagine," replied Eric. "All the days go alike here; +why, it seems more than a year already since good Captain Brown left us, +although I know it's only a few months." + +"Only, think, Eric, it is--" + +"No, never!" said the lad, interrupting his brother and guessing that +the answer he was going to give would confirm his own conjecture. "It +cannot be, really, eh?" + +While saying this, Eric stopped abruptly as they were entering the +little grove of buckthorn trees, where the thrushes and finches were +hopping about amongst their branches as merry as grigs in the sunshine; +for, the weather was as warm as our June, although it was then +December--the seasons in southern latitudes being the reverse of what we +are accustomed to in Europe. + +"Yes, you've guessed right, laddie," replied Fritz, looking into his +face with a smile. "It is, without doubt, Christmas Day!" + +"What, to-day?" said Eric, incredulous in spite of himself. + +"Yes, to-day," repeated his brother. + +"Well, that is wonderful!" exclaimed Eric; adding a moment afterwards, +however, in a tone of the greatest dismay, "only think, though, we +haven't prepared a Christmas tree, or anything!" + +"Never mind," said Fritz consolingly. "Those sort of arrangements for +the festival would be a little out of place here." + +"Would they?" cried Eric. "Ah, we'll see about that!" + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +FRITZ GOES HUNTING. + +After his last remark, Eric, silent for a little while, as if buried in +deep thought, followed behind his brother to the garden patch, which was +found in the most flourishing state. + +The potatoes were all in full flower and the haulms of sturdy growth +promised well for the crop of tubers beneath, some indeed being already +half withered, as if fit for digging; while pods were thick on the two +rows of peas planted, and the scarlet runners were a mass of bloom and +brilliancy. + +At such a glorious sight, Eric could remain silent no longer. + +"This is capital," he exclaimed in high delight; "why, we've got a +regular harvest, brother!" + +"Yes, the great Mother Earth has rewarded our exertions," said Fritz +thoughtfully. "It is wonderful how she yields to those who cultivate +her properly! I can see that we'll have bushels of potatoes--enough to +last us through the winter." + +"Aye, and peas and beans, too," chorussed Eric. "Look, here, at this +lot, Fritz! I believe we can have a dish of them to-day." + +"What, to keep up the festival with?" said his brother, smiling. "I see +you are still thinking of that; but, methinks, green peas at Christmas +will be rather an anachronism!" + +"Hang the what-do-you-call-it--oh, anachronism!" cried the lad +impulsively. "When we're at Rome we must do as Rome does." + +"I don't remember, though, that the citizens of `The city on the seven +hills' ate peas in December, as far as my reading of the classics go," +remarked Fritz ironically. + +He liked to "pick up" his brother sometimes in fun. + +"Ah, that was because they were pagans, and didn't keep up our Christmas +ceremonies!" cried Eric triumphantly. "Still, Romans or no Romans, I +declare we'll have a rare banquet to-day, brother, eh!" + +"No roast beef, I hope!" + +"Oh no, bother it--something better than that! You just let me alone +and you'll see bye-and-bye!" + +"All right, laddie, I don't mind leaving the cooking in your hands, +now," said Fritz kindly, wishing to blot out the recollection of his +last remark. "You have had experience since your first memorable +attempt, which I must say was perhaps excusable under the +circumstances." + +"You are a brick, old fellow," responded Eric, much pleased at this +speech. "Only trust matters to my hands and, I promise you I'll not let +you have any opportunity to find fault with me a second time!" + +"Very good; that's agreed," said Fritz; and, after thus settling +matters, the two then went about the garden, gathering its produce--the +elder digging up some new potatoes for trial, while Eric picked all the +early peas that seemed fit, quite filling a good-sized basket which he +had brought with him; although Fritz, who had not been so thoughtful, +had to put his potatoes in a handkerchief. + +On their way home, the brothers passed through the deserted penguin +rookery, with never a bark or a grumble from the whilom excited birds as +they tramped the well-worn paths which they had made from the thicket to +the beach. + +The inhabitants of the feathered colony were now educating their little +ones in the art of fishing; and, the scene in front of the bay was quite +enlivening as the birds swam about gracefully in curves, losing in the +sea that ungainliness and ugly, awkward appearance which seemed +inseparable from them on land, and prosecuting their task, without any +of the noise that had distinguished them while breeding. + +Birds were darting about--here, there, and everywhere in the water; +some, swimming after each other as if in a race, like a shoal of fish; +others, again, chasing one another on the surface, on which they seemed +to run, using the ends of their wings, or flappers, to propel them like +oars, for they dipped in the tips of their pinions and scattered the +spray in their progress. To add to the charm, the calm expanse of sea +reflected the pure ultramarine blue of the sky above, being illumined at +the same time by the bright sunlight, which brought out in strong relief +the twin headlands embracing the little bay with their outstretching +arms. + +Nothing, indeed, could be more unlike the crusoes' old associations of +Christmas and Christmas-tide than this prospect presented, nothing less +suggestive of: home; and yet, standing there, on the shore of their +lonely sea-girt and cliff-embattled island home, gazing across the ocean +that spanned the horizon, the thoughts of both strayed away to their +little native town on the Baltic--where, probably, the housetops were +then covered with snow and the waters bound in chains of ice; but where, +also, troops of children were singing Christmas hymns and Christmas +bells were ringing, while prayers were no doubt being offered up for +them, so distant and yet so near in spirit! + +Eric, however, was not long pensive. The day was too bright and fine +for him to be sorrowful or reflective for any length of time; so, after +staying by the side of Fritz for a short while on the shore, sharing his +thoughts about the dear ones far away--although neither uttered a word +on the subject the one to the other--his impulsive nature quickly +asserted itself, as usual. + +"I'm off, old fellow," said the young sailor, slinging the basket of +freshly picked peas on his arm and leaving the bundle of potatoes for +Fritz to carry. "It is getting near the noonday hour, and time for me +to be thinking of preparing dinner!" + +"All right, laddie, go on and I will follow you soon," replied the +other, but, still, without making any move from his seat on the shingle. + +"Mind, and don't forget the potatoes," cried Eric, who was already half- +way towards their hut. "I shall want them soon!" + +"All right," replied the other, but the mention of the potatoes, which +had been an anxious consideration with Fritz all along, seemed to have +the effect of banishing his sad reflections; for, in another minute, he, +with his bundle on arm, followed Eric up the incline that led to the +cottage. + +Considering all things, the two had a capital Christmas dinner. Indeed, +Eric, the cook, so greatly distinguished himself on this occasion that +he blotted out all recollection of his previous mishaps when undertaking +a similar role. + +What say you to a splendid ham, one of those given them by Captain +Brown; green peas, fresh and tender and dressed to perfection; and, new +potatoes? + +Many a person might have a worse meal on a warm summer day, like it was +this anniversary of the festival on Inaccessible Island! + +Nor was this all; for, after the more substantial portion of the feast, +Eric introduced a wonderfully savoury compound in the confectionery +line, which he had manufactured with some care. This consisted of flour +and sugar made into a thick paste, with some of those very preserved +peaches which had figured so prominently in the despised stew that had +been Eric's first essay in cooking, placed within the envelope, the +compound being then boiled in a saucepan until thoroughly done. + +During the early months of the new year, the brothers had little to do +save attending to their garden, digging up the remaining potatoes when +ripe, and then storing them in a corner of their hut. They also cleared +some more land and planted out the little seedling cabbages in long +rows, so that in time they had a fine show of this vegetable, which was +especially valuable as an antiscorbutic to the continuous use of salt +meat,--now their main nutriment with the exception of a few birds which +Fritz brought down occasionally with his fowling piece. + +Once or twice they went round the promontory in their boat, in pursuit +of stray single seals; but, the animals were so shy that only a long +shot could be had at them. This made it a risky and almost needless +task to waste gunpowder in their pursuit; for, in the event of the +animals being merely wounded and not killed right out at once, they +invariably slipped off the rocks, disappearing in deep water before the +brothers had time to row up to them and haul them into the boat. + +Under these circumstances, therefore, although they expended a +considerable number of bullets, they had only two more sealskins to show +in return to add to their great hauls at the commencement of the season; +so, after a third unsuccessful expedition early in the new year, they +made up their minds to leave the animals alone until the following +summer. Then, they determined to begin their campaign before the +Tristaners should forestall them, hoping to secure a large number by a +newly-organised system of capture--Eric assailing them from the shore by +way of the descent from the tableland on the western coast, while Fritz +attacked them by sea in the boat. + +"Talking of expeditions," said Eric, while the two were thus planning +together their future seal campaign--"we haven't been up on the cliffs +for a long time now; suppose we ascend the plateau and see how the pigs +and goats are getting on, eh?" + +"That's a very good idea," replied his brother. "The garden is in good +order now, needing nothing further to be done to it for some time; +while, as for reading, I'm sure I have devoured every book in our little +library, including Shakespeare, which I know by heart--so, there's +nothing to occupy my mind with." + +"I'm in the same position precisely," said Eric. "You therefore agree +to our hunting expedition, eh?" + +"Yes; the more especially as I wish to try and pot that old billy-goat. +He is such an artful old fellow that he always keeps just out of range +of my weapon, as if he knows the distance it carries. He will thus +offer good sport. That other kid too, that we saw, must be grown up by +now." + +"He shall be my prey," cried Eric, proceeding immediately to polish his +rifle, so as to be ready for the excursion. + +A day or two afterwards, the two ascended the cliff by the now familiar +tussock-grass ladder; but, although Eric could almost have gone up +blindfold this time, the ascent was quite as difficult as it had been at +first to Fritz, who had never climbed it once since the day he sprained +his ankle in coming down, having left the look-out department entirely +to the sailor lad, on account, as he said, of its "being more in his +line!" + +As he had not, therefore, seen it for so long, Fritz noticed a +considerable change on going up. + +The grass had grown very much taller, while the trees appeared more +bushy; but, besides these alterations, the inhabitants of the plateau +had become changed and more varied. + +The droves of wild hogs had increased considerably; while the goats, +headed by the old billy, who looked as lively and venerable as ever, had +diminished--of course, through the ravages of the Tristaners, as +mentioned before. + +Still, not even the loss of these latter animals specially attracted his +attention; what he particularly observed was, that the prairie tableland +had a fresh class of visitors, which must have arrived with the new +year, for they had not been there when he had previously ascended the +cliff. + +Eric was too much taken up with looking for seals to notice them, for he +certainly never mentioned them on his return below to the hut; and, so, +Fritz was doubly surprised now at seeing them. + +These newcomers were the wandering albatross--the "Diomedia exulans," as +naturalists term it--which sailors believe to float constantly in the +upper air, never alighting on land or sea, but living perpetually on the +wing! + +Eric was firmly convinced of this from what he had been told when on +board the _Pilot's Bride_; but Fritz, of course, expressed doubts of the +bird having any such fabulous existence when it was pointed out to him +while illustrating "flight without motion," as its graceful movement +through the air might be described. Now, he had ocular demonstration of +the fact that the albatross not only rests its weary feet on solid earth +sometimes, but that it also builds a nest, and, marvellous to relate, +actually lays eggs! + +No sooner had Fritz set foot on the plateau, after a weary climb up the +toilsome staircase which the tussock-grass and irregularities of the +cliff afforded, than he startled one of these birds. It was straddling +on the ground in a funny fashion over a little heap of rubbish, as the +pile appeared to him. The albatross was quite in the open part of the +tableland, and the reason why it selected such a spot for its resting- +place, instead of amid the brushwood and tussock-grass thickets that +spread over the plateau, was apparent at once when the bird was +disturbed; for, it had to take a short run along the bare ground before +it could get its pinions thoroughly inflated and rise in the air. Had +it been amidst the trees or long grass, Fritz would have been able to +approach it and knock it over before it could have sought safety in +flight, on account of its long wings requiring a wide space for their +expansion. + +On proceeding to the little heap of rubbish, as Fritz thought it, from +which the albatross had risen, he found it to be a nest. This was +built, like that of an ostrich, about a foot high from the surface of +the ground, on the exterior side, and three feet or so in diameter; +while the interior was constructed of grass and pieces of stick woven +together with clay. There was one large egg in the centre of this nest, +a little bigger than that of a swan and quite white, with the exception +of a band of small bright red spots which encircled the larger end. + +In addition to the albatross, several nests of which were scattered +about the open ground on the plateau to the number of a hundred or more, +there were lots of mollymawks and terns, or "sea swallows." These +latter were beautifully plumaged, Fritz thought, the wings and body +being delicately harmonised in white and pale grey, while tiny black +heads and red beaks and feet, further improved their dainty appearance. + +After noticing these new arrivals carefully, although he would not fire +at any of them, thinking it needless destruction to kill any creatures +but such as were required for food or other purposes, such as the seals, +Fritz made after the goats. These, he soon discovered, had removed +themselves, under the leadership of "Kaiser Billy"--as his brother had +christened the big old male which had frightened them both by his shadow +on the cliff--to the further side of the tableland, placing the width of +the plateau between the brothers and themselves. + +"Artful old brute!" said Fritz on noticing this. + +"Ah, he doesn't intend you to come near him to-day," observed Eric. +"He's too wise to put himself within reach of your rifle." + +"Is he?" replied the other, beginning to get vexed, as the goat +dexterously managed to preserve the same distance between them by +shifting round in a sidling fashion as he and Eric advanced. "I tell +you what, laddie, you go round one way, and I shall take the reverse +direction. By that means we will circumvent the cunning old gentleman." + +These tactics were adopted; but, by some keen intuitive instinct which +warned him which of the brothers was most to be feared, "Kaiser Billy," +while allowing Eric many a time to get within range, still carefully +kept out of Fritz's reach! + +It was most provoking. + +"Hang the old fellow!" cried the elder between his clenched teeth. +"I'll have him yet;" and, thinking to deceive the animal's wariness by +pretending to give up the chase, he sat down in one of the nests of the +albatross, whence he could command a good view around of the several +thickets of grass and brushwood, asking Eric to continue driving the +goats towards him while he lay here concealed. + +This Eric did, after first shooting the plumpest-looking of the females, +which had the effect of scaring the rest and making them run in the +direction where Fritz was lying in ambush. + +The goats, however, went faster than either of the brothers expected; so +Fritz, seeing them coming out of a clump of brushwood in the distance +just after Eric had brought down his selected victim, immediately +crouched down in his retreat. Hearing soon afterwards, however, the +sound of the animals' hoofs, he was afraid of raising his head to make +an observation as to their whereabouts until they should come closer, +thinking that his sudden appearance might cause them race off again in +another direction and lose him the chance of a shot. + +He had not to wait long, for the goats came closer and closer--too +close, indeed, to be pleasant! + +"Look out, Fritz! look out, brother! they're right on top of you," +shouted out Eric from the distance, away behind the flock, now coming up +at a gallop, and still headed by the venerable "Kaiser Billy." + +Fritz at once scrambled to his feet, rifle in hand, cocking the weapon +as he rose up; but, at the same instant that he stood on his legs, a +blow like a battering ram struck him in the small of the back, sending +him down flying to the ground again on his face and pitching the cocked +rifle out of his hands. + +This was not the end of it, either; for, the weapon went off with a loud +bang as it fell beside him, the bullet penetrating his leg just below +the knee in an upward direction and narrowly escaping his head. As for +"Kaiser Billy," who had butted him as he rose up, and thus did the +damage, he galloped off with a loud "baa" of triumph, as if shouting a +paean of victory. + +"Himmel! are you hurt, Fritz?" called out Eric, hastening up on hearing +the report of the rifle. He was alarmed at seeing his brother lying +motionless on the ground. + +But, there