CHAPTER IX.
AFTER this, Helen Rolleston and Mr. Hazel never spoke. She walked pasthim on the deck with cold and haughty contempt.
He quietly submitted to it; and never presumed to say one word to heragain. Only, as his determination was equal to his delicacy, MissRolleston found, one day, a paper on her table, containing advice as tothe treatment of disordered lungs, expressed with apparent coldness, andbacked by a string of medical authorities, quoted _memoriter._
She sent this back directly, indorsed with a line, in pencil, that shewould try hard to live, now she had a friend to protect from calumny; butshould use her own judgment as to the means.
Yet women will be women. She had carefully taken a copy of his advicebefore she cast it out with scorn.
He replied, "Live with whatever motive you please; only live."
To this she vouchsafed no answer; nor did this unhappy man trouble heragain, until an occasion of a very different kind arose.
One fine night he sat on the deck, with his back against the mainmast, indeep melancholy and listlessness, and fell, at last, into a doze, fromwhich he was wakened by a peculiar sound below. It was a beautiful andstilly night; all sounds were magnified; and the father of all ratsseemed to be gnawing the ship down below.
Hazel's curiosity was excited, and he went softly down the ladder to seewhat the sound really was. But that was not so easy, for it proved to bebelow decks; but he saw a light glimmering through a small scuttle abaftthe mate's cabin, and the sounds were in the neighborhood of that light.
It now flashed upon Mr. Hazel that this was the very quarter where he hadheard that mysterious knocking when the ship was lying to in the gale.
Upon this a certain degree of vague suspicion began to mingle with hiscuriosity.
He stood still a moment, listening acutely; then took off his shoes veryquietly, and moved with noiseless foot toward the scuttle.
The gnawing still continued.
He put his head through the scuttle, and peered into a dark, dismalplace, whose very existence was new to him. It was, in fact, a vacantspace between the cargo and the ship's run. This wooden cavern was verynarrow, but not less than fifteen feet long. The candle was at thefurther end, and between it and Hazel a man was working, with his flankturned toward the spectator. This partly intercepted the light; but stillit revealed in a fitful way the huge ribs of the ship, and her innerskin, that formed the right-hand partition, so to speak, of this blackcavern; and close outside those gaunt timbers was heard the wash of thesea.
There was something solemn in the close proximity of that tremendouselement and the narrowness of the wooden barrier.
The bare place, and the gentle, monotonous wash of the liquid monster, onthat calm night, conveyed to Mr. Hazel's mind a thought akin to David's.
"As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step betweenme and death."
Judge whether that thought grew weaker or stronger, when, after straininghis eyes for some time, to understand what was going on at that midnighthour, in that hidden place, he saw who was the workman and what was hisoccupation.
It was Joseph Wylie, the mate. His profile was illuminated by the candle,and looked ghastly. He had in his hands an auger of enormous size, andwith this he was drilling a great hole through the ship's side, justbelow the water-mark; an act, the effect of which would be to let the seabodily into the ship and sink her, with every soul on board, to thebottom of the Pacific Ocean.
"I was stupefied; and my hairs stood on end, and my tongue clove to myjaws."
Thus does one of Virgil's characters describe the effect his mindproduced upon his body in a terrible situation.
Mr. Hazel had always ridiculed that trite line as a pure exaggeration;but he altered his opinion after that eventful night.
When he first saw what Wylie was doing, _obstupuit,_ he was merelybenumbed; but, as his mind realized the fiendish nature of the act, andits tremendous consequences, his hair actually bristled, and for a fewminutes at least he could not utter a word.
In that interval of stupor, matters took another turn. The auger went inup to the haft. Then Wylie caught up with his left hand a wooden plug hehad got ready, jerked the auger away, caught up a hammer, and swiftlyinserted the plug.
Rapid as he was, a single jet of water came squirting viciously in. ButWylie lost no time; he tapped the plug smartly with his hammer severaltimes, and then, lifting a mallet with both hands, rained heavy blows onit that drove it in, and shook the ship's side.
Then Hazel found his voice, and he uttered an ejaculation that made themate look round; he glared at the man who was glaring at him, and,staggering backward, trod on the light, and all was darkness and deadsilence.
All but the wash of the sea outside, and that louder than ever.
But a short interval sufficed to restore one of the parties to hisnatural self-possession.
