Afloat and Ashore: A Sea Tale

by James Fenimore Cooper

  CHAPTER III.

  "There's a youth in this city, it were a great pity That he from our lasses should wander awa'; For he's bonny and braw, weel-favoured witha', And his hair has a natural buckle and a'. His coat is the hue of his bonnet so blue; His pocket is white as the new-driven snaw; His hose they are blue, and his shoon like the slae, And his clean siller buckles they dazzle us a'." BURNS.

  We had selected our time well, as respects the hour of departure. It wasyoung ebb, and the boat floated swiftly down the creek, though the highbanks of the latter would have prevented our feeling any wind, evenif there were a breeze on the river. Our boat was of some size,sloop-rigged and half-decked; but Neb's vigorous arms made her movethrough the water with some rapidity, and, to own the truth, the ladsprang to his work like a true runaway negro. I was a skilful oarsmanmyself, having received many lessons from my father in early boyhood,and being in almost daily practice for seven mouths in the year. Theexcitement of the adventure, its romance, or what for a short timeseemed to me to be romance, and the secret apprehension of beingdetected, which I believe accompanies every clandestine undertaking,soon set me in motion also. I took one of the oars, and, in less thantwenty minutes, the Grace & Lucy, for so the boat was called, emergedfrom between two, high, steep banks, and entered on the broader bosom ofthe Hudson.

  Neb gave a half-suppressed, negro-like cry of exultation, as we shotout from our cover, and ascertained that there was a pleasant and fairbreeze blowing. In three minutes we had the jib and mainsail on theboat, the helm was up, the sheet was eased off, and we were glidingdown-stream at the rate of something like five miles an hour. I took thehelm, almost as a matter of course; Rupert being much too indolent to doanything unnecessarily, while Neb was far too humble to aspire to suchan office while Master Miles was there, willing and ready. In that day,indeed, it was so much a matter of course for the skipper of a Hudsonriver craft to steer, that most of the people who lived on the banksof the stream imagined that Sir John Jervis, Lord Anson, and the othergreat English admirals of whom they had read and heard, usually amusedthemselves with that employment, out on the ocean. I remember the heartylaugh in which my unfortunate father indulged, when Mr. Hardinge onceasked him how he could manage to get any sleep, on account of thisvery duty. But we were very green, up at Clawbonny, in most things thatrelated to the world.

  The hour that succeeded was one of the most painful I ever passed in mylife. I recalled my father, his manly frankness, his liberal bequests inmy favour, and his precepts of respect and obedience; all of which, itnow seemed to me, I had openly dishonoured. Then came the image of mymother, with her love and sufferings, her prayers, and her mild butearnest exhortations to be good. I thought I could see both theseparents regarding me with sorrowful, though not with reproachfulcountenances. They appeared to be soliciting my return, with a speciesof silent, but not the less eloquent, warnings of the consequences.Grace and Lucy, and their sobs, and admonitions, and entreaties toabandon my scheme, and to write, and not to remain away long, and allthat tender interest had induced two warm-hearted girls to utter atour parting, came fresh and vividly to my mind. The recollection provednearly too much for me. Nor did I forget Mr. Hardinge, and the distresshe would certainly feel, when he discovered that he had not only losthis ward, but his only son. Then Clawbonny itself, the house, theorchards, the meadows, the garden, the mill, and all that belonged tothe farm, began to have a double value in my eyes, and to serve as somany cords attached to my heart-strings, and to remind me that the rover

  "Drags at each remove a lengthening chain.'"

  I marvelled at Rupert's tranquility. I did not then understand hischaracter as thoroughly as I subsequently got to know it. All that hemost prized was with him in the boat, in fact, and this lessened hisgrief at parting from less beloved objects. Where Rupert was, there washis paradise. As for Neb, I do believe his head was over his shoulder,for he affected to sit with his face down-stream, so long as the hillsthat lay in the rear of Clawbonny could be at all distinguished. Thismust have proceeded from tradition, or instinct, or some latent negroquality; for I do not think the fellow fancied _he_ was running away. Heknew that his two young masters were; but he was fully aware he was myproperty, and no doubt thought, as long as he staid in my company, hewas in the line of his legitimate duty. Then it was _my_ plan that heshould return with the boat, and perhaps these backward glances were nomore than the shadows of coming events, cast, in his case, _behind_.