was no answer; nor did Fritz even move at the sound of his +voice! + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +ANOTHER MISHAP. + +In another minute Eric arrived where his brother was lying; when, +throwing himself on his knees, he bent over him anxiously. "Oh, Fritz, +are you badly hurt?" he cried: and, still receiving no answer, he burst +into a passion of sobs. "He's dead, he's dead!" he wailed in a broken +voice--"dead, never to speak to me more!" + +"No, laddie, not quite dead yet," whispered Fritz faintly. The sudden +blow in the back from the goat's horns, striking him as it did at the +base of the spine, had rendered him for the moment unconscious; the +unexpected attack had injured him terribly--more so, indeed, than the +bullet wound through his leg. Besides, he was lying face downwards, and +so was unable to turn over, which fact prevented him from speaking more +plainly when he recovered his senses. + +"Not dead? Oh, I am so glad!" shouted out Eric joyously, in sudden +revulsion of feeling. "I was afraid that you were killed!" + +"I feel pretty near it," said Fritz, although he spoke now in a stronger +tone, Eric having partly raised him up, by putting his arm under his +neck. "Gently, laddie, gently," he called out, however, as his brother +lifted him, "my poor back hurts fearfully!" + +"I thought it was your leg, Fritz, for it is bleeding awfully. Your +trousers are wet with blood!" + +"That's nothing, laddie--nothing to speak of," said Fritz. + +"Oh, isn't it?" cried the other, who had been busily cutting away the +trouser leg and stocking with his sheath knife. "Why, the bullet has +gone through the fleshy part of your calf." + +"I wish it had gone through the horny part of that horrid old goat," +said Fritz grimly, smiling at his own joke, which made Eric laugh. + +"The old brute! But, you would go after him, you know." + +"Yes; still, I am suffering now, and perhaps justly, for not leaving the +poor animal alone. He never harmed me before I tried to harm him, so it +only serves me right! It's a bad job, Eric; I'm afraid I shan't be able +to get down to the hut again. You will have to rig me up some sort of +shelter here." + +"Oh, no, that won't be necessary," said Eric, glad that his brother +seemed to be getting more like his old calm self and able to look +matters in the face. + +"Why, how can I move? Do you think I shall be able to climb down that +abominable tussock-grass ladder in this condition, especially when I was +hardly able to manage it while sound in wind and limb--which I can't say +is the case at present?" + +"I didn't think of your getting down that way, old fellow," said the +lad, after a moment's reflection. "I've got another plan in my noddle-- +a better one than yours I think." + +"And what is that?" asked Fritz. + +"Why, you know where you are now, don't you?" + +"Yes, I should think I did; I haven't quite lost my consciousness yet!" + +"You are close to the western side of the coast, just near where the +plateau slopes down to the sea by our sealing ground." + +"Well, what of that?" + +"Why, don't you see through my plan yet, brother? Can I not pull the +whale-boat round from our bay, and then manage to lift you down the +incline here into it--thus getting you back home easily in that way?" + +"Himmel, Eric, you're a grand fellow," exclaimed Fritz, in honest +admiration of the proposal. "I declare I never thought of such a simple +thing as that. Of course it can be done. What a stupid I was, not to +think of it! That old goat must have knocked all my seven senses out of +my head; for, I declare I never recollected that there was any other way +of getting down from here save by the waterfall gully!" + +"Ah, well, there is another way," said Eric, laughing joyously. "But, +really we must now see about using it, for I don't want you to remain up +here all night when you may be so much more comfortable in the hut. I +will scramble down and fetch round the boat at once, if there is nothing +more I can do for you before I go--is there anything you wish?" + +"No, nothing, now that you've raised my head and propped it up so nicely +with your coat. I should be glad, though, if you will bring a can of +water with you when you come back with the boat." + +"Stay, I'll get some for you now!" cried the lad; and, flying across the +plateau, he was soon half-way down a niche in the gully whence he could +reach the cascade. In a few minutes more, he was up again on the +tableland and by the side of Fritz, with his cap full of the welcome +water, which tasted to the sufferer, already feverish from the bullet +wound--which Eric had bandaged up to stop the bleeding--more delicious +than nectar, more strengthening than wine. It at once brought the +colour back to his cheek and the fire to his eye. + +"Ha!" Fritz exclaimed, "that draught has made a new man of me, laddie. +You may be off as soon as you please, now, to fetch the boat; while I +will wait patiently here until you can bring it round the headland. +How's the wind?" + +"South-east and by south," cried the young sailor promptly. + +"That will be all in your favour, then. Go now, laddie, and don't be +longer than you can help." + +"You may depend on that," cried Eric, pressing his brother's hand +softly; and, in another moment, he was racing again across the plateau +to the point where the two had ascended from the gully by the waterfall. + +Ere long, Eric had brought round the whale-boat to the haunt of the +seals on the west beach; when, after a good deal of labour, in which he +could not help hurting Fritz somewhat, he succeeded in getting the +sufferer down the sloping rocks. Thence, he lifted him bodily into the +stern-sheets of the boat, where he had prepared a comfortable couch by +piling up on the bottom grating all the blankets and rugs from the hut. + +Eric had a hard pull back against the wind and tide round the headland, +there being none to help him with an oar; but, naturally indomitable, he +bravely accomplished the task at last, arriving back at the bay before +sunset with his almost unconscious burden, who was now unable to move or +assist him in the least. + +Fortunately, the most arduous part of the transportation was now +accomplished, the remainder being "all plain sailing," as Eric said. + +The lad certainly had a most inventive mind; for, as soon as they +reached their own little bay, he once more astonished Fritz--who was +glad enough to get so far, but puzzled as to how he would ever arrive at +the hut, knowing that the lad would never be able to carry him there. + +"Now, brother," cried Eric, "you just stop quietly where you are a +minute or two while I get the carriage ready." + +"The carriage?" cried Fritz, more puzzled than ever. "What do you mean, +laddie?" + +"The wheelbarrow, of course," answered Eric, laughing. "See, I have put +the door of our hut across it; and, with the bedding on top of this, I +shall be able to wheel you, without the slightest jolting, right up to +the cottage." + +"Donnerwetter!" exclaimed Fritz--"you're a wonderful lad; you seem to +think of everything." + +"Nonsense! Silence, now--you mustn't talk; it might bring on fever +perhaps!" exclaimed Eric, to stop his brother's grateful expressions. +Then, lifting him out carefully from the boat, he placed the invalid on +the novel ambulance wagon he had so ingeniously improvised; and, rolling +the wheelbarrow along the little pathway up the incline that led to the +hut, he proceeded carefully to transport him home. Arrived here, Eric +at once put Fritz to bed, so that he might be able to examine his +injuries more closely and apply proper bandages to the wounded leg and +back, in place of the temporary appliances he had made shift with when +first attending to the wounded hero, who was now able to direct him what +to do and how to do it. + +Eric could not help thinking what an unlucky fellow that elder brother +of his was! + +The cliff seemed fatal to him; for, the first time he ascended it, he +sprained his ankle, which laid him up for three weeks; and now he had +hurt himself even worse. Really, the sailor lad wished there were no +crags at all; but, should that devout consummation not be feasible, then +he wished there were no means of getting to the summit, for then Fritz +would never incur any danger through climbing there. + +Little did Eric think, as these hasty reflections passed through his +mind, that, in a very short while, his last wish would be gratified--and +that in a way, too, which would seriously affect them both! + +The very next morning, indeed, he was glad enough to go up the cliff by +the tussock-grass ladder, in order to fetch the young goat he had shot +the day before, which, in the excitement of Fritz's accident, had been +left behind on the plateau; and, as he was coming down the gully again, +he saw the old goat "Kaiser Billy," and shook his fist at him. + +"You old rascal!" he cried--"had it not been for you and your nasty +horns, poor Fritz would be now all right." + +He then fired a shot at the animal in the distance; but, the knowing +fellow, who must have noticed the lad's deadly aim the previous +afternoon--when he had slain one of his family while she was galloping +along beside him--now kept carefully out of the range of Eric's rifle, +so that the bullet did not fall any way near him, so the lad had to +descend the tussock-grass ladder in a somewhat disappointed frame of +mind. + +He had not wished actually to hurt the old goat, but merely to give him +a sort of mild lesson anent his impudent treatment of Fritz. However, +the astute animal declined learning even from so gentle an instructor as +Eric, despite the possibility of the lad having his welfare at heart! + +This was the last time the sailor lad ever had the chance to climb up or +down the face of the cliff by means of the much-abused ladder-way; for, +within the next few days, a sudden mishap happened that cleared the +tangled masses of grass away in a jiffy, leaving the precipitous pass +through the gorge bare--the grim rocks thenceforth disclosing themselves +in all their naked ruggedness, for, there were no friendly tendrils +hanging down whereby to escalade the heights. + +The accident occurred in this wise. + +When clearing the land for the garden, a large amount of brushwood and +weeds had to be removed from its surface. These, when cut down and dug +up, made a large heap of rubbish, which, for the sake of neatness and +being out of the way, was piled up at the bottom of the gorge adjoining +the waterfall--the embrasure of the gully making a capital dust-hole, as +Eric had suggested. + +From the effects of the hot sun, this rubbish was now as dry as straw; +so, one afternoon, when Fritz had so far recovered from his injuries as +to be able to crawl out of the hut and sit on a bench outside, which the +two had constructed under a rude sort of porch, Eric determined to +signalise his brother's convalescence by having a bonfire in honour of +the event. + +To the impulsive lad it was all one to think of such a thing and to +carry out the idea. In a moment, rushing from Fritz's side, he had +drawn his inseparable box of matches from his pocket, struck a light, +and ignited the pile of rubbish. + +"Doesn't it flare up splendidly?" he cried with glee as he watched the +tongue-like flames darting upwards, the whole body of dry material being +soon in a red fiery glow, so hot and scorching that the lad had to move +away from the vicinity; and, returning to the front of the hut he stood +for a time by the side of Fritz, gazing with great admiration at the +blaze, which, mounting higher and higher, quickly enveloped the gorge +with clouds of that light, pungent smoke which wood fires always give +out. + +"Yes, it burns well enough," said the calm, methodical Fritz; "but, +perhaps, laddie, it will spread farther than you intend. I fear it will +burn up the little wood to the right of our garden, with all the poor +thrushes and other birds in it. It is easy enough to start a fire, you +know: the difficulty is to limit its action and put it out when you +wish!" + +"Oh, there's no fear about that," replied Eric with great nonchalance. +"The wind is blowing from the north-east and will only carry the flames +against the cliff, where there is nothing to harm." + +Was there not? + +Higher and higher rose the smoke, ascending pyramidically up the +chimney-like gorge; and, the quick-darting tongues of flame could be +seen spreading through the hazy veil, while the crackle and roar of the +fire sounded fiercer and fiercer. Presently, growing bolder in its +strength, the fire advanced outwards from the cleft in the rock where it +was first kindled, spreading to the right and left of the gully. Next, +it began to clamber up the face of the cliff, burning away gaily even +right under the waterfall, which seemed powerless to stay its rapid +progress. + +"Look, Eric," cried Fritz, "it has caught the tussock grass now close to +our ladder. I told you it would do mischief!" + +"Bother it all, so it has!" exclaimed the lad, darting off with the vain +intention of trying to stop the conflagration. + +He might just as well have attempted to arrest the flow of the sea in +the little bay below by the aid of his much-detested spade! + +Crackle, crackle--puff--whish; and, in another few moments, the whole +cliff seemed on fire, the flames licking every particle of herbage off +the face of the rock. + +The heat soon made the solid stone glow like molten iron; while the +columns of white smoke, as they rose up, were swept by the wind over the +tableland, frightening away several of the albatross, which hovered over +the scene of devastation on poised wing, wondering apparently what all +the fuss was about! + +The fire gradually burnt itself out when there was nothing more to +consume, only an angry pile of smouldering embers remaining below the +waterfall, which still danced and tumbled itself over the blackened +edges of the crags, no longer festooned with the tussock-grass and +shrubs which had previously given the brothers handhold and foothold +when climbing to the summit of the cliff. + +The ladder up to Eric's look-out station being now irremediably +destroyed, henceforth the sphere of action of the brother crusoes would +be limited to the confined valley in which they had landed and built +their home; for, there was now no means of reaching the tableland, save +by the pass on the western side near their sealing station, to reach +which they would have to use the whale-boat and venture out to sea, +round the eastern or western headland. + +They were now really shut completely within their little valley, without +a chance of escaping in any sudden emergency, except by taking to the +water! + +The destruction of the ladder-way was a sad calamity; but, that was not +the worst of the damage done by Eric's bonfire! + +It was late in the afternoon when the lad first lit up the pile of +rubbish and night came ere the fire had died out, its blazing light, +reflected back by the glistening surface of the cliff, shining out to +sea from the bay, like a beacon welcoming the passing mariner to +friendly shores--instead of which, the cruel crags that encircled the +island only grinned through the surf, like the pointed teeth of a pack +of snarling wolves, waiting to rend and tear any hapless craft that +should make for them! + +In addition to this, there was yet another peril to any ship in the +vicinity; for, the wind from the north-east had risen to a gale as the +evening set in, bringing with it a heavy, rolling swell that thundered +in upon the beach with a harsh, grating roar, throwing up columns of +spray over the projecting peaks of the headlands on either hand. + +"I hope no vessel will mistake your bonfire for a beacon," said Fritz, +as the darkness increased. "If so, and they should chance to approach +the land, God help them, with this wind and sea on!" + +"I trust not," replied Eric sadly, already regretting his handiwork; "it +would be a bad look-out for them!" + +But, as he spoke the words, the sound of a cannon could be heard coming +from seaward over the water; and the lad shuddered with apprehension. