The Green Hand: Adventures of a Naval Lieutenant

by George Cupples

  CHAPTER X

  "However, the Indiaman's officers and crew had work enough in managingher at present: after a sunset more like the putting out of him thananything else, with a flaring snuff and a dingy sort of smoke thatfollowed, the wind grew from sou'-west into a regular long gale, thatdrove the tops of the heavy seas into the dead-lights astern, rising aftout of the dark like so many capes, with the snow drifting off them overthe poop. At midnight, it blew great guns, with a witness; the ship,under storm staysails and close-reefed main-topsail, going twelve knotsor more, when, as both the captain and mate reckoned, we were near StHelena on our present course, and to haul on a wind was as much as herspars were worth; her helm was put hard down, and we lay-to for morning,the ship drifting off bodily to leeward with the water. The night wasquite dark, the rain coming in sudden spits out of the wind; you onlyheard the wet gale sob and hiss through the bare rigging into her stormcanvas, when the look-out men ahead sung out, 'Land--land close tostarboard!' 'Bless me, sir,' said the mate to the captain, 'it's theRock--well that we _did_--' 'Hard up! hard up with the helm!' yelled themen again, 'it's a _ship_!'

  "I ran to the weather main-chains and saw a broad black mass, as itwere, rising high abeam, and seeming to come out from the black of thenight, with a gleam or two in it which they had taken for lights ashorein the island. The _Seringapatam's_ wheel was put up already, but shehung in the gale, doubtful whether to fall off or not; and the momentshe _did_ sink into the trough, we should have had a sea over herbroadside fit to wash away men, boats, and all--let alone the othership bearing down at twelve knots. 'Show the _head_ of the_fore-topmast-staysail_!' shouted I with all my strength to theforecastle, and up it went slapping its hanks to the blast--the Indiamansprang round heeling to her ports on the next sea, main-topsail beforethe wind, and the staysail down again. Next minute a large ship, withthe foam washing over her cat-heads, and her martingale gear drippingunder the huge white bowsprit, came lifting close past us--as black asshadows aloft, save the glimmer of her main-tack to the lanternsaboard--and knot after knot of dim faces above her bulwarks shot by,till you saw her captain standing high in the mizzen-chains, with aspeaking-trumpet. He roared out something or other through it, and theskipper sung out under both his hands, 'Ay, ay, sir,' in answer; but itturned out after that nobody knew what it was, unless it might be, as Ithought, '_Where_ are you going?' The minute following, we saw herquarter-lanterns like two will-o'-the-wisps beyond a wave, and she wasgone--a big frigate running under half her canvas, strong though thegale blew.

  "'Why, Mr Finch,' said Captain Williamson, as soon as we had time todraw breath, 'who was _that_ bid show the fo'topmast-stays'l; twan't_you_?' 'No,' said the mate, 'I'd like to know who had the hangedimpudence to give orders here without----' 'Well now, Finch,' continuedthe old skipper, 'I'm not sure but that was our only chance at themoment, sir; and if 'twas one of the men, why I'd pass it over, or evengive him an extra glass of grog in a quiet way.' No one could say who itwas, however; and, for my part, the sight of the frigate made me stillmore cautious than before of letting out what Westwood and I were. Infact, I couldn't help feeling rather uneasy, and I was glad to hear thesuperstitious old sailmaker whispering about how he feared there was noluck to be looked for 'when drowned men and _ghostesses_ began to workthe ship!'

  "The first streak of dawn was hardly seen, when a sail could be made outin it, far on our lee bow, which the officers supposed to be thefrigate. Westwood and I, however, were of opinion it was the Frenchbrig, although by sunrise we lost sight of her again. Everyone in thecuddy talked of our unfortunate friends and their melancholy fate; evenFord and Winterton were missed, while old Mr Rollock had been the lifeof the passengers. But there was naturally still more felt for the poorgirl Fortescue; it made all of us gloomy for a day or two; though thefresh breeze and the Indiaman's fast motion, after our wearisome spellof a calm, did a great deal to bring things round again. Westwood wasgreatly taken up with my account of the brig and her people, both of usagreeing there was somewhat suspicious about her, though I thought shewas probably neither more nor less than a slaver, and he had a notionshe was after something deeper: what that might be, 'twas hard toconceive, as they didn't appear like pirates. One thing, however, we_did_ conclude from the matter, that the brig couldn't have been at allinclined for visitors; and, in fact, there was little doubt but she_would_ actually refuse letting the boat aboard, if they reached her; soin all likelihood our unhappy friends had been swamped on that veryaccount, just as the squall came on. When this idea got about the ship,of course you may suppose neither passengers nor crew to have feltparticularly amiable towards the French vessel; and if we had met heragain, with any good occasion for it, all hands were much inclined togive her a right-down thrashing, if not to make prize of her as a badcharacter.