  Rupert was indisposed to converse, for, to tell the truth, he had eatena hearty supper, and began to feel drowsy; and I was too much wrapped upin my own busy thoughts to solicit any communications. I found a sort ofsaddened pleasure in setting a watch for the night, therefore, which hadan air of seaman-like duty about it, that in a slight degree revivedmy old taste for the profession. It was midnight, and I took the firstwatch myself, bidding my two companions to crawl under the half-deck,and go to sleep. This they both did without any parley, Rupert occupyingan inner place, while Neb lay with his legs exposed to the night air.

  The breeze freshened, and for some time I thought it might be necessaryto reef, though we were running dead before the wind. I succeeded inholding on, however, and I found the Grace & Lucy was doing wonders inmy watch. When I gave Rupert his call at four o'clock, the boat was justapproaching two frowning mountains, where the river was narrowed toa third or fourth of its former width; and, by the appearance of theshores, and the dim glimpses I had caught of a village of no great sizeon the right bank, I knew we were in what is called Newburgh Bay. Thiswas the extent of our former journeyings south, all three of us havingonce before, and only once, been as low as Fishkill Landing, which liesopposite to the place that gives this part of the river its name.

  Rupert now took the helm, and I went to sleep. The wind still continuedfresh and fair, and I felt no uneasiness on account of the boat. It istrue, there were two parts of the navigation before us of which I hadthought a little seriously, but not sufficiently so to keep me awake.These were the Race, a passage in the Highlands, and Tappan Sea; bothpoints on the Hudson of which the navigators of that classical streamwere fond of relating the marvels. The first I knew was formidable onlylater in the autumn, and, as for the last, I hoped to enjoy some of itswonders in the morning. In this very justifiable expectation, I fellasleep.

  Neb did not call me until ten o'clock. I afterwards discovered thatRupert kept the helm for only an hour, and then, calculating that fromfive until nine were four hours, he thought it a pity the negro shouldnot have his share of the glory of that night. When I was awakened, itwas merely to let me know that it was time to eat something--Neb wouldhave starved before he would precede his young master in that necessaryoccupation--and I found Rupert in a deep and pleasant sleep at my side.

  We were in the centre of Tappan, and the Highlands had been passed insafety. Neb expatiated a little on the difficulties of the navigation,the river having many windings, besides being bounded by high mountains;but, after all, he admitted that there was water enough, wind enough,and a road that was plain enough. From this moment, excitement kept uswide awake. Everything was new, and everything seemed delightful. Theday was pleasant, the wind continued fair, and nothing occurred to marour joy. I had a little map, one neither particularly accurate, nor verywell engraved; and I remember the importance with which, after havingascertained the fact myself, I pointed out to my two companions therocky precipices on the western bank, as New Jersey! Even-Rupert wasstruck with this important circumstance. As for Neb, he was actually inecstasies, rolling his large black eyes, and showing his white teeth,until he suddenly closed his truly coral and plump lips, to demand whatNew Jersey meant? Of course I gratified this laudable desire to obtainknowledge, and Neb seemed still more pleased than ever, now he hadascertained that New Jersey was a State. Travelling was not as muchof an every-day occupation, at that time, as it is now; and it was, intruth, something for three American lads, all under nineteen, to be ableto say that they had seen a Stat
e, other than their own.

  Notwithstanding the rapid progress we had made for the first few hoursof our undertaking, the voyage was far from being ended. About noon thewind came out light from the southward, and, having a flood-tide, wewere compelled to anchor. This made us all uneasy, for, while we werestationary, we did not seem to be running away. The ebb came again, atlength, however, and then we made sail, and began to turn down with thetide. It was near sunset before we got a view of the two or threespires that then piloted strangers to the town. New York was not the"commercial emporium" in 1796; so high-sounding a title, indeed, scarcebelonging to the simple English of the period, it requiring a verygreat collection of half-educated men to venture on so ambitious anappellation--the only emporium that existed in America, during thelast century, being a slop-shop in Water street, and on the island ofManhattan. _Commercial_ emporium was a flight of fancy, indeed, thatmust have required a whole board of aldermen, and an extra supply ofturtle, to sanction. What is meant by a _literary_ emporium, I leavethose editors who are "native and to the _manor_ born," to explain.