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +THE WRECK OF THE BRIG. + +"Himmel!" exclaimed Fritz, rising up from the bench on which he was +sitting and clutching on to the side of the hut for support, being still +very feeble and hardly able to stand upright. "There must be a ship out +there approaching the island. If she should get too close inshore, she +is doomed!" + +But, Eric did not answer him. The lad had already rushed down to the +beach; and, climbing on to a projecting boulder, was peering into the +offing, endeavouring to make out the vessel whose signal gun had been +heard in the distance. + +The darkness, however, was too great. The heavens were overcast with +thick, drifting clouds, while the sea below was as black as ink--except +where the breakers at the base of the cliffs broke in masses of foam +that gave out a sort of phosphorescent light for the moment, lighting up +the outlines of the headlands during the brief interval, only for them +to be swallowed up the next instant in the sombre gloom that enwrapped +the bay and surrounding scene. Eric, consequently, could see nothing +beyond the wall of heaving water which the rollers presented as they +thundered on the shingle, dragging back the pebbles in their back-wash +with a rattling noise, as if the spirits of the deep were playing with +dice in the depths below under the waves! + +At his back, the lad could see the bonfire still blazing, casting the +foreground in all the deeper shadow from its flickering light; and, +never did he regret anything more in his life than the sudden impulse +which had led him into so dangerous a freak, as that of lighting the +bonfire. + +Who knew what further terrible peril that treacherous fire might not +lead to, besides the mischief it had already done? + +Bye-and-bye, there came the sound of another gun from the sea. The +report sounded nearer this time; still, Eric could see nothing in sight +on the horizon when some break in the clouds allowed him a momentary +glimpse of the angry ocean--nothing but the huge billows chasing each +other in towards the land and the seething foam at the base of the +crags, on which they broke themselves in impotent fury when they found +their further course arrested by the rocky ramparts of the island. + +Nor could the lad hear anything beyond the crash of the breakers and +splash of the eddying water, which sometimes washed up to his feet, as +he stood on the boulder gazing out vainly to sea, the sound of the +breaking billows being mingled with the shriek of the wind as it +whistled by overhead. + +Nothing but the tumult of the sea, stirred into frenzy by the storm- +blast of angry Aeolus! + +After a time, Eric suddenly recollected that his brother could not move +far from the hut and must be wondering what had become of him; and, +recognising as well the fact that he was powerless alone to do anything +where he was, even if a ship should be in danger, he returned towards +the cottage to rejoin Fritz, his path up the valley being lit up quite +clearly by the expiring bonfire, which still flamed out every now and +then, as the wind fanned it in its mad rush up the gorge, stirring out +the embers into an occasional flash of brilliancy. + +Fritz, usually so calm, was in a terribly anxious state when his brother +reached him. + +"Well, have you seen anything?" he asked impatiently. + +"No," said Eric sorrowfully. "There's nothing to be seen." + +"But _you_ heard another cannon, did you not?" + +"Oh yes, and it seemed closer in." + +"So I thought, too," said the other, whom the sound of the heavy guns, +from his old experience in war, appeared to affect like a stimulant. +"Can't we do anything? It is terrible to stand idly here and allow our +fellow-creatures to perish, without trying to save them!" + +"What could we do?" asked Eric helplessly, all the buoyancy gone out of +him. He seemed to be quite another lad. + +"You couldn't launch the boat without me, eh?" + +"No," answered Eric; "I couldn't move it off the beach with all my +strength--I tried just now." + +Fritz ground his teeth in rage at his invalid condition. + +"It serves me right to be crippled in this fashion!" he cried. "It all +results from my making such a fool of myself the other day, after that +goat on the plateau. I ought to have known better." + +"You need not vex yourself, brother, about that," said Eric. "If there +were twenty of us to get the boat into the water, instead of two, she +could not live in the heavy sea that is now running. She would be +swamped by the first roller that came in upon us, for the wind is +blowing dead on shore!" + +"That may be," replied Fritz; "still, I should like to do something, +even if I knew it would be useless!" + +"So should I," said Eric, disconsolately. + +In silence, the two continued to pace up and down the little platform +they had levelled in front of their hut, trying to pierce the darkness +that now entirely obscured the sea, the north-easter having brought up a +thick fog in its train, perhaps from the far-distant African coast, +which shut out everything on that side; although, the light of the +bonfire still illumined the cliff encircling the valley where they had +pitched their homestead, disclosing the inmost recesses of this, so that +they could see from where they stood, the wood, which the conflagration +had spared, as well as their garden and the tussock-grass rookery of the +penguins beyond, not a feature of the landscape being hid. + +Again came the booming, melancholy sound of the minute guns from sea, +making the brothers more impatient than ever; and, at that moment, the +fog suddenly lifted, being rapidly wafted away to leeward over the +island, enabling the two anxious watchers to see a bit of bright sky +overhead, with a twinkling star or two looking down on the raging ocean, +now exposed to their gaze--all covered with rolling breakers and +seething foam as far as the eye could reach, to the furthest confines of +the horizon beyond the bay. + +Still, they could perceive nothing of the ship that had been firing the +signals of distress, till, all at once, another gun was heard; and the +flash, which caught their glance at the same moment as the report +reached them, now enabled them to notice her imminent peril. This, the +people on board could only then have noticed for the first time, the fog +having previously concealed their danger; for they distinctly heard, +above the noise of the sea and wind, a hoarse shout of agonised, frantic +alarm, wafted shorewards by the wind in one of its wild gusts. + +The vessel was coming up under close-reefed topsails, bow on to the +headland on the western side of the bay; and, almost at the very instant +the brothers saw her, she struck with a crash on the rocks, the surf +rushing up the steep face of the cliff and falling back on the deck of +the ill-fated craft in sheets of spray like soapsuds. + +Fritz and Eric clasped their hands in mute supplication to heaven; but, +at the same moment, the spars of the vessel--she was a brig, they could +see--fell over her side with a crash. There was a grinding and rending +of timbers; and then, one enormous wave, as of three billows rolled into +one, poured over her in a cataract. + +One concentrated shriek of horror and agony came from the seething +whirlpool of broken water, and, all was over; for, when the foam had +washed away with the retreating wave, not a single vestige could be seen +of the hapless craft! + +She had sunk below the sea with those on board. + +"Oh, brother, it is awful!" cried Eric. + +Fritz could not answer. His throat was filled with a great gulping lump +which prevented him from drawing his breath; while his eyes were +suffused with tears that no unmanly feelings had called forth. + +Eric was starting off again down to the beach, to see whether any one +had escaped from the wreck and been swept into the bay, in which case he +might have been of use in trying to drag them from the clutch of the +cruel waves, when Fritz called him back. + +"Don't leave me behind, brother," he cried out passionately. "Wheel me +down, in the barrow, so that I may help, too!" + +The lad stopped in a instant, comprehending his brother's request; and, +flying back, in and out of the hut as if he had been galvanised, he +quickly placed the old door on top of the wheelbarrow as a sort of +platform, with a mattress on top. He then lifted Fritz on the +superstructure as if he were a child, the excitement having given him +tenfold strength; and, wheeling the barrow down at a run, the two +arrived on the beach almost sooner than a boat could have pulled ashore +from the point where the catastrophe to the vessel had occurred. + +But, although it was now light enough to scan the surface of the +restless sea for some distance out, no struggling form could be seen +battling with the waves; nor was there a single fragment of the wreck +noticeable, tossing about on the billows that still rolled in +thunderingly on the beach, marking out the contour of the bay with a +line of white surf, which shone out in contrast to the glittering black +sand that was ever and anon displayed as the back-wash of the waves +swept out again in a downward curve preparatory to the billows hurling +themselves in shore once more with renewed force. + +"Poor chaps, they must all have gone down!" said Eric, half crying. He +had made sure that some one would have escaped, if only for him to +rescue at the last moment--perhaps just when the sinking swimmer might +require a helping hand to drag him from the clutches of the grasping +billows that sought to overwhelm him as he was getting beyond their +reach! + +"There's no doubt of that," echoed Fritz, who had got off his platform +on the wheelbarrow with much more agility than he had been capable of a +short time before. "The sea has swallowed up those who were not dashed +to pieces on the headland! I hardly know which fate was the least +preferable of the two?" + +"I do hope that the bonfire did not lead to their misfortune," said Eric +presently. "If so, I should consider myself to be the cause of their +death!" + +"No, I don't think it was, laddie," replied Fritz, to cheer him, the lad +being greatly distressed at the thought of having occasioned the +catastrophe. "You see, the ship must have been coming from the other +side of the headland, whose height would shut all view of our valley +entirely from the sea." + +"Well, I only hope so," replied Eric, only half consoled. "I'm afraid, +however, the people on board took the flame of the burning grass to be +some beacon to warn them." + +"In that case, they would have kept away from it, of course," said Fritz +decidedly; "so, no blame can be attached to you. The wind, you see, was +blowing a gale from the north-east; and, probably, they were driving on +before it, never thinking they were near Inaccessible Island, nor +believing that there was such a place anywhere within miles of them, or +land at all, for that matter, till they should reach the South American +coast!" + +"Perhaps so," rejoined Eric, in a brighter tone; "but then, again, they +might have thought the light to be a ship on fire, and, in going out of +their way to lend assistance, they possibly met with their doom, eh?" + +"Ah, that would be sad to believe," said Fritz. "However, I don't think +we should worry ourselves over the dispensations of providence. Poor +fellows, whoever they are, or whatever they were about at the time of +the disaster, I'm sorry for them from the bottom of my heart!" + +"And so am I," chimed in his brother. "But now, old fellow," added +Eric, "it is time for you to be getting back indoors, with your poor +back and wounded leg." + +"Yes, I shan't be sorry to lie down now; for, I've exerted myself more +than I should have done. Oh," continued Fritz, as the lad helped him on +to the wheelbarrow platform, again preparing to return to the hut, "I +shall never forget the sight of that doomed vessel dashing against the +rocks. I fancy I can now see the whole hideous panorama before my eyes +again, just as we saw it when the mist cleared away, disclosing all the +horrors of the scene!" + +"I shan't forget it either, brother," said Eric, as he commenced to +wheel back Fritz homeward, neither uttering another word on the way. + +Both went to bed sadly enough; for, the calamity that had just occurred +before their eyes made them more depressed than they had ever been +before--aye, even in the solitude of their first night alone on the +island. + +Next morning, the gale had blown itself out, the wind having toned down +to a gentle breeze; while the sea was smiling in the sunshine, so +innocently that it seemed impossible it could have been lashed into the +fury it exhibited the previous night. There it was, rippling and +prattling away on the beach in the most light-hearted fashion, +oblivious, apparently, of all thought of evil! + +All trace of the wreck, too, had disappeared, nothing being subsequently +cast ashore but one single plank, on which the hieroglyphic letters, "PF +Bordeaux," were carved rudely with a chisel; so, the mystery of the +brig's name and destination remained unsolved to the brothers, as it +probably will continue a mystery, until that day when the ocean gives up +its secrets and yields up its dead to life! + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +"NEWS FROM HOME." + +For some time after the wreck, the brothers seemed to experience a +strange dreariness about the place which they never felt before. + +They were now shut in entirely, being confined, as it were, to the +little valley of the waterfall through the destruction of the tussock- +grass ladder, which previously had opened the tableland on top of the +crags to them, giving greater liberty of action; although the ascent had +not been by any means an easy matter for Fritz. + +Now, however, restricted to their scanty domain, bounded by the bare +cliff at the back and encompassed by lofty headlands on either side, +they were prevented from wandering beyond the limits of the bay, save by +taking to their boat; and this, the strong winds which set in at the +latter end of March rendered utterly impossible of achievement. + +Consequently, they began to realise more fully their solitary condition, +recognising the fact that they were crusoes indeed! + +No event of any importance happened after the episode of the bonfire and +the storm in which the crew of the brig perished, for some weeks, +nothing occurring to break the monotony of the solitary life they were +leading; until, one morning, without any warning, the penguins, which +had been their constant companions from the commencement of their self- +chosen exile up to now, suddenly left the island. + +This was in the month of April. + +Never was a migration more unexpected. + +On the evening before, the birds, so long as daylight lasted, were seen +still playing about in the bay and arranging themselves in lines along +the rough escarpment of the headlands, where they were drawn up like +soldiers on parade and apparently dressed in the old-fashioned uniform +that is sometimes still seen on the stage. Really, their black and +white plumage exactly resembled the white buckskin breeches and black +three-cornered hats of the whilom mousquetaires; while their drooping +flappers seemed like hands down their sides in the attitude of +"attention!"--the upper portions of the wings, projecting in front, +representing those horrible cross-belts that used to make the men look +as if they wore stays. + +The penguins seemed so much at home on the island that it looked as if +they never intended leaving it, albeit the brothers noticed that the +birds barked and grumbled more discordantly than they had done of late. +No doubt there was something on hand, they thought; but they never +dreamt that this grand pow-wow was their leave-taking of the rookery; +but, lo and behold! when Eric came out of the hut next morning to pay +his customary matutinal visit to the beach, there was not a single +penguin to be seen anywhere in the vicinity, either out in the water or +on land! + +They had disappeared, as if by magic, in one single night. In the +evening before, they were with them; when day dawned, they were gone! + +Fritz and Eric had got so accustomed to the birds by this time, studying +their habits and watching the progress of many of the adult penguins +from the egg to representative birdom, as they passed through the +various gradations of hatching and moulting, that they quite missed them +for the first few days after their departure. + +The cliffs, without their presence to enliven them, appeared never so +stern and bleak and bare as now; the headlands never so forbidding and +impassable; the valley never so prison-like, to the brothers, shut in as +they were and confined to the bay! + +However, the winter season coming on apace, the two soon had plenty to +do in preparing for its advent. This served to distract their attention +from becoming morbid and dwelling on their loneliness, which was all the +more dismal now from the fact of their being debarred from their +hunting-ground on the plateau--Fritz having got strong and well again +after the wreck, and being now able to start on a second expedition in +pursuit of "Kaiser Billy," did he so wish, if the access to the +tableland above the cliffs by way of the gully were only still open to +them. + +Goat-shooting, therefore, being denied them, the brothers busied +themselves about other matters, as soon as the increasing coldness of +the air and an occasional snow-storm warned them that winter would soon +visit the shores of the island. + +"I tell you what," said Fritz, when the first few flakes of snow came +fluttering down one afternoon as they were standing outside the hut, the +sun having set early and darkness coming on. "We're going to have some +of the old weather we were accustomed to at Lubeck." + +"Ah; but, we can have no skating or slides here!" replied Eric, thinking +of the canals and frozen surface of the sea near his northern home, when +the frost asserted its sway, ruling with a sceptre of ice everywhere. + +"No, and we don't want them either," rejoined the practical Fritz. "I +am pondering over a much more serious matter; and that is, how we shall +keep ourselves warm? My coat, unfortunately, is getting pretty nearly +worn-out!" + +"And so is mine," cried Eric, exhibiting the elbows of his reefing +jacket, in which a couple of large holes showed themselves. The rest of +the garment, also, was so patched up with pieces of different coloured +cloth that it more resembled an old-clothes-man's sack than anything +else! + +"Well, what do you think of our paying our tailor a visit?" said Fritz +all at once, after cogitating a while in a brown study. + +Eric burst out into a loud fit of laughing; so hearty that he nearly +doubled himself up in the paroxysms of his mirth. + +"Ha, ha, ha, what a funny fellow you are, Fritz!" he exclaimed. "I +wonder where we are going to find a tailor here?" + +"Oh, I know one," said his brother coolly, in such a matter-of-fact way +that the lad was quite staggered with surprise. + +"Do you?" he asked in astonishment. "Who is he?" + +"Your humble servant," said Fritz, with a low bow. "Can I have the +pleasure of measuring you for a new suit, meinherr?" + +Eric began laughing again. + +"You can measure away to your heart's content," he replied; "but, I +fancy it will puzzle even your lofty intellect to discover the +wherewithal to make clothes with--that is, except sailcloth, which would +be rather cold wear for winter, I think, eh, Master Schneider?" + +"How about those two last sealskins we didn't salt down, or pack up with +the rest in the puncheon?" enquired Fritz with a smile. + +"O-oh!" exclaimed Eric, opening his mouth wide with wonder. + +"A-ah," rejoined his brother. "I think they'll do very well to make a +couple of good coats for us; they'll be warm and serviceable." + +"Of course they will," said Eric, jumping at the idea. "And, they will +be fashionable too! Why, sealskin jackets are all the rage in Berlin +and Hanover; so, we'll be regular dandies!" + +"Dandies of the first water, oh yes," replied Fritz quizzingly. "I +wonder what they would think of us at, Lubeck if they could just see us +now!" + +"Never mind, brother, we'll astonish them when we go back with our +pockets full of money," said Eric in his happy fashion; and then, +without further delay, the two set to work making themselves winter +garments, as Fritz had suggested, from the sealskins. + +These had been dried, instead of being salted down with the rest, in the +ordinary way whalers preserve them for the furriers; so, now, all that +remained for the brothers to do was to make the skins limp and pliable. + +This they managed to effect by rubbing grease over the inner surface of +the skins with a hard piece of lava slab selected from the volcanic +debris at the foot of the cliff, in the same way, as Eric explained, +that sailors holystone the decks of a ship; and, after the pelts of the +seals were subjected to this process, they underwent a species of +tanning by being steeped in a decoction of tea leaves, keeping, however, +the hair out of the liquor. Lastly, the outside portion of the skins +was dressed by pulling off the long fibrous exterior hairs, concealing +the soft fur below that resembled the down beneath a bird's rough +feathers. + +The skins being now thoroughly prepared, all that remained to do was to +cut out the coats, a feat the crusoes accomplished by using their old +garments for patterns; and then, by the aid of the useful little +housewife which Celia Brown had given Eric, after an immense amount of +stitching, the