The Green Hand: Adventures of a Naval Lieutenant

by George Cupples

  CHAPTER VII

  "Next evening, when the cuddy dinner was scarce over, I went up to thepoop, where there was no one to be seen; the sun just setting on ourstarboard-quarter in a golden blaze that stretched overhead, with flakesof it melting, as 'twere, all over the sky to port, and dropping in itlike threads of oil in water; the ship with a light breeze aft, andstu'nsails packed large upon her, running almost due for the line. Thewaves to westward were like liquid light, and the eddies round ourcounter came glittering out, the whole spread of her mizzen and maincanvas shining like gold cloth against the fore: then 'twas but theroyals and sky-sails brighter than ever, as the big round sun dippeddown with a red streak or two, and the red water-line, against his hotold face. Every blue surge between had a clear green edge about itscrest, the hollows turning themselves inside out from deep purple intobright blue, and outside in again--and the whole rim of the sea grew outcool and clear, away from the ship's taffrail. A pair of sharp-headeddolphins that had kept alongside for the last few minutes, swimming nearthe surface, turned tail round the moment I put my nose over thebulwark, and shot off like two streaks of a rainbow after theflying-fish.

  "I was just wondering where Lota Hyde could be this time, when on asudden I observed little Tommy poke his curly head out of thebooby-hatch, peeping cautiously round; seeing nobody, however, save theman at the wheel, who was looking over his shoulder at the sun, thesmall rogue made a bolt out of the companion, and scampered aft underthe awning to the judge's starboard door, with nothing on but hisnight-shirt. There he commenced kicking and shoving with his bare feetand arms, till the door flew open, and over went Tommy on his nose,singing out in fine style. The next thing I heard was a laugh like thesound of a silver bell; and just as the boy's sister ran up in a frightlest he had gone overboard, Violet Hyde came out leading the little chapwrapped in a long shawl that trailed astern of him, herself with a strawbonnet barely thrown upon her head. 'Tommy says you put him in bed toosoon, Jane!' said she, smiling. 'Iss!' said Master Thomas, stoutly, 'go'way, Dzane!' 'You hadn't bid me good-night--wasn't that it, Tom? Butoh! _what_ a sea!' exclaimed she, catching sight of it under the awning.The little fellow wanted to see it, too; so the young lady lifted him upin her arms, no small weight I daresay, and they both looked over thebulwark: the whole sky far out of the awning to westward being spottedwith orange scales, turning almost scarlet, faster than the dusk fromboth ends could close in; the clear greenish tint of it above theopenings of the canvas going up into fathomless blue overhead, thehorizon purple, and one or two still black clouds tipped with vermilionagainst the far sky--while the Indiaman stole along, scarce plashingunder her bends.

  "Every now and then you heard a whizz and a flutter, as the flying-fishbroke out of a bigger surge, sometimes just missing the ship's side; atlast two or three fell over the mizzen chains, and pop came one all of asudden right into the white breast of Miss Hyde's dress inside herscarf, where only the wings kept it from disappearing. She started, Janescreamed, but the little boy coolly pulled it out, commencing tooverhaul it in great delight. 'Oh, fat a funny ickoo bird!' shouted he;'it's fell down out of 'ese t'ees!' looking aloft. 'No, no,' said MissHyde, laughing, as she drew her shoulders together with ashiver--'birds' noses don't drop water! 'Twill die if you don't put itin again, Tommy--'tis a fish!' 'A fish!' said he, opening his eyeswider, and smacking his lips. 'Yes, Tommy eat it for my beckfust!'However, the young lady took it out of his hand, and dropped itoverboard; on which the small ogre went off rather discontented, andkissed her more as a favour than otherwise. It was almost dark already,the water shining up in the ship's wake, and the stars coming out aloft;so I was left wondering at the impudence of flying-fish, and theblessings of being a fat little imp in a frock and trousers, comparedwith this puzzle of a 'traverse,' betwixt _being_ a third lieutenant andhailing for a 'griffin.'

