The Green Hand: Adventures of a Naval Lieutenant

by George Cupples

  CHAPTER V

  "Next morning was fine, and promised to be hot; the ship still with aside-wind from near south-west, which 'twas easy to see had slackenedsince midnight with a pour of rain, the sails being all wet, and coatshung to dry in the fore-rigging; she was going little more than five orsix knots headway. The water was bluer, lifting in long waves, scarce aspeck of foam except about the ship; but instead of having broke up withthe sun, or sunk below the level, the long white clouds were risen highto leeward, wandering away at the top, and facing us steady below out ofthe sky, a pretty sure sign they had more to do. However, the Indiamanwas all alive from stem to stern; decks drying as clean as a table; hensand ducks clucking in the coops at their food; pigs grunting; stewardsand cabin-boys going fore and aft, below and above, and the men fromaloft coming slowly down for breakfast, with an eye into the galleyfunnel. Most of the passengers were upon deck, in knots all along thepoop-nettings, to look out for Corvo and Flores, the western-most of theAzores, which we had passed before daybreak.

  "'I say, Fawd!' said the warlike cadet with the moustache, all of asudden yawning and stretching himself, as if he'd been struck with thething himself, 'cussed dull this vessel already, ain't it?' 'No,' saidFord, the nautical man; 'that's because you're not interested in theocean--the sea--as I am! You should study the _craft_, Bob, my boy! I'llteach you to go aloft. I only wish it would blow harder--not a merecapful of wind, you know, but a tempest!' 'By Jove! Fawd,' said theother, '_how_ we _shall_ enjoy India--even that breakfast with oldRollock! By-the-by, ain't breakfast ready yet?' These two fellows, formy part, I took for a joint-model, just trying to hit a mid-helmbetwixt them, else I couldn't have got through it; accordingly they bothpatronised me. 'Haw, Cawlins!' said one, nodding to me. 'Is that you, myboy?' said the other; 'now, you're a fellow _never_ would make asailor!' 'I daresay not,' I said gravely, 'if they have all to commenceas horse-marines.' 'Now, such ignorance!' said Ford; 'marines don't ridehorses, Collins, you fellow!--how d'you think they could be _fed_ atsea, eh?' 'Well--now--that didn't occur to me!' said I, in the cadetkey. 'Fawd, my boy, you know too much--you're quite a sea-cook!' 'Oh,now! But I'm afraid, Winterton, I never shall land ashore in India--I_am_ tempted to go into the navy, instead.' 'I say, Mr Ford,' put in afat unlicked cub of a tea-middy, grinning as he listened, 'I've put youup to a few _rises_ aboard, but I don't think I told you we've got adozen or so of _donkeys_[11] below in the steerage?' 'Donkeys!--no?'said the griffin. 'Yes,' replied the midshipman; 'they kick like mad,though, if they get loose in a gale: why mine, now, would knock a holethrough the side in no time--I'll show you them for a glass of grog, MrFord.'

  [11] Sea slang for sailors' chests.

  "'Done!' and away they went. 'That fool, Fawd, you know, Cawlins, makesone sick with his stuff; I declare he chews little bits of tobacco inour room till he vomits as much as before,' said Winterton. 'I tell youwhat, Cawlins, you're a sensible man--I'll let you into a secret! Whatdo you think--there's the deucedest pretty girl in the vessel, we'venone of us seen except myself; I caught a sight of her this verymawning. She don't visit the cuddy at all; papa's proud, you pusseeve--anabob, in short!' 'Oh dear!' said I. 'Yes, I do assure you, quite abew-ty! What's to be done?--we absolutely must meet her, eh, Cawlins?'Here I mused a bit. 'Oh!' said I, looking up again, 'shall we send adeputation, do you think?' 'Or get up a ball, Cawlins? Hallo, what'sthis?' said he, leaning over the breast-rail to look at a stout lady whowas lugging a chubby little boy of three or four, half dressed, up thepoop-stair, while her careful husband and a couple of daughters blockedit up above. 'See, Tommy, dear!' said she, 'look at the _land_--the niceland, you know, Tommy.' 'Come away, my love,' said her spouse, 'elseyou won't see it.' Tommy, however, hung back manfully. 'Tommy don't wantwook at _yand_,' sang out he, kicking the deck; 'it all such 'mell of asheep, ma; me wook at 'at man wis _gate feel_. Fare other _feel_, man?Oh, fat a ugwy man!' The honest tar at the wheel pulled up his shirt,and looked terribly cut at this plain remark on his phiz, whichcertainly wasn't the most beautiful; meanwhile he had the leech of themainto'gallant-sail shaking. 'Mind your helm, there,' sung out thesecond mate from the capstan. 'My good man,' said the lady, 'will you beso kind as to show us the land?' 'Ay, ay, sir,' growled he, putting uphis weather spokes; 'sorry I carn't, ma'am--please not to speak to theman at the wheel.' Jacobs was coiling down the ropes on a carronadeclose by, and stepped forward: 'Beg your ladyship's pardon,' said he,'but if ye'll give me charge o' the youngster till you goes on thepoop--why, I've got a babby at home myself.' The stout lady handed himover, and Jacobs managed the little chap wonderfully. This was the firsttime Tommy had been on deck since leaving home, and he couldn't see overthe high bulwarks, so he fancied it was a house he was in. 'Oh, suts big_tees, man_,' shouted he, clapping his hands as soon as he noticed thesails and rigging aloft; 'suts warge birds in a _tees_.' 'Ay, ay, mylittle man,' answered Jacobs, 'that's the wonderful _tree_. Did ye everhear Jack and the Bean-stalk, Tommy?' 'Oh, 'ess, to be soo, _man_,' saidTommy, scornfully, as if he should think he had.

