Terry's Trials and Triumphs

by J. Macdonald Oxley

  CHAPTER IV.

  PERILS BY THE WAY.

  By the end of his first month of service Terry had become somewhataccustomed to the novelties of his position, and bid fair to prove auseful acquisition to the staff. His intimate knowledge of thebusiness portion of the city stood him in good stead. He knew everywharf in Halifax, and more than half the vessels that tied up at them,and could always be counted upon to find any one of them that theoffice wanted to communicate with.

  There were many times when, being on some commission of this kind, hewas sharply tempted to indulge in a little dalliance with his oldplaymates, who were more eager for his company than ever now that theywere deprived of it. On a hot summer day, after a long forenoon oftiresome tramping through the dusty streets delivering bills or gettingreplies to inquiries, the longing to take a plunge into the cool greenwater of the dock was very hard to resist. At such times his fineclothes were apt to feel like fetters, which it would be aninexpressible relief to cast off and return to his former tatters.

  Again and again he succeeded in withstanding the temptation; but onesultry, oppressive afternoon in August proved too much for him, and heyielded, though could he only have foreseen the consequences he wouldsurely have held firm.

  He had been sent out to collect wharfage accounts. They were usuallytrifling as to amount, and the method was for the clerk paying the billto mark it down in a small book Terry carried as well as to take areceipt, thus making a double record.

  This fateful afternoon it happened that Terry's collections reached alarger amount than usual, totalling up nearly fifty dollars. Hefinished his round away up at West's Wharf, and feeling very hot andtired went down to have a look at the cool salt water. He found therea half-dozen boys, nearly all of whom he knew, just getting ready for ahilarious swim in the dock. They hailed him at once with pressingrequests to join them.

  "Come along, Terry; off with your duds. It's a great day for a duck,"and so forth, growing more and more urgent as they perceived him towaver in his resolution of refusal. Finally, a couple of them, havinggot rid of their own garments, rushed upon him, and seizing him oneither side, proceeded to pull off his hat and coat, and to unbuttonhis vest; while the others, with loud shouts of, "Here she goes! Who'slast?" dived joyously into the seductive depths.

  This was more than Terry could stand. Giving each of his captors asmart slap that sent them capering off uttering feigned cries of pain,he tore off his own clothes, flung them in a heap on the wharf, andwith a shout of "Here we are again!" described a graceful parabola inthe air ere he shot head first into the water.

  He had what he would have called a "high old time." Abandoning himselfentirely to the pleasure of the moment, the restraint of the precedingweeks gave all the keener zest to his enjoyment. He was the very lastto leave the water, and when he came out several of the boys hadalready dressed and gone away. He did not notice this until he took uphis clothes to put them on. Then, to his surprise, he found that hisvest, containing the money that he had collected, was missing.

  Thinking that this was merely an attempt at a joke on him, he saidgood-humouredly, as he hastened to dress,--

  "When you fellows have done with that vest, just bring it back, willyou?"

  But the only response was a general protest of entire ignorance on thepart of those around him, and although, growing angry, he threatenedall sorts of vengeance upon the perpetrator of the joke if he did notpromptly make restitution, he was still met by persistent denials.While in the very midst of this, Tom Morley came down the wharf lookingsharply about him. On catching sight of Terry he first made as thoughhe would go up to him. Then a thought flashed into his mind thatcaused him to halt, and with a smile of malicious satisfaction playingover his ugly face, he wheeled about and vanished up the wharf.

  But threaten or coax as he might, Terry could learn nothing as to whathad become of his vest, save that it must have been carried off by oneof the boys who had gone ashore and dressed before any of the others,and--what made matters worse--the latter did not seem to know anythingabout him. They had not seen him before that day, and they had no ideawhence he had come or whither he had gone.

  When the full sense of his loss came to Terry he was in a sad state ofmind. The thief, whoever he was, had got away not only with the fiftydollars, but with the silver watch--Miss Drummond's gift. Littlewonder then if the poor boy, going off to a corner where he would notbe observed, gave way to tears.

  He felt himself to be in a very serious plight. Had he been doing hisduty when robbed he need not have feared an explanation. But he hadbeen neglecting his duty; and not only so, but Tom Morley, who, as hewell knew, would take only too much pleasure in telling on him, hadcaught him in the act.

  "I can never go back to the office," he sobbed. "They'll not believeme whatever I say. They'll be thinkin' I've taken the money myself,and made up a story to get out of the scrape. Oh, if I could only laymy hands this blessed minute on the villain that run off with my vest!Just wouldn't I give him the worst licking he ever had in his life--badcess to him!"

  The heat of his anger against the cause of his distress dried up histears, and feeling somewhat ashamed at having allowed them to flow, hegave himself a shake, and without any definite purpose in mind strolledover to the other side of the wharf, where a smart schooner was moored.