  "The night following, after a sultry hot day, the wind had varied a gooddeal, and the ship was running almost close-hauled on a warmsouth-easterly breeze, with somewhat of a swell in the water. Early inthe first watch there was a heavy shower, after which I went on deck,leaving Westwood at his book. The half-moon was just getting down toleeward, clear of a ragged dark cloud, and a long space of faint whitelight spread away on the horizon, behind the sheets of the sails hauledaft; so that you just saw a sort of a glimmer under them, on the blackheave of the swell between. Every time she rolled to leeward on it, agleam of the moonshine slipped inside the shadow of her high bulwarks,from one wet carronade to another, and went glistening over the moistdecks, and among the boats and booms, that looked like some big brute orother lying stretched out on his paws, till you saw the men's faces onthe forecastle as if they were so many mutineers skulking in the darkbefore they rush aft: then up she righted again, and all was darkin-board.

  "The awnings were off, and the gruff third mate creaking slowly to andfro in his soaked shoes; the judge stood talking with the captain beforeone of the round-house doors; directly after I noticed a young lady'sfigure in a white dress close by the mizzen-rigging, apparently intenton the sea to leeward. 'Well, now or never!' thought I, stepping over inthe shadow of the mainsheet. I heard her draw a long breath; and then,without turning her head at the sound of my foot, 'I wonder if there isanything so strange in India,' exclaimed she; '_is_ there now?' 'No, no,madam!' said I, starting, and watching as the huge cloud grew darker,with a rusty stain in it, while three or four broad-backed swells, onebeyond the other, rose up black against the setting moon, as if they'dplunge right into her. Miss Hyde turned round, with one hand on thebulwark to steady herself, and half looked at me. 'I thought,' saidshe--'where is papa?--I thought my father----' I begged pardon forintruding, but next minute she appeared to have forgotten it, and said,in a musing sort of way, partly to herself, partly to me--'I seem to_remember_ it all--as if I just saw that black wave--and--that monstrouscloud over again! Oh! really that is the _very_ same top it had_then_--see!'--'Yes,' said I, leaning forward, with a notion I _had_seen it before, though heaven knew when. 'Did you ever read aboutColumbus and Vasco di Gama?' asked she, though directly afterwards herfeatures broke into a laughing smile as she caught sight of mine--at thethought, I suppose, of my ridiculous figure the last time she saw me.'No, never,' said I; 'but look to windward, ma'am; 'tis coming on asquall again. For heaven's sake, Miss Hyde, go in! We're to have anothershower, and that pretty thick. I wonder the mate don't stow the royals.''What do you mean?' said she, turning. 'Why are you alarmed, sir? I seenothing particular.' The sea was coming over, in a smooth round-backedswell, out of a dirty, thick jumble of a sky, with a pitch-black linebehind--what Ford would have called 'wild' by daylight; but the younglady's eye naturally saw no more in it than a dark night.

  "Here the judge came over from the binnacle, giving me a nod, as much asto say he recollected me. 'I am afraid, sir,' said I, 'if you don't makehaste, you'll get wet.' 'How!' said Sir Charles, ''tis an exceedinglypleasant night, I think, after such a very hot day. They don't know howto cool rooms here--this perpetual wood retains heat till midnight, sir!That detestable pitch precludes walking--the sea absolutely glares liketin. _Why_ do you suppose so now--eh, young gentleman?' said he again,turning back, all of a sudden, with his daughter on his arm.