  "'Well, little un,' said Jacobs, 'that's it, ye see. It grows up everynight afore Jack's door--and them's Jack an' his brothers a-comin' downout on the wonderfowl country aloft, with fruits in their hands.' Thelittle fellow was delighted, and for going aloft at once. 'Ye must waita bit, Tommy, my lad, till you're bigger,' said Jacobs; 'here, I'll showyou the country, though'; so he lifted the boy up to let him see thebright blue sea lying high away round the sky. In place of crying, as hewould have done otherwise, Tommy stared with pleasure, and finished byvowing to get as soon big as possible, Jacobs advising him to eat alwaysas hard as he had been doing hitherto.

  "That morning the breakfast party was in high spirits; Mr Finch, thechief officer, rigged up to the nines in white trousers and Company'sjacket, laying himself out to please the young ladies, with whom hebegan to be a regular hero. He was as blustering as a young lion, and assalt-tongued as a Channel pilot to the men; but with the ladies, on thepoop or in the cabin, he was always twisting his sea-talk into finelanguage, like what you see in books, as if the real thing weren't goodenough. He rubbed his hands at hearing the mate on deck singing out overthe skylight to trim yards, and gave a look along to the captain. 'Youmust understand, ladies,' said the mate, 'this is what we mariners callthe "ladies' wind"!' 'Oh, delightful!' 'Oh, _so_ nice!' 'You sailors_are_ so polite!' exclaimed the young ladies--'then does it actually_belong_ to us?' 'Why it's a _Trade_ wind, Miss Fortescue!' said Ford,the nautical cadet, venturing to put in a word; but the ladies paid noattention to him, and the chief mate gave him a look of contempt. 'Yousee, ladies, the reason is,' said the mate, in a flourishing way,'because it's so regular, and as gentle as--as--why it wafts your barkinto the region of, you see--the----' 'The "Doldrums,"' put in the thirdmate, who was a brinier individual by far, and a true seaman, but wishedto pay his compliments, too, between his mouthfuls. 'At any rate,' Finchwent on, 'it's congenial, I may say, to the feelings of the fair--youneed never touch her braces from one day to another. I just wish, MissFortescue, you'd allow me the felicity of letting you see how to put theship about.' 'A _soldier_ might put her in stays, miss,' said the thirdmate again, encouragingly, 'and out of 'em again; she's a remarkablyeasy craft, owing to her----' 'Confound it, Mr Rickett,' said the firstmate, turning round to his unlucky inferior, 'you're a sight too coarsefor talking to ladies. Well the captain didn't hear you!' Rickett lookeddumfoundered, not knowing what was wrong; the old ladies frowned; theyoung ones either blushed or put their handkerchiefs to their mouths,and some took the occasion for walking off.

  "The weather began to have a different turn already by the time we gotup--the clouds banking to leeward, the sea dusky under them, and theair-line between rather bluish. Two or three lazy gulls in our wakebegan to look alive and show themselves, and a whole black shoal ofporpoises went tumbling and rolling across the bows for half an hour,till down they dived of a sudden, head-foremost, one after another inthe same spot, like so many sheep through a gap.