  Now it chanced that the captain of this schooner was a friend ofTerry's, having taken some interest in the bright, energetic boy whomhe had seen at Long Wharf; and he happened to be sitting on the cabindeck when Terry came along, looking very downcast. "Hollo, Terry!" hecried cheerily. "You seem to be in the dumps. What's the matter?"

  Terry had no inclination to tell him the reason of his dejection, so heevaded the question by responding--

  "Nothin' much;" and then adding in a tone of decided interest, "Whereare you going? you seem near ready to start."

  "So I am, Terry," replied the captain. "I'll be off for Boston insideof an hour. Would you like to come?"

  Terry's heart gave a sudden leap. Here was a way out of hisdifficulties. If he stayed in Halifax, he might have the police afterhim at any moment, and of the police he had a most lively dread; while,if he slipped away to Boston, he would be rid of the whole trouble.

  "Do you mean it, captain, or are you after foolin' me?" he asked,peering eagerly into the mariner's honest countenance.

  "I mean it right enough, Terry," was the reply. "I'm wanting acabin-boy, and you'll do first-rate. Can you come aboard at once?"

  Terry reflected a moment. He ought to tell his mother before he went.She would be sure to worry about him. But then if he did tell hershe'd make a fuss, and perhaps stop him altogether. No; if he weregoing, his best plan was to say nothing about it, but just go on board.

  Noting his hesitation, the captain said,--

  "I'll not be sailing for an hour yet, so if you want to get anythingyou'll have time to if you'll be sharp about it."

  With a quick toss of his head that meant he had made up his mind, Terryresponded,--

  "I'll go. I've nothin' to get. I'll go right on board now;" andspringing into the shrouds, he swung himself lightly on to the deck.

  The die was cast. Rather than face the consequences of his derelictionof duty he would take refuge in flight, leaving Tom Morley free to putas black a face upon his conduct as he pleased, thereby causing deepdisappointment to those who had befriended him, and sore grief to hispoor mother, who would be utterly at a loss to account for his strangedisappearance.

  It never entered into Captain Afleck's easy-going mind to inquirewhether Terry ought to ask permission of somebody before taking serviceas cabin-boy on board his schooner. He himself had no family ties ofany kind, and he took it for granted that other people were in the sameposition, unless they claimed something to the contrary. So when Terryjumped aboard the _Sea-Slipper_, thereby signifying acceptance of hisoffer, that was an end of the matter so far as he was concerned.

  Once committed
to the going away, Terry was all impatience for theschooner to start; and the stretching of the hour Captain Afleck hadjust mentioned into two gave him a good deal of concern, as everyminute he dreaded the appearance of some clerk from Drummond's, perhapseven Mr. Hobart himself, sent to look after him.

  He would have liked very much to have hidden in the cabin until theschooner had got well away from the wharf, but he was wise enough torealize that so doing might arouse the captain's suspicions, and leadhim summarily to cancel the engagement.

  However, at last his anxiety on this score was put at rest by the_Sea-Slipper_ warping slowly out into the stream; and then, as the bigsails were hoisted, and they bellied out with the afternoon breeze, sheglided off on a tack across the harbour that soon put a wide distancebetween her and the wharves.

  No fear of being followed now. Terry was as safe from that as thoughhe were already in Boston; and in the mingled feelings with which, fromthe stern of the schooner, he watched the line of wharves losing theirdistinctness, and the rows of houses melting into one dark mass againstthe sloping, citadel-crowned hill, there was no small proportion ofrelief.

  He had solved the problem so suddenly presented that afternoon in avery poor and unsatisfactory fashion, it is true. Still, it was solvedfor the present at least; and bearing in mind Terry's training andopportunities for moral culture, he must not be too hardly judged forthe folly of his action.

  By the time the fast-sailing schooner had passed Meagher's Beach Light,and was beginning to rise and pitch in the long ocean billows, Terry,with all the heedlessness of boyhood, had thrown his cares to the wind,and given himself up to the enjoyment of the hour.

  He was quite at home on the sea, having already had several trips alongthe coast through the kindness of captains who had taken a fancy tohim. Seasickness had no terrors for him. He might have undertaken tosail round the world without missing a meal; and at supper that eveninghe showed so keen an appetite that Captain Afleck, who had allowed himto sit down with him for the sake of hearing him talk, said jestingly,--

  "Why, Terry, my boy, you eat so hearty that I ought to have laid in anextra stock of food, so we mightn't run short before we get to Boston."

  Not a bit disconcerted by this chaff, Terry went on busily munching thefood, which was much better than he got at home, and which he proposedto enjoy thoroughly while he had the chance.

