The Green Hand: Adventures of a Naval Lieutenant

by George Cupples

  CHAPTER XII

  "While I was listening, I had scarcely noticed, that within the last fewminutes a light air had begun to play aloft among the higher canvas, afaint cat's-paw came ruffling here and there a patch of the water, tillby this time the Indiaman was answering her wheel again, and movingslowly ahead, as the breeze came down and crept out to the leeches ofher sails, with a sluggish lifting of her heavy fore-course. The menwere all below at breakfast, forward, and, of course, at that hour thepoop above me was quite a Babel of idlers' voices; while I looked intothe compass and watched the ship's head falling gradually off fromnorth-east-by-north, near which it had stuck pretty close sincedaybreak. The sun was brought before her opposite beam, and such aperfect gush of hazy white light shot from that quarter over thelarboard bulwarks, that thereaway, in fact, there might have been afleet of ships, or a knot of islands, and we none the wiser, as youcouldn't look into it at all.

  "The chief mate came handing a wonderfully timid young lady down thepoop-ladder with great care, and as soon as they were safe on thequarter-deck, she asked, with a confiding sort of lisp, 'And where arewe going _now_ then, Mr Finch?' 'Well, miss,' simpered he, 'wherever_you_ please, I'll be glad to conduct you!' 'Oh, but the ship I mean,'replied she, giggling prettily. 'Why,' said Finch, stooping down to thebinnacle, 'she heads due south-east at present, miss.' 'I _am_ so gladyou are going on again!' said the young lady; 'but oh! when shall we seedear _land_ once more, Mr Finch?' 'Not for more than a week, I fear,'answered the mate, 'when we arrive at the Cape of Good Hope. But there,miss, your poetic feelings will be gratified, I assure you. The hillsthere, I might say, Miss Brodie,' he went on, 'not to speak of thewoods, are quite dramatic! You mustn't suppose the rough mariner, rudeas he seems, Miss Brodie, is entirely devoid of romance in hissentiments, I hope!' and he looked down for the twentieth time thatmorning at his boots as he handed her down the cabin hatchway, longingto see the Cape, no doubt. 'Much romance, as you call it, there is inugly Harry yonder!' thought I; and comparing this sort of stuff, aft,with the matter-of-fact notions before the mast, made me the moreanxious for what might turn up in a few hours, with this gallant firstofficer left in full charge, and the captain, as I understood, unable toleave his cot. A good enough seaman the fellow was, so far as yourregular deep-sea work went, which those India voyagers had chiefly to dowith then; but for aught out of the way, or a sudden pinch, why, thepeace had just newly set them free of their leading-strings, and herethis young mate brought his new-fangled school navigation, forsooth, torun the _Seringapatam_ into some mess or other; whereas, in a case ofthe kind, I had no doubt he would prove as helpless as a child.

  "By this time, for my part, all my wishes for some ticklish adventurewere almost gone, when I thought of our feelings at the loss of theboat, as well as the number of innocent young creatures on board, withLota Hyde herself amongst them; while here had I got myself fairly setdown for a raw griffin. Yet neither Westwood nor I, unless it came tothe very worst, could venture to make himself openly useful! I waspuzzled both what to think of our exact case, and what to do; whereas apretty short time in these latitudes, as the foremast-man had said,might finish our business altogether; indeed, the whole look of things,somehow or other, at that moment, had a strange unsettled touch aboutit, out of which one unaccustomed to those parts might be sure somechange would come. The air, a little ago, was quite suffocating, theheat got greater; and the breeze, though it seemed to strengthen aloft,at times sank quietly out of her lower canvas like a breath drawn in,and caught it again as quietly ere it fell to the masts. What with theslow huge heave of the water, as it washed glittering past, and whatwith the blue tropical sky overhead, getting paler and paler at thehorizon astern, from fair heat--while the sunlight and the white haze onour larboard beam, made it a complete puzzle to behold--why, I felt justlike some fellow in one of those stupid dreams after a heavy supper,with nothing at all in them, when you don't know how long or how oftenyou've dreamt it before. Deuce the hand or foot you can stir, and yetyou've a notion of something horrid that's sure to come upon you.