  "My gentleman-mate was to be seen everywhere about the decks, and activeenough, I must say; the next minute he was amongst two or three youngladies aft, as polite as a dancing-master, showing them everything inboard and out, as if nobody knew it except himself. Here a young girl,one of Master Tommy's sisters, came skipping aft, half in a fright. 'Oh,Miss Fortescue!' cried she, 'just think!--I peeped over into a nastyblack hole there, with a ladder in it, and saw ever so many commonsailors hung up in bags from the ceiling. Oh, what do you think, one ofthem actually kissed his hand to me.' 'Only one of the watch belowawake, miss,' said the mate; 'impertinent swab--I only wish I knew whichit was.' 'Poor fellows,' said the young ladies, 'pray don't be harsh tothem; but what have they been doing?' 'Oh, nothing,' said he, with alaugh, 'but swing in their hammocks since eight bells.' 'Then are theyso lazy as to dislike getting up to such delightful-lookingoccupations?' 'Why, ma'am,' said the mate, staring a little, 'they'vebeen on deck last night two watches, of four hours each, I must say thatfor them.' 'Dear me!' broke out the ladies; and on this the chiefofficer took occasion to launch out again concerning 'the weary vigils,'as he called them, 'which we mariners have to keep, far distant fromland, without a smile from the eyes of the fair to bless us. But,however, the very thought of it gives courage to the sailor's manlyheart, to disregard the billows' fearful rage, and reef topsails in thetempest's angry height!' Thought I, 'He'd much better do it before.'However, the young ladies didn't seem to see that, evidently lookingupon the mate as the very pink of seamen! and he actually set a secondlower stud-sail, to show them how fast she could walk.

  "'D'ye know, sir,' put in the third mate, coming from forward, 'I'm indoubt it's going to be rather a sneezer, sir, if ye look round thelarboard stun-s'ls.' Sure enough, if our fine gentleman had had time,amidst his politeness, just to cast an eye beyond his spread of cloth,he would have noticed the clouds gathered all in a lump tonorth-eastward, one shooting into another--the breast of them loweringdown to the horizon, and getting the same colour as the waves, till itbulked out bodily in the middle. You'd have fancied the belly of itscarce half-a-mile off from the white yard-arms, and the hollow of ittwenty--coming as stealthily as a ghost, that walks without feet afteryou, its face to yours, and the skirt of its winding-sheet in'kingdom-come' all the while. I went up on the poop, and away behind thespanker I could see the sun gleam for one minute right on the eye of astray cloud risen to nor'-west, with two short streaks of red, purple,and yellow together--what is called a 'wind-gall'; then it was gone. TheAmerican was talking away with jovial old Rollock and Ford, who began tolook wise, and think there was mischief brewing in the weather. 'Mindyour helm there, sirrah!' sung out the mate, walking aft to the wheel,as everything aloft fluttered. 'She won't lie her course, sir,' said theman. 'All aback, for'ud!' hailed the men at work on the bowsprit; andhard at it went all hands, trimming yards over and over again; the windfreshening fast, stu'nsails flapping, booms bending, and the wholespread of canvas in a cumber, to teach the mate not to be in such ahurry with his absurd merchantman's side-wings next time. The laststu'nsail he hauled down caught full aback before the wheel could keepher away quick enough; the sheet of it hitched foul at the boom-end, andcrack through went the boom itself, with a smash that made the ladiesthink it a case of shipwreck commencing. The loose scud was flying fastout from behind the top of the clouds, and spreading away overhead, asif it would catch us on the other side; while the clouds themselvesbroke up slowly to both hands, and the north-east breeze came sweepingalong right into the three topsails, the wind one way and the seaanother. As she rounded away steadying before it, you felt the mastsshake in her till the topsails blew out full; she gave one sudden boltup with her stern, like an old jackass striking behind, which capsizedthree or four passengers in a heap, and next minute she was surgingalong through the wide heave of the water as gallantly as heart couldwish, driving a wave under her bows that swung back under thefore-chains on both sides, with two boys running up the rigging faraloft on each mast to stow the royals. The next thing I looked at waspoor Ford's nautical hat lifting alongside on the top of a wave, as ifit were being handed up to him; but no sooner seen, than it was down inthe hollow a quarter of a mile off, a couple of white gulls makingsnatches at it and one another, and hanging over it again with adoubtful sort of scream. Still the wind was as yet nothing to speak ofwhen once aft; the sea was getting up slowly, and the Indiaman's easyroll over it made everyone cheerful, in spite of the shifts they wereput to for getting below. When the bell struck for dinner, the sun waspretty clear, away on our starboard bow; the waves to south-westwardglittered as they rose; one side of the ship shone bright to the leechof the mainto'gallant-sail, and we left the second mate hauling down thejibs for want of use for them.