"Lord, sir," said Wylie, "how you startled me! You should not come upon aman at his work like that. We might have had an accident."
"What were you doing?" said Hazel, in a voice that quavered in spite ofhim.
"Repairing the ship. Found a crack or two in her inner skin. There, letme get a light, and I'll explain it to you, sir."
He groped his way out, and invited Mr. Hazel into his cabin. There hestruck a light, and, with great civility, tendered an explanation. Theship, he said, had labored a good deal in the last gale, and he haddiscovered one or two flaws in her, which were of no immediateimportance; but experience had taught him that in calm weather a shipought to be kept tight. "As they say ashore, a stitch in time savesnine."
"But drilling holes in her is not the way," said Hazel sternly.
The mate laughed. "Why, sir," said he, "what other way is there? Wecannot stop an irregular crack; we can frame nothing to fit it. The wayis to get ready a plug measured a trifle larger than the aperture you aregoing to make; then drill a round hole and force in the plug. I know noother way than that; and I was a ship's carpenter for ten years before Iwas a mate."
This explanation, and the manner in which it was given, removed Mr.Hazel's apprehensions for the time being. "It was very alarming," saidhe; "but I suppose you know your business."
"Nobody better, sir," said Wylie. "Why, it is not one seaman in threethat would trouble his head about a flaw in a ship's inner skin; but I'ma man that looks ahead. Will you have a glass of grog, sir, now you arehere? I keep that under my eye, too; between ourselves, if the skipperhad as much in his cabin as I have here, that might be worse for us allthan a crack or two in the ship's inner skin."
Mr. Hazel declined to drink grog at that time in the morning, but wishedhim good-night and left him with a better opinion of him than he had everhad till then.
Wylie, when he was gone, drew a tumbler of neat spirits, drank half, andcarried the rest back to his work.
Yet Wylie was a very sober man in a general way. Rum was his tool; nothis master.
When Hazel came to think of it all next day, he did not feel quite soeasy as he had done. The inner skin! But, when Wylie withdrew his auger,the water had squirted in furiously. He felt it hard to believe that thiskeen jet of water could be caused by a small quantity that had found itsway between the skin of the ship and her copper, or her top booting; itseemed rather to be due to the direct pressure of the liquid monsteroutside.
He went to the captain that afternoon, and first told him what he hadseen, offering no solution. The captain, on that occasion, was in anamphibious state; neither wet nor dry; and his reply was altogetherexceptional. He received the communication with pompous civility; thenswore a great oath, and said he would put the mate in irons. "Confoundthe lubber! he will be through the ship's bottom."
"But, stop a moment," said Mr. Hazel, "it is only fair you should alsohear how he accounts for his proceeding."
The captain listened attentively to the explanation, and altered histone. "Oh, that is a different matter," said he. "You need be under noalarm, sir; the thundering lubber kn
ows what he is about, at that work.Why, he has been a ship's carpenter all his life. Him a seaman! Ifanything ever happens to me, and Joe Wylie is set to navigate this ship,then you may say your prayers. He isn't fit to sail a wash-tub across aduck-pond. But I'll tell you what it is," added this worthy, with morepomposity than neatness of articulation, "here's a respeckable passengerbrought me a report; do my duty to m' employers, and--take a look at thewell."
He accordingly chalked a plumb-line, and went and sounded the well.
There were eight inches of water. Hudson told him that was no more thanall ships contained from various causes: "In fact," said he, "our pumpssuck, and will not draw, at eight inches." Then suddenly grasping Mr.Hazel's hand, he said, in tearful accents, "Don't you trouble your headabout Joe Wylie, or any such scum. I'm skipper of the _Proserpine,_ and aman that does his duty to 'z employers. Mr. Hazel, sir, I'd come to mylast anchor in that well this moment, if my duty to m' employers requiredit. D-- my eyes if I wouldn't lie down there this minute, and never moveto all eternity and a day after, if it was my duty to m' employers!"
"No doubt," said Hazel dryly. "But I think you can serve your employersbetter in other parts of the ship." He then left him, with a piece ofadvice; "to keep his eye upon that Wylie."
Mr. Hazel kept his own eye on Wylie so constantly, that at eleven o'clockP.M. he saw that worthy go into the captain's cabin with a quart bottleof rum.