  We first saw the State Prison, which was then new, and a most imposingedifice, according to our notions, as we drew near the town. Like thegallows first seen by a traveller in entering a strange country, it wasa pledge of civilization. Neb shook his head, as he gazed at it, with amoralizing air, and said it had a "wicked look." For myself, I own Idid not regard it altogether without dread. On Rupert it made lessimpression than on any of the three. He was always somewhat obtuse onthe subject of morals.{*]

  {Footnote *: It may be well to tell the European who shall happen toread this book, that in America a "State's Prison" is not for prisonersof State, but for common rogues: the term coming from the name borne bythe local governments.]

  New York, in that day, and on the Hudson side of the town, commenceda short distance above Duane street. Between Greenwich, as the littlehamlet around the State Prison was called, and the town proper, was aninterval of a mile and a half of open fields, dotted here and there withcountry-houses. Much of this space was in broken hills, and a few pilesof lumber lay along the shores. St. John's church had no existence, andmost of the ground in its vicinity was in low swamp. As we glidedalong the wharves, we caught sight of the first market I had then everseen--such proofs of an advanced civilization not having yet made theirway into the villages of the interior. It was called "The Bear," fromthe circumstance that the first meat ever exposed for sale in it was ofthat animal; but the appellation has disappeared before the intellectualrefinement of these later times--the name of the soldier and statesman,Washington, having fairly supplanted that of the bear! Whether thisgreat moral improvement was brought about by the Philosophical Society,or the Historical Society, or "The Merchants," or the Aldermen of NewYork, I have never ascertained. If the latter, one cannot but admiretheir disinterested modesty in conferring this notable honour on theFather of his country, inasmuch as all can see that there never has beena period when their own board has not possessed distinguished members,every way qualified to act as god-fathers to the most illustriousmarkets of the republic. But Manhattan, in the way of taste, has neverhad justice done it. So profound is its admiration for all the higherqualities, that Franklin and Fulton have each a market to himself, inaddition to this bestowed on Washington. Doubtless there would havebeen Newton Market, and Socrates Market, and Solomon Market, but forthe patriotism of the town, which has forbidden it from going out ofthe hemisphere, in quest of names to illustrate. Bacon Marketwould doubtless have been too equivocal to be tolerated, under anycircumstances. Then Bacon was a rogue, though a philosopher, and marketsare always appropriated to honest people. At all events, I am rejoicedthe reproach of having a market called "The Bear" has been taken away,as it was tacitly admitting our living near, if not absolutely in, thewoods.

  We passed the Albany basin, a large receptacle for North River craft,that is now in the bosom of the town and built on, and recognized in itthe mast-head of the Wallingford. Neb was shown the place, for he was tobring the boat round to it, and join the sloop, in readiness to returnin her. We rounded the Battery, then a circular stripe of grass, withan earthen and wooden breastwork running along the margin of thewater, leaving a narrow promenade on the exterior. This brought us toWhite-Hall, since so celebrated for its oarsmen, where we put in for ahaven. I had obtained the address of a better sort of sailor-tavern inthat vicinity, and, securing the boat, we shouldered the bags, got a boyto guide us, and were soon housed. As it was near night, Rupert andI ordered supper, and Neb was directed to pull the boat round to thesloop, and to return to us in the morning; taking care, however, not tolet our lodgings be known.

  The next day, I own I thought but little of the girls, Clawbonny, or Mr.Hardinge. Neb was at my bed-side before I was up, and reported the Grace& Lucy safe alongside of the Wallingford, and expressed himself ready towait on me in my progress in quest of a ship. As this was the moment ofaction, little was said, but we all breakfasted, and sallied forth, ingood earnest, on the important business before us. Neb was permittedto follow, but at such a distance as to prevent his being suspected ofbelonging to our party--a gentleman, with a serving-man at his heels,not being the candidate most likely to succeed in his application for aberth in the forecastle.

