Bob Strong's Holidays

by John C. Hutcheson

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

  THE "GOOD SARAH'S" FORGET-ME-NOTS.

  "Tell me, is there any danger?" asked Mrs Gilmour, speaking quitecalmly, in spite of her fears; for, although of a somewhat hastydisposition and apt to be put out at trifles, she was possessed of astrong, natural courage, which, as is the case with most of the so-called "tender sex," only displayed itself in great emergencies. "Youmay disclose the worst. I can bear it!"

  "Pooh!" grunted the Captain off-hand, rather impolitely. "There's no`worst' to tell, ma'am. All on board are quite safe, and will be putashore securely as soon as the boats come off. My fears are for theunfortunate vessel, the loss of which will be a sad blow to her skipper,poor fellow, as he has staked his all in her!"

  "But, Captain," she rejoined, "why do you look so serious?"

  "Serious?" he repeated after her, the hard lines in his face at oncerelaxing--"so would you, too, look serious, ma'am, if you thought of thematter in the same light. You see, I can't help looking upon a ship asa sort of living creature; and to think of a fine boat like this comingto grief in such a lubberly fashion is enough almost to make one cry!"

  His eyes blinked furiously as he said this, the bushy eyebrows abovemoving up and down; and, taking out his bright bandana handkerchief, heblew his nose with vigour, as if to give vent to his emotion,

  Nellie, whose pale face had gained a little more colour since theCaptain's reassuring words to her aunt, now sidled up to him, catchinghold of his hand affectionately.

  "But will the poor steamer really be lost?" she inquired timidly;"wrecked, as sailors call it?"

  "Yes, I'm afraid so with the pack of nincompoops we've got on board," hegrowled. "They're talking of beaching her; and if so, with the windchopping round to the eastwards, as those porpoises you saw this morningtold us it will do by and by, for they're unfailing weather prophetsalways, why, the unfortunate craft will lay her bones on the shingle.She will, at all events, if any sort of a sea get up, or call me nosailor!"

  Bob, who on his return from the fore-part of the vessel in company withCaptain Dresser had stationed himself again by the engine-room hatchway,here gave a shout.

  "They're moving," he cried; "I see the piston going up and down, and theshaft turning round!"

  The rapid beat of the paddle-wheels on the water alongside gavetestimony to the truth of Bob's statement; but to Nell's surprise, nochurned-up foam came drifting by astern as before, and she couldn't makeit out.

  The paradox, however, was made plain to her by Hellyer, who did not seemto trouble himself much about the mishap, remaining seated on thehamper, which he had placed by the after sponsing of the starboardpaddle-box. The coastguardsman, indeed, appeared as unconcernedthroughout all the fuss as if he were safe ashore in his own littlecabin on the beach; while Rover kept close beside him, as he had donesince Hellyer took charge of the hamper which he had brought on board--the dog evidently considering himself still responsible for all thepicnic goods and chattels that his young mistress had told him to watch.

  "The paddles is backin' astern," replied Hellyer; "and so, miss, theirwake drifts for'ard instead of aft. That's the reason, miss, you seesnothing washing by."

  But this movement did not long continue, two strokes of the gong in theengine-room being heard as the captain of the steamer moved the brasshandle of the mechanical telegraph on the bridge; whereupon, themachinery was suddenly stopped.

  Then the gong sounded twice again, the signal being followed by thequick "splash--splash--splash!" of the paddles once more in the water;when Nellie was delighted by seeing the creamy foam tossing up alongsidewhere she and her aunt were now standing again, they having vacatedtheir seats on the first alarm, like others of the passengers.

  "By Jove!" muttered the Captain, half aloud. "The fool of a fellow isactually going ahead again!"

  "What!" cried Mrs Gilmour-- "any new danger?"

  "Oh, nothing," he snapped out, evidently very grumpy at things not beingdone in the way he thought best. "I was only uttering my thoughtsaloud, ma'am. If you must know, I think it very risky of our friend theskipper trying to drive the boat ahead when she's down by the bows.Poor chap, I'm afraid he has lost his head, the same as the vessel hashers! Never mind, though, she cannot go very far in this shoal water,or I'm a Dutchman!"

  Nor did she.

  In less than a minute there was another heavy bump that shook the deckfore and aft, making all the passengers tumble about like ninepins. Bobnearly took a dive through the hatchway of the engine-room, into whichhe was still peering, and Nellie fell on poor Rover, causing him toutter a plaintive howl; while, as for Mrs Gilmour, she lurched againstthe Captain as if she were going to embrace him with open arms, treadingat the same time on his worst foot, whereon flourished a pet corn thatgave the old sailor infinite trouble, which he ever guarded as the appleof his eye.