brothers were able at last to clothe themselves in a +couple of fur jackets. These, although they were perhaps roughly made, +the good people at home could not have turned up their noses at, for the +articles were certainly intrinsically worth more than the best-cut +masterpiece of the best outfitter, even if not of so perfect a fit or +style! + +Fritz was the chief tailor in this operation; but, while he was busily +engaged with needle and thread, Eric was employed in another way, +equally for the good of both. + +The hut had been found somewhat cold and damp in consequence of the +sun's power beginning to wane by reason of its shifting further north, +through the periodic revolution of the earth; so it was determined to +build a fireplace within the dwelling. + +This had not been necessary before, all their cooking operations having +been carried on without the hut at an open-air campaigner's stove +designed by soldier Fritz. + +Now, however, Master Eric devoted himself to the task of improving their +household economy, accomplishing the feat so well that, wonderful to +relate, the place never smoked once after the fire had been lit in the +new receptacle for it, excepting when the wind blew from the westward. +Then, indeed, coming from over the top of the plateau above, it whirled +down the gorge, roaring through the lad's patent chimney like a cyclone. + +From May, until the end of July--during which time the extreme severity +of the winter lasted--the brothers did little, save stop indoors and +read, or play dominoes. + +Really, there was nothing else for them to occupy their minds with; for, +it was impossible to cultivate the garden, while the weather was too +rough for them to venture out in the whale-boat. + +Early in August, however, the penguins returned. + +The birds did this as suddenly as they had left; although they did not +come all together, as at the period of their migrating from the island. + +It need hardly be said that Fritz and Eric welcomed them joyfully as the +early swallows of the coming summer; for, as the summer advanced, their +life would be more varied, and there would be plenty for them to do. + +Besides, the brothers had not forgotten Captain Brown's promise to +return at this period and visit them with the _Pilot's Bride_, the +arrival of which vessel might be expected in a couple of months or so. + +The male penguins were the first to make their reappearance in the bay, +Eric returning to the hut with the news of this fact one morning in +August. + +"I say, Fritz," he called out, when yet some distance off from their +dwelling--"I've just seen two penguins down by the sea!" + +"Have you?" exclaimed the other eagerly. "That's good news." + +"Is it?" said Eric. "I didn't think you cared about them so much." + +"Ah, I'm looking out for their eggs," replied Fritz. + +"Why, you never seemed to fancy them last year, old fellow," said the +sailor lad surprised. "What means this change of view on your part?" + +"Well, you know, when we arrived here first, the birds were already +sitting; and, I certainly confess I did not care about the eggs then, +for they would probably have been half addled! Now, however, if we look +out each day, we can get them quite fresh, when they'll be ever so much +better. Young Glass told us, as you ought to remember, that they tasted +very nice and not in the least fishy." + +"Oh, yes, I recollect," said Eric. "I will keep a good look-out for +them now you say they're worth looking after!" + +And he did. + +The two male birds, who first came, were succeeded on the following day +by half a dozen more, a large number coming later on the same afternoon. + +All these penguins were in their best plumage, and very fat and lazy, +contenting themselves with lolling about the beach for a day or two, as +if to recover from the fatigues of their journey. + +Then, after a solemn conference together close to the rookery, the birds +began to prepare their nests, so as to be ready for the reception of the +females, which did not make their appearance for nearly a month after +the first male penguins were seen. + +A fortnight later, there was in almost each nest an egg of a pale blue +colour, very round in shape and about the size of a turkey's--the sight +of which much gratified Master Eric, who, fearless of consequences, made +a point of investigating the tussock-grass colony every morning. He +called the birds habitat his "poultry yard," seeming to be quite +unmindful of his mishap there the previous year; although now, as the +penguins had not begun regularly to sit yet, they were not so noisy or +troublesome as when he then intruded on their domain. Besides, as the +sailor lad argued, the eggs were uncommonly good eating, and well worth +risk getting them. + +September came; and the brother crusoes were all agog with excitement, +watching for the expected coming of the old Yankee skipper. + +"Do you know what to-day is?" asked Fritz one morning, as Eric woke him +up in turning out. + +"What a fellow you are for dates!" exclaimed the other. "You ought to +go and live in the East, where they cultivate them, brother! No, I +can't say I recollect what day it is. Tuesday, is it not?" + +"I don't mean that," said Fritz petulantly. "I alluded to the sort of +anniversary, that's all." + +"Anniversary of what?" + +"Our landing here last year," replied Fritz. + +"Oh, I forgot that!" exclaimed Eric. + +"It strikes me you forget a good many things," said his brother in his +dry way. "Still, what I was thinking of was, that we might now really +begin to look out for Captain Brown. What a pity it is that you can't +ascend to your old signalling station on top of the gully." + +"Yes, it was all on account of the grass burning that our ladder got +spoilt and--" + +"Of course you didn't set it on fire, eh?" interposed Fritz. + +"Ah well, it's of no use our talking about that now; words will not mend +matters," said Eric. "We'll have look out from here!" + +The wind latterly had been from the east, blowing right into the bay. +On account of this, the brothers could not venture out in the boat and +thus get round the headland, so as to climb the plateau from the other +side of the island and scan the offing from thence. + +Still, no amount of looking out on their part--or lack of observation, +whichever way the matter was put--seemed to effect the arrival of the +expected ship; for, the month passed away in daily counted days without +a trace of a sail being seen on the horizon. + +At last, just when the brothers had given up in despair all hope of +hearing from home, Eric, one morning in October, reported that there was +something in sight to windward of the bay; although, he said, he did not +think she looked like the _Pilot's Bride_. + +Hastily jumping into his clothes--for Fritz, sad to relate, could never +practise early rising, in which good habit day after day Eric set him a +praiseworthy example--the elder followed the younger lad again to the +shore of the bay; from which point, well away out to sea, and her hull +just rising from the rolling plane of water, could be seen a vessel. +She was steering for the island apparently, with the wind well on her +beam. + +"It isn't Captain Brown's ship," said Eric now decisively, his sailor +eye having distinguished while she was yet in the distance that the +vessel was a fore-and-aft-rigged schooner, although Fritz could not then +tell what sort of craft she was. "It is one of those small whalers that +ply amongst the islands, such as I saw down at Kerguelen." + +"What can have become of the skipper, then?" cried Fritz, quite +disappointed. "I hope nothing has happened to him." + +"We'll soon know," replied Eric. "If I mistake not this very schooner, +which is evidently going to call here, is the _Jane_. I know her by +that queer patch in her jib; and, if that's the case, she is one of the +consorts of the _Pilot's Bride_ and will be bound to be able to tell us +something about her." + +"I sincerely hope so," said Fritz. + +The two then remained silent for some time, watching the approaching +vessel; but they took the precaution to run down their whale-boat to the +beach, so as to be ready to put off as soon as the visitor should come +near enough for them to board her. + +In a short time, bowling up before a good breeze, although it seemed +hours to them, they were so anxious, the schooner lay-to off the bay, +hoisting her flag as a signal that she wished to communicate. But, long +before the bunting had been run up to the masthead, the brothers had +launched their boat and were pulling out towards the vessel, which did +not anchor, for there was a heavy ground swell on--this latter, indeed, +cost them, too, some trouble in getting their little craft out to sea, +the rolling surge first lifting her up and then plunging her down so +that everything was hidden from them for the moment by a wall of water +on either side. + +However, they managed to get through the waves somehow; and, presently, +they were alongside the schooner,--pulling in under her stern, whence a +rope was hove them to get on board by. + +An active-looking, slim, seamanlike young fellow advanced to them as +they scrambled on the schooner's deck; and Eric appeared to recognise +him. + +"Hullo, Captain Fuller," he said, "where's the _Pilot's Bride_ and the +old skipper?" + +"I'm sorry you won't see him this trip," replied the other. "The barque +got damaged in a gale off the African coast a month ago: so, she had to +put into the Cape of Good Hope for repairs, which'll take such a time +that Captain Brown couldn't manage to come along here and see you as he +promised. Howsomever, the old skipper has sent me in his stead, to +bring you some letters and take home any cargo you might have ready in +sealskins and oil. He told me, likewise, to let you have any provisions +you may want; but, I'm sorry to say, while coming here I helped an +American ship that was short, and now I only have a little flour left to +spare." + +"Thank you, all the same," said Fritz, who had been waiting patiently +while the master of the schooner gave this explanation. "I'm very sorry +at not seeing Captain Brown; however, I suppose he'll come for us next +year, as he said, won't he?" + +"Oh yes," answered the other cordially. "I'm sure he will, for it +seemed a great disappointment to him not to be able to do so now. He +told me to be certain to say that, `blow great guns and small arms or +not, he'll be at Inaccessible Island next year!' But, you must be +anxious about your letters. Here they are," and the nice-looking young +fellow, whom Fritz had quite taken a fancy to, handed a little packet to +him, adding, "I am afraid I'll have to hurry you up about your return +messages, as the wind is getting up from the eastwards and I shan't be +able to remain here long." + +Fritz at once broke the seal of a thick letter, which Captain Brown had +enclosed in one of his own. This he saw came from Lubeck, although it +had the Capetown post mark on it, and he glanced hurriedly over the +front page and then at the end. + +"All right at home, thank God!" he said aloud for Eric's benefit, the +lad staring at his brother with eager eyes. "And now, Captain Fuller, +I'm ready to attend to you. I shall be glad of a barrel of flour if you +can spare it, but our other provisions can hold out. Will you let a man +or two come ashore to help get our freight aboard?" + +"How much have you got to ship?" asked the other. + +"Thirty sealskins and twenty barrels of oil," replied Fritz at once; he +and Eric had counted over their little store too often for him not to +have their tally at his fingers' ends! + +"Come now," said Captain Fuller encouragingly. "That's not bad work for +a couple of novices as their first take here! Next year, you'll be able +to fill up the _Pilot's Bride_, `I reckon,' as the old skipper would +say." + +"Not quite that," replied Fritz, while he and Eric joined in the other's +laugh; "still, I've no doubt we'll do better than this, for we'll take +care to be beforehand with some folks!" + +The commander of the schooner looking puzzled by the latter part of this +speech, Fritz proceeded to tell the young seaman all about Nat Slater +and the Tristaners, anent which he became very indignant. + +"I'll take care to call at the island and spoil the mean fellow's game +for him, so that you shan't be troubled in the same way again!" cried +their new friend, with much heartiness; "but, do, please, let these men +go ashore with you now and fetch your produce at once, or else we'll +have to be off without it! Here, Harris and Betkins," he sang out to +two of the schooner's men, "go along with these gentlemen in their boat +and bring off some cargo they'll point out to you!" + +"I don't think we can stow all in one boat," said Eric. + +"Then, we must make two or three trips till we do," answered the other, +equal to the occasion; and this procedure was adopted until all the +brothers' sealskins and barrels of oils were shipped in the schooner. +The goods were consigned to Captain Brown, who had undertaken to dispose +of all the produce of their expedition; and, when the freight was all +shipped, the schooner, filling her sails, bore away from the island on +her return trip to the Cape--not without a hearty farewell to Fritz and +Eric from those on board. + +This visit of the little craft cheered them up wonderfully, reconciling +them cheerfully to another year's sojourn in their island home; for, had +not the schooner brought them comfort and hope, and, above all else, +what was to their longing hearts like manna to the Israelites in the +wilderness, water to a dry ground, warmth to those shivering with cold-- +in other words, "good news from home?" + +Aye, that she had! + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. + +A DIRE PERIL. + +Oh, those dear letters from home! + +Did not Fritz pore over them, when he and Eric got back to their little +hut, glad to sit down and be quiet again, all to themselves after the +excitement of the schooner's visit and the fatigue of shipping the +produce of their labours during the past? + +Madame Dort's missive was a long, voluminous epistle of ever so many +pages, written in their dear mother's clear hand, without a blot or a +scratch out, or any tedious crossing of the pages to make the writing +indistinct. She had been a teacher, and able to write well, if only +because she had formerly to instruct others? The letter was public +property for both, being addressed to Eric as well as Fritz, and it +contained much loving news--news that caused the elder brother +frequently to pause in his reading and Eric to dash away the quick tears +from his bright eyes; while, anon, it made them both laugh by some funny +allusion to household arrangements as they recalled the well-remembered +little home scene in the old-fashioned house in which the two had been +brought up, in the Gulden Strasse at Lubeck. + +The communication was so lengthy that it was almost a journal, Madame +Dort recounting all the haps and mishaps of the family since Fritz had +gone away, taking it for granted that he would have informed Eric of all +that had transpired during the lad's previous absence. + +The letter mentioned, too, that the neighbours were all interested in +the brothers' adventures and called frequently to ask her about them. +Herr Grosschnapper, she also related, had especially told her that he +had never employed so accurate a book-keeper as Fritz; for, the new +clerk had, like a new broom, swept so clean that he had swept himself +out of favour, the old merchant longing to have the widow's son back in +his counting-house again. + +"I don't wonder at that," exclaimed Eric, interrupting the reading here. +"He should have known when he was well off and kept your place open for +you until your return from the war!" + +"So he did, brother, he waited as long as he could," said Fritz, taking +the part of the absent, although the matter was still a sore subject +with him; and, then, he continued reading out his mother's letter, which +went on to detail Lorischen's many dreams about the children of her +nursing--how she prophesied that Eric would be such a big strapping +fellow that the house would not be able to contain him, and how Mouser +had developed such an affection for Gelert, that he even followed the +dog, when the latter went out to take his walks abroad, in the most +fearless manner possible, trusting evidently to the kindness of his +canine protector to prevent other obnoxious animals like Burgher Jans +terrier from molesting him! Oh, and while mentioning the little fat +man's dog, Madame Dort said she had such a wonderful story to relate. +What would they think of Lorischen-- + +"I said it would turn out so!" cried Eric, interrupting his brother a +second time. "I always said it would turn out so, in spite of all our +old nurse's cruel treatment of the little Burgher." + +"What did you say, Mr Prophet?" asked Fritz good-humouredly. + +"That he and Lorischen would make a match of it yet," replied Eric, +clapping his hands in high glee. "What fun that would be! Is it not +so, brother?" + +"You might be further out in your guessing than that," said Fritz, going +on to the denouement of the story told in his mother's letter. Yes, +Madame Dort wrote, the little fat man had really, one day when Lorischen +had received him more affably than usual and invited him to partake of +some nice cheese-cakes she had just made, asked her to marry him! And, +more wonderful still, in spite of all their old nurse used to say about +the Burgher, and how she pretended to detest him, as they must remember +well, Lorischen had finally agreed to an engagement with him, promising +to unite her fate with his when Herr Fritz and Master Eric came home. +"So now, dear boys both, you know how much depends on your return," +concluded their mother in her quaint way, for she had a keen +appreciation of humour. "If only to hasten the happiness of old +Lorischen and her well-beloved little fat man, pray do not delay your +coming back as soon as ever you can conveniently manage it. I say +nothing about myself or of Madaleine, my new daughter; for, you must be +able to imagine without the aid of any words of mine, how we are both +longing and praying to see you again!" + +"And now for sister Madaleine's letter," cried Eric, when he had kissed +the signature to that of his mother's which Fritz handed over to him as +soon as he had done reading it aloud. "It seems almost as big a one as +mutterchen's and I dare say there'll be lots more news in it!" + +"Ah, I think I'll read this first to myself," said Fritz dryly; adding a +moment after when he noticed Eric's look of intense disgust: "you see, +she only writes to me, you know." + +"Oh yes, that's very fine!" exclaimed the other, in a highly aggrieved +tone. "Never mind, though, I can pay you out sooner than you think, +Master Fritz! See this little