  "'Well, Tom,' said I to Westwood one day, 'I wish these good folksmayn't be disappointed, but I do suspect this blessed mate of ours willturn out to have run us into some fine mess or other with hisnavigation! Did you notice how _blue_ the sky looked this morning, overto eastward, compared with what it did just now where the sun _set_?''No,' said Westwood, 'not particularly; but what of that?' 'Why, in the_Iris_,' replied I, 'we used always to reckon that a sign, hereabouts,of our being near the _land_! Just you see now, to-morrow morning, ifthe dawn hasn't a hazy yellow look in it before the breeze fails; inwhich case 'tis the African coast to a certainty! Pity these "HysonMundungo" men, as Jack calls them, shouldn't have their eyes about themas well as on the log-slate. I daresay now,' continued I, laughing, 'youheard the first mate bothering lately about the great variation in thecompass here? Well, what do you suppose was the reason of it, but thatsly devil of a _kitmagar_ shoving in his block for grinding curry underthe feet of the binnacle every time he was done using it! I saw him geta kick one morning from the man at the wheel, who chanced to look downand notice him. Good solid iron it is, though painted and polished likemarble, and the circumcised rascal unluckily considered the wholebinnacle as a sort of second Mecca for security.' 'Hang the fellow!'said Westwood, 'but I don't see much to laugh at, Ned. Why, if you'reright, we shall all be soaked and fried into African fever beforereaching the Cape, and we've had misfortunes enough already. Only thinkof an exquisite creature like Miss----' 'Oh,' interrupted I, fancyingMaster Tom began lately to show sufficient admiration for her, 'betwixtan old humdrum and a conceited fool like that, what could you expect?All I say is, my dear parson, stand by for a pinch when it comes.'

  "On going down to tea in the cuddy, we found the party full of spirits,and for the first time there was no mention of their lostfellow-passengers, except amongst a knot of cadets and writers ratherelevated by the Madeira after dinner, who were gathered round theReverend Mr Knowles, pretending to talk regretfully of his Yankee friendMr Daniel Snout. 'Yes, gentlemen,' said the missionary, who was aworthy, simple-hearted person, 'in spite of some uncouthness, andperhaps limited views, the result of defective education, he was anexcellent man, I think.' 'Oh certainly, certainly,' said a writer,looking to his friends, 'and the one thing needful you spoke of justnow, sir, I daresay he had it always in his eye, now?' 'Mixed, I fear,'replied the missionary, 'with some element of worldly feeling, for inAmerica they _are_ apt to make even the soul, as well as religiousassociation, matter of commerce; but Mr Snout, I have reason to beassured, had the true welfare of India at heart. We had much interestingconversation on the subject.' 'Ah,' said the sharp civilians, 'he wasfond of getting information, was poor Daniel. Was that why he asked youso many questions about the Hindoo gods, Mr Knowles?' 'He alreadypossessed much general knowledge of their strange mythology himself,'answered the missionary, 'and I confess I was surprised at it,especially as he confessed to me that that gorgeous country, with itsmany boundless capabilities, should have occupied his thoughts more andmore from boyhood, amidst the secular activity of modern life--even asit occurred unto myself!'