  "The splendid pace she went at was plain, below in the cuddy, toeverybody; you felt her shoving the long seas aside with the force of athousand horses in one, then sweep they came after her, her sternlifted, she rolled round, and made a floating rush ahead. In the middleof it, something darkened the half-open skylight, where I perceived theScotch second mate's twisted nose and red whiskers, as he squinted downwith one eye aloft, and disappeared again; after which I heard them clueup to'gallant-sails. Still she was driving through it rather too bodilyto let the seas rise under her; you _heard_ the wind hum off themain-topsail, and sing through betwixt it and the main-course, the scudflying over the skysail-mast truck, which I could see from below. Thesecond mate looked in once more, caught the first officer's eye with aglance aloft, and the gallant mate left attending to the ladies to go ondeck. Down went the skylight frame, and somebody carefully threw atarpaulin over it, so that there was only the light from the portwindows, by which a dozen faces turned still whiter.

  "The moment I shoved my head out of the booby-hatch, I saw it was liketo turn out a regular gale from nor'-east. Both courses brailed closeup, and blowing out like rows of big bladders; the three topsail-yardsdown on the caps to reef, their canvas swelling and thundering on thestays like so many mad elephants breaking loose; the wild sky ahead ofus staring right through in triumph, as it were, and the wind roaringfrom aft in her bare rigging; while a crowd of men in each top werelaying out along the foot-ropes to both yard-arms. Below, they weresinging out at the reef-tackles, the idlers tailing on behind from thecook to the cabin-boys, a mate to each gang, and the first officer, withhis hands to his mouth, before the wheel, shouting, 'Bear a hand!--d'yehear!----two reefs.' It did one's heart good, and I entered into thespirit of it, almost forgiving Finch his fine puppy lingo, when I sawhim take it so coolly, standing like a seaman, and sending his bull'svoice right up with the wind into the bellies of the topsails--so I e'enfell to myself, and dragged with the steward upon the mizzen reef-tackletill it was chock up. There we were, running dead before it, the hugewaves swelling long and dark after us out of the mist, then the tops ofthem scattered into spray; the glaring white yards swayed slowly overaloft, each dotted with ten or a dozen sturdy figures, that leant over,with the reef-points in their hands, waiting till the men at the_earings_ gave the word; and Jacobs' face, as he turned round to doso--hanging on heaven knows what at one of the ends--was as distinct aspossible against the gray scud miles off, and sixty feet above water. Amiddy, without his cap, and his hair blowing out, stood holding on inthe maintop to quicken them; the first mate waved his hand for thehelmsman to 'luff a little.' The ship's head was rounded slowly up asshe rose on a big blue swell, that caught a wild gleam on it fromwestward, when I happened to glance towards the wheel. I could scarcelytrust my eyes--in fact it had never been less in my mind since comingaboard than at that very point--but outside one of the round-housedoors, which was half open, a few feet from the bulwark I leant over--ofall moments in the day, _there_ stood Lota Hyde herself at last. Speakof faces!--why I hadn't even power to turn farther round, and if I washalf out of breath before, what with the wind and with pulling my share,I was breathless now--all my notions of her never came up to the look ofher face at that instant. She just half s
topped, as it were, at sight ofthe state of things, her hands letting go of the large shawl, and herhair streaming from under a straw hat tied down with a ribbon--her lipsparted betwixt dread and bewilderment, and her eyes wandering round tillthey settled to gazing straight at the scene ahead in pure delight. Iactually looked away aloft from her again, to catch what it was sheseemed to see that could be so beautiful!--the second reef just madefast, men crowding in to run down and hoist away with the rest, till,as they tailed along decks, the three shortened topsails rose faster upagainst the scud, and their hearty roaring chorus was as loud as thegale. 'Keep her away, my lad,' said the mate, with another wave of hishand; the topsails swelled fair before it, and the Indiaman gave aplunge right through the next sea, rising easily to it, heave afterheave. The setting sun struck two or three misty spokes of his wheelthrough a cloud, that made a big wave here and there glitter; the ship'swhite yards caught some of it, and a row of broad backs, with their feetstretching the foot-rope as they stowed the foresail, shone bright out,red, blue, and striped, upon the hollow of the yellow fore-topsail, inthe midst of the gale; while just under the bowsprit you saw her blackfigure-head, with his white turban, and his hand to his breast, giving acool salaam now and then to the spray from her bows. At that moment,though, Lota Hyde's eye was the brightest thing I could find--all theblue gone out of the waves was in it. As for her seeing myself, I hadn'thad space to think of it yet, when all of a sudden I noticed her glancelight for the first time, as it were, on the mate, who was standing allthe while with his back to her on the same plank of the quarter-deck.'Down main-course!' he sung out, putting one hand in his jacket-pocket;'down both tacks--that's it, my men--down with it!'--and out it flapped,slapping fiercely as they dragged it by main force into thebulwark-cleets, till it swelled steady above the main-stay, and the oldship sprang forward faster than before, with a wild wash of the Atlanticpast her sides.