note here!" + +"No--yes--what is it?" said Fritz, looking up in an absent way from the +second of the home letters, which now lay open on his knee. + +"Ah, wouldn't you like to know, Mr Selfish-keep-his-letters-to-himself +sort of a brother, eh? Well, then, this note here contains some of the +dearest words you ever saw penned! It was enclosed by Miss Celia Brown +in a letter of her father's to you--which you've taken such little +account of that you chucked it down on the floor in your ridiculous +hurry to read that letter which you won't tell me about. Now, I did +intend, Master Fritz, to give you this delightful little note, which I +would not part with for the world, for you to read it your own self; +but, now, I shan't let you once cast your eyes over it, there! It is +only a little tiny note; still, I think much more of it than all your +big letters from that Madaleine Vogelstein, who I don't believe is half +as handsome as Celia!" + +"All right then, we're both satisfied if such is the case," rejoined +Fritz, in no way put out by this outburst, or alarmed at the terrible +reprisals threatened by Eric, and then, the elder brother bowed his head +again over the unfolded sheets of scented paper lying on his knee that +came from his sweetheart across the sea. + +The letter was all that the fondest lover could wish; and, with the +omission of a few endearing terms, Fritz subsequently read it to Eric, +who thereupon relented from his previous resolution and showed him Miss +Celia Brown's note. This, however, contained nothing very remarkable, +after all; unless a postscript, saying that the writer "expected to have +a good time" when the sailor lad returned to Providence, deserves to be +described in Eric's extravagant language. + +The schooner's visit having settled their minds, so to speak, the +brother crusoes were able after her departure to devote themselves anew, +with all the greater zest, to what they now considered their regular +work. + +As in the previous year, before adventuring beyond their own special +domain, the garden was dug up and replanted; the labour this time, of +course, being far less than on the first occasion, for they had no +longer virgin soil to tackle with as then. + +A much larger lot of potatoes were put into the ground, the brothers +having learnt by experience that, after once planting, these useful +"apples of the earth" necessitated little further trouble, one good +hoeing up when the sprouts had appeared above the surface and an +occasional rake over to keep down the weeds being quite sufficient to +make the plot look neat; while, should they have more than they required +for themselves when harvest time came, they could easily store them up +for the use of the _Pilot's Bride_ crew, as a slight return for all +Captain Brown's kindness. + +A good crop of cabbages and onions was also provided for; while Eric did +not forget his favourite peas and beans for their next Christmas +banquet. + +This task done and things tidied up about the hut, so as to make their +immediate surroundings snug and comfortable, the brothers determined, +the weather being now settled and fair, to have a cruise round the coast +again. They were anxious to find out whether the seals were about yet, +besides wishing to pay another visit to the tableland, which they had +been debarred from exploring since the bonfire had burnt up their ladder +at the beginning of the winter season. + +They would, naturally, have made this expedition long before, had the +wind and sea not been so boisterous--very unlike, indeed, the genial +spell they had experienced in the previous year; but, really, from the +month of August, a succession of gales had set in from different points +of the compass and the navigation was so dangerous that it would not +have been safe to have ventured out beyond the bay. Indeed, as it was, +the whale-boat got so much knocked about by a heavy sea, which came +rolling in on the beach one night when they had not drawn her up far +enough, that she was now far too cranky for them to trust their lives in +her in bad weather. + +However, one fine day, late in November, with all their shooting and +hunting gear, in addition to a supply of provisions for a week or ten +days, they set sail from the bay bound westward round the headland, +intending to have a regular outing. + +Seals they found plentiful enough, the animals having returned to their +breeding haunts much earlier than the year before. They seemed, +besides, so tame that the new-comers must either have been quite a fresh +family of the mammals, or else the brothers had stolen a march on the +Tristaners and would therefore have the advantage of the first assault +on the seals. + +There was nothing like taking time by the forelock, and so, without +frightening the animals by any display of hostility, the brothers +quietly landed their traps in a little creek some distance away from the +principal cove they frequented; and then, the two organised a regular +campaign against their unsuspecting prey. + +Eric with a rifle and harpoon got round the seals by way of the land; +while Fritz, equally well provided with weapons, assailed them from the +sea in the boat, both making a rush together by a preconcerted signal. + +Their strategy was triumphant this time; for, after a very one-sided +battle between the intrepid seal killers on the one hand and the +terrified, helpless creatures on the other, eighty-five victims were +counted on the field of battle--six of the animals being sea elephants, +and five sea bears, or "lions," a species having a curious sort of curly +mane round their necks, while the remainder of the slain consisted of +specimens of the common seal of commerce. + +"Why, brother, this is grand!" exclaimed Eric, as he and Fritz counted +over the spoil. "But, how shall we get the blubber and skins round to +the bay? Our boat will never carry them all in her leaky state." + +"Well, laddie, I thought you were the inventive genius of the family," +said the other. "Can't you think of an easier plan than lugging them +round the headland all that way by sea?" + +"I'm sure I can't," Eric replied, with a hopeless stare. + +"Then, I'll tell you," said Fritz. "What think you of our just taking +them up to the top of the plateau; and, after a short walk across the +tableland, pitching our bundle of spoil down right in front of our hut-- +without first loading up the boat and then unloading her again, besides +having the trouble of toiling all the way from the beach to the cottage +afterwards?" + +"Why, that's a splendid plan!" cried Eric; "almost good enough for me to +have thought of it." + +"I like your impudence!" said Fritz, laughing. "Certainly, a young +sailor of my acquaintance has a very good opinion of himself!" + +"Right you are," rejoined Eric, with his time-honoured phrase; and then +the two, as usual, had a hearty laugh. + +Skinning the seals and packing up the layers of blubber within the pelts +was then the order of the day with them for some hours, Fritz pointing +out, that, if they removed all the traces of the combat before +nightfall, the seals would return to their old haunt the next day, the +evening tide being sufficient to wash away the traces of blood on the +rocks as well as bear to the bottom the bodies of the slain victims; +otherwise, the sad sight of the carcases of their slain comrades still +lying about the scene of battle would prevent the scared and timid +animals from coming back. + +Consequently, the brothers worked hard; and, practice having made them +proficients in the knack of ripping off the coats of the seals with one +or two dexterous slashes with a keen knife along the stomach and down +the legs of the animals, they stripped off the skins in much less time +than might be imagined. + +Then, the pelts and layers of blubber were rolled up together in handy +bundles and conveyed up to the plateau. This was a very tedious job, +necessitating, first, a weary tramp to and from the beach to where the +path led up to the summit of the tableland; and, secondly, a scramble up +the rocky and wearisome ascent of the plateau, this latter part of their +labour being rendered all the more difficult and disagreeable by the +bundles of blubber and skins, which they had to carry up on their heads +in the same fashion as negroes always convey their loads--a thing +apparently easy enough to the blacks by reason of their strong craniums, +but terribly "headachy" for Europeans unaccustomed to such burdens! + +Fritz and Eric did not hurry over this job, however, deferring its +completion till the morning. They camped out on the plateau so as to be +out of the way of the seals, glad enough to rest after their day's +labour, without going hunting after the goats, as they had intended at +first doing, the same afternoon. + +Next morning, seeing no seals about--the animals probably not having +recovered from their fright yet--they continued carrying up the skins +and blubber, until they had quite a respectable pile on the plateau; +when, the next question arose about its transportation across the +tableland to the eastern side, immediately over the gully by which they +used to climb up, near their hut. + +"I wish we had brought your carriage, Fritz," said Eric, alluding to the +wheelbarrow, which had been so styled by the sailor lad after he had +utilised it as an ambulance waggon. + +"It's too late to wish that now," replied the other. + +"I could soon go round in the boat and fetch it, brother," cried Eric, +looking as if he were going to start off at the moment. + +"No, stop, laddie; we could not spare the boat," said Fritz, laying his +hand on his arm. "It would be more than likely that, the moment you +were out of sight the seals would land again on the rocks, when we +should miss the chance of taking them! I don't believe we shall have +more than one other chance of getting their skins; for the Tristaners +will soon be here again on their annual excursion, with that fellow +Slater in their company, and, I confess, I should not like us to be here +when they came." + +"I wouldn't mind a row at all!" cried Eric defiantly; "still, as you +don't want me to go for the wheelbarrow, how do you suggest that we +should carry the skins across this dreary expanse here?" + +"Let us make a stretcher with the oars," said Fritz. + +"Bravo, the very thing," replied Eric. "Why, you are the inventive +genius this time!" + +"Well, one must think of something sometimes," said Fritz, in his +matter-of-fact way; and the two then proceeded to carry out the plan of +the elder brother, which simplified their labour immensely. They only +had to make some three journeys across the plateau with the skins, +which, when the bundles were all transported to the eastern side of the +tableland, were incontinently tumbled over to the foot of the cliff +below, alighting quite close to the cauldron in which the blubber would +be subsequently "tried out" into oil. + +Then, and not till then, did they pick up their guns and think of the +goats, which had hitherto led a charmed life as far as they were +concerned. + +They soon noticed, however, that, in lieu of the large number they had +observed when they last saw them, the flock had been now reduced to +five. The Tristaners must evidently have paid another visit to the west +coast since they had met them there when going sealing the previous +season; and, this second visit the brothers put down to the instigation +of the whilom "deck hand," who had no doubt incited the islanders to do +everything they could to annoy them. + +Fritz only shot one goat, leaving "Kaiser Billy" and the other three, on +the chance of their numbers being afterwards increased. He and Eric +then went for a hunt after the wild pigs, killing a fine young porker, +which they roasted on the plateau and made a feast of at their camp. +The flesh, however, was very coarse, tasting fishy and rank, probably on +account of the pigs feeding on the penguins, the young of which they +could easily secure by going down to the beach by the same pathway that +the brothers had climbed. + +Fritz and Eric stayed ten days on the western shore; but during all the +time they remained they only were able to capture eleven more seals, +which made up their quota to ninety-six. Eric longed to run it up to +the even hundred, but they did not see another single mammal, although +they remained a day longer on the coast than they had intended. + +This delay led to the most disastrous consequences; for, a gale sprang +up right in their teeth when they were on their way back to the bay with +the goat and the remaining sealskins, which they had not taken the +trouble of transporting across the plateau, but took along with them in +the boat. + +It was something wonderful to notice the sea, which a short time +previously had been so placid, presently running high with mighty +rollers, that threatened each moment to engulf their little craft; and +they had to allow her to run before the wind some little time for fear +of getting her swamped. + +This danger avoided, a worse one arose, which Fritz had not thought of, +but which soon became apparent to the sailor lad, his intelligence +heightened by his former painful experience when adrift in a boat at +sea, out of sight of land. + +"I say, Fritz," he cried; "we are leaving the land!" + +"What?" asked the other, not understanding him. + +"We are getting away too far from the island; and if we go on like this, +we'll never get back." + +"Good heavens, what shall we do?" said Fritz. + +"I'm sure, I can't say," replied Eric despondently. + +"Can't we put back?" + +"No; we'd be upset in an instant, if we attempted it." + +"Then, we're lost!" exclaimed Fritz. "The land is now growing quite +faint in the distance and each moment it sinks lower and lower!" + +This was not the worst, either. + +The afternoon was drawing to a close; and, the sky being overcast, +darkness threatened presently to creep over the water and shut out +everything from their gaze. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. + +ANXIOUS TIMES. + +The boat continued driving before the wind for some little time, until +the mountain cliffs of Inaccessible Island gradually lost their contour. +They had become but a mere haze in the distance, when Eric, who had +been intently gazing upward at the sky since Fritz's last speech of +alarm, and seemed buried in despondency, suddenly appeared to wake up +into fresh life. + +He had noticed the clouds being swept rapidly overhead in the same +direction in which the boat was travelling; but, all at once, they now +appeared to be stationary, or else, the waves must be bearing their +frail little craft along faster than the wind's speed. What could this +puzzling state of things mean? Eric reflected a moment and then +astonished Fritz as they both sat in the stern-sheets, by convulsively +grasping his hand. + +"The wind has turned, brother!" he cried out in a paroxysm of joy. + +Fritz thought he was going mad. "Why, my poor fellow, what's the +matter?" he said soothingly. + +"Matter, eh?" shouted out Eric boisterously, wringing | his brother's +hand up and down. "I mean that the wind has changed! It is chopping +round to the opposite | corner of the compass, like most gales in these +latitudes, that's what's the matter! See those clouds there?" + +Fritz looked up to where the other pointed in the sky--to a spot near +the zenith. + +"Well," continued the lad, "a moment ago those clouds there were +whirling along the same course as ourselves. Then, when I first called +out to you, they stopped, as if uncertain what to do; while now, as you +can notice for yourself, they seem to be impelled in the very opposite +direction. What do you think that means?" + +Fritz was silent, only half convinced, for the send of the sea appeared +to be rolling their unhappy boat further and further from the island, +which, only a bare speck on the horizon, could be but very faintly seen +astern, low down on the water. + +"It means," said Eric, answering his own question, without waiting +longer for his brother's reply, "that the same wind which bore us away +from our dear little bay is about to waft us back again to it; still, we +must look out sharply to help ourselves and not neglect a chance. Oars +out, old fellow!" + +"But, it is impossible to row amidst these waves," the other +expostulated. + +"Bah, nothing is impossible to brave men!" cried the sailor lad +valiantly. "I only want to get her head round to sea. Perhaps, though, +my old friend that served me in such good stead when the _Gustav +Barentz_ foundered may serve my turn better now; we'll try a floating +anchor, brother, that's what we'll do, eh?" + +"All right, you know best," replied Fritz, who, to tell the truth, had +very little hopes of their ever seeing the island again. He thought +that, no matter what Eric might attempt, all would be labour in vain. + +The sailor lad, on the contrary, was of a different opinion. He was not +the one to let a chance slip when there seemed a prospect of safety, +however remote that prospect might be! + +Rapidly attaching a rope round the bale of sealskins that were +amidships, thinking these more adapted for his purpose than the oars, +which he had first intended using, he hove the mass overboard, gently +poising it on the side and letting it slip gradually into the water. He +did this in order that he might not disturb the balance of the boat, +which any sudden rash movement would have done, causing her probably to +heel over--for the waves, when they raced by, came level with her +gunwale, and an inch more either way would have swamped her. + +In a few seconds after this impromptu anchor was tried, the effect on +the whale-boat's buoyancy became marvellous. + +Swinging round by degrees, Eric helping the operation by an occasional +short paddle with one of the oars he had handy, the little craft +presently rode head to sea, some little distance to leeward of the +sealskins whose weight sunk them almost to the level of the water; and +then, another unexpected thing happened. + +The oil attached to the still reeking skins came floating out on the +surface of the sea, so calming the waves in their vicinity that these +did not break any longer, but glided under the keel of the boat with a +heavy rolling undulation. + +"This is more than I hoped!" exclaimed Eric joyfully. "Why, we'll be +able to ride out the gale capitally now; and, as soon as the wind chops +round--as it has already done in the upper currents of air, a sure sign +that it will presently blow along the water from the same quarter--why, +we can up anchor and away home!" + +"How shall we ever know the proper direction in which to steer?" asked +Fritz, who was still faint-hearted about the result of the adventure. + +"We won't steer at all," said Eric. "There are no currents to speak of +about here; and as we have run south-westwards before the north-easter, +if