  "Here the worthy man took off his large spectacles, gave them a wipe,and put them on again, while
he finished his tea. 'Before thisdeplorable dispensation,' continued he again, 'he was on the point ofrevealing to me a great scheme at once for the enlightenment, I believe,of that benighted land, and for more lucrative support to those engagedin it. I fear, gentlemen, it was enthusiasm--but I have grounds forthinking that our departed friend has left in this vessel many packagesof volumes translated into several dialects of the great Hindootongue--not omitting, I am convinced, the best of books.' 'Where?'exclaimed several of the cadets, rather astonished. '_Well!_ poor Snoutcan't have been such a bad fellow, after all!' 'All hum!' said thewriter, doubtfully, 'depend upon it. I should like now to have a peep atJonathan's bales!' 'I myself have thought also,' said the missionary,'it would gratify me to look into his apartment--and were it permittedto use one or two of the volumes, I should cheerfully on our arrival inBom----' 'Come along,' said the cadets--'let's have a look!--shouldn'twonder to see Daniel beside his lion yet, within! or hear "Guess Iain't."' 'My young friends,' said the missionary, as we all went alongthe lighted passage, 'such levity is unseemly'; and indeed the look ofthe state-room door, fastened outside, as the steward had left it beforethe gale came on, made the brisk cadets keep quiet till the lashing onit was unfastened--'twas so like breaking in upon a ghost. However, asit chanced, Mr Snout's goods had got loose during her late roll, andheaped down to leeward against the door--so, whenever they turned thehandle, a whole bundle of packages came tumbling out of the dark as itburst open, with a shower of small affairs like so many stones afterthem.

  "'What's all this?' exclaimed the cadets, stooping to look at thearticles by the lamp-light, strewed as they were over the deck. Thereverend gentleman stooped, too, stood straight, wiped his spectacles,and fixed them on his nose, then stooped again; at length one longexclamation of surprise broke out of his mouth. They were nothing butlittle ugly images done in earthenware, painted and gilt, and allexactly the same: the writer dived into a canvas package, and there wasa lot of a different kind, somewhat larger and uglier. Everyone madefree with a bale for himself, shouting out his discoveries to the rest.'I say, Smythe, this is Vishnu, it's marked in the corner!' 'I say,Ramsay, here's Brahma!' 'Ha! ha! ha! if I haven't got Seeva!' 'I say,what's this though?' screamed a young lad, hauling at the biggest baleof all, while the missionary stood stock upright, a perfect picture ofbewilderment, '_Lo!_' being all he could say. The lad had lighted on agross or so of hideous gentlemen and ladies with three heads and fivearms, packed nicely through each other in cotton, but inside thestate-room. At this last prize, however, the poor missionary could standit no longer. 'Oh! oh!' groaned he, clapping his hand to his head, andwalking slowly off to his berth; while, as the truth gleamed on thecadets and us, we sat down on the deck amidst the spoil, and roared withlaughter like to go into fits, at the unfortunate Yankee's scheme forconverting India.[19] I had found the American by no means to my fancyas a berth-mate, so, after some dealings with the steward, I not onlyhad secured a pretty comfortable berth for my poor friend Westwood, butone for myself. This had been, in short, soon afterwards managed, withthe help of some shifting among the best-natured of the young cadets.

  [19] It is here due to the credit of our friend the captain, who was not unusually imaginative for a sailor, to state, that this speculation, as a commercial one, is strictly and literally a _fact_, as the Anglo-Indian of Calcutta can probably testify. The bold and all but poetical catholicity of the idea could have been reached, perhaps, by the "progressing" American intellect alone, while Staffordshire, it is certain, furnished its realisation; the investment, it is nevertheless believed, proved eventually unprofitable.

  "'Well--hang me!' said a writer, as soon as he could speak, 'but this_is_ a stroke beyond the Society for Diffusing Useful Knowledge!' 'Everyman his own priest--ha! ha! ha!' shouted another. 'I say, Smythe,' sungout a cadet, 'just fancy--ha! ha! "D. Snout, Esquire, and Co."--ho! ho!ho! you know it's too rich to enjoy by ourselves, "_My_thullogy store,"Bombay, near the cathedral!' 'Cheap Brahmas, wholesale and retail--eh?families supplied!' 'By George! he's a genius lost!' said Smythe; 'butthe parson needn't have broken with him for that--I shouldn't wonder,now, if they had joined partnership, but Daniel might have thought ofmining all their clay heads with gunpowder and percussion locks, so thatthe missionary could have gone round afterwards and blown up heathenshipby a touch!'

  "The noise of all this soon brought along the rest of the gentlemen, andfew could help laughing. When the thing got wind on deck, however,neither the old skipper nor the men seemed to like it much; what withthe notion of the ship's being taken, as it were, by a thousand or twoof ugly little imps and Pagan idols, besides bringing up a drownedman's concerns, and 'yawhawing,' as they said, into his very door--itwas thought the best thing to have them all chucked overboard nextmorning.