  "'Why--why--why, Sir Charles,' said I, hesitating betwixt sham innocenceand scarce knowing what reason to give; 'why, I just think--that is tosay, it's my feeling, you see.' 'Ah, ah, I _do_ see,' replied the judge,good-humouredly; 'but you shouldn't ape the sailor, my good fellow, as Ifancy you do a little. I don't particularly admire the class, but theyalways have grounds for what they say in their profession, frequentlyeven acute. At your aunt's, Lady Somers's now, Violet, who was naturallyso surrounded by naval officers, what I had to object to was, not theirwant of intelligence, but their forwardness. Eh--eh! who--what is_that_?' exclaimed he suddenly, looking straight up into the dark, asfive or six large drops fell on his face out of it. All at once youheard a long sigh, as it were, in the canvas aloft, a clap like two orthree carronades f
ired off, as all the sails together went into themasts--then a hum in the air far and near--and whish! rush! came therain in sheets and bucketfuls off the edge of a cloud over our veryheads, plashing and washing about the deck with coils of rope; shiprolling without a breath of wind in her sails; sails flapping out andin; the rain pouring down ten times faster than the scupper-holes wouldlet it out, and smoking grey in the dark hollow of the swells, that sankunder the force of it.

  "The first officer came on deck, roaring in the hubbub to clue up andfurl the royals before the wind came again. It got pitch-dark, youcouldn't see your hand before you, and we had all lost mark of eachother, as the men came shoving in between us. However, I knewwhereabouts Miss Hyde was, so I felt along the larboard rigging till Ifound a back-stay clasped in her hands, and the soaked sleeve of hermuslin dress, while she leant back on a carronade, to keep from beingjerked down in the water that washed up over her feet with every roll,full of ropes and a capstan bar or two. Without saying a word, I took upLota in my arms, and carried her aft in spite of the roll and confusion,steering for the glimmer of the binnacle, till I got her inside one oftheir own cabins, where there was a lamp swinging about, and laid her ona sofa. I felt somehow or other, as I went, that the sweet creaturehadn't fainted, though all the while as still as death; accordingly Imade off again at once to find the judge, who, no doubt, was calling forhis daughter, with a poor chance of being heard.

  "In a minute or two more the rain was over; it was light enough to makeout the horizon, as the belt of foam came broadening out of it; the shipgave two or three wild bounds, the wheel jolting and creaking; upswelled the black waves again over one side, the topsails flapped fullas the squall rushed roaring into them, and away she rose; then toreinto it like a scared horse, shaking her head and throwing thesnow-white foam into her fore-chains. 'Twas as much as three men coulddo to grind down her wheel, leaning and grinning to it; you saw just theIndiaman herself, scarce so far forward as the booms, and the broadswell mounting with her out of the dark, as she slowly squared yardsbefore it, taking in to'gallant-sails while she did so with hertopsail-yards lowered on the caps. However, the look of it was worsethan its force, else the swell wouldn't have risen so fast, as everysailor knew; and by two bells of the mid-watch she was bowling underall, as easy as before, the mate of the watch setting a stunsail.

  "When I went down, shaking myself like a Newfoundland, Westwood wasswinging in his cot with a book turned to the lamp, reading _DonQuixote_ in Spanish. 'Bless me, Ned!' said he, 'you seem to like it!paying fair and weathering it too!' 'Only a little adventure, Westwood!'said I, laughing. 'Why, here have I been enjoying better adventures thanwe seem likely to have,' said he, 'without stirring a hand, except forthe wild swings you gave me from deck. Here's _Don Quixote_----' 'DonQuixote be hanged!' said I: 'I'd rather wear ship in a gale, myself,than all the humbug that never happened--_out_ of an old play-book.What's the use of _thinking_ you see service, when you don't? After all,you couldn't _expect_ much till we've crossed the Line--nothing like thetropics, or the Cape, for thickening a plot, Tom. Then there's theMozambique, you know!' 'Well, we'll see,' said Westwood, lazily, andhalf asleep.

  "The whole next day would have been weary enough in itself, as not asingle glimpse of the fair Lota could I catch; and the weather, betweenthe little puffs of air and squalls we had, was fit to have melted poorFord to the bone, but for the rain. However, that day was sufficient, byfits and starts, to bring us up to the Line; and before crossing it,which we did by six o'clock in one of the black squalls, half of thepassengers had been pretty well ducked by Neptune and his gang besides.