we run back in an opposite direction before the south-wester, which +is not far off now from setting in, why we must arrive pretty nearly at +the same point from which we started." + +"But we may then pass the island by a second time and be as badly off as +we are now." + +"What an old croaker you are!" cried Eric impatiently. "Won't I be on +the look-out to see that such an accident as that shan't happen? We'll +have to be very careful in turning the boat however--so as to bring the +wind abeam when we get up abreast of the island, in order to beat into +the bay--for the poor craft is so leaky and cranky now that she'll not +stand much buffeting about." + +"Can't I do anything?" asked Fritz, beginning to regain his courage and +bestir himself, now that he reflected that their chances of getting back +to the island were not so precarious and slight as he had at first +imagined. + +"Yes, you can bale out the boat, if you like," said Eric. "She's nearly +half full of water now and continues leaking like a sieve. The seams +strain and yawn awfully when she rides, even worse than when she was +flying along at the mercy of the wind and waves. Still, we must try to +keep her clear if possible, as the lighter and more buoyant she is, the +better chance have we of getting out of this mess." + +"I'll do the baling gladly," rejoined Fritz, really pleased at doing +something, and beginning at once with the job, using a large tin +pannikin that they had taken with them. + +"Then, fire away," said Eric. "It will be as much as I can do to attend +to the steering of the boat. Look sharp, old fellow, and get some of +the light ballast out of her! I see a light scud creeping up from +leeward, behind us, with the waves fringing up into a curl before it. +The wind has chopped round at last and we'll have to cut and run as soon +as it reaches us." + +Fritz baled away with the tin pannikin for dear life. + +"Now, brother," cried Eric, a moment later, "get your knife ready, and +go forwards into the bows. I want you, the instant I sing out, to give +a slash across the painter holding us to our moorings." + +"What, and lose our bundle of sealskins!" exclaimed the practical Fritz. + +"Lose them? Of course! Do you think we'd have time to lug them into +the boat before we'd be pooped! What are the blessed things worth in +comparison with our lives?" + +"I beg your pardon," said Fritz humbly, always ready to acknowledge when +he was in the wrong. "I spoke unthinkingly; besides, if we lose these, +we've got plenty more under the cliff by our hut." + +"Aye, if we ever reach there!" replied Eric grimly. Although taking +advantage of every possible device to reach the island again, as a +sailor he was fully conscious of the dire peril they were in. "Now, +Fritz," he called out presently, as a big white wave came up astern, +"cut away the painter, and just give a hoist to the jib and belay the +end of the halliards, half-way up. There, that will do. Lie down for +the present, old fellow. The wind has reached us at last; so, it's a +case of neck or nothing now!" + +Hardly had Eric uttered the last words, when a sudden rush of wind +struck the boat's stern like a flail, seeming to get underneath and lift +it out of the water. The next instant the little craft sank down again +as if she were going to founder stern foremost; but, at the same moment, +the wind, travelling on, caught the half-set jib, and blowing this out +with a sound like the report of a cannon, the small sail soon began to +drive the boat through the swelling waves at racing speed. + +Onward speeded the boat, faster and yet faster. Fortunately, the mast +was a strong spar, or otherwise it would have broken off like a carrot; +as, even with the half-hoisted jib, it bent like a whip, thus yielding +to the motion of the little craft as she rose from the trough of the sea +and leaped from one wave crest to another. The boat appeared just to +keep in advance of the following rollers that vainly endeavoured to +overtake her, and only broke a yard or so behind her stern--which, on +account of her being a whale-boat, was built exactly like her bows and +thus offered a smaller target for the billows to practise on, as they +sent their broken tops hurtling after her in a shower of thick foam. + +Eric had an oar out to leeward steering, while Fritz crouched down +amidships, with the belayed end of the jib halliards in his hand, ready +to let them go by the run when his brother gave the word; and, as the +boat tore on through the water like a mad thing, the darkness around +grew thicker and thicker, until all they could distinguish ahead was the +scrap of white sail in the bows and the occasional sparkle of surf as a +roller broke near them. + +Should they not be able to see where they were going, they might +possibly be dashed right on to the island in the same way as they had +seen the unfortunate brig destroyed. It was a terrible eventuality to +consider! + +Presently, however, the moon rose; and, although the wind did not abate +its force one jot, nor did the sea subside, still, it was more consoling +to see where they were going than to be hurled on destruction unawares. + +Eric was peering out over the weather side of the boat, when, all of a +sudden, on the starboard bow, he could plainly distinguish the island, +looking like a large heavy flat mass lifting itself out of the sea. + +"There it is!" he cried out to Fritz, who at once looked up, rising a +little from the thwart on which he had been lying. + +"Where?" + +"To your right, old fellow; but, still ahead. Now, we must see whether +we can make the boat go our way, instead of her own. Do you think you +could manage to haul up the jib by yourself? Take a half-turn round one +of the thwarts with the bight of the halliards, so that it shall not +slip." + +Fritz did what was requested; when Eric, keeping the boat's head off the +wind, sang out to his brother to "hoist away." + +The effect was instantaneous, for the boat quivered to her keel, as if +she had scraped over a rock in the ocean, and then made a frantic plunge +forwards that sent her bows under. + +"Gently, boat, gently," said Eric, bringing her head up again to the +wind, upon which she heeled over till her gunwale was nearly submerged, +but she now raced along more evenly. "Sit over to windward as much as +you can," he called out to Fritz, shifting his own position as he spoke. + +Almost before they were aware of it, they were careering past the +western headland of the bay, when Eric, by a sudden turn of his steering +oar, brought the bows of the whale-boat to bear towards the beach. The +little craft partly obeyed the impetus of his nervous arm, veering round +in the wished-for direction, in spite of the broken water, which just at +that point was in a terrible state of commotion from a cross current +that set the tide against the wind. + +But, it was not to be. + +The doom of the boat was sealed in the very moment of its apparent +victory over the elements! + +A return wave--curling under from the base of the headland, against +whose adamant wall it had hurled itself aloft, in the vain attempt to +scale the cliff--falling back angrily in a whirling whish of foam, +struck the frail craft fair on the quarter. The shock turned her over +instantly, when she rolled bottom upwards over and over again. The sea +then hurled her with the force of a catapult upon the rocks that jutted +out below the headland; and Fritz and Eric were at once pitched out into +the seething surf that eddied around, battling for their lives. + +How they managed it, neither could afterwards tell; but they must have +struck out so vigorously with their arms and legs at this perilous +moment, in the agony of desperation, that, somehow or other, they +succeeded in getting beyond the downward suction of the undertow +immediately under the overhanging headland. Otherwise, they would have +shared the fate of the boat, for their bodies would have been dashed to +pieces against the cruel crags. + +Providentially, however, the strength of the struggling strokes of both +the young fellows just carried them, beyond the reach of the back-wash +of the current, out amidst the rolling waves that swept into the bay +from the open in regular succession; and so, first Eric and then Fritz +found themselves washed up on the old familiar beach, which they had +never expected to set foot on again alive. + +Here, scrambling up on their hands and knees, they quickly gained the +refuge of the shingle, where they were out of reach of the clutching +billows that tried to pull them back. + +As for the boat, it was smashed into matchwood on the jagged edges of +the boulders, not a fragment of timber a foot long being to be seen. + +The brothers had escaped by almost a miracle! + +"That was a narrow squeak," cried Eric, when he was able to speak and +saw that Fritz was also safe. + +"Yes, thank God for it!" replied the other. "I had utterly given up +hope." + +"So had I; but still, here we are." + +"Aye, but only through the merciful interposition of a watchful Hand," +said Fritz; and then both silently made their way up the incline to +their little hut by the waterfall, unspeakably grateful that they were +allowed to behold it again. + +Never had the cottage seemed to their tired eyes more homelike and +welcome than now; and they were glad enough to throw themselves in bed +and have some necessary rest:-- they were completely worn-out with all +they had gone through since the previous morning, for the anxious night +had passed by and it was broad daylight again before they reached shore. + +Not a particle of the boat or anything that had been in her was ever +washed up by the sea; consequently, they had to deplore the loss, not +only of the little craft itself, the sole means they had of ever leaving +the bay, but also of the carcase of the goat they were conveying home to +supply them with fresh meat, as a change from their generally salt diet. +The sea, too, had taken from them their last haul of sealskins, which +had cost them more pains to procure than the much larger lot they had +pitched down from the plateau, and which fortunately were safe. + +Nor was this the worst. + +Their two rifles and the fowling piece--which Fritz had taken with him, +as usual, in his last hunting expedition, for the benefit of the island +hen and other small birds--as well as the harpoons, and many other +articles, whose loss they would feel keenly, were irrevocably gone! + +But, on the other side of the account, as the brother crusoes devoutly +remembered, they had saved their lives--a set-off against far greater +evils than the destruction of all their implements and weapons! + +The first week or two of their return from this ill-fated expedition, +Fritz and Eric had plenty to do in preparing the bundles of sealskins +they had secured in their first foray, and which they found safe enough +at the bottom of the gully where they had cast them down from above; +although they little thought then of the peril they would subsequently +undergo and the narrow chance of their ever wanting to make use of the +pelts. + +Still, there the skins were, and there being no reason why they should +not now attend to them, they set to work in the old fashion of the +previous year, scraping and drying and then salting them down in some +fresh puncheons Captain Fuller of the _Jane_ had supplied them with, as +well as a quantity of barrels to contain their oil, in exchange for the +full ones he had taken on board. + +After the skins were prepared, the blubber had to be "tried out" in the +cauldron, with all the adjuncts of its oily smoke and fishy smell, +spoiling everything within reach; and, when this was done, there was the +garden to attend to, their early potatoes having to be dug up and +vegetables gathered, besides the rest of the land having to be put in +order. + +They had no time to be idle! + +Christmas with them passed quietly enough this time. The loss of the +boat and the escape they had of their own lives just preceded the +anniversary, so they felt in no great mood for rejoicing. In addition +to that, the festival had too many painful memories of home, for which +they now longed with an ardent desire that they had not felt in their +first year on the island. + +The fact was, that, now the whale-boat was destroyed, they were so +irrevocably confined to the little valley where their hut was planted-- +shut in alike by land and sea, there being no chance of escape from it +in any emergency that might arise, save through the unlikely contingency +of some stray passing vessel happening to call in at the bay--that the +sense of being thus imprisoned began to affect their spirits. + +This was not all. + +Their provisions lately had been diminishing in a very perceptible +manner; so much so, indeed, that there was now no fear of their being +troubled with that superabundance of food which Eric had commented on +when they were taking the inventory of their stores! + +But for some flour which Captain Fuller had supplied them with, they +would have been entirely without any article in the farinaceous line +beyond potatoes, their biscuits being all gone. The hams and other +delicate cabin stores Captain Brown had originally given them were now +also consumed; so that, with the exception of two or three pieces of +salt pork still remaining and a cask of beef, they had nothing to depend +on save the produce of their garden and some tea--all their other stores +as well as their coffee and sugar having long since been "expended," as +sailors say. + +The months passed by idly enough, with nothing to do, and they watched +for the approach of winter with some satisfaction; for, when that had +once set in, they might look for the return of the _Pilot's Bride_ to +rescue them from an exile of which they were becoming heartily weary. + +The penguins departed in April, as before, leaving them entirely +solitary and more crusoe-like than ever, when thus left alone +themselves; and, then, came the winter, which was much sharper than +previously, there being several heavy falls of snow, while the waterfall +froze up down the gorge, hanging there like a huge icicle for weeks. + +It was dreary enough, and they hardly needed the wintry scene to make +their outlook worse; but, one bitter morning they made a discovery which +filled them with fresh alarm. + +They had finished eating all their salt pork, but had never once opened +the cask of beef since Eric abstracted the piece he roasted the year +before "for a treat"; and, now, on going to get out a good boiling +piece, in order to cook it in a more legitimate fashion, they found to +their grief that, whether through damp, or exposure to the air, or from +some other cause, the cask of beef was completely putrid and unfit for +human food! + +This was very serious! + +They had kept this beef as a last resource, trusting to it as a "stand- +by" to last them through the winter months; but now it had to be thrown +away, reducing them to dry potatoes for their diet--for, the penguins, +which they might have eaten "on a pinch," had departed and would not +return to the island until August, and there was no other bird or animal +to be seen in the valley! + +Their plight was made all the more aggravating from the knowledge of the +fact that, if they could only manage to ascend the plateau, they might +live in clover on the wild pigs and goats there; so, here they were +suffering from semi-starvation almost in sight of plenty! + +Fritz and Eric, however, were not the sort of fellows to allow +themselves to be conquered by circumstances. Both, therefore, put their +thinking caps on, and, after much cogitation, they at last hit upon a +plan for relieving their necessities. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. + +A LONG SWIM. + +This plan was nothing else than their attempting the feat of swimming +round the headland, in order to reach the western shore, from whence, of +course, they knew from past experience they could easily ascend to the +tableland above--the happy hunting-ground for goats and pigs, their +legitimate prey. + +"Nonsense," exclaimed Fritz, when Eric mooted the project; "the thing +can never be done!" + +"Never is a long day," rejoined the sailor lad. "I'm sure I have +covered over twice that distance in the water before now." + +"Ah, that might have been in a calm sea," said Fritz; "but, just +recollect the terrible rough breakers we had to contend with that time +in December when the whale-boat got smashed! Why, we might never get +out of the reach of that current which you know runs like a mill-race +under the eastern cliff." + +"We won't go that way," persisted Eric. "Besides, the sea is not always +rough; for, on some days the water, especially now since the frost has +set in, is as calm as a lake." + +"And terribly cold, too," cried his brother. "I dare say a fellow would +get the cramp before he had well-nigh cleared the bay." + +"Well, I never saw such a chap for throwing cold water on any suggestion +one makes!" exclaimed Eric in an indignant tone. He was almost angry. + +"It is cold water this time with a vengeance," retorted Fritz, laughing; +whereupon Eric calmed down again, but only to argue the point more +determinedly. + +"Mind, I don't want you to go, brother," he pleaded. "I'm much the +stronger of the two of us, although I am the youngest; so, I'll try the +feat. It will be easy enough after rounding the headland, which will be +the hardest part of the job; but when I have weathered that, it will be +comparatively easy to reach the seal-caves. Once arrived there, I shall +only have to climb up to the plateau and shoot some pigs and a goat and +fling them down to you here, returning at my leisure; for, there'll be +no hurry. As for the swim back, it will not be half so difficult a task +as getting round there, for the wind and tide will both be in my +favour." + +But, Fritz would not hear of this for a moment. + +"No," he said; "if anybody attempts the thing, it must be me, my +impulsive laddie! Do you think I could remain here quietly while you +were risking your life to get food for us both?" + +"And how do you expect me to do so either?" was the prompt rejoinder. + +"I am the eldest, and ought to decide." + +"Ah, we are brothers in misfortune now, as well as in reality; so the +accident of birth shall not permit you to assert a right of self- +sacrifice over me!" cried Eric, using almost glowing language in his +zealous wish to secure his brother's safety at the expense of his own. + +"What fine words, laddie!" said Fritz, laughing again at the other's +earnestness, as if to make light of it, although he well recognised the +affection that called forth Eric's eloquence. "Why, you are speaking in +as grand periods as little Burgher Jans!" + +Eric laughed, too, at this; but, still, he was not going to be defeated +by ridicule. + +"Grand words or not, brother," he