The Battery and the Boiler: Adventures in Laying of Submarine Electric Cables

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

  UNCLE RIK'S ADVENTURES.

  Uncle Rik seated in Mr Wright's drawing-room; Mr Wright in aneasy-chair near the window; Mrs Wright--with much of the lustre goneout of her fine eyes--lying languidly on the sofa; Madge Mayland at workon some incomprehensible piece of netting beside her aunt,--all in deepmourning.

  Uncle Rik has just opened a telegram, at which he stares, open eyed andmouthed, without speaking, while his ruddy cheeks grow pale.

  "Not bad news, I trust, brother," said poor Mrs Wright, to whom theworst news had been conveyed when she heard of the wreck of the Triton.Nothing could exceed that, she felt, in bitterness.

  "What is it, Rik?" said Mr Wright, anxiously.

  "Oh! nothing--nothing. That is to say, not bad news, certainly, butamazing news. Boh! I'm a fool."

  He stopped short after this complimentary assertion, for uncle Rik hadsomewhere read or heard that joy can kill, and he feared to become anaccomplice in a murder.

  "Come, Rik, don't keep us in suspense," said his brother, rising;"something _has_ happened."

  "O yes, something has indeed happened," cried Rik, "for this telegram isfrom Sam Shipton."

  "Then Robin is alive!" cried Mrs Wright, leaping up, while Madge turnedperfectly white.

  "No--that is to say--yes--it may be so--of course _must_ be so--for,--bah! what an ass I am! Listen."

  He proceeded to read Sam's telegram, while Mrs Wright covered her facewith her hands and sank trembling on the sofa.

  The telegram having suffered rather severe mutilation at the hands ofthe foreigners by whom it was transmitted, conveyed a very confusingidea of the facts that were intended, but the puzzling over it by thewhole party, and the gradual, though not perfect, elucidation of itsmeaning, had perhaps the effect of softening the joyful intelligence toa bearable extent.

  "Now," said uncle Rik, while the perspiration of mental effort andanxiety stood on his bald forehead, "this is the outcome of it all. Samclearly says `all well,' which means, of course, that Robin is alive--thank God for that! Then he refers to a previous telegram, which, ofcourse, must be lost, for it hasn't come to hand. Bah! I wonder thenasty things ever do come to hand. Anyhow, that telegram must have beenmeant to announce their safe arrival at Bombay, undoubtedly."

  "Of course--I see it now," said Mrs Wright, with a deep sigh.

  "Of course," echoed Rik. "Then there's some queer reference to a shipand a Fiery Queen, and a Stamps and a Shunks, and a Gibson, and a thief,and three bags, and the port of London, which of course means London,and a public-house named, apparently, Torture--"

  "Tartar, I think, uncle," said Madge.

  "Well, Tartar if you like, it's much the same if you catch him. And itwinds up with a girl--which is not surprisin'--who is to beexpectorated--"

  "Expected, surely," said Madge, with a rather hysterical laugh, for theconflicting feelings within her tended rather to tears.

  "So be it, Madge--expected, with an unreadable name beginning with anL,--and that's all; and a pretty penny he must have paid to send us sucha lot o' rubbish."

  "It has brought the oil of gladness to our hearts, brother," said MrWright, "and is worth its cost. But, now, what do you intend to do?"

  "Do!" exclaimed Rik, who was never happier than when he could explodehis feelings in action. "I'll go this moment to the port of London,find out the owners of the Fiery Queen, make particular inquiries aboutthe Stampses, Shunkses, and Gibsons, visit Torture public-houses--thoughthey're all that, more or less--and see if I can hear anything aboutgirls to be expectorated, with names beginning with L. There--these aremy sailing directions, so--up anchor and away!"

  Uncle Rik immediately obeyed his own commands, and spent the remainderof that day in what he styled cruising. And he cruised to some purpose,for although he failed to obtain any information as to the girl, hediscovered the owners of the Fairy--not Fiery--Queen, who said that shewas expected home in a few weeks, but that they knew nothing whateverabout the rather remarkable names which he submitted for theirconsideration. With this amount of information he was fain to restcontent, and returned in an elevated state of mind to his brother'shouse.