The coast was clear; the temptation great. These men then were stilldeceiving him with a feigned antagonism. He listened at the keyhole, notwithout some compunction; which, however, became less and less asfragments of the dialogue reached his ear.
For a long time the only speaker was Hudson, and his discourse ran uponhis own exploits at sea. But suddenly Wylie's voice broke in with anunmistakable tone of superiority. "Belay all that chat, and listen to me.It is time we settled something. I'll hear what you have got to say; andthen you'll _do_ what _I_ say. Better keep your hands off the bottle aminute you have had enough for the present; this is business. I know youare good for jaw; but what are you game to do for the governor 's money?Anything?"
"More than you have ever seen or heard tell of, ye lubber," replied theirritated skipper. "Who has ever served his employers like Hiram Hudson?"
"Keep that song for your quarter-deck," retorted the mate,contemptuously. "No; on second thoughts, just tell me how you have servedyour employers, you old humbug. Give me chapter and verse to choose from.Come now, the _Neptune?"_
"Well, the _Neptune;_ she caught fire a hundred leagues from land."
"How came she to do that?"
"That is my business. Well, I put her head before the wind, and ran forthe Azores; and I stuck to her, sir, till she was as black as a coal, andwe couldn't stand on deck, but kept hopping like parched peas; and firebelching out of her portholes forward. Then we took to the boats, andsaved a few bales of silk by way of sample of her cargo, and got ashore;and she'd have come ashore too next tide and told tales, but somebodyleft a keg of gunpowder in the cabin, with a long fuse, and blew a holein her old ribs, that the water came in, and down she went, hissing liketen thousand sarpints, and nobody the wiser."
"Who lighted the fuse, I wonder?" said Wylie.
"Didn't I tell ye it was 'Somebody'?" said Hudson. "Hand me the stiff."He replenished his glass, and, after taking a sip or two, asked Wylie ifhe had ever had the luck to be boarded by pirates.
"No," said Wylie. "Have you?"
"Ay; and they rescued me from a watery grave, as the lubbers call it. Yesee, I was employed by Downes & Co., down at the Havanna, and cleared forVera Cruz with some boxes of old worn-out printer's type."
"To print psalm-books for the darkies, no doubt," suggested Wylie.
"Insured as specie," continued Hudson, ignoring the interruption. "Well,just at daybreak one morning, all of a sudden there was a rakish-lookingcraft on our weather-bow. Lets fly a nine-pounder across our forefoot,and was alongside before my men could tumble up from below. I got knockedinto the sea by the boom and fell between the ships; and the pirate hegot hold of me and poured hot grog down my throat to bring me to mysenses."
"That is not what you use it for in general," said Wylie. "Civil sort ofpirate, though."
"Pirate be d--d. That was my consort rigged out with a black flag, andmounted with four nine-pounders on one side, and five dummies on theother. He blustered a bit, and swore, and took our type and our cabbages(I complained to Downes ashore about the vagabond taking the vegetables),and ordered us to leeward under all canvas, and we never saw himagain--not till he had shaved off his mustaches, and called on Downes tocondole and say the varmint had chased his ship fifty leagues out of hercourse; but he had got clear of him. Downes complimented me publicly.Says he, 'This skipper boarded the pirate single-handed; only he jumpedshort, and fell between the two ships; and here he is by a miracle.' Thenhe takes out his handkerchief, and flops his head on my shoulder. 'Hismerciful preservation almost reconciles me to the loss of my gold,' saysthe thundering crocodile. Cleared seventy thousand dollars, he did, outof the Manhattan Marine, and gave the pirate and me but two hundredpounds between us both."
"The _Rose?"_ said Wylie.
"What a hurry you are in! Pass the grog. Well, the _Rose;_ she lay offUshant. We canted her to wash the decks; lucky she had a carefulcommander; not like Kempenfelt, whose eye was in his pocket, and hisfingers held the pen, so he went to the bottom, with Lord knows how manymen. I noticed the squalls came very sudden; so I sent most of my menashore and got the boats ready in case of accident. A squall did strikeher, and she was on her beam-ends in a moment. We pulled ashore with twobales of silk by way of salvage, and sample of what warn't in her holdwhen she settled down. We landed; and the Frenchmen were dancing aboutwith excitement. 'Captain,' says one, 'you have much sang fraw.''Insured, munseer,' says I. 'Bone,' says he.