  "'Twas a beautifully fine night, clear aloft, and the moon rising largeon our larboard bow, out of a delicate pale sort of haze, as the shipheaded south'ard with the breeze; for I marked the haze particularly, aswell as the colour of the sky, that lay high over it, like a deep-bluehollow going away down beyond, and filling up with the light. There wasno living below for heat, and the showers of cockroaches that wentwhirring at the lamps, and marching, with their horrid feelers out,straight up your legs; so, fore and aft, the decks were astir with usall. Talk of moonlight on land! but even in the tropics you have to seeit pouring right down, as it was then, the whole sky full of it aloft asthe moon drew farther up, till it came raining, as it were, in a singlesheet from one bend of the horizon to another, the water scarce ripplingto the breeze, only heaving in long low swells that you heard just washher bends; one track brighter than the rest, shining and glancing like alooking-glass drawn out, for a mile or so across our quarter, and theship's shadow under her other bow. You saw the men far forward in herhead, and clustered in a heap on the bowsprit-heel, enjoying itmightily, and looking out or straight aloft, as if to polish theirmahogany faces, and get their bushy whiskers silvered; while the awningsbeing off the poop, the planks in it came out like so much ivory fromthe shade of the spanker, which sent down a perfect gush of light oneveryone moving past. For the air, again, as all the passengers said, itwas balmy, though for my part--perhaps it might be a fancy of mine--butnow and then I thought it sniffed a little too much _that_ way to bealtogether pleasant in the circumstances.

  "Of course, no sooner had I caught sight of Sir Charles Hyde than Ilooked for his daughter, and at last saw someone talking to a young ladyseated near the after-gratings, with her head turned round seaward, whomit didn't require much guessing for me to name. Not having seen her atall since the affair of the boats, I strolled aft, when I was rathersurprised to find that her companion was Tom Westwood, and they seemedin the thick of an interesting discourse. The instant I got near,however, they broke it off; the young lady turned her head--and never,I'd swear, was woman's face seen fairer than I thought hers at thatmoment--when the bright moonlight, that had seemed trying to steal roundher loose bonnet and peep in, fell straight down at once from herforehead to her chin, appearing, as it were, to dance in under her longeyelashes to meet her eyes: while one fall of her brown hair hung brightin it, glistening against the shadow round her cheek, that drew thecharming line of her nose and lip as clear as the horizon on the sky!The very moment, in fact, that a bitter thought flashed into my mind,for to my fancy she looked vexed at seeing me, and a colour seemedmounting up to her cheek, even through the fairy sort of glimmer on it._Could_ Tom Westwood have been acting no more than the clerical nearsuch a creature? and if a fellow like him took it in his head, whatchance had _I_? The next minute, accordingly, she rose off her seat, andgave me a slight bow in answer to mine, and walked direct to the gallerystair, where she disappeared.

  "'We were talking of that unlucky adventure the other day,' saidWestwood, glancing at me, but rather taken aback, as I thought. 'Ay?'said I, carelessly. 'Yes,' continued he; 'Miss Hyde had no idea you andI were particularly acquainted, and seems to think me
a respectableclergyman, but I must tell you, Ned, she has rather a suspicious opinionof yourself!' 'Oh, indeed!' said I, suddenly. 'Fact, Ned,' said he; 'sheeven remembers having seen you before, somewhere or other--I hope, mydear fellow, it wasn't on the stage?' 'Ha! ha! how amusing!' I said,with the best laugh I could get up. 'At any rate, Collins,' he went on,'she sees through your feigned way of carrying on, and knows you'reneither griffin nor land-lubber, but a sailor, for I fancy this is notthe first time the young lady has met with the cloth! _What_ do yousuppose she asked me now, quite seriously?' 'Oh, I couldn't guess, ofcourse,' replied I, almost with a sneer; 'pray don't----' 'Why, sheinquired what could be the design of one concealing his profession socarefully--and actually appearing to be on a secret understanding withsome of the sailors! Directly after, she asked whether that brigmightn't really have been a pirate, and taken off the poor general, MissFortescue, and the rest?' 'Ah,' said I, coldly, 'and if I might ventureto ask, what did you----' 'Oh, of course,' replied Westwood, laughing,'I could only hide my amusement and profess doubts, you know, Ned!''Very good joke, Mr Westwood,' thought I to myself, 'but at least youcan't weather on _me_ quite so innocently, my fine fellow! I didn't_think_ it of him, after all! By Heaven, I did _not_!'