  So eager was I to belong to some sea-going craft, that I would not stopeven to look at the wonders of the town, before we took the directionof the wharves. Rupert was for pursuing a different policy, having aninherent love of the genteeler gaieties of a town, but I turned a deafear to his hints, and this time I was master. He followed me with somereluctance, but follow he did, after some remonstrances that borderedon warmth. Any inexperienced eye that had seen us passing, would havemistaken us for two well-looking, smart young sailor-boys, who hadjust returned from a profitable voyage, and who, well-clad, tidy andsemi-genteel, were strolling along the wharves as _admirateurs_, not tosay critics, of the craft. _Admirateurs_ we were, certainly, or _I_ was,at least; though knowledge was a point on which we Were sadly deficient.

  The trade of America was surprisingly active in 1797. It had been preyedupon by the two great belligerents of the period, England and France,it is true; and certain proceedings of the latter nation were about tobring the relations of the two countries into a very embarrassed state;but still the shipping interest was wonderfully active, and, as a whole,singularly successful. Almost every tide brought in or took out shipsfor foreign ports, and scarce a week passed that vessels did not arrivefrom, or sail for, all the different quarters of the world. An Indiaman,however, was our object; the voyage being longer, the ships better, andthe achievement greater, than merely to cross the Atlantic and return.We accordingly proceeded towards the Fly Market, in the vicinity ofwhich, we had been given to understand, some three or four vessels ofthat description were fitting out. This market has since used its wingsto disappear, altogether.

  I kept my eyes on every ship we passed. Until the previous day, I hadnever seen a square-rigged vessel; and no enthusiast in the arts evergloated on a fine picture or statue with greater avidity than my souldrank in the wonder and beauty of every ship I passed. I had a large,full-rigged model at Clawbonny; and this I had studied under my fatherso thoroughly, as to know the name of every rope in it, and to have somepretty distinct notions of their uses. This early schooling was nowof great use to me, though I found it a little difficult, at first,to trace my old acquaintances on the large scale in which they nowpresented themselves, and amid the intricate mazes that were drawnagainst the skies. The braces, shrouds, stays and halyards, were allplain enough, and I could point to either, at a moment's notice; butwhen it came to the rest of the running rigging, I found it necessary tolook a little, before I could speak with certainty.

  Eager as I was to ship, the indulgence of gazing at all I saw was soattractive, that it was noon before we reached an Indiaman. This was apretty little ship of about four hundred tons, that was called the John.Little I say, for such she would now be thought, though a vessel of her
size was then termed large. The Manhattan, much the largest ship out ofthe port, measured but about seven hundred tons; while few even ofthe Indiamen went much beyond five hundred. I can see the John at thismoment, near fifty years after I first laid eyes on her, as she thenappeared. She was not bright-sided, but had a narrow, cream-colouredstreak, broken into ports. She was a straight, black-looking craft,with a handsome billet, low, thin bulwarks, and waistcloths securedto ridge-ropes. Her larger spars were painted the same colour as herstreak, and her stern had a few ornaments of a similar tint.

  We went on board the John, where we found the officers just topping offwith the riggers and stevedores, having stowed all the provisions andwater, and the mere trifle of cargo she carried. The mate, whose namewas Marble, and a well-veined bit of marble he was, his face resemblinga map that had more rivers drawn on it than the land could feed, winkedat the captain and nodded his head towards us as soon as we met his eye.The latter smiled, but did not speak.

  "Walk this way, gentlemen--walk this way, if you please," said Mr.Marble, encouragingly, passing a ball of spun-yarn, all the while, tohelp a rigger serve a rope. "When did you leave the country?"

  This produced a general laugh, even the yellow rascal of a mulatto, whowas passing into the cabin with some crockery, grinning in our facesat this salutation. I saw it was now or never, and determined not to bebrow-beaten, while I was too truthful to attempt to pass for that I wasnot.