"Then there was the _Antelope,_ lost in charge of a pilot off theHooghly. I knew the water as well as he did. We were on the port tack,standing toward the shoal. Weather it, as we should have done next tack,and I should have failed in my duty to my employers. Anything but that!'Look out!' said I. 'Pilot, she fore-reaches in stays.' Pilot wassmoking; those sandhead pilots smoke in bed and asleep. He takes hiscigar out of his mouth for one moment. 'Ready about,' says he. 'Hands'bout ship. Helm's a-lee. Raise tacks and sheets.' Round she was cominglike a top. Pilot smoking. Just as he was going to haul the mainselSomebody tripped against him, and shoved the hot cigar in his eye. Hesung out and swore, and there was no mainsel haul. Ship in irons, tiderunning hard on to the shoal, and before we could clear away foranchoring, bump!--there she was hard and fast. A stiff breeze got up atsunrise, and she broke up. Next day I was sipping my grog and reading the_Bengal Courier,_ and it told the disastrous wreck of the brig_Antelope,_ wrecked in charge of a pilot; 'but no lives lost, and theowners fully insured.' Then there was the bark _Sally._ Why, you saw heryourself distressed on a lee shore."
"Yes," said Wylie. "I was in that tub, the _Grampus,_ and we contrived toclaw off the Scillies; yet you, in your smart _Sally,_ got ashore. Whatluck!"
"Luck be blowed!" cried Hudson, angrily. "Somebody got into the chains tosound, and cut the weather halyards. Next tack the masts went over theside; and I had done my duty."
"Lives were lost that time, eh?" said Wylie, gravely.
"What is that to you?" replied Hudson, with the sudden ire of a drunkenman. "Mind your own business. Pass me the bottle."
"Yes, lives was lost; and always will be lost in sea-going ships, wherethe skipper does his duty. There was a sight more lost at Trafalgar,owing to every man doing his duty. Lives lost, ye lubber? And why notmine? Because their time was come and mine wasn't. For I'll tell you onething, Joe Wylie--if she takes fire and runs before the wind till she isas black as coal, and belching flame through all her port-holes, and thenexplodes, and goes aloft in ten thousand pieces no bigger than my hat, oryour knowledge of navigation, Hudson is the last man to leave her. Duty!If she goes on her beam-ends a
nd founders, Hudson sees the last of her,and reports it to his employers. Duty! If she goes grinding on Scilly,Hudson is the last man to leave her bones. Duty! Some day perhaps I shallbe swamped myself along with the craft. I have escaped till now, owing tonot being insured; but if ever my time should come, and you should getclear, promise me, Joe, to see the owners, and tell 'em Hudson did hisduty."
Here a few tears quenched his noble ardor for a moment. But he soonrecovered, and said, with some little heat, "You have got the bottleagain. I never saw such a fellow to get hold of the bottle. Come, here's'Duty to our employers!' And now I'll tell you how we managed with the_Carysbrook,_ and the _Amelia."_
This promise was followed by fresh narratives; in particular, of a vesselhe had run upon the Florida reef at night, where wreckers had beenretained in advance to look out for signals, and come on board andquarrel on pretense and set fire to the vessel, insured at thrice hervalue.
Hudson got quite excited with the memory of these exploits, and told eachsuccessive feat louder and louder.
But now it was Wylie's turn. "Well," said he, very gravely, "all this waschild's play."
There was a pause that marked Hudson's astonishment. Then he broke out,"Child's play, ye lubber! If you had been there your gills would havebeen as white as your Sunday shirt; and a d--d deal whiter."
"Come, be civil," said Wylie, "I tell you all the ways you have told meare too suspicious. Our governor is a highflyer. He pays like a prince,and, in return, he must not be blown on, if it is ever so little.'Wylie,' says he, 'a breath of suspicion would kill me.' 'Make it somuch,' says I, 'and that breath shall never blow on you. No, no, skipper;none of those ways will do for us; they have all been worked twice toooften. It must be done in fair weather, and in a way-- Fill your glassand I'll fill mine-- Capital rum this. You talk of my gills turningwhite; before long we shall see whose keeps their color best, mine oryours, my boy."