  "'Another hand to the wheel, here!' said the first officer. He took alook aloft, leaning to the rise of her bows, then to windward as sherolled; everything looked trim and weatherly, so he stepped to thebinnacle, where the lamp was ready lighted; and it just struck me what asmart, good-looking fellow the mate was, with his sunburnt face; andwhen he went to work, straightforward, no notion of showing off.

  "'Confound it, though,' thought I of a sudden, seeing _her_ eyes fixedon him again, and then to seaward. 'Mr Macleod,' said he to the secondmate, 'send below the watch, if you please. This breeze is first-rate,though!'

  "When he turned round he noticed Miss Hyde, started, and took off hiscap with a fine bow. 'I beg pardon, ma'am,' said he, 'a trifle of windwe have. I hope, Miss Hyde, it hasn't troubled you in the round-house?'What Miss Hyde might have said I don't know, but her shawl caught a gustout of the spanker, though she was in the lee of the high poop; it blewover her head, and then loose--I sprang forward--but the mate had holdof it, and put it over her again. The young lady smiled politely to themate, and gave a cold glance of surprise, as I thought, at me. I feltthat moment I could have knocked the mate down and died happy. 'Why,sir,' said he, with a cool half-sneer, 'I fancied none of you gentlemenwould have favoured us this capful of wind--plenty of air there is ondeck, though.'

  "It just flashed through my mind what sort of rig I was in--I lookedover my infernal longshore toggery, and no wonder she didn't recollectme at all. '_Curse_ this confounded folly!' muttered I, and made a dartto run up the poop-steps, where the breeze took me slap aback, just asthe judge himself opened the larboard door. 'Why, Violet,' exclaimed he,surprised at seeing his daughter, 'are you exposing yourself to thisdisagreeable--I declare a perfect _storm_.' 'But see, papa!' said she,taking hold of his arm, 'how changed the sea is!--and the ship!--justlook where the sun was!' 'Get in--get in, do!' kept on her father; 'youcan see all that again in some finer place; you should have had aservant with you, at least, Violet.' 'I shall come out oftener than Ithought, papa, I can tell you!' said she, in an arch sort of way, beforeshe disappeared.

  "The mate touched his cap to the judge, who asked where the captain was.''Gad, sir,' said the judge crossly, 'the floor resembles anearthquake--every piece of furniture swings, sir; 'tis well enough forsleeping, but my family find it impossible to dine. If this_oolta-poolta_ continues in my apartments, I must speak to CaptainWilliamson about it. He must manage to get into some other part of thesea, where it is less rough,' saying which, he swayed himself in andshut the door.

  "I still kept thinking and picturing _her_ face--Lota Hyde's--when shenoticed the mate. After all, any one that knew tack from bowline mightreef topsails in a fair wind; but a girl like _that_ would make morecount of a man knowing how to manage wind and sea than of the Duke onhis horse at Waterloo beating Bonaparte; and as for talk, he would jawaway the whole voyage, no doubt, about moonlight and the ocean, and yourgenteel fancy mariners. 'By George, though!' thought I, 'if the mate's abetter man than me, hang me--it's all right; but burn my wig if I don'tgo and turn a Hindoo fakeer, with my one arm stuck up in the air till Idie. Go it, old lady,' said I, as I glanced over the side before goingbelow for the night, 'roll away, only shake something or other to _do_out of the pace you're going at.'