  "We left home last night, thinking to be in time to find berths in oneof the Indiamen that is to sail this week."

  "Not _this_ week, my son--not till _next_," said Mr. Marble, jocularly."Sunday is _the_ day. We run from Sunday to Sunday--the better day, thebetter deed, you know. How did you leave father and mother?"

  "I have neither," I answered, almost choked. "My mother died a fewmonths since, and my father, Captain Wallingford, has now been dead someyears."

  The master of the John was a man of about fifty, red-faced,hard-looking, pock-marked, square-rigged, and of an exterior thatpromised anything but sentiment. Feeling, however, he did manifest,the moment I mentioned my father's name. He ceased his employment, cameclose to me, gazed earnestly in my face, and even looked kind.

  "Are you a son of Captain Miles Wallingford?" he asked in a lowvoice--"of Miles Wallingford, from up the river?"

  "I am, sir; his only son. He left but two of us, a son and a daughter;and, though under no necessity to work at all, I wish to make this MilesWallingford as good a seaman as the last, and, I hope, as honest a man."

  This was said manfully, and with a spirit that must have pleased; forI was shaken cordially by the hand, welcomed on board, invited into thecabin, and asked to take a seat at a table on which the dinner hadjust been placed. Rupert, of course, shared in all these favours. Thenfollowed the explanations. Captain Robbins, of the John, had first goneto sea with my father, for whom I believe he entertained a profoundrespect. He had even served with him once as mate, and talked as if hefelt that he had been under obligations to him. He did not questionme very closely, seeming to think it natural enough that MilesWallingford's only son should wish to be a seaman.

  As we sat at the table, even, it was agreed that Rupert and I shouldjoin the ship, as green hands, the very next morning, signing thearticles as soon as we went on shore. This was done accordingly, and Ihad the felicity of writing Miles Wallingford to the roll d'equipage, tothe tune of eighteen dollars per month--seamen then actually receivingthirty and thirty-five dollars per month--wages. Rupert was taken also,though Captain Robbins cut _him_ down to thirteen dollars, saying, ina jesting way, that a parson's son could hardly be worth as much as theson of one of the best old ship-masters who ever sailed out of America.He was a shrewd observer of men and things, this new friend of mine, andI believe understood "by the cut of his jib" that Rupert was not likelyto make a weather-earing man. The money, however, was not of muchaccount in our calculations; and lucky enough did I think myself infinding so good a berth, almost as soon as looked for. We returned tothe tavern and staid that night, taking a formal leave of Neb, who wasto carry the good news home, as soon as the sloop should sail.

  In the morning a cart was loaded with our effects, the bill wasdischarged, and we left the tavern. I had the precaution not to godirectly alongside the ship. On the contrary, we proceeded to anopposite part of the town, placing the bags on a wharf resorted to bycraft from New Jersey, as if we intended to go on board one of them. Thecartman took his quarter, and drove off, troubling himself very littleabout the future movements of two young sailors. Waiting half an hour,another cart was called, when we went to the John, and were immediatelyinstalled in her forecastle. Captain Robbins had provided us both withchests, paid for out of the three months' advance, and in them we foundthe slops necessary for so long a voyage. Rupert and I immediately puton suits of these new clothes, with regular little round tarpaulins,which so much altered us in appearance, even from those produced by ourUlster county fittings, that we scarce knew each other.

  Rupert now went on deck to lounge and smoke a segar, while I went aloft,visiting every yard, and touching all three of the trucks, before Ireturned from this, my exploring expedition. The captain and mates andriggers smiled at my movements, and I overheard the former telling hismate that I was "old Miles over again." In a word, all parties seemedpleased with the arrangement that had been made; I had told the officersaft of my knowledge of the names and uses of most of the ropes; andnever did I feel so proud as when Mr. Marble called out, in a loudtone--

  "D'ye hear there, Miles--away aloft and unreeve them fore-top-gallanthalyards, and send an end down to haul up this new rope, to reeve afresh set."