There was a silence, during which Hudson was probably asking himself whatWylie meant; for presently he broke out in a loud but somewhat quiveringvoice: "Why, you mad, drunken devil of a ship's carpenter, red-hot fromhell, I see what you are at, now; you are going--"
"Hush!" cried Wylie, alarmed in his turn. "Is this the sort of thing tobellow out for the watch to hear? Whisper, now."
This was followed by the earnest mutterings of two voices. In vain didthe listener send his very soul into his ear to hear. He could catch nosingle word. Yet he could tell, by the very tones of the speakers, thatthe dialogue was one of mystery and importance.
Here was a situation at once irritating and alarming; but there was nohelp for it. The best thing, now, seemed to be to withdraw unobserved,and wait for another opportunity. He did so; and he had not long retired,when the mate came out staggering and flushed with liquor, and that was athing that had never occurred before. He left the cabin door open andwent into his own room.
Soon after sounds issued from the cabin--peculiar sounds, somethingbetween grunting and snoring.
Mr. Hazel came and entered the cabin. There he found the captain of the_Proserpine_ in a position very unfavorable to longevity. His legs werecrooked over the seat of his chair, and his head was on the ground. Hishandkerchief was tight round his neck, and the man himself dead drunk,and purple in the face.
Mr. Hazel instantly undid his stock, on which the gallant seaman mutteredinarticulately. He then took his feet off the chair and laid them on theground, and put the empty bottle under the animal's neck.
But he had no sooner done all this than he had a serious misgiving. Wouldnot this man's death have been a blessing? Might not his life provefatal?
The thought infuriated him, and he gave the prostrate figure a heavy kickthat almost turned it over, and the words, "Duty to employers," gurgledout of its mouth directly.
It really seemed as if these sounds were independent of the mind, andresided at the tip of Hudson's tongue, so that a thorough good kickcould, at any time, shake them out of his inanimate body.
Thus do things ludicrous and things terrible mingle in the real world;only to those who are in the arena, the ludicrous passes unnoticed, beingovershadowed by its terrible neighbor.
And so it was with Hazel. He saw nothing absurd in all this; and in thatprostrate, insensible hog, commanding the ship, forsooth, and carryingall their lives in his hands, he saw the mysterious and alarming only;saw them so, and felt them, that he lay awake all night thinking what heshould do, and early next day he went into the mate's cabin, and said tohim: "Mr. Wylie, in any other ship I should speak to the captain, and notto the mate; but here that would be no use, for you are the master, andhe is your servant."
"Don't tell him so, sir, for he doesn't think small beer of himself."
"I shall waste no more words on him. It is to you I speak, and you know Ispeak the truth. Here is a ship, in which, for certain reasons known toyourself, the captain is under the mate."
"Well, sir," said Wylie good-humoredly, "it is no use trying to deceive agentleman like you. Our skipper is an excellent seaman, but he has got afault." Then Wylie imitated, with his hand, the action of a personfilling his glass.
"And you are here to keep him sober, eh?"
Wylie nodded.
"Then why do you ply him with liquor?"
"I don't, sir."
"You do. I have seen you do it a dozen times. And last night you took ruminto his room, and made him so drunk, he would have died where he lay ifI had not loosed his handkerchief."
"I am sorry to hear that, sir; but he was sober when I left him. The foolmust have got to the bottle the moment I was gone."
"But that bottle you put in his way; I saw you. And what was your object?To deaden his conscience with liquor, his and your own, while you madehim your fiendish proposal. Man, man, do you believe in God, and in ajudgment to come for the deeds done in the body, that you can plan incold blood to destroy a vessel with nineteen souls on board, besides thelive stock, the innocent animals that God pitied and spared when heraised his hand in wrath over Nineveh of old?"
While the clergyman was speaking, with flashing eyes and commandingvoice, the seaman turned ashy pale, and drew his shoulders together likea cat preparing to defend her life.
"I plan to destroy a vessel, sir! You never heard me say such a word; anddon't you hint such a thing in the ship, or you will get yourself intotrouble."
"That depends on you."
"How so, sir?"
"I have long suspected you."
"You need not tell me that, sir."
"But I have not communicated my suspicions. And now that they arecertainties, I come first to you. In one word, will you forego yourintention, since it is found out?"
"How can I forego what never was in my head?" said Wylie. "Cast away theship! Why, there's no land within two thousand miles. Founder a vessel inthe Pacific! Do you think my life is not as sweet to me as yours is toyou?"