said, with a decision that the other +could not bear down; "you shall not venture upon the swim while I stop +here doing nothing!" + +"Nor will I allow you to go and I remain behind," retorted Fritz. + +"I tell you what, then," cried Eric; "as we're two obstinate fellows and +have both made up our minds, suppose we attempt the feat together, eh?" + +Fritz urged at first that it was unnecessary for both to run the risk; +however, Eric's pleadings made him finally yield. + +"You see," argued the sailor lad, "we can swim side by side, the same as +we have done many a time in the old canal at Lubeck; and then, should +either of us get the cramp, or feel `played-out,' as the skipper used to +say, why the other can lend a helping hand!" + +And, so it was finally settled, that, on the first bright calm day when +there should be but little wind, and while the tide was setting out of +the bay in the direction favourable for them, which was generally at the +full and change of the moon, they were to attempt the task of swimming +round the headland to the west shore of the island. Thence they could +ascend the plateau in search of that animal food which they so sadly +required, the two having been restricted for some weeks to a diet of dry +potatoes, without even a scrap of butter or grease to make them go down +more palatably. + +This being determined on, the two quickly made their preparations for +the undertaking, which to them appeared almost as formidable as poor +Captain Webb's feat of trying to go down the Falls of Niagara; although, +it might be mentioned incidentally, that, at the time they attempted +their natatory exploit, that reckless swimmer's name was unknown to +fame. + +Of course, they had to consider that, should they reach the beach on the +other side all right and thus get up to the tableland, they would +require some weapon to bring down the animals they were going in chase +of; and, as both the Remington rifles as well as Fritz's shot gun had +been lost with the whale-boat, the only firearm remaining was the +needle-gun, which the elder brother had brought with him from Germany-- +more, indeed, as a reminiscence of the campaign in which he had been +engaged than from any idea of its serviceableness. + +However, for want of anything better, there it was; and, as Fritz had +plenty of cartridges which would fit it, the weapon had a chance of now +being employed for a more peaceful purpose than that for which it was +originally intended. It would, certainly, still take life, it is true; +but it would do so with the object of ultimately saving and not +destroying humanity. + +There was the weapon and the cartridges; but, how to get them round with +them was the question? + +The brothers could swim well enough without any encumbrance, still, they +would be crippled in their efforts should they be foolish enough to load +themselves with a heavy gun, as well as sundry other articles which they +thought it necessary to take with them for the success of their +expedition. + +Why, such a procedure would be like handicapping themselves heavily for +the race! + +What was to be done? + +Eric, the "inventive genius," very soon solved this difficulty. + +"I tell you what we'll do, brother," he said; "let us put our blankets, +with the kettle and rifle and the other things we require, in one of the +oil casks. We can then push this before us as we swim along, the cask +serving us for a life buoy to rest upon when we are tired, besides +carrying our traps, eh?" + +"Himmel, Eric, you're a genius!" exclaimed Fritz, clapping him on the +back. "I never knew such a fellow for thinking of things like you, +laddie; you beat Bismark and Von Moltke both rolled into one!" + +"Ah, the idea only just flashed across my mind," said the other, +somewhat shamefaced at his brother's eulogy and almost blushing. "It +came just on the spur of the moment, you know!" + +"But, how are we going to get the needle-gun into the barrel?" asked +Fritz suddenly, taking up the weapon and seeing that its muzzle would +project considerably beyond the mouth of the said article, even when the +butt end was resting on the bottom. + +"Why, by unscrewing the breech, of course," said Eric promptly. + +Fritz gazed at him admiringly. + +"The lad is never conquered by anything!" he cried out, as if speaking +to a third person. "He's the wonder of Lubeck, that's what he is!" + +"The `wonder of Lubeck' then requests you'll lose no time in getting the +gun ready," retorted Eric, in answer to this chaff. "While we're +talking and thus wasting time, we may lose the very opportunity we wish +for our swim out of the bay!" + +This observation made Fritz set to work: and the two had shortly placed +all their little property in one of the stoutest of the oil casks, which +they then proceeded to cooper up firmly, binding their old bed tarpaulin +round it as an additional precaution for keeping out the salt water when +it should be immersed in the sea. + +Rolling the cask down to the beach, they tried it, to see how it +floated; and this it did admirably, although it was pretty well loaded +with their blankets wrapped round the needle-gun and other things. It +still rose, indeed, quite half out of the water. + +Eric then plaited a rope round it, with beckets for them to hold on by; +and so, everything being ready, they only waited for a calm day to make +the venture. + +Some three days afterwards, the south-east wind having lulled to a +gentle breeze and the sea being as smooth as glass, only a tumid swell +with an unbroken surface rolling into the bay, the brothers started, +after having first stripped and anointed their bodies with seal oil--a +plan for the prevention of cold which Eric had been told of by the +whalers. + +Until they reached the headland, they had easy work; but, there, a cross +current carried them first one way and then another, so much interfering +with their onward progress that it took them a good hour to round the +point. + +That achieved, however, as the sailor lad had pointed out when they were +first considering the feasibility of the attempt, all the rest of the +distance before them was "plain sailing"; so that, although they had to +cover twice the length of water, if not more, another couple of hours +carried them to the west beach. Here they arrived not the least +exhausted with their long swim; for, by pushing the cask before them in +turn and holding on to it by the beckets, they, were enabled to have +several rests and breathing spells by the way. + +Arrived again on terra firma, they at once opened their novel +portmanteau; and, taking out a spare suit of clothes for each, which +they had taken the precaution to pack up with the rest of their gear, +they proceeded to dress themselves. After this, they carried up their +blankets and other things to a little sheltered spot on the plateau +above, where they had camped on their previous expedition. + +They did not find the tableland much altered, save that a considerable +amount of snow was scattered about over its surface, accumulating in +high drifts at some points where the wind had piled it in the hollows. +The ground beneath the various little clumps of wood and brush, however, +was partly bare; so, here, they expected to find their old friend +"Kaiser Billy" and the remains of his flock. + +But, high and low, everywhere, in the thickets and out on the open +alike, they searched in vain for the goats. Not a trace of them was to +be seen; so, Fritz and Eric had finally to come to the conclusion that +the islanders--along with their enemy, as they now looked upon him, Nat +Slater--had paid another secret visit to the plateau and destroyed the +animals. They believed the Tristaners did this with the object of +expediting their departure from Inaccessible Island, where there could +be no doubt they must have spoiled their sealing, thus depriving them of +a valuable article of barter. + +"Never mind," said Eric the indomitable, when Fritz lamented the +disappearance of the goats. "We've got the wild hogs left; and, for my +part, I think roast pig better than dry potatoes!" + +"Himmel, the idea is good!" replied Fritz, who had already screwed on +the breech of the needle-gun, making it ready for action. "We must go +pig-chasing, then." + +And, so they did, shooting a lusty young porker ere they had travelled +many steps further. + +Eric's matches were then produced, the inevitable box of safety lights +being in the pocket of the sealskin jacket he had headed up in the oil +cask; when, a fire being lit, the game was prepared in a very impromptu +fashion, the animal being roasted whole. + +On previously tasting the flesh of these island hogs, they had thought +the pork rather fishy; but now, after weeks of deprivation from any +species of animal food, it seemed more delicious than anything they had +ever eaten before. + +"Why, Eric, it beats even your roast beef!" said Fritz jokingly. + +The lad looked at him reproachfully; that was all he could do, for his +mouth was full and this prevented him from speaking. + +"I beg your pardon," interposed the other. "I shan't say so again; I +forgot myself that time." + +"I should think you did," rejoined Eric, now better able to express +himself. "It's best to let bye-gones be bye-gones!" + +"Yes," replied Fritz; and the two then went on eating in silence, so +heartily that it seemed as if they would never stop. Indeed, they made +such good knife-and-fork play, that they were quite weary with their +exertions when they had finished, and were obliged to adjourn to their +little camp in the sheltered hollow where, curling themselves up +comfortably in their blankets, they went cosily to sleep. + +The next day, they killed several of the younger hogs and threw their +carcases down to the bottom of the gully by the waterfall; for, besides +planning out the manufacture of some hams out of the island porkers, +they intended utilising the lard for frying their potatoes, in. This, +in the event of their finding the pig's flesh too rank after a time, +would then afford them an agreeable change of diet to the plain boiled +tubers with which hitherto they had had only salt to eat for a relish. + +On the third day, as the wind seemed about to change and ominous clouds +were flying across the face of the sky, they determined to return home, +having by that time consumed the last of their roast pig as well as all +the potatoes they had brought with them in their floating cask. + +They were taking a last walk over the plateau, which they thought they +might never see again--for the swim round the headland was not a feat to +be repeated often, even if the weather allowed it, the currents being so +treacherous and the sea working itself up into commotion at a moment's +notice--when, suddenly, Eric stopped right over the edge of the gully. +He arrested his footsteps just at the spot where the tussock-grass +ladder had formerly trailed down, enabling them to reach their valley, +without all the bother of toiling round the coast as they had to do now. + +"Don't you think this spot here has altered greatly?" said the sailor +lad to Fritz. + +"No, I can't say I do," returned the other. "The grass has only been +burnt away; that, of course, makes it look bare." + +"Well, I think differently," replied Eric, jumping down into the +crevice. "This place wasn't half so wide before." + +"Indeed?" + +"No, it wasn't I couldn't have squeezed myself in here when I last came +up the plateau." + +"Why, that was all on account of the space the tussock-grass took up." + +Eric did not reply to this; but, a moment after, he shouted out in a +tone of great surprise, "Hullo, there's a cave here, with something +glittering on the floor!" + +"Really?" + +"Yes, and it looks like gold!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SIX. + +"SAIL HO!" + +"Gold!" exclaimed Fritz in astonishment. + +"Yes, gold," repeated the other, excitedly. "There are a lot of coins +here each bigger than an eight-gulden piece." + +"Nonsense?" + +"Yes, there is, really. Come down here and see for yourself. There's +plenty of room for both you and me." + +Trembling with excitement, Fritz jumped down beside his brother, who, +stooping down in the crevice of the gully, had discovered a cavity in +the rock further in the face of the cliff. This the fringe of the now +destroyed tussock-grass had previously hidden from view as they ascended +and descended the ladder-way; else they must have noticed the place the +very first time they came up to the tableland from the valley below. It +was exactly facing the ledge from whence they climbed on to the plateau; +so, had it not been then covered over, they could not have failed to see +it. + +The cavity, which had been probably worn away by the water trickling +down, was like a little grotto; and there, piled on the bare rock, were +hundreds of coins! + +These were quite bright, strange to say, although this circumstance was +most likely owing to the action of the fire that had burnt the tussock- +grass; for, some heavy iron clamps and hinges, that had evidently +belonged to the box which contained the coins originally and had been +consumed at the same time, lay on either side of the golden treasure. A +number of the coins, too, if any further proof was needed, were fused +together in a solid lump. + +With eyes dilated with joy, the brothers gazed at the mine of wealth, +hardly daring to believe that what they saw was real. + +Then, Fritz put out his hands and touched the heap. + +"It is there--I feel it!" he exclaimed. "We are not dreaming?" + +"I'm sure I'm not," said Eric, laughing with delight. "Why, it is a +regular fortune--it will beat all that we have earned by our sealing!" + +Fritz took up one of the coins and examined it carefully. He had some +knowledge of numismatics from his mercantile education in Herr +Grosschnapper's office, that worthy merchant trading to all parts of the +globe and having considerable dealings with foreign monies. + +"It is a doubloon," he explained to his brother after studying it a bit. +"The treasure consists of old Spanish coins that must have lain here +for years." + +"I wonder who put them in this little hole?" said Eric. + +Fritz did not answer this query for the moment; but, almost at the same +instant, there flashed across his recollection a curious story which an +old man at Tristan d'Acunha had told him--at the time when he and Eric +were inspecting the settlement on that island, before coming over to +their own little colony--concerning an old pirate who had buried a lot +of treasure either there or on Inaccessible Island. + +After the brothers had gazed to their hearts' fill at the precious hoard +which had so suddenly been, revealed to them, the next thought was how +to remove it to their hut below. + +"We'll roll up the lot in a blanket," said Eric, who as usual was always +to the fore when anything had to be planned out. "Tie up the gold +securely; and then chuck the bundle containing it down below, along with +the poor pigs we have slaughtered! There's no fear of anybody making +off with our doubloons before we accomplish the swim round the headland +back home." + +"Yes, that will be the wisest course," acquiesced Fritz; "but, talking +of swimming round the headland, the sooner we're off the better. Those +clouds look very threatening." + +"Only rain, I think," replied Eric, looking up at the sky. + +"Good, that will not make us very wet when we are in the water, with our +bare skins," said Fritz quizzingly. + +"No," replied Eric, laughing. "But, the sooner we are now off the +better, as you say; for, even if the weather holds up, there are a lot +of things for us to do when we get home. We have the pigs to skin, as +well as cut up and salt; and, besides, there's all our money to count +over." + +"We can do that now, as we roll it up in the blanket," replied Fritz, +proceeding to suit the action to the word. + +To their high delight, they found that there were nearly two thousand +separate gold coins, apart from the solid lump fused together, the whole +being probably worth some three thousand pounds, or thereabouts. + +"Why, it's a perfect fortune!" exclaimed Eric. "You and Madaleine will +now be able to marry and settle down, and mother be comfortably provided +for, and everything!" + +"But, how about your share?" said Fritz, looking at the unselfish lad +with glistening eyes. "Your share, indeed, why it's all yours!" + +"Nonsense," replied Eric; "we are partners, are we not? Besides, I +don't want any money. When we leave here, you know, I'm going to sea +again with Captain Brown, in the _Pilot's Bride_; and a sailor, unlike +you poor land folk, carries his home with him. He does not continually +want cash for housekeeping expanses!" + +"Very well, we'll see about that bye-and-bye," said Fritz, putting all +the coins into the blanket, which Eric then tied up securely, lashing it +round with a cord in seaman fashion. After that, they pitched the +bundle down below, when the chink of the coins at the bottom of the +gully sounded like pleasant music in their ears! + +The barrel of the needle-gun was then unscrewed from the stock, Fritz +having kept the weapon ready for use as long as they remained on the +plateau, thinking that as Fortune had so strangely endowed them with the +pirate's treasure, perhaps some outlandish bird might equally suddenly +make its appearance for him to add to their spoil. However, as nothing +new in the feathered line came in sight, the albatross having taken +their departure with the penguins, and not even an "island hen" being to +be seen, the two now clambered down to the west beach once more. + +Here, packing up their cask again with the various impedimenta they +still had, they proceeded also to put in their clothing. + +Then, fastening up the cask and lashing the tarpaulin round it again +with the fastenings and beckets, which had been taken off in order the +easier to unpack it, they entered the sea for their return swim round +the headland--starting off in the best of spirits on their way back home +once more. + +This time, the swim back was far more fatiguing, the wind and a slight +swell being against them; but, the good living they enjoyed while on the +plateau had nerved them up to any amount of exertion, so the journey, if +more wearying, was performed in almost the same time they had taken to +go to the western coast. + +Besides, as soon as they neared the headland, the currents there, which +had been against them, were now all in their favour, the waves bearing +them and their oil cask, once they had turned the point, buoyantly up to +their own beach in the little bay, without the trouble almost of +swimming a stroke! + +It was now well on towards the latter end of July, in the second year of +the island life; and, the next week or two, they were busy enough +salting down their pigs and attending to their garden, some cabbages +from which with their newly