  Away I went, my head buzzing with the complicated order, and yet I hada very tolerable notion of what was to be done. The unreeving mighthave been achieved by any one, and I got through with that withoutdifficulty; and, the mate himself helping me and directing me from thedeck, the new rope was rove with distinguished success. This was thefirst duty I ever did in a ship, and I was prouder of it than of anythat was subsequently performed by the same individual. The whole timeI was thus occupied, Rupert stood lounging against the foot of themain-stay, smoking his segar like a burgomaster. His turn came next,however, the captain sending for him to the cabin, where he set him atwork to copy some papers. Rupert wrote a beautiful hand, and he wroterapidly. That evening I heard the chief-mate tell the dickey that theparson's son was likely to turn out a regular "barber's clerk" to thecaptain. "The old man," he added, "makes so many traverses himself on abit of paper, that he hardly knows at which end to begin to read it; andI shouldn't wonder if he just stationed this chap, with a quill behindhis ear, for the v'y'ge."

  For the next two or three days I was delightfully busy, passing half thetime aloft. All the sails were to be bent, and I had my full share inthe performance of this duty. I actually furled the mizen-royal with myown hands--the ship carrying standing royals--and it was said to be veryrespectably done; a little rag-baggish in the bunt, perhaps, but securedin a way that took the next fellow who touched the gasket five minutesto cast the sail loose. Then it rained, and sails were to be loosened todry. I let everything fall forward with my own hands, and, when we cameto roll up the canvass again, I actually managed all three of the royalsalone; one at a time, of course. My father had taught me to make aflat-knot, a bowline, a clove-hitch, two half-hitches, and such sort ofthings; and I got through with both a long and a short splice tolerablywell. I found all this, and the knowledge I had gained from mymodel-ship at home of great use to me; so much so, indeed, as to induceeven that indurated bit of mortality, Marble, to say I "was the ripestpiece of green stuff he had ever fallen in with."

  All this time, Rupert was kept at quill-driving. Once he got leave toquit the ship--it was the day before we sailed--and I observed he wentashore in his long-togs, of which each of us had one suit. I stole awaythe same afternoon to find the post-office, and worked up-stream as faras Broadway, not knowing exactly which way to shape my course. In thatda
y, everybody who was anybody, and unmarried, promenaded the west sideof this street, from the Battery to St. Paul's Church, between the hoursof twelve and half-past two, wind and weather permitting. There Isaw Rupert, in his country guise, nothing remarkable, of a certainty,strutting about with the best of them, and looking handsome in spite ofhis rusticity. It was getting late, and he left the street just as I sawhim. I followed, waiting until we got to a private place before I wouldspeak to him, however, as I knew he would be mortified to be taken forthe friend of a Jack-tar, in such a scene.

  Rupert entered a door, and then reappeared with a letter in his hand.He, too, had gone to the post-office, and I no longer hesitated aboutjoining him.

  "Is it from Clawbonny?" I asked, eagerly. "If so, from Lucy, doubtless?"

  "From Clawbonny--but from Grace," he answered, with a slight change ofcolour. "I desired the poor girl to let me know how things passed off,after we left them; and as for Lucy, her pot-hooks are so much out ofthe way, I never want to see them."

  I felt hurt, offended, that my sister should write to any youngster butmyself. It is true, the letter was to a bosom friend, a co-adventurer,one almost a child of the same family; and I had come to the officeexpecting to get a letter from Rupert's sister, who had promised, whileweeping on the wharf, to do exactly the same thing for me; but there_is_ a difference between one's sister writing to another young man, andanother young man's sister writing to oneself. I cannot even now explainit; but that there _is_ a difference I am sure. Without asking to see aline that Grace had written, I went into the office, and returned in aminute or two, with an air of injured dignity, holding Lucy's epistle inmy hand.