  "Rare fun we had of it for three or four hours on end; the cadets andwriters showing fight in a body, the Yankee being regularly keelhauled,tarred, and feathered, though I believe he had crossed the Line twice byland; while the Scotch surgeon was found out, in spite his caution,never to have been lower than the West Indies--so he got double ration.A word to Jacobs took Westwood scot-free; but, for my own part, wishingof course to blind the officers, I let the men stick the tar-brush in mymouth the first word I spoke, and was shaved like the mischief, not tospeak of plumping afterwards behind the studding-sail curtain into threefeet water, where I absolutely saved Ford from drowning, he being assick as a dog.

  "Late at night the breeze held and freshened, and, being Saturday night,the gentlemen in the cuddy kept it uproariously after their troubles;drinking and singing songs--Tom Little's and your sentimental affairs;till, being a bit flushed myself, I was on the point of giving them oneof Dibdin's, when I thought better of it, and went on deck instead. Themate was there, however, and his red-whiskered Scotch sub with thetwisted snout, leaning on the capstan with their noses together. Thenight was dark, and the ship made a good noise through the water; so'Hang it!' thought I, 'somehow or other I'll have out a stave of"Black-eyed Susan" at the top of my pipe, though overboard I go for it.

  "There was an old square topsail-yard slung alongside to larboard, asfar as the quarter-boat, and I went up to the poop to get over and siton it; especially when I found Ford's friend the fat midshipman was inthe boat itself, 'caulking'[12] his watch out, as he did every night ina fresh place.

  [12] Sleeping on deck.

  "I was no sooner there again, than I saw a light in the aftermostgallery window, and took it in my head if I sung _there_, why, in placeof being afraid there was someone under her casement, that and the windand water together would put her to sleep, if she was the worse of lastnight--in fact, I may say I was a little '_slewed_'[13] at the time. Howto get there, though, was the matter, it being rather a nice practice tosling over an Indiaman's quarter-gallery, bulging out from her steepcounter; accordingly, first I took the end of coil round themizzen-shrouds, and made a bowline-knot to creep down thestern-mouldings with, and then swing free by help of a guide-line toboot. Just before letting go of the taffrail, another fancy struck me,to hitch the guide-line to the trigger of the life-buoy that hung readyfor use; not that I'd the notion of saving myself if I went overboard,but just because of the good joke of a fellow slipping his ownlife-buoy, and then cruising away, with a light at his mast-head, backto the Line.

  [Footnote 13: Anglice, _not_ sober.]

  "'Twas curious, but when I was 'two or three sheets in the wind,' farfrom growing stupid, I used always to get a sort of cunning that wouldhave made me try and cheat a purser; so away I lowered myself till therope was taut, when I slipped easy enough round the counter, below thewindow. Every time she rolled, out I swung, and in again, till Isteadied with my feet, slacking off the other line from one hand. Then Ibegan to give voice like old Boreas himself, with a sort of a notion, ateach shove I got, how I was rocking the Indiaman like a big cradle, asJacobs did his baby. All at once I felt the rope was _giving_ off thebelaying-pin, till I came down with a jolt under the window below; onlysinging the louder, as it was half open, and I could just look in. Withevery wash of the waves the water, a couple of fathoms under my feet,blazed up like fire, and the wake ran boiling out from the black sternby the rudder, like the iron out of a furnace; now and then there came asulky flare of dumb lightning to leeward, and showed the black swell outof the dark for miles.

  "I fancied I didn't care for the water, but I began to think 'twasrather uncomfortable the notion of sousing into such an infernallyflame-looking stream; I was actually in a fright at being boiled, andnot able to swim. So I dropped chorus to haul myself up, when of asudden, by the lamp inside the state-room, I saw Winterton and Ford comereeling in, one after the other, as drunk as lords. Winterton swayedabout quietly on his legs for a minute, and then looked gravely at Ford,as if he'd got a dreadful secret to make known.