  Some weeks after these events, the Wright family was again seated roundthe social board, as uncle Rik called it, when two visitors wereannounced. The social meal happening to be tea, and the drawing-room atthat time in dishabille, owing to carpet disturbances, the visitors wereshown into the dining-room--a lady, accompanied by a pretty little girl.

  "Excuse my calling at an unusual hour," said the lady, "but I trust theoccasion of my visit will be a sufficient excuse. I have just arrivedfrom Bombay, and hasten to present a letter from your son, and todeliver over my interesting charge, this dear child, Letta Langley,whom--"

  "The expectorated girl!" shouted uncle Rik, leaping up, "begins with anL,--two L's indeed. Bah, I'm an idiot! Excuse my excitement, madam--pray go on."

  Slightly surprised, but more amused, the lady went on to tell all sheknew about Robin and his friends, while the happy mother read snatchesof Robin's letter through her tears, and Mr Wright and Madge plied thelady with questions and tea, and Letta, taking at once to uncle Rik,ecstatified, amazed and horrified that retired sea-captain with hercharming earnest little ways, her wonderful experiences, and herintimate acquaintance with pirates and their habits.

  A letter from Robin to his mother, and another from Sam to Mr Wright,arrived next morning, and proved to be those which had been writtenimmediately after their landing at Bombay, and had been posted, so thewriters thought, at the time their first telegram was despatched. Butthe letters had been given to Stumps to post, and Stumps was not blessedwith a good memory, which may account for the delay in transmission.These letters corroborated all the lady had said. Thus was Lettaformally installed in the Wright family, and uncle Rik solemnly chargedhimself with the discovery of her mother!

  "Depend upon it, my dear," he said, with an amount of self-sufficientassurance and indomitable resolution that carried sweet consolation tothe child's heart, "that I'll find your mother if she's above ground,though the findin' of her should cost me the whole of my fortune and theremainder of my life."

  And nobly did Rik redeem his promise. He obtained special introductionto the British Museum, consulted every Directory in existence, hunted upevery widow of the name of Langley in the kingdom, and found the rightone at last, not three miles distant from his own door in London.Captain Rik, it must be known, had a room in London furnished like acabin, which he was wont to refer to as his "ship" and his "bunk," buthe paid that retreat only occasional visits, finding it more agreeableto live with his brother.

  It was a fine Sabbath morning when Rik took Letta's hand and led herinto the presence of her mother. He would not let himself be announced,but pushed the child into the drawing-room and shut the door.

  With similar delicacy of feeling we now draw a curtain over the meetingof the mother and the long-lost child.

  "It's almost too much for me, tough old sea-dog though I am, thisperpetual cruisin' about after strange runaway craft," said uncle Rik,as he and Letta walked hand in hand along the streets one day some weekslater. "Here have I been beatin' about for I don't know how long, andI'm only in the middle of it yet. We expect the Fairy Queen in portto-night or to-morrow."

  "But you won't hurt poor Stumps when you catch him, will you?" pleadedLetta, looking earnestly up into her companion's jovial face. "He wasvery nice and kind to me, you know, on Pirate Island."

  "No, I'll not hurt him, little old woman," said Rik. "Indeed, I don'tknow yet for certain that Stumps _is_ a thief; it may be Shunks or itmay be Gibson, you see, who is the thief. However, we'll find outbefore long. Now then, good-bye, I'll be back soon."

  He shook hands with Letta at Mr Wright's house, she and her motherhaving agreed to reside there until Robin's return home.

  Wending his way through the streets until he reached one of the greatarteries of the metropolis, he got into a 'bus
and soon found himself onthe banks of the Thames. Arrived at the docks, one of the first vesselshis eyes fell on was the Fairy Queen.