  "Ah, you young monkey!" laughed the captain, shaking his knife at him,"you know when you're well off, don't you, now?"

  "It's yourself says it, captain," responded Terry, as well as he couldwith his mouth full. "I'm thinking I would like to hire with you for ayear, if ye'll always give me as good food."

  "And is it only the food you care for, Terry?" asked the captain, thesmile on his face giving way to a serious look. "You're not such apoor creature as that, are you?"

  Terry's countenance crimsoned, and his head dropped upon his breast,while he worked his hands together nervously. At last he managed tostammer out,--

  "Faith, captain, I didn't say so."

  "No, Terry, you didn't," said the captain, in a soothing tone. "Nordid you mean it either. I'm only testing you a bit. Look here, Terry,listen to me now. What do you intend to do with yourself as you growolder? Do you think of following the sea?"

  Once more the colour mounted high in Terry's face. The question was ahome-thrust which he knew not how to parry, and so he simply keptsilence; while Captain Afleck began to wonder why his question, askedin such an offhand way, should have so marked an effect upon the boy.Getting no answer, he sought to ease the situation by saying kindly,--

  "If you think I'm over-inquisitive, Terry, you needn't say anything.It's none of my business any way."

  Touched by the captain's genuine kindness of tone, Terry's Irish heartopened towards him, and he impulsively began to tell him the wholestory of the past month.

  Captain Afleck listened with unmistakable interest and sympathy,interrupting but seldom, and then only to put a question to make thematter clearer to his comprehension.

  When the recital was finished, he stretched his big brown hand acrossthe table to Terry, and taking hold of his little freckled fist, gaveit a grip that made the boy wince, saying, with the full strength ofhis deep, bass voice,--

  "You're a brick, Terry, my boy, even if you have made a mistake inrunning away with me instead of clearing up the whole thing with Mr.Drummond. But I'll see you through, Terry, as sure as my name'sAfleck. You'll come back with me, and we'll go to see Mr. Drummond assoon as we land."

  Poor little Terry! The kind action, and still kinder words and tone,were too much for him altogether. He covered his face with his handsand burst into tears, while the captain said soothingly,--

  "That's all right, Terry; I know just how you feel. Cheer up now.You'll be back in Mr. Drummond's office inside of a month."

  As quickly as sunshine follows shower in April, Terry's bright spiritreasserted itself, and he turned into his bunk that night in theenjoyment of the cheerful frame of mind which was his wont.

  He awoke next morning to see the last of the Nova Scotian coastdisappearing astern, and for the first time in his life to be entirelyout of sight of land.

  The wind continued favourable all that day and the next, greatly to thesatisfaction of Captain Afleck, who wanted to lose no time in makingthe round trip, as business was brisk between Halifax and Boston then,and the more trips he could put in the better for his pocket.

  Terry enjoyed the voyage thoroughly. His duties were not onerous, andout of love for the kind-hearted captain he fulfilled them promptly andneatly. When they were all attended to he had a good margin of timefor himself, and he found Captain Afleck ready to talk or to tellstories from his own extensive experience at sea. Then the seamen, ofwhom there were four, proved very friendly, and seemed always glad ofhis company; so that everything helped to render the short voyage areal delight to the boy, who did everything in his power to pay his wayby good behaviour.

  The evening of the fourth day was closing in when the _Sea-Slipper_entered Massachusetts Bay; and if Captain Afleck had not been so eagerto save time, he would have been content with getting inside BostonLight and anchoring there until morning. But he knew the ship-channelwell, having often passed up it before, and he determined to push in,although the wind was dropping fast.

  The darkness fell before he had cleared Lovel's Island, and the skybeing overcast he had only the harbour lights to guide him.Nevertheless he kept on, though it was little better than feeling hisway.

  The schooner thus crept up as far as Governor's Island, and the citylights began to come into view.

  "Ah!" exclaimed Captain Afleck, bringing the palm of his hand down witha smart slap on his thigh as he stood at the wheel, "we'll make thedock to-night yet, even if I have to hail a tug to tow me in."

  He had hardly spoken when suddenly there loomed up on the port side thedim form of a huge steamer bearing down on the schooner at full speed;and then it flashed upon the captain that in his eagerness to get intoport he had omitted to put up the regulation lights.

  There was no time to do it now. The only chance of escaping acollision was to go off on the other tack. Round spun the wheel, andswiftly the men sprang to the sails. But the schooner refused toanswer her helm for lack of steerage way, and lay almost motionlessright in the steamer's path.

  Leaping upon the bulwarks, Captain Afleck shouted with all hisstrength,--

  "Ahoy, there! Keep away, or you'll run us down!"

  But even if his warning had been heard, it was too late to heed it; anda minute later, with a tremendous shock, the steamer crashed into theschooner just abaft of the fore-chains.