  "'Ford!' said he. 'Ay,' said Ford, feeling to haul off histrousers--'ay--avast you--blub-lub-lubber!' 'I say, Ford!' said thecadet again, in a melancholy way, fit to melt a marling-spike, and thenfell to cry--Ford all the time pulling off his trousers, with a cigar inhis mouth, till he got on a chest, and contrived to flounder into hiscot with his coat on. After that
he stretched over to put the lamp out,carefully enough, but he let fall his cigar, and one leg of his nankeentrousers hung out of the cot, just scraping the deck every time heswung. I watched, accordingly, holding on by the sill, till I saw aspark catch in the stuff, and there it was, swinging slowly away in thedark, with a fiery ring creeping round the leg of the trousers, ready toblow into a flame as soon as it had a clear swing. No doubt the foolwould come down safe enough himself with his cot; but I knew Wintertonkept powder in the cabin sufficient to blow up the deck above, wherethat sweet girl was sleeping at the moment. 'Confound it,' I thought,quite cooled by the sight, 'the sooner I get on deck the better.'

  "However, you may fancy my thoughts when I heard men at the taffrail,hauling on the spanker-boom guys; so I held on till they'd go forwardagain; suddenly the mate's voice sung out to know 'what lubber hadbelayed the slack of a topsail clueline _here_?' Down I went with theword, as the rope was thrown off, with just time to save myself by aclutch of the port-sill at arm's-length--where, heaven knew, I couldn'tkeep long. The mate looked over and caught sight of my face, by aflicker of the summer lightning, as I was slipping down: I gave him onecurse as loud as I could hail, and let go the moulding. 'Man overboard,'shouted he, and the men after him; however, I wasn't altogetheroverboard yet, for I felt the other part of the rope bring me up with ajerk and a swing right under the quarter-boat, where I clung like a cat.

  "How to get on deck again without being seen was the question, andanxious enough I was at thought of the burning train inside, when outjumped someone over my head; I heard a splash in the water, and saw afellow's face go sinking into the bright wake astern, while the boatitself was coming down over me from the davits. I still had theguide-line from the life-buoy round my wrist, and one moment's thoughtwas enough to make me give it a furious tug, when away I sprang clearinto the eddies. The first thing I saw at coming up was the ship'slighted stern-windows driving to leeward, then the life-buoy flaring anddipping on a swell, and a bare head, with two hands, sinking a few feetoff. I made for him at once, and held him up by the hair as I struck outfor the buoy. A couple of minutes after, the men in the boat had hold ofus and it; the ship came sheering round to the wind, and we were veryshortly on board again.

  "'Confound it, Simm, what took you overboard, man?' asked the mid in theboat at his dripping messmate, the fat reefer. 'Oh, bother!' said he,'ifyou must know--why, I mistook the quarter-boats; I thought 'twas the_other_ I was in when you kicked up that shindy. Now I remember, though,there was too much _rain_ in it for comfort.' 'Well, youngster,' saidTom, the man-o'-war's-man, 'this here gentleman saved your life,anyhow!' 'Why, mate,' whispered Bill, ''tis the wery same greenhorn wepuckalowed so to-day. Didn't he jump sharp over, too?' 'Pull! for yourlives, my lads!' said I, looking up at Ford's window; and the moment wegot on deck, below I ran into the state-room, and cut Ford down by theheels, with the tinder hanging from him, and one leg of his trousershalf gone. As for the poor reefer, a pretty blowing up he got; the menswore I had jumped overboard after him, and the mate would have it that,instead of sleeping, he wanted to get into the judge's cabins;especially when next day Sir Charles was in a rage at his daughter beingdisturbed by some sailor or other singing outside.