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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
The appearance of the three, when I first caught a near view
of them, was such as almost to terrify me. Even Neb, whose
face was usually as shining as a black bottle, was almost of the
colour of ashes. The poor fellow could not speak, and, though
Lucy was actually shaking him to extract an explanation, the
only answer she could get was tears. These flowed from Neb’s
eyes in streams, and at length the fellow threw himself on the
ground, and fairly began to groan.
“Can this be shame at having run away?” exclaimed Lucy,
“or does it foretell evil to the boys?”
“He knows nothing of them, not having been with them –
yet, I am terrified.”
“Not on my account, dearest sister,” I cried aloud; “here are
Rupert and I, God be praised, both in good health, and safe.”
I took care to remain hid, as I uttered this, not to alarm
more than one sense at a time; but both the girls shrieked,
and held out their arms. Rupert and I hesitated no longer, but
sprang forward. I know not how it happened, though I found,
on recovering my self-possession, that I was folding Lucy to my
heart, while Rupert was doing the same to Grace. This little
mistake, however, was soon rectified, each man embracing his
own sister, as in duty bound, and as was most decorous. The
girls shed torrents of tears, and assured us, again and again,
that this was the only really happy moment they had known
since the parting on the wharf, nearly a twelvemonth before.
Then followed looks at each other, exclamations of surprise
and pleasure at the changes that had taken place in the appearance of all parties, and kisses and tears again, in abundance.
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
As for Neb, the poor fellow was seen in the road, whither
he had fled at the sound of my voice, looking at us like one in
awe and doubt. Being satisfied, in the end, of our identity, as
well as of our being in the flesh, the negro again threw himself
on the ground, rolling over and over, and fairly yelling with
delight. After going through this process of negro excitement,
he leaped up on his feel, and started for the house, shouting
at the top of his voice, as if certain the good intelligence he
brought would secure his own pardon – “Master Miles come
home! – Master Miles come home!”
In a few minutes, quiet was sufficiently restored among
us four, who remained at the seat, to ask questions, and receive intelligible answers. Glad was I to ascertain that the girls
had been spared the news of our loss. As for Mr. Hardinge, he
was well, and busied, as usual, in discharging the duties of his
holy office. He had told Grace and Lucy the name of the vessel in which we had shipped, but said nothing of the painful
glimpse he had obtained of us, just as we lifted our anchor,
to quit the port. Grace, in a solemn manner, then demanded
an outline of our adventures. As Rupert was the spokesman
on this occasion, the question having been in a manner put
to him as oldest, I had an opportunity of watching the sweet
countenances of the two painfully interested listeners. Rupert
affected modesty in his narration, if he did not feel it, though I
remarked that he dwelt a little particularly on the shot which
had lodged so near him, in the head of the Tigris’s foremast.
He spoke of the whistling it made as it approached, and the
violence of the blow when it struck. He had the impudence,
too, to speak of my good-luck in being on the other side of the
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
top, when the shot passed through my station; whereas I do believe that the shot passed nearer to me than it did to himself. It
barely missed me, and by all I could learn Rupert was leaning
over by the top-mast rigging when it lodged. The fellow told
his story in his own way, however, and with so much unction
that I observed it made Grace look pale. The effect on Lucy was
different. This excellent creature perceived my uneasiness, I
half suspected, for she laughed, and, interrupting her brother,
told him, “There – that’s enough about the cannon-ball; now
let us hear of something else.” Rupert coloured, for he had frequently had such frank hints from his sister, in the course of
his childhood; but he had too much address to betray the vexation I knew he felt.
To own the truth, my attachment for Rupert had materially lessened with the falling off of my respect. He had manifested so much selfishness during the voyage – had shirked so
much duty, most of which had fallen on poor Neb – and had
been so little of the man, in practice, whom he used so well to
describe with his tongue – that I could no longer shut my eyes
to some of his deficiencies of character. I still liked him; but it
was from habit, and perhaps because he was my guardian’s son,
and Lucy’s brother. Then I could not conceal from myself that
Rupert was not, in a rigid sense, a lad of truth. He coloured,
exaggerated, glossed over and embellished, if he did not absolutely invent. I was not old enough then to understand that
most of the statements that float about the world are nothing but truths distorted, and that nothing is more rare than
unadulterated fact; that truths and lies travel in company, as
described by Pope in his Temple of Fame, until –
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
“This or that unmixed, no mortal e’er shall find.”