Wylie eyed him keenly to see the effect of these words, and, by a puzzledexpression that came over his face, saw at once he had assumed a moreexact knowledge than he really possessed.
Hazel replied that he had said nothing about foundering the ship; butthere were many ways of destroying one. "For instance," said he, "I knowhow the _Neptune_ was destroyed--and so do you; how the _Rose_ and the_Antelope_ were cast away--and so do you."
At this enumeration Wylie lost his color and self-possession for amoment; he saw Hazel had been listening. Hazel followed up his blow."Promise me now, by all you hold sacred, to forego this villainy; and Ihold my tongue. Attempt to defy me, or to throw dust in my eyes, and I goinstantly among the crew, and denounce both you and Hudson to them."
"Good Heavens!" cried Wylie, in unfeigned terror. "Why, the men wouldmutiny on the spot."
"I can't help that," said Hazel, firmly; and took a step toward the door.
"Stop a bit," said the mate. "Don't be in such a 'nation hurry; for, ifyou do, it will be bad for me, but worse for you." The above was said sogravely and with such evident sincerity tha
t Mr. Hazel was struck andshowed it. Wylie followed up that trifling advantage. "Sit down a minute,sir, if you please, and listen to me. You never saw a mutiny on boardship, I'll be bound. It is a worse thing than any gale that ever blew;begins fair enough, sometimes; but how does it end? In breaking into thespirit-room and drinking to madness, plundering the ship, ravishing thewomen, and cutting a throat or so for certain. You don't seem so fond ofthe picture as you was of the idea. And then they might turn a deaf earto you after all. Ship is well found in all stores; provisions served outfreely; men in good humor; and I have got their ear. And now I'll tellyou why it won't suit your little game to blacken me to the crew, uponthe bare chance of a mutiny." He paused for a moment, then resumed in alower tone, and revealed himself the extraordinary man he was.
"You see, sir," said he, "when a man is very ready to suspect me, Ialways suspect him. Now you was uncommon ready to suspect me. You didn'twait till you came on board; you began the game ashore. Oh, what, thatmakes you open one eye, does it? You thought I didn't know you again.Knew you, my man, the moment you came aboard. I never forget a face; anddisguises don't pass on me."
It was now Hazel's turn to look anxious and discomposed.
"So, then, the moment I saw you suspected me I was down upon you. Well,you come aboard under false colors. We didn't want a chap like you in theship; but you would come. 'What is the bloke after?' says I, and watches.You was so intent suspecting me of this, that, and t'other, that youunguarded yourself, and that is common too. I'm blowed if it isn't thelady you are after. With all my heart; only she might do better, and Idon't see how she could do worse, unless she went to Old Nick for a mate.Now, I'll tell you what it is, my man. I've been in trouble myself, anddon't want to be hard on a poor devil, just because he sails under analias, and lies as near the wind as he can, to weather on the beaks andthe bobbies. But one good turn deserves another. Keep your dirtysuspicions to yourself; for if you dare to open your lips to the men, infive minutes, or less than that, you shall be in irons and confined toyour cabin; and we'll put you ashore at the first port that flies theBritish flag, and hand you over to the authorities, till one of herMajesty's cruisers sends in a boat for you."
At this threat Mr. Hazel hung his head in confusion and dismay.
"Come, get out of my cabin, Parson Alias," shouted the mate; "and belayyour foul tongue in this ship, and don't make an enemy of Joe Wylie, aman that will eat you up else, and spit you out again, and never brag.Sheer off, I say, and be d--d to you."
Mr. Hazel, with a pale face and sick heart, looked aghast at thisdangerous man, who could be fox or tiger, as the occasion demanded.
Surprised, alarmed, outwitted and out-menaced, he retired with disorderedcountenance and uneven steps and hid himself in his own cabin.
The more he weighed the whole situation, the more clearly did he see thathe was utterly powerless in the hands of Wylie. A skipper is an emperor;and Hudson had the power to iron him, and set him on shore at the nearestport. The right to do it was another matter; but even on that head Wyliecould furnish a plausible excuse for the act. Retribution, if it came atall, would not be severe, and would be three or four years coming. Andwho fears it much, when it, is so dilatory, and so weak, and so doubtfulinto the bargain?