  "O-o-o-o-oh!" he groaned, hopping about the deck on one leg and holdingup the injured foot with both his hands, "I knew some further mischiefwould come from what that idiot of a skipper was doing!"

  Meanwhile, the steamboat people on the pier, off which they had groundedonly some three or four hundred yards away, seeing the predicament ofthe vessel, set to work sending off boats to land the passengers.

  The first of these reached the little vessel just as she struck thesandbank she had run foul of for the second time; then coming to a deadstop as if she meant now to remain there for good and all.

  "Are we to go ashore in one of those?" asked Bob, pointing out the fleetof small boats making for the steamer, besides the two that had alreadycome up to her; some being launched by the watermen on the beach inaddition to those sent off from the pier. "What fun to have a boat allto ourselves, as I suppose we shall!"

  "Yes, I suppose so, if we are to get to land at all," replied theCaptain, who had become a little more amiable, his natural good-humourasserting itself as the pain in his foot somewhat subsided; "I don't seehow we can otherwise, unless we swim for it; the vessel is now stuckquite fast with no chance of her moving until she is lightened of hercargo of passengers."

  "That will be jolly!" cried Bob. "Why it's just like a regularshipwreck!"

  "Ah, my boy," said the old sailor, shaking his head, "if you everexperienced the realities of one, you would not speak so lightly. Ashipwreck, let me tell you, is no laughing matter."

  "I didn't mean that," explained Bob, "I was only thinking how jolly itwould be for us all to have a row, instead of landing at the pierquietly, as we would have done if nothing had happened."

  "Sure, and I don't see where your `jollity' comes in, Master Bob!"observed his aunt, not by any means relishing the prospect. "It may beall very well for you; but I can't say I like the idea of scramblingdown the side of the vessel into one of these cockleshells and runningthe risk of getting drowned."

  "Oh, no, you won't, ma'am," rejoined the Captain chuckling again, hercomical consternation soothing the last acerbities of his temper. "Youshan't drown yourself if I can prevent you, ma'am!"

  There was no necessity, however, for the Captain to exert himselfespecially on her behalf; for, the boats being hauled up in turnalongside and only a proper number being allowed to get into each, nocasualty occurred such as Mrs Gilmour dreaded. Thus, in a very shortspace of time, all the passengers were safely transferred from thestranded steamer to the shore, where a large crowd of sympathisingbystanders had now assembled.

  "There!" exclaimed the Captain, as he jumped out of the wherry in whichtheir little party had taken passage, "catch me going in one of thoseexcursion craft again! Of all the clumsy lubbers I have ever had themisfortune to be shipmate with, that skipper is about the biggest andmost lubberly. You can take the word of an old sailor for that!"

  "Why, sure, what could the poor man have done, when the steamer wassinking?" said Mrs Gilmour, as he assisted her also carefully to land."It's none of his fault that I can see."

  "What could he have done, eh?" retorted the Captain warmly. "Why,anything else but w
hat he did do. When he saw his fore compartment wasfull of water, he should have backed the vessel; and then he could havetaken her stern-end foremost up to the pier, and landed us comfortablywithout any bother half an hour ago. Instead of that, what does he dobut go backing and filling, first with his engines full speed ahead, andthen ditto astern, ending by sticking hard and fast at the same spotwhere he first struck. While now, to clench the matter, he's going torun the steamer ashore and beach her, he tells me, as soon as the tidefloats her; the upshot of which will be that she'll break her back andprobably become a total wreck."

  "Why didn't you advise him?" she asked. "Eh, my old friend?"

  "The foolish fellow! I pitied him at first, but I can't say I do so anylonger. He wouldn't listen to me. He's just like the intelligent Isleof Wight farmer I've heard of, one of whose calves having got its headentangled in a wooden fence, in lieu of cutting the palings, thought theonly way to release the calf was by cutting its head off!"

  "Sure, nobody could have been so stupid!" cried Mrs Gilmour laughing."What, cut off the poor thing's head in order to extricate it?"

  "Sure an' they did, ma'am," said he, mimicking her; "and, I'm sorry tosay, our friend the skipper is one of the same kidney!"

  While the two were thus talking, Bob and Nell remained down on thebeach, awaiting the arrival of Dick and Hellyer, who through want ofroom in their wherry had to come ashore in another boat.

  Rover, such was his strict sense of duty, strange to say, instead ofaccompanying his young master and mistress, was still intent on keepingin sight of the hamper.

  Accordingly, he stopped on board the steamer till Hellyer, the hamper'scustodian, left her; when after seeing him and Dick embarked along withthe hamper, the retriever jumped over the side of the stranded vesseland swam ashore in company with the boat containing his friends,apparently mistrusting the frail craft, and preferring to rely upon hisown powers in the water.