In this very narration of our voyage, Rupert had left false
impressions on the minds of his listeners, in fifty things. He
had made far more of both our little skirmishes, than the truth
would warrant, and he had neglected to do justice to Neb in
his account of each of the affairs. Then he commended Captain
Robbins’s conduct in connection with the loss of the John, on
points that could not be sustained, and censured him for measures that deserved praise. I knew Rupert was no seaman –
was pretty well satisfied, by this time, he never would make
one – but I could not explain all his obliquities by referring
them to ignorance. The manner, moreover, in which he represented himself as the principal actor, on all occasions, denoted
so much address, that, while I felt the falsity of the impressions
he left, I did not exactly see the means necessary to counteract
them. So ingenious, indeed, was his manner of stringing facts
and inferences together, or what seemed to be facts and inferences, that I more than once caught myself actually believing
that which, in sober reality, I knew to be false. I was still too
young, not quite eighteen, to feel any apprehensions on the
subject of Grace; and was too much accustomed to both Rupert
and his sister, to regard either with any feelings very widely
different from those which I entertained for Grace herself.
As soon as the history of our adventures and exploits was
concluded, we all had leisure to observe and comment on the
alterations that time had made in our several persons. Rupert,
being the oldest, was the least changed in this particular. He
had got his growth early, and was only a little spread. He had
cultivated a pair of whiskers at sea, which rendered his face a
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
little more manly – an improvement, by the way – but, the
effects of exposure and of the sun excepted, there was no very
material change in his exterior. Perhaps, on the whole, he was
improved in appearance. I think both the girls fancied this,
though Grace did not say it, and Lucy only half admitted it,
and that with many reservations. As for myself, I was also fullgrown, standing exactly six feet in my stockings, which was
pretty well for eighteen. But I had also spread; a fact that is not
common for lads at that age. Grace said I had lost all delicacy of
appearance; and as for Lucy, though she laughed and blushed
she protested I began to look like a great bear. To confess the
truth, I was well satisfied with my own appearance, did not
envy Rupert a jot, and knew I could toss him over my shoulder whenever I chose. I stood the strictures on my appearance,
therefore, very well; and, though no one was so much derided
and laughed at as myself, in that critical discussion, no one
cared less for it all. Just as I was permitted to escape, Lucy said,
in an under tone –
“You should have staid at home, Miles, and then the changes would have come so gradually, no one would have noticed
them, and you would have escaped being told how much you
are altered, and that you are a bear.”
I looked eagerly round at the speaker, and eyed her intently. A look of regret passed over the dear creature’s face,
her eyes looked as penitent as they did soft, and the flush that
suffused her countenance rendered this last expression almost
bewitching. At the same instant she whispered – “I did not really mean that.”
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
But it was Grace’s turn, and my attention was drawn to
my sister. A year had made great improvements in Grace.
Young as she was, she had lost much of the girlish air, in the
sedateness and propriety of the young woman. Grace had always something more of these last than is common; but they
had now completely removed every appearance of childish, I
might almost say of girlish, frivolity. In person, her improvement was great; though an air of exceeding delicacy rather left
an impression that such a being was more intended for another world, than this. There was ever an air of fragility and
of pure intellectuality about my poor sister, that half disposed
one to fancy that she would one day be translated to a better
sphere in the body, precisely as she stood before human eyes.
Lucy bore the examination well. She was all woman, there being nothing about her to create any miraculous expectations,
or fanciful pictures; but she was evidently fast getting to be
a very lovely woman. Honest, sincere, full of heart, overflowing with the feelings of her sex, gentle yet spirited, buoyant
though melting with the charities; her changeful, but natural
and yet constant feelings in her, kept me incessantly in pursuit of her playful mind and varying humours. Still, a more
high-principled being, a firmer or more consistent friend, or a
more accurate thinker on all subjects that suited her years and
became her situation, than Lucy Hardinge, never existed. Even
Grace was influenced by her judgment, though I did not then
know how much my sister’s mind was guided by her simple
and less pretending friend’s capacity to foresee things, and to
reason on their consequences.
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
We were more than an hour uninterruptedly together,
before we thought of repairing to the house. Lucy then reminded Rupert that he had not yet seen his father, whom she
had just before observed alighting from his horse at the door
of his own study. That he had been apprised of the return of
the runaways, if not prodigals, was evident, she thought, by
his manner; and it was disrespectful to delay seeking his forgiveness and blessing. Mr. Hardinge received us both without
surprise, and totally without any show of resentment. It was
about the time he expected our return, and no surprise was
felt at finding this expectation realized, as a matter of course,
while resentment was almost a stranger to his nature. We all
shed tears, the girls sobbing aloud; and we were both solemnly
blessed. Nor am I ashamed to say I knelt to receive that blessing, in an age when the cant of a pretending irreligion – there
is as much cant in self-sufficiency as in hypocrisy, and they
very often go together – is disposed to turn into ridicule the
humbling of the person, while asking for the blessing of the
Almighty through the ministers of his altars; for kneel I did,
and weep I did, and, I trust, the one in humility and the other
in contrition.