  Going on board, the first man he met was the captain, to whom he said,touching his hat--

  "Excuse me, captain; may I ask if you have a man in your crew namedStumps?"

  "No, sir, no such name on my books."

  "Nor one named Shunks?"

  "No, not even Shunks," replied the captain, with a sternly-humorouslook, as if he thought the visitor were jesting.

  "Nor Gibson?" continued Rik.

  "Yes, I've got one named Gibson. What d'ye want with him?"

  "Well, I have reason to believe that he is--or was--a friend of a friendof mine, and I should like to see him."

  "Oh! indeed," responded the captain, regarding his visitor with adoubtful look. "Well, Gibson has just got leave to go ashore, and Iheard him say to one of his mates he was going to the Tartarpublic-house, so you'll see him there, probably, for he is not invisibleor'narily. But I don't know where the Tartar is."

  "But I know," returned Captain Rik; "thank you. I'll go seek himthere."

  Stumps sat alone in one of the boxes of the Tartar public-house, whichat that hour chanced to be nearly empty. His face was buried in hishands, and a pot of untasted beer stood at his elbow. Poor Stumps!Conscience had been remarkably busy with him on the voyage home. Hewould have given worlds to have got back to Bombay, return theill-gotten bags, and confess his guilt, but it was too late--too late.

  There is something very awful in these words, too late! We read of andhear them often, and we use them sometimes, lightly it may be, but it isonly when they can be used by ourselves with reference to something veryserious, that we have a glimmering of their terrible significance.There is a proverb, "It is never too late to mend," which is misleading.When the dream of life is over, and the doom is fixed, it _is_ too lateto mend. No doubt the proverb is meant to refer to our condition whilethis life lasts, but even here it is misleading. When the murdererwithdraws the knife and gazes, it may be, horror-struck at theexpressionless face of his victim, it is too late. He cannot mend thesevered thread of life. When the reckless drunkard draws near the endof his career, and looks in the mirror, and starts to see the wreck ofhis former self, it is too late. Health will never more return. Nottoo late, blessed be God, for the salvation of the soul, but too latefor the recovery of all that was held dear in the life of earth.

  Yes, Stumps had many a time while on the sea muttered to himself, "Toolate!" He did so once again in that low public-house near the docks.Uncle Rik overheard him, and a feeling of profound pity arose withinhim.

  "I beg pardon," he said, and at the first word Stumps looked quickly,almost fiercely, up, "your name, I believe, is Gibson."

  "No, it isn't--I, that is to say--Well, yes it is. Sailors has gotaliases, you know, sometimes. What d'ye want wi' me?"

  "You were acquainted in Bombay," resumed Captain Wright, very quietly,as he sat down opposite to Stumps, "with a young man named Wright--RobinWright?"

  Stumps's face became deadly pale.

  "Ah! I see you were," resumed the captain; "and you and he hadsomething to do, now, with bags of some sort?"

  The captain was, as the reader knows, profoundly ignorant of everythingconnected with the bags except their existence, but he had hissuspicions, and thought this a rather knowing way of inducing Stumps tocommit himself. His surprise, then, may be imagined when Stumps,instead of replying, leaped up and dashed wildly out of the room,overturning the pot of beer upon Captain Rik's legs.

  Stumps shot like an arrow past the landlord, a retired pugilist, whochanced to be in the doorway. Captain Rik, recovering, darted afterhim, but was arrested by the landlord.

  "Not quite so fast, old gen'l'man! As you've had some of your mate'sbeer, you'd better pay for it."

  "Let me go!--stop him!" cried the captain, struggling.

  As well might he have struggled in the grasp of Hercules. His reasonasserted itself the instant the fugitive was out of sight. He silentlypaid for the beer, went back to the Fairy Queen to inform the captainthat his man Gibson was a thief--to which the captain replied that itwas very probable, but that it was no business of his--and then wanderedsadly back to tell the Wright family how Gibson, _alias_ Stumps, _alias_Shunks, had been found and lost.