  "We couldn't be much more than a hundred miles or so to south'ard of StHelena; but we might be two thousand miles off the land, or we might befifty. I had only been once in my life near the coast thereaway, andcertainly my recollections of it weren't the most pleasant. As for thecharts, so little was known of it that we couldn't depend upon them; yetthere was no doubt the ship had been all night long in a strong set ofwater toward north-east, right across her course. For my own part, I wasas anxious as anyone else to reach the Cape, and get rid of all thiscursed nonsense; for since last night, I saw quite well by her look thatViolet Hyde would never favour me, if I kept in her wake to the day ofjudgment. There was I, too, every time I came on deck and saw thoseround-house doors, my heart leapt into my throat, and I didn't know portfrom starboard! But what was the odds, that I'd have kissed the verypitch she walked upon, when _she_ wasn't for _me_!--being deep in lovedon't sharpen the faculties neither, and the more I thought of mattersthe stupider I seemed to get. 'Green Hand!' thought I, 'as Jacobs andthe larboard watch call me, it appears--why, they're right enough! Agreen hand I came afloat nine years ago, and, by Jove! though I know thesea and what belongs to it, from sheer liking to them, as 'twere--itseems a green hand I'm to stick--seeing I know so blessed little ofwomankind, not to speak of that whole confounded world ashore! With allone's schemes and one's weather-eye, something new always keeps turningup to show one what an ass he is; and hang me, if I don't begin tosuppose I'm only fit for working small traverses upon slavers andjack-nasty-faces, after all! There's Westwood, without troublinghimself, seems to weather upon me, with her, like a Baltimore clipper ona Dutch schuyt!' In short, I wanted to leave the _Seringapatam_ as soonas I could, wish them all a good voyage together away for Bombay, sitdown under Table Mountain, and then perhaps go and travel amongst theHottentots by way of a change.

  "The chief officer came aft towards the binnacle again, with a strut inhis gait, and more full of importance than ever, of course. 'Thisbreeze'll hold, I think, Macleod?' said he to the second mate, who wasshuffling about in a lounging, unseamanlike way he had, as if he feltuncomfortable on the quarter-deck, and both hands in his jacket pockets.'Well,' said the Scotchman, 'do ye not think it's too early begun, sir?'and he looked about like an old owl, winking against the glare of lightpast the mainsheet to larboard; 'I'll not say but it will, though,'continued he, 'but 'odsake, sir, it's terrible warm!' 'Can't be long erewe get into Cape Town now,' said the mate, 'so you'll turn the men ondeck as soon as breakfast's over, Mr Macleod, and commence giving her acoat of paint outside, sir.' 'Exactly, Mr Finch,' said the other, 'allhands it'll be, sir? For any sake, Mr Finch, give they lazy scoundrelssomething to do!' 'Yes, all hands,' said Finch; and he was going below,when the second mate sidled up to him again, as if he had somethingparticular to say. 'The captain'll be quite better by this time, nodoubt, Mr Finch?' asked he. '_Well_--d' ye mean?' inquired the mate,rather shortly; 'why no, sir, when the surgeon saw him in the morningwatch, he said it was a fever, and the sooner we saw the Cape the betterfor him.' 'No doubt, no doubt, sir,' said the second mate, thoughtfully,putting his forefinger up his twisted nose, which I noticed he did insuch cases, as if the twist had to do with his memory--'no doubt, sir,that's just it! The doctor's a sharp Edinbro' lad--did he see aucht bycommon about the captain, sir?' 'No,' said Finch, 'except that he wantedto go on deck this morning, and the surgeon took away his clothes andleft the door locked.' 'Did he, though?' asked Macleod, shaking hishead, and looking a little anxious; 'didna he ask for aucht inparticular, sir?' 'Not that I heard of, Mr Macleod,' replied the mate;'what do you mean?' 'Did he not ask for a green leaf?' replied thesecond mate. 'Pooh,' said Finch, 'what if he did?' 'Well, sir,' saidMacleod, 'neither you nor the doctor's sailed five voyages with thecaptain, like me. He's a quiet man, Captain Weelumson, an' well he knowshis calling; but sometimes warm weather doesn't do with him, moreespecial siccan warm weather as this, when the moon's full,
as it is thenight, ye know, Mr Finch. There's something else besides that, though,when he's taken that way.' 'Well, what is it?' asked the mate,carelessly. 'Oo!' said Macleod, 'it can't be _that_ this time, ofcourse, sir--it's when he's near the _land_! The captain knows the smellof it, these times, Mr Finch, as well as a cockroach does--an' it's thenhe asks for a green leaf, and wants to go straight ashore--I mind he didit the voy'ge before last, sir. He's a quiet man, the captain, as Isaid, for ord'nar'--but when he's roused, he's a----' 'Why, what was thematter with him?' said Finch, more attentive than before; 'you don'tmean to say?--go on, Mr Macleod.' The second mate, however, lookedcautious, closed his lips firmly, and twirled his red whiskers, as heglanced with one eye aloft again. 'Hoo!' said he, carelessly, 'hoo, it'snothing, nothing--just, I'm thinking, sir, what they call disgestionashore--all frae the stommach, Mr Finch. We used just for to lock thestate-room door, an' never let on we heard--but at any rate, sir, _this_is no the thing at all, ye know! Mester Semm,' continued he to the fatmidshipman, who came slowly up from the steerage, picking his teeth witha pocket-knife, 'go forrid and get the bo'sun to turn up all hands.'