  Nor was he far behind, getting to land almost at the same moment thatthe wherry's keel grated on the beach; when, after shaking himselfdecorously as he had been taught, so as to avoid wetting his friends byhis excessive moisture, Rover barked and pranced round Hellyer and thehamper, and then round Bob and Nellie, as if to say in his doglanguage-- "There, my dear young master and mistress, I have dischargedmy trust faithfully," scurrying off then to the higher part of theshore, where Mrs Gilmour and the Captain were standing, to tell themthe same tale, with a loud "Bow wow!"

  "Come now," cried Mrs Gilmour, on the little party being reunitedagain, "we must be off home at once; for, it is getting late, and Sarahwill be wondering where we all are."

  "Well, we mustn't keep `the good Sarah' waiting," said the Captainslily, with a wink to Nellie that set her off laughing so that shedropped the bunch of wild-flowers which her aunt was just handing her atthe moment, and was obliged to stop to pick them up. "By Jove! though,ma'am, she may have forgotten _us_ as she did the other things."

  "You're too bad entirely!" exclaimed Mrs Gilmour a little pettishly."I suppose I shall never hear the last about that, nor poor Saraheither. Come on now, dearie; we must hasten home whether or no."

  So saying, she made the Captain wheel round from taking a last lingeringlook at the _Bembridge Belle_, whose skipper, now that she was a bitlightened aft by all the people having cleared out of her, had backedagain into deep water; and then putting on full steam ahead, was tryingto run her up high and dry ashore.

  After this parting glance at the poor vessel, our party proceeded ontheir way across the common back to The Moorings, Miss Nell, asaforesaid, carrying the bouquet of wild-flowers, and Bob the tin bucketof sea-anemones, their "spoil" of the day, in sporting parlance; whileHellyer and Dick brought up the rear of the procession with the hamperand empty water-jar, representing the relics of their picnic feast.

  Rover on this occasion, it may be added, acted anon as pioneer of thecolumn when he caracoled for awhile in front of them all; anon asbaggage-guard, when he followed at the heels of Hellyer, sniffing theempty hamper.

  Poor Sarah, "that good Sarah" whom Mrs Gilmour had so unhappilypraised, her penance was yet to come!

  Bob was the first to assail her as she opened the door on their arrivalhome.

  "Who forgot the bread?" he shouted out, so loudly that, starting backwith fright, she almost tumbled. "Who forgot the bread?"

  "Who forgot the tea?" cried Nellie, immediately behind him, following upher brother's attack and making Sarah jump afresh. "Who forgot thetea?"

  "And who forgot her head?" said the Captain from the rear, pressing thecharge home; whereupon, they all, Mrs Gilmour included, halted on thedoorstep and roared with laughter. "Aye, who forgot her head?"

  This was too much for the girl.

  "Oh my, me!" she exclaimed, staring at them in hopeless stupefaction."Oh my, me!"

  "Dear me!" observed Mrs Gilmour, her laugh subsiding into a broadsmile. "Why, you are quite a poet, Sarah."

  "Me, mum?" ejaculated the other, more astonished than ever. "Whateverhave I gone and done now?"

  "Yes," continued her mistress, "you've just supplied `the missing link'in our rhyme; and people who make poetry, of course, are poets."

  "Oh, auntie, I see, I see!" called out Nellie excitedly, in great glee."I see it--don't you, Bob?"

  "No, what is it?" asked that young gentleman. "See what?"

  "Oh dear! and you began it, too," cried Nell. "You really are a verystupid boy. Why, it's a regular verse of poetry--

  "Who forgot the bread? Who forgot the tea? And who forgot her head? Oh, my--me!

  "Don't you see it now?"

  "Oh, yes," replied Bob, adding his usual expression when praisinganything--"it's jolly!"

  "I confess I did not see it either at first; so, I suppose, you'll callme a stupid too, Miss Nellie, eh?" chuckled Captain Dresser. "However,now you've made it all clear to us, I will, if you like, christen yourshort but sweet poem for you. What say you to `Sarah's forget-me-nots'?Do you think that will do, eh?"

  "Splendidly!" said Nell; an opinion which they all seemed to share,excepting poor Sarah, into whose ears the verselet was dinned soincessantly, both by Bob and Nellie, and even by the pert Dick, too,that its repetition, or any specific allusion to any one of the articlesshe had omitted in making up the historic hamper, would invariably makethe unfortunate damsel wince; while if the simple name of the innocentflower which the Captain had adopted were but mentioned, even withoutany malice prepense, the poor girl would leave the room at once.

  "Where are the forget-me-nots?" said Mrs Gilmour incautiously, forinstance, to Nellie, while arranging the wild-flowers in vases shortlybefore going to bed. "I can't see them at all anywhere. Can you,Sarah?"

  There was no answer from her, however.

  Sarah was off like a shot!