He succumbed in silence for two days; and then, in spite of Wylie'sthreat, he made one timid attempt to approach the subject with Welch andCooper; but a sailor came up instantly, and sent them forward to reeftopsails. And, whenever he tried to enter into conversation with thepair, some sailor or other was sure to come up and listen.
Then he saw that he was spotted; or, as we say nowadays, picketed.
He was at his wit's end.
He tried his last throw. He wrote a few lines to Miss Rolleston,requesting an interview. Aware of the difficulties he had to encounterhere, he stilled his heart by main force, and wrote in terms carefullymeasured. He begged her to believe he had no design to intrude upon her,without absolute necessity, and for her own good. Respect for her ownwishes forbade this, and also his self-respect.
"But," said he, "I have made a terrible discovery. The mate and thecaptain certainly intend to cast away this ship. No doubt they will tryand not sacrifice their own lives and ours; but risk them they must, inthe very nature of things. Before troubling you, I have tried all Icould, in the way of persuasion and menace; but am defeated. So now itrests with you. You alone can save us all. I will tell you how, if youwill restrain your repugnance, and accord me a short interview. Need Isay that no other subject shall be introduced by me? In England, shouldwe ever reach it, I may perhaps try to take measures to regain your goodopinion; but here, I am aware, that is impossible; and I shall make noattempt in that direction, upon my honor."
To this came a prompt and feminine reply.
"The ship is Mr. Arthur Wardlaw's. The captain and the mate are able men,appointed by him. Your suspicions of these poor men are calumnies, and ofa piece with your other monstrous slanders.
"I really must insist on your holding no further communications of anysort with one to whom your character is revealed and odious.
H. R."
This letter benumbed his heart at first. A letter? It was a blow; a blowfrom her he loved, and she hated him!
His long-suffering love gave way at last. What folly and crueltycombined! He could no longer make allowances for the spite of a womanwhose lover had been traduced. Rage and despair seized him; he bit hisnails and tore his hair with fury, and prayed Heaven to help him hate heras she deserved, "the blind, insolent idiot!" Yes, these bitter wordsactually came out of his mouth, in a torrent of injury.
But to note down all he said in his rage would be useless; and mightmislead, for this was a gust of fury; and, while it lasted, thelong-suffering man was no longer himself.
As a proof how little this state of mind was natural to him, it stirredup all the bile in his body, and brought on a severe attack of yellowjaundice, accompanied by the settled dejection that marks that disorder.
Meantime the _Proserpine_ glided on, with a fair wind, and a contentedcrew. She was well found in stores, and they were served outungrudgingly.
Every face on board beamed with jollity, except poor Hazel's. He creptabout, yellow as a guinea; a very scarecrow.
The surgeon, a humane man, urged him to drink sherry, and take strongexercise.
But persons afflicted with that distressing malady are obstinately setagainst those things which tend to cure it; this is a feature of thedisease. Mr. Hazel was no exception. And then his heart had received somany blows it had no power left to resist the depressing effect of hisdisorder. He took no exercise; he ate little food. He lay, listless anddejected, about the deck, and let disease do what it pleased with him.
The surgeon shook his head and told Hudson the parson was booked.
"And good riddance of bad rubbish!" was that worthy's gracious comment.
The ship now encountered an adverse gale, and for three whole days wasunder close-reefed topsails; she was always a wet ship under stress ofweather, and she took in a good deal of water on this occasion. On thefourth day it fell calm, and Captain Hudson, having examined the well andfound three feet of water, ordered the men to the pumps.
After working through one watch the well was sounded again, and the waterwas so much reduced that the gangs were taken off; and the ship being nowbecalmed and the weather lovely, the men were allowed to dance upon deckto the boatswain's fiddle.
While this pastime went on, the sun, large and red, reached the horizon,and diffused a roseate light over the entire ocean.
Not one of the current descriptions of heaven approached the actualgrandeur and beauty of the blue sky, flecked with ruby and gold, and itsliquid mirror that lay below, calm, dimpled and glorified by thattranslucent, rosy tint.
While the eye was yet charmed with this enchanting bridal of the sea andsky, and the ear amused with the merry fiddle and the nimble feet thattapped the sounding deck so deftly at every note, Cooper, who had beensounding
the well, ran forward all of a sudden and flung a thunderbolt inthe midst.
"A LEAK!"
Foul Play Page 9