  "'By-the-by, Collins,' exclaimed Westwood in a little, as he kept hiseye astern, 'there's something away yonder on our lee quarter that I'vebeen watching for these last ten minutes--what do you think it may be?Look! just in the tail of the moonshine yonder!' What it might be, Icared little enough at the time, but I did give a glance, and saw alittle black dot, as it were, rising and falling with the long run ofthe water, apparently making way before the breeze. 'Only a bit of wood,I daresay,' remarked I; 'but whatever it is, at any rate, the drift willtake it far to leeward of us, so you needn't mind.' Here we heard asteward come up and say to the first officer, who was waiting with therest to take a lunar observation, that Captain Williamson had turned inunwell, but he wanted to hear when they found the longitude; accordinglythey got their altitude, and went on making the calculations on deck.'Well, steward,' said the mate, after a little humming and hawing, 'godown and tell the captain, in the meantime, about _five east_; but Ithink it's a good deal over the mark--say I'll be down myself directly.'

  "'A long sight _below_ the mark, rather!' said I, walking aft again,where Westwood kept still looking out for the black dot. 'You'll see itnearer now, Ned,' said he; 'more like a negro's head, or his hand, thana bit of wood--eh?' 'Curious!' I said; 'it lies well up for our beamstill, _'spite_ of the breeze. Must be a shark's back fin, I think,making for convoy.' In ten minutes longer the light swell in thedistance gave it a lift up fair into the moonshine; it gleamed for amoment, and then seemed to roll across into the blue glimmer of the sea.'I say, Collins,' said Westwood, gazing eagerly at it, ''tis more like abottle, to _my_ sight!' We walked back and forward, looking each timeover the taffrail, till at length the affair in question could be seendipping and creeping ahead in the smooth shining wash of the surface,just like to go bobbing across our bows and be missed to windward.'Crossing our hause I _do_ declare!--Hanged if _that_ ain'tfore-reaching on us, with a witness!' exclaimed the two of us together:'And a _bottle_ it _is_!' said Westwood.

  "I slipped down the poop-stair, and along to the forecastle, where Itold Jacobs; when two or three of the men went out on themartingale-stays, with the bight of a line and a couple of blocks in it,ready to throw round this said floating oddity, and haul it alongside asit surged past. Shortly after, we had it safe in our hands; asquare-built old Dutchman it was, tight corked, with a red rag round theneck, and crusted over with salt--almost like one of Vanderdecken'smessages home, coming up as it did from the wide glittering sea, of atropical moonlight night, seven weeks or so after our leaving land. Themen who had got it seemed afraid of their prize, so Westwood and I hadno difficulty in smuggling it away below to our berth, where we both satdown on a locker and looked at one another. 'What poor wretch hove thisoverboard, I wonder, now?' said he; 'I daresay it may have knockedabout, God knows how long, since _his_ affair was settled.' 'Why, forthat matter, Westwood,' replied I, 'I fancy it's much more important tofind there's a strong easterly current hereabouts just now.'[20]

  [20] Currents are designated from the direction they run _towards_; winds, the quarter they blow _from_.

  "Here Westwood got a corkscrew, and pulled out the cork with a trueparson-like gravity; as we had expected, there was a paper tacked to it,crumpled up, and scrawled over in what we could only suppose was_blood_.

  "'No. 20,' read he, 'what does that mean?' 'The twentieth bottlelaunched, perhaps,' said I, and he went on--'For God's sake, if you findthis, keep to the south-west--we are going that way, we think--we'vefallen amongst regular Thugs, I fear--just from the folly of these threegriffins--(they're looking over my shoulder, though)--we are notill-treated yet, but kept below and watched--yours in haste----' 'Whatthis signature is I can't say for the life of me, Ned; no date either.''Did the fellow think he was writing by post, I wonder?' said I, tryingto make it out. 'By the powers, Westwood, though,' and I jumped up,'that bottle _might_ have come from the Pacific, 'tis true--but what ifit were old Rollock, after all! _Thugs_, did you say? Why, I shouldn'twonder if the jolly old planter were on the hooks still. _That_rascally brig!' And accordingly, on trying the scrawl at the end, overand over, we both agreed that it was nothing but 'T. ROLLOCK.'"