  "'Sir,' said I, stepping up to the mate next moment, before theround-house, 'might I use the freedom of asking whereabouts we are atpresent?' Finch gave me a look of cool indifference, without stirringhead or hand; which I saw, however, was put on, as, ever since ourboating affair, the man evidently detested me, with all his pretendedscorn. 'Oh certainly, sir!' said he, 'of course!--sorry I haven't theship's log here to show you--but it's two hundred miles or so below StHelena, eight hundred miles odd off the south-west African coast, with alight westerly breeze bound for the Cape of Good Hope--so after that youcan look about you, sir!' 'Are you _sure_ of all that, sir?' asked I,seriously. 'Oh no, of course not!' said he, still standing as before,'not in the least, sir! It's nothing but quadrant, sextant, andchronometer work, after all--which every young gentleman don't believein!' Then he muttered aloud, as if to himself, 'Well, if the captain_should_ chance to ask for a _green_ leaf, I know where to find it forhim!'

  "I was just on the point of giving him some angry answer or other, andperhaps spoiling all, when I felt a tap on my shoulder, and on turninground saw the Indian judge, who had found me in the way either of hispassage or his prospect, on stepping out of the starboard door. 'Eh!'said he, jocularly, as I begged his pardon, 'eh, young sir--I'venothing to do with pardons--always leave that to the governor-generaland councillors! Been doing anything wrong, then? Ah, what's this--stillcalm, or some of your wind again, Mr Officer?' 'A fine breeze like tohold, Sir Charles,' answered the mate, all bows and politeness. 'So!'said Sir Charles; 'but I don't see Captain Williamson at all thismorning--where is he?' 'I am sorry to say he is very unwell, SirCharles,' said Finch. 'Indeed!' exclaimed the judge, with whom thecaptain stood for all the seamanship aboard, and looking round againrather dissatisfied. 'Don't like that, though. I hope he won't be longunable to attend to things, sir--let me know as soon as he is recovered,if you please.' 'Certainly, Sir Charles,' said the chief officer,touching his cap with some appearance of pique; 'but I hope, sir, Iunderstand my duties in command, Sir Charles.' 'Daresay, sir,' said thejudge, '_as_ officer, probably. Commander absent--horrible accidentsalready,' he muttered, crossly, changing his usual high sharp key to aharsh croak, like a saw going through a heavy spar, 'something sure togo wrong--wish we'd done with this deuced tiresome voyage. Ha, younggentleman,' exclaimed he, turning as he went in, 'd'ye playchess--suppose not--eh?' 'Why yes, sir,' said I, 'I do.' 'Well,'continued he, overhauling me more carefully than he had done before,though latterly I had begun to be somewhat in his good graces when wemet by chance, 'after all, you've a _chess_ eye, if you know the game atall. Come in, then, for God's sake, and let's begin. Ever since the poorbrigadier _went_, I've had only myself or a girl to play against. 'Gad,sir, there is something, I can't express how horrible to my mind, inbeing matched against _nobody_--or, what's worse, against a _woman_! Butrecollect, young gentleman, I can not bear a tyro'; and he glanced at meas we walked into the large poop-cabin as sharply and as cold as anor'-wester, ere it breaks to windward.

  "Now I happened to know the game, and to be particularly fond of it; so,restless as I felt otherwise, I gave the old nabob a quiet nod, laiddown my griffin-looking straw hat on the sofa, and in two minutes therewe were, sitting opposite over a splendid China-made chess-board, withelephants, emperors, mandarins, and Chinamen, all square and ataunto,as if they'd been set ready for days. The dark _kitmagar_ commencedfanning over his master's head with a bright feather punka, the othernative servant handed him his twisted hookah and lighted it, after whichhe folded his arms and stood looking down on the board like a pundit atsome campaign of the Great Mogul; while the judge himself waited for myfirst move, as if it had been some of our plain English fellows inHindostan commencing against your whole big India hubbub and finery, toget hold of it all in the end. For my part I sat at first all of atingle and tremble, thinking how near his lovely daughter might be; andthere were the breakfast-cups laid out on a round table at the otherside, behind me.