  After all, there was nothing in either letter to excite muchsensibility. Each was written with the simplicity, truth and feeling ofa generous-minded, warm-hearted female friend, of an age not to distrusther own motives, to a lad who bad no right to view the favour other thanit was, as an evidence of early and intimate friendship. Both epistlesare now before me, and I copy them, as the shortest way of letting thereader know the effect our disappearance had produced at Clawbonny. Thatof Grace was couched in the following terms:

  DEAR RUPERT:

  Clawbonny was in commotion at nine o'clock this morning, and well itmight be! When your father's anxiety got to be painful, I told him thewhole, and gave him the letters. I am sorry to say, he wept. I wishnever to see such a sight again. The tears of two such silly girls asLucy and I, are of little account--but, Rupert, to behold an aged manwe love and respect like him, a minister of the gospel too, in tears! Itwas a hard sight to bear. He did not reproach us for our silence, sayinghe did not see, after our promises, how we could well do otherwise. Igave your reasons about "responsibility in the premises;" but I don'tthink he understood them. Is it too late to return? The boat thatcarried you down can bring you back; and oh! how much rejoiced shallwe all be to see you! Wherever you go, and whatever you do, boys, for Iwrite as much to one as to the other, and only address to Rupert becausehe so earnestly desired it; but wherever you go, and whatever you do,remember the instructions you have both received in youth, and how muchall of us are interested in your conduct and happiness.

  Affectionately, yours,

  GRACE WALLINGFORD.

  To Mr. Rupert Hardinge.

  Lucy had been less guarded, and possibly a little more honest. She wroteas follows:

  DEAR MILES:

  I believe I cried for one whole hour after you and Rupert left us, and,now it is all over, I am vexed at having cried so much about two suchfoolish fellows. Grace has told you all about my dear, dear father, whocried too. I declare, I don't know when I was so frightened! I thoughtit _must_ bring you back, as soon as you hear of it. What will be done,I do not know; but _something_, I am certain Whenever father is inearnest, he says but little. I know he is in earnest _now_. I believeGrace and I do nothing but think of you; that is, she of _you_, and Iof Rupert; and a little the other way, too--so now you have the wholetruth. Do not fail, on any account, to write before you go to sea, ifyou _do_ go to sea, as I hope and trust you will not.

  Good-bye.

  LUCY HARDINGE.

  To Mr. Miles Wallingford.

  P.S. Neb's mother protests, if the boy is not home by Saturday night,she will go after him. No such disgrace as a runaway ever befel her orhers, and she says she will not submit to it. But I suppose we shall see_him_ soon, and with him _letters_.

  Now, Neb had taken his leave, but no letter had been trusted to hiscare. As often happens, I regretted the mistake when it was too late;and all that day I thought how disappointed Lucy would be, when she cameto see the negro empty-handed. Rupert and I parted in the street, as hedid not wish to walk with a sailor, while in his own long-togs. He didnot _say_ as much; but I knew him well enough to ascertain it, withouthis speaking. I was walking very fast in the direction of the ship,and had actually reached the wharves, when, in turning a corner, Icame plump upon Mr. Hardinge. My guardian was walking slowly, his facesorrowful and dejected, and his eyes fastened on every ship he passed,as if looking for his boys. He saw me, casting a vacant glance overmy person; but I was so much changed by dress, and particularly by thelittle tarpaulin, that he did not know me. Anxiety immediately drew hislook towards the vessels, and I passed him unobserved. Mr. Hardingewas walking _from_, and I _towards_ the John, and of course all my riskterminated as soon as out of sight.

  That evening I had the happiness of being under-way, in a realfull-rigged ship. It is true, it was under very short canvass, andmerely to go into the stream. Taking advantage of a favourable wind andtide, the John left the wharf under her jib, main-top-mast staysail, andspanker, and dropped down as low as the Battery, when she sheered intothe other channel and anchored. Here I was, then, fairly at anchor inthe stream, Half a mile from any land but the bottom, and burning to seethe ocean. That afternoon the crew came on board, a motley collection,of lately drunken seamen, of whom about half were Americans, and therest natives of as many different countries as there were men. Mr.Marble scanned them with a knowing look, and, to my surprise, he toldthe captain there was good stuff among them. It seems he was a betterjudge than I was myself, for a more unpromising set of wretches, as tolooks, I never saw grouped together. A few, it is true, appeared wellenough; but most of them had the air of having been dragged through--aplace I will not name, though it is that which sailors usually quotewhen describing themselves on such occasions. But Jack, after he hasbeen a week at sea, and Jack coming on board to duty, after a month ofexcesses on shore, are very different creatures, morally and physically.