When we had all become a little calm, and a substantial
meal was placed before us adventurers, Mr. Hardinge demanded an account of all that had passed. He applied to me to give
it, and I was compelled to discharge the office of an historian,
somewhat against my inclination. There was no remedy, however, and I told the story in my own simple manner, and certainly in a way to leave very different impressions from many
of those made by the narrative of Rupert. I thought once or
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
twice, as I proceeded, that Lucy looked sorrowful, and Grace
looked surprised. I do not think I coloured in the least, as regarded myself, and I know I did Neb no more than justice. My
tale was soon told, for I felt the whole time as if I were contradicting Rupert, who, by the way, appeared perfectly unconcerned – perfectly unconscious, indeed – on the subject of
the discrepancies in the two accounts. I have since met with
men who did not know the truth when it was even placed very
fairly before their eyes.
Mr. Hardinge expressed his heartfelt happiness at having us back again, and, soon after, he ventured to ask if we
were satisfied with what we had seen of the world. This was
a home question, but I thought it best to meet it manfully. So
far from being satisfied, I told him it was my ardent desire to
get on board one of the letters-of-marque, of which so many
were then fitting out in the country, and to make a voyage to
Europe. Rupert, however, confessed he had mistaken his vocation, and that he thought he could do no better than to enter
a lawyer’s office. I was thunderstruck at this quiet admission of
my friend, of his incapacity to make a sailor, for it was the first
intimation I heard of his intention. I had remarked a certain
want of energy, in various situations that required action, in
Rupert, but no want of courage; and I had ascribed some portion of his lassitude to the change of condition, and, possibly,
of food; for, after all, that godlike creature, man, is nothing but
an animal, and is just as much influenced by his stomach and
digestion as a sheep, or a horse.
Mr. Hardinge received his son’s intimation of a preference
of intellectual labours to a more physical state of existence,
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
with a gratification my own wishes did not afford him. Still,
he made no particular remark to either at the time, permitting
us both to enjoy our return to Clawbonny, without any of the
drawbacks of advice or lectures. The evening passed delightfully, the girls beginning to laugh heartily at our own ludicrous accounts of the mode of living on board ship, and of our
various scenes in China, the Isle of Bourbon, and elsewhere.
Rupert had a great deal of humour, and a very dry way of exhibiting it; in short, he was almost a genius in the mere superficialities of life; and even Grace rewarded his efforts to entertain
us, with laughter to tears. Neb was introduced after supper,
and the fellow was both censured and commended; censured
for having abandoned the household gods, and commended
for not having deserted their master. His droll descriptions of
the Chinese, their dress, pigtails, shoes and broken English,
diverted even Mr. Hardinge, who, I believe, felt as much like
a boy on this occasion, as any of the party. A happier evening
than that which followed in the little tea-parlour, as my dear
mother used to call it, was never passed in the century that the
roof had covered the old walls of Clawbonny.
Next day I had a private conversation with my guardian,
who commenced the discourse by rendering a sort of account
of the proceeds of my property during the past year. I listened
respectfully, and with some interest; for I saw the first gave
Mr. Hardinge great satisfaction, and I confess the last afforded
some little pleasure to myself. I found that things had gone
on very prosperously. Ready money was accumulating, and I
saw that, by the time I came of age, sufficient cash would be on
hand to give me a ship of my own, should I choose to purchase
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
one. From that moment I was secretly determined to qualify
myself to command her in the intervening time. Little was said
of the future, beyond an expression of the hope, by my guardian, that I would take time to reflect before I came to a final
decision on the subject of my profession. To this I said nothing
beyond making a respectful inclination of the head.
For the next month, Clawbonny was a scene of uninterrupted merriment and delight. We had few families to visit in
our immediate neighbourhood, it is true; and Mr. Hardinge
proposed an excursion to the Springs – the country was then
too new, and the roads too bad, to think of Niagara – but to
this I would not listen. I cared not for the Springs – knew little
of, and cared less for fashion – and loved Clawbonny to its
stocks and stones. We remained at home, then, living principally for each other. Rupert read a good deal to the girls, under
the direction of his father; while I passed no small portion of
my time in athletic exercises. The Grace & Lucy made one or
two tolerably long cruises in the river, and at length I conceived the idea of taking the party down to town in the Wallingford. Neither of the girls had ever seen New York, or much
of the Hudson; nor had either ever seen a ship. The sloops that
passed up and down the Hudson, with an occasional schooner,
were the extent of their acquaintance with vessels; and I began
to feel it to be matter of reproach that those in whom I took so
deep an interest, should be so ignorant. As for the girls themselves, they both admitted, now I was a sailor, that their desire
to see a regular, three-masted, full-rigged ship, was increased
seven-fold.
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