acquired pork making them many a good meal. + +Then, came the return of the penguins to their breeding-place in August; +so, there was now no further fear of their suffering from a scarcity of +food, for, in case they tired of pork, they had plenty of fresh eggs for +a change, as well as an occasional roast of one of the inhabitants of +the rookery, whose fleshy breasts tasted somewhat, Eric said, like +goose--albeit Fritz called him a goose for saying so! + +September was ushered in by a strong north-easterly gale, similar to +that in which the brig had been wrecked. + +This alarmed the brothers, who began to fear, when the gale had lasted +over the middle of the month, that the stormy weather might possibly +prevent the _Pilot's Bride_ from venturing near the island, Captain +Brown having said that it would have been more than madness while the +wind prevailed from that quarter for any vessel to approach the coast. + +However, towards the third week in the month, the north-east wind +shifting round, a gentle breeze sprang up from the south-west. A like +change had very similarly occurred at the time of their own landing on +the island; so, the brothers' hearts beat high with hope. + +Everything was got ready for their instant departure; the consequence of +which was that all their own personal little goods and chattels were +packed up so soon that they had frequently to open the bundles again to +take out some article they required for use! + +The golden treasure was not forgotten either--that may be taken for +granted. + +The result of their sealing for the past year was also put up for +shipment. This consisted of eighty-five sealskins and fifty barrels of +oil--a result that said much for their industry during the period. + +And so, the brother crusoes waited and looked out, day after day, with +longing eyes for the anxiously expected vessel that was to terminate +their exile on Inaccessible Island and bear them back to the loved ones +at home! + +Fritz of late had somewhat reformed his lazy habits, rising much earlier +than he used to do, this reformation being caused by a natural desire to +be up and stirring when the _Pilot's Bride_ should arrive; but, still, +Eric invariably forestalled him. The sailor lad was always down on the +beach on the look-out, in default of being able to climb up to his +former signalling station on the cliff, at the first break of day! + +Morning after morning, he went down to the shore; morning after morning, +he returned with a disconsolate face and the same sad report-- + +"Nothing in sight!" + +This was the case every day. + +There was never the vestige of a vessel on the horizon. + +At last, one morning became a gladdened one in their calendar! + +Eric had proceeded to the beach as usual; but, not returning so soon as +was his general habit, Fritz had time to awaken and rouse up from bed. + +Anxious at the lad's delay, he went to the door of the hut, peering out +to seaward as the sun rose in the east, flooding the ocean with a +radiance of light. + +At the same instant, Fritz heard Eric hailing him in the distance. + +It was the cheeriest shout, he thought, he had ever heard! + +Only two words the lad called out. + +"Sail ho!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN. + +IN THE GULDEN STRASSE AGAIN. + +That was all. + +"Sail ho!" shouted Eric in stentorian tones, his voice penetrating +through the entire valley, and reaching probably the remotest extent of +the island. + +The shout was quite enough for Fritz; for, hardly taking time to dress, +he at once rushed down to join his brother on the beach. + +"Where is she?" he cried out anxiously, when yet some distance off. He +panted out the question as he ran. + +"Right off the bay!" sang out Eric, in quite as great a state of +frenzied excitement. "She's hull down to windward now; but she's rising +every moment on the horizon." + +"Where?" repeated Fritz, now alongside of the other. "I can't see her." + +"There," said Eric, pointing to a tiny white speck in the distance, +which to Fritz's eyes seemed more like the wing of a sea bird than +anything else. + +"How can you make her out to be the _Pilot's Bride_?" was his next +query. "I can barely discern a faint spec far away; and that might be +anything!" + +Eric smiled. + +"Himmel!" he cried with an infinite superiority. "What bad sight you +landsmen have, to be sure! Can't you see that she is a barque and is +steering straight for the bay. What other vessel, I should like to +know, would be coming here of that description, save the old skipper's +ship!" + +Fritz made no reply to this unanswerable logic; so, he asked another +question instead. + +"What time do you think she'll be near enough to send a boat off, eh, +brother? We can't go out to meet her, now, you know." + +"No, worse luck!" said Eric. "However, I think, with this breeze, +she'll be close to us in a couple of hours' time." + +"A couple of hours!" exclaimed Fritz with dismay, the interval, in his +present excited state of feeling, appearing like an eternity! + +"Yes; but, the time will soon pass in watching her," replied the sailor +lad. "Look how she rises! There, can't you now see her hull above the +waves?" + +Fritz gazed till his eyes were almost blinded, the sun being right in +his face when he looked in the direction of the advancing vessel; but, +to his inexperienced eyes, she still seemed as far off as ever. + +"I dare say you are right, Eric," he said; "still, I cannot see her hull +yet--nor anything indeed but the same little tiny speck I noticed at +first! However," he added, drawing a deep sigh, "if we only wait +patiently, I suppose she'll arrive in time." + +"Everything comes to him who knows how to wait," replied his brother, +rather grandiloquently; after which speech the two continued to look out +over the shimmering expanse of water, now lit up by the rays of the +steadily rising sun, without interchanging another word. Their thoughts +were too full for speech. + +Some two hours later, the _Pilot's Bride_--for it was that vessel, +Eric's instinct not having misled him--backed her main-topsail and lay- +to off the entrance to the little bay, the gaudy American flag being run +up as she came to the wind, and a gun fired. + +The brother crusoes were almost mad in their eagerness to get on board. + +"What a pity we have no boat!" they both exclaimed together. + +They looked as if they could have plunged into the sea, ready dressed as +they were, so as to swim off to the welcome vessel! + +Eric waved his handkerchief frantically to and fro. + +"The skipper will soon know that something has prevented our coming off, +and will send in a boat," he said; and the two then waited impatiently +for the next act of the stirring nautical drama in which they had so +deep an interest. + +In a few minutes, they could see a boat lowered from the side of the +ship; and, presently, this was pulled towards the shore by four oarsmen, +while another individual, whom Eric readily recognised in the distance +as Captain Brown, sat in the stern-sheets, steering the little craft in +whaling fashion with another oar. + +"It's the good old skipper!" exclaimed Eric, dancing about and waving +his hat round his head so wildly that it seemed as if he had taken leave +of his senses. "I can see his jolly old face behind the rowers, as +large as life!" + +Two or three minutes more, and the boat's keel grated on the beach, when +Fritz and Eric sprang into the water to greet their old friend. + +"Waall, boys!" cried the skipper, "I guess I'm raal downright glad to +see you both ag'in, thet I am--all thet, I reckon. It's a sight for +sore eyes to see you lookin' so slick and hearty." + +So saying, Captain Brown shook hands with the two in his old, +thoroughgoing arm-wrenching fashion, their hands when released seeming +to be almost reduced to pulp in the process, through the pressure of his +brawny fist. + +Of course, they then had a long talk together, the brothers recounting +all that had happened to them in the past year, Captain Fuller of the +schooner _Jane_ having taken to the Cape an account of their doings +during the preceding twelve months. + +"Waal," exclaimed the skipper, when he was showed their little cargo of +sealskins and oil, and told also of the treasure which they had found, +"I guess you h'ain't made half so bad a job o' crusoeing, arter all! I +reckon them skins an' He, along o' what you shipped afore, will fetch +you more'n a couple o' thousan' dollars; an' what with them doubloons +you mention, I guess you'll hev' made a pretty considerable pile fur the +time you've been sealin'!" + +There being no object to be gained by the vessel remaining any length of +time at the island--which indeed was the reason that the skipper had not +brought the _Pilot's Bride_ to anchor, preferring to ply on and on in +front of the bay, so as to be ready for an instant start--the little +property of the brothers was, without further delay, taken on board; and +then, crusoes now no longer, they bade adieu, a long adieu, to +Inaccessible Island, their abiding place for the past two years. + +As the _Pilot's Bride_ filled her sails and cleared the headlands, +which, stretching their giant arms across the entrance to the little +bay, soon shut out all view of the valley from their gaze, the last +thing they noticed was their hut, the home of so many long and weary +months, blazing away in regular bonfire fashion. Master Eric had put a +match to the thatch of the little edifice on crossing its threshold for +the last time! + +"There's no fear, however, of this bonfire doing as much mischief as the +last, old fellow!" he said apologetically to Fritz as they gazed back +over the ship's stern at the rapidly receding island. + +"No," replied the other. "It won't do any particular harm, it is true; +but still, I think it was a pity to burn down our little home. We have +passed many pleasant as well as sad hours there, you know, during the +last two years." + +"That may be all very true, brother," replied Eric, "but do you know +what was my real reason for setting fire to it?" + +"No," said Fritz. + +"Well then I'll tell you," continued the other. "I couldn't bear to +think that those cheeky penguins should invade it and perhaps make their +nests there after we were gone!" + +"What?" exclaimed Fritz, beginning to laugh. "You don't mean to say you +haven't forgiven the poor birds yet for--" + +"Stop!" cried Eric, interrupting him. "You know what you agreed to, eh? +Let bye-gones be bye-gones!" + +"Good," said Fritz; and there ended the matter. + +The return voyage of the _Pilot's Bride_ back to America was uneventful, +although full enough of incident to the brothers after their enforced +exile; but when the vessel arrived again at her old home port of +Providence in Rhode Island, of course the two had something more to +excite them in the greeting they received from the cheery and kindly- +hearted family of the good old skipper at the shanty on the bay. + +The worthy dame, Mrs Brown, welcomed them like sons of her own; while, +Miss Celia--declared that Eric had grown quite a man--adding, with a +toss of her head, that she "guessed he'd lost nothing of his old +impudence!" + +However, in spite of all the kindness and hospitality of these good +people, Fritz and Eric were both too anxious to get home to Lubeck to +prolong their stay in the States any longer than was absolutely +necessary; so, as soon as the worthy skipper had managed to convert +their stock of sealskins and oil into hard cash--getting the weighty and +old-fashioned doubloons exchanged for a valuable banker's draft, save +one or two which they kept for curiosity's sake--the pair were off and +away again on their way back to Europe by the next--starting North +German steamer from New York. + +Before setting out, however, Eric promised to return to Providence ere +the following "fall," in time to resume his post of third mate of the +_Pilot's Bride_ before she started again on another whaling voyage to +the southern seas. + +One more scene, and the story of "The Brother Crusoes" will be "as a +tale that is told!" + +It is Christmas Eve again at Lubeck. + +The streets as well as the roofs and exteriors of the houses are covered +with snow, exhibiting without every appearance of a hard winter; while, +within, the interiors are filled with bustling folk, busy with all the +myriad and manifold preparations for the coming festival on the morrow. + +Mirth, music, and merry-making are everywhere apparent. + +In the little old-fashioned house in the Gulden Strasse, where Fritz and +Eric were first introduced to the readers notice, these cheery signs of +the festive season are even more prominently displayed than usual; for, +are not the long-absent wanderers expected back beneath the old roof- +tree once more, and is not their coming anticipated at every hour--nay, +almost at any moment? + +Aye! + +Madame Dort is sitting in her accustomed corner of the stove. She is +looking ever so much better in health and younger in appearance than she +was at the time of that sad celebration of the Christmas anniversary +three years ago, detailed in an early chapter of the story; and there is +a smile of happiness and content beaming over her face. + +The good lady of the house is pretending to be darning a pair of +stockings, which she has taken up to keep her fingers busy; but every +now and then, she lets the work drop from her hands on to her knees, and +looks round the room, as if listening and waiting for some one who will +soon be here. + +Madaleine, prettier than ever, clad in a gala dress and with bright +ribbons in her golden hair, while her rosebud lips are half parted and +her blue eyes dancing with joy and excitement, is pacing up and down the +room impatiently. She is too eager to sit still! + +Mouser, our old friend the cat, is curled up in a round ball between +Gelert's paws on the rug in front of the stove; while, as for Lorischen, +she is bustling in and out of the room, placing things on the well- +spread table and then immediately taking them away again, quite +forgetful of what she is about in her absence of mind and anxiety of +expectancy. + +Burgher Jans, too, now and again, keeps popping his head through the +doorway, to ask if "the high, well-born and noble Herren" have yet +come--the little fat man then retiring, with an humble apology for +intruding, only to intrude again the next instant! + +Madame Dort had received, late that afternoon, a telegram from Fritz, +stating that he had reached Bremerhaven; and that he and Eric were just +going to take the train, hoping to be with them in Lubeck ere nightfall. + +Cause enough, is there not, for all this excitement and expectancy in +the household? + +Presently, a party of singers pass down the street, singing a plaintive +Volkslieder, that sounds, oh so tender and touching in the frosty +evening air; and then, suddenly, there is a sound of footsteps crunching +the snow on the outside stairway. + +Gelert, shaking off poor Mouser's fraternal embrace most +unceremoniously, starts up with a growl, rushing the moment afterwards +with a whine and yelp of joy to the rapidly thrown open door; and, here +he jumps affectionately up upon a stalwart, bearded individual who +enters, trying to lick his face in welcome. + +"Fritz!" cries Madaleine. + +"Eric!" echoes the mother, the same instant. + +"Madaleine!" bursts forth from Fritz's lips; while Eric, close behind, +cries out joyously, "Mother--mutterchen--dear little mother mine!" + +The long-expected meeting is over, and the "Brother Crusoes" are safe at +home again. + +Little remains to be told. + +Early in the new year, when winter had given place to spring and the +earth was budding forth into fresh life, Fritz and Madaleine were +married. The happy pair live on still with good Madame Dort in the +little house of the Gulden Strasse as of yore; for, Fritz has settled +down into the old groove he occupied before the war, having gone back to +rejoin his former employer, Herr Grosschnapper--although, mind you, +instead of being only a mere clerk and book-keeper, he is now a partner +in the shipbroker's business:-- the little capital which he and Eric +gained in their sealing venture to Inaccessible Island, and which Fritz +has invested in the concern in their joint names, is amply sufficient to +make him a co-proprietor instead of occupying a subordinate position. + +And Eric? + +Well, the lad is doing well enough. + +He went back to Providence at the end of the following summer, as he had +promised; and, having joined the _Pilot's Bride_, and sailed in her +since, he is now first officer of that staunch old ship--which the fates +will that our old friend the Yankee skipper shall still command. + +The last news from Rhode Island, however, records a rumour anent a +"splice," to use the nautical phrase, between Master Eric and Miss Celia +Brown; and report has it that when this matrimonial engagement is +effected "the old man" has announced his intention of giving over his +dearly beloved vessel to the entire charge of his son-in-law. + +Still, this has not happened yet--Master Eric being yet too young for +such honours. + +Lorischen and Burgher Jans, strange to say, did not make a match of it +after all, the fickle-minded old nurse backing out of the bargain +instead of holding to her promise after the arrival of her young masters +at home. + +Gelert is yet to the fore, and as good and brave an old dog as ever, +albeit time has robbed him of some of his teeth and made him somewhat +less active; but as for Mouser, he does not seem to have "turned a +hair." The highly intelligent animal still purrs and fizzes as +vigourously as in his youth--occupying his leisure moments, when not +after birds or mice, in basking in the sunshine on the window-ledge +above the staircase in summer; while, in winter, he curls himself up +between Gelert's outstretched paws on the hearthrug, in front of the +old-fashioned china stove. + +The brothers must have the last word; and, here a little sermon must +come in. + +Do you know, if you should ask them their candid opinion, they would +tell you that, although the idea of playing at Robinson Crusoe may seem +pleasant enough to those whose only experience of life on a desert +island is derived from what they have read about its romantic features +in books, persons, like themselves, who know what the real thing is, +could narrate a very different story concerning its haps and mishaps, +its deadly monotony and dreary solitude, its hopes and its despair! + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Fritz and Eric, by John Conroy Hutcheson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRITZ AND ERIC *** + +***** This file should be named 21108.txt or 21108.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/1/0/21108/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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