  I now began to regret that I had not seen a little of the town. In 1797,New York could not have had more than fifty thousand inhabitants,though it was just as much of a paragon then, in the eyes of all goodAmericans, as it is today. It is a sound patriotic rule to maintain that_our_ best is always _the_ best, for it never puts us in the wrong. Ihave seen enough of the world since to understand that we get a greatmany things wrong-end foremost, in this country of ours; undervaluingthose advantages and excellencies of which we have great reason to beproud, and boasting of others that, to say the least, are exceedinglyequivocal. But it takes time to learn all this, and I have no intentionof getting ahead of my story, or of my country; the last being a mostsuicidal act.

  We received the crew of a Saturday afternoon, and half of them turned inimmediately. Rupert and I had a good berth, intending to turn in and outtogether, during the voyage; and this made us rather indifferent tothe movements of the rest of our extraordinary associates. The kid, atsupper, annoyed us both a little; the notion of seeing one's food ina round _trough_, to be tumbled over and cut from by all hands, beingparticularly disagreeable to those who have been accustomed to plates,knives and forks, and such other superfluities. I confess I thought ofGrace's and Lucy's little white hands, and of silver sugrar-toogs, andof clean plates and glasses, and table-cloths--napkins and silver forkswere then unknown in America, except on the very best tables, and notalways on them, unless on high days
and holidays--as we were goingthrough the unsophisticated manipulations of this first supper.Forty-seven years have elapsed, and the whole scene is as vivid to mymind at this moment, as if it occurred last night. I wished myself oneof the long-snouted tribe, several times, in order to be in what iscalled "keeping."

  I had the honour of keeping an anchor-watch in company with a grum oldSwede, as we lay in the Hudson. The wind was light, and the ship had agood berth, so my associate chose a soft plank, told me to give him acall should anything happen, and lay down to sleep away his two hours incomfort. Not so with me. I strutted the deck with as much importance asif the weight of the State lay on my shoulders--paid a visit every fiveminutes to the bows, to see that the cable had not parted, and that theanchor did not "come home"--and then looked aloft, to ascertain thateverything was in its place. Those were a happy two hours!

  About ten next morning, being Sunday, and, as Mr. Marble expressed it,"the better day, the better deed," the pilot came off, and all handswere called to "up anchor." The cook, cabin-boy, Rupert and I, wereentrusted with the duty of "fleeting jig" and breaking down the coils ofthe cable, the handspikes requiring heavier hands than ours. The anchorwas got in without any difficulty, however, when Rupert and I weresent aloft to loose the fore-top-sail. Rupert got into the top via thelubber's hole, I am sorry to say, and the loosing of the sail on bothyard-arms fell to my duty. A hand was on the fore-yard, and I was nextordered up to loose the top-gallant-sail. Canvass began to fall and openall over the ship, the top-sails were mast-headed, and, as I looked downfrom the fore-top-mast cross-trees, where I remained to overhaul theclew-lines, I saw that the ship was falling off, and that her sailswere filling with a stiff north-west breeze. Just as my whole being wasentranced with the rapture of being under-way for Canton, which was thencalled the Indies, Rupert called out to me from the top. Ha was pointingat some object on the water, and, turning, I saw a boat within a hundredfeet of the ship. In her was Mr. Hardinge, who at that moment caughtsight of us. But the ship's sails were now all full, and no one on decksaw, or at least heeded, the boat. The John glided past it, and, thelast I saw of my venerated guardian, he was standing erect, bare-headed,holding both arms extended, as if entreating us not to desert him!Presently the ship fell off so much, that the after-sails hid him frommy view.

  I descended into the top, where I found Rupert had shrunk down out ofsight, looking frightened and guilty. As for myself, I got behind thehead of the mast, and fairly sobbed. This lasted a few minutes, when anorder from the mate called us both below. When I reached the deck, theboat was already a long distance astern, and had evidently given up theidea of boarding us. I do not know whether I felt the most relieved orpained by the certainty of this fact.