  "However, I made my move, Sir Charles made his, and pitched into thegame in a half-impatient, half long-headed sort of way, anxious to getto the thick of it, as it were, once more. Not a word was said, and youonly heard the suck of the smoke bubbling through the water-bottle ofhis pipe, after each move the judge made; till I set myself to the playin right earnest, and, owing to the old gentleman's haste at thebeginning, or his over-sharpness, I hooked him into a mess with which Iused to catch the old hands at chess in the cockpit, just by fancyingwhat _they_ meant to be at. The judge lifted his head, looked at me, andwent on again. 'Your queen is in check, Sir Charles!' said I, next time,by way of a polite hint. '_Check_, though, young gentleman!' said he,chuckling, as he dropped one of his outlandish knights, which I wasn'tyet up to the looks of, close to the windward of my blessed old Turk ofa king; so the skirmish was just getting to be a fair set-to, when Ichanced to lift my eyes, and saw the door from the after-cabin open,with Miss Hyde coming through. 'Now, papa,' exclaimed she on the moment,'you must come to breakfast'--when all of a sudden, at seeing anotherman in the cabin, she stopped short. Being not so loud and griffin-likein my toggery that morning, and my hat off, the young lady didn'trecognise me at first--though the next minute, I saw by her colour andher astonished look, she not only did that, but something else--no doubtremembering at last where she had seen me ashore. 'Well, child,' saidthe judge, 'make haste with it, then!--Recollect where we are, now,young gentleman--and come to breakfast.' She had a pink muslinmorning-dress on, with her brown hair done up like the Virgin Mary in apicture, and the sea had taken almost all the paleness off her cheekthat it had in the ball-room at Epsom, a month or two ago--and, by Jove!when I saw her begin to pour out the tea out of the silver teapot, Ididn't know _where_ I was! 'Oh, I forgot,' said the judge, waving hishand from me to her, in a hurry, 'Mr Robins, Violet! ho, _kitmagar_,curry l'ao!' 'Oh,' said she, stiffly, with a cold turn of her prettylip, 'I have met Mr--Mr----' 'Collins, ma'am,' said I. 'I have met thisgentleman by accident _before_.' 'So you have--so you have,' said herfather; 'but you play chess well, Mr--a--a--what's his name?--ah! Colly.Gad, you play _well_, sir--we must have it out!'

  "The young lady glanced at me again with a sort of astonishment; at lastshe said, no doubt for form's sake, though as indifferently as possible:'You have known your friend the missionary gentleman long, I believe,sir?--the Reverend Mr Thomas--I think that is his name?' 'Oh no, ma'am!'said I hastily, for the judge was the last man I wished should joinWestwood and me together, 'only since we crossed the Line, or so.' 'Why,I thought he said you were at school together!' said she, in surprise.'Why--hem--certainly not, ma'am--a--a--I--a--a--I don't remember thegentleman there,' I blundered out. 'Eh, what?--check to your queen,young gentleman, surely?' asked Sir Charles. 'What's this, though!Always like to hear a mystery explained, so'--and he gave me one of hissharp glances. 'Why, why--surely, young man, now I think of it in thatway, I've see
n you before in some peculiar circumstances or other--onland, too. Why, where was it--let me see now?' putting his finger to hisforehead to think; while I sat pretty uneasy, like a small pawn that hadbeen trying to get to the head of the board, and turn into a knight or abishop, when it falls foul of a grand figured-out king and queen.However, the queen is the only piece you need mind at a distance, andblessed hard it is to escape from _her_, of course. Accordingly, I caredlittle enough for the old nabob finding out I had gone in chase of them;but there sat his charming little daughter, with her eyes on hertea-cup; and whether the turn of her face meant coolness, or malice, oramusement, I didn't know--though she seemed a little anxious too, Ithought, lest her father should recollect me.

  "'It wasn't _before_ me, young man?' asked he, looking up of a sudden:'no, that must have been in India--_must_ have been in England, when Iwas last there--let me see.' And I couldn't help fancying what a man'sfeelings must be, tried for his life, as I caught a side-view of histemples working, dead in my wake, as it were. The thing was laughableenough, and for a moment I met Lota's eye as he mentioned England--'twastoo short a glimpse, though, to make out; and, thought I, 'he'll be downon Surrey directly, and then Croydon--last of all, the back of hisgarden-wall, I suppose!' 'Check' it was, and what I was going to say Icouldn't exactly conceive, unless I patched up some false place orother, with matters to match, and mentioned it to the old fellow, thoughsmall chance of its answering with such a devil of a lawyer--when all atonce I thought I heard a hail from aloft; then the second mate's voiceroared close outside, 'Hullo!--aloft there!' The next moment I startedup, and looked at Miss Hyde, as I heard plainly enough the cry, 'On deckthere--land O!' I turned round at once, and walked out of theround-house to the quarter-deck, where, two minutes after, the whole ofthe passengers were crowding from below, the judge and his daughteralready on the poop. Far aloft, upon the fore-to'-gallant-yard, in thehot glare of the sun, a sailor was standing with his hand over his eyes,and looking to the horizon, as the Indiaman stood quietly before thelight breeze. 'Where-away-ay?' was the next hail from the deck. 'Broadon our larboard bow, sir,' was the answer."