Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:Afloat and Ashore
.pdf
AFLOAT AND ASHORE
absence, as letters from time to time apprised the owners that
these people were on board, and in discharge of their several
duties. I determined on giving Rupert the benefit of such an
arrangement. First presenting him with twenty dollars from
my own little store, I took him with me to the counting-house,
and succeeded, though not without some difficulty, in obtaining for my friend a credit of twenty dollars a-month, promising faithfully to repay any balance that might arise against me
in consequence of the loss of the ship, or of any accident to
myself. This I was enabled to do on the strength of my credit as
the owner of Clawbonny; for, as is usual in these cases, I passed
for being much richer than I really was, though far from being
poor.
I will acknowledge that, while I felt no reluctance at making this arrangement in favour of Rupert, I felt mortified he
should accept it. There are certain acts we may all wish to
perform, and, yet, which bring regrets when successfully performed. I was sorry that my friend, Lucy’s brother, Grace’s admirer – for I was quick enough in perceiving that Rupert began to entertain fancies of that sort – had not pride enough to
cause him to decline receiving money which must be earned
by the sweat of my brow, and this, moreover, in a mode of life
he had not himself sufficient resolution to encounter a second
time. But he accepted the offer, and there was an end of it.
As everything was alive in 1798, the Crisis was ready to sail
in three days after I joined her. We hauled into the North river,
as became the dignity of our voyage, and got our crew on board.
On the whole, we mustered a pretty good body of men, ten of
them being green; fellows who had never seen the ocean, but
161
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
who were young, healthy and athletic, and who promised to
be useful before a great while. Including those aft, we counted
thirty-eight souls on board. The ship was got ready in hopes
of being able to sail of a Thursday, for Captain Williams was a
thoughtful man, and was anxious to get the ship fairly at sea,
with the first work done, previously to the next Sabbath. Some
small matters, however, could not be got through with in time;
and, as for sailing of a Friday, that was out of the question. No
one did that in 1798, who could help it. This gave us a holiday,
and I got leave to pass the afternoon and evening ashore.
Rupert, Grace, Lucy and I took a long walk into the country that evening; that is, we went into the fields, and along the
lanes, for some distance above the present site of Canal street.
Lucy and I walked together, most of the time, and we both felt
sad at the idea of so long a separation as was now before us.
The voyage might last three years; and I should be legally a
man, my own master, and Lucy a young woman of near nineteen, by that time. Terrible ages in perspective were these, and
which seemed to us pregnant with as many changes as the life
of a man.
“Rupert will be admitted to the bar, when I get back,” I
casually remarked, as we talked the matter over.
“He will, indeed,” the dear girl answered. “Now you are to
go, Miles, I almost regret my brother is not to be in the ship;
you have known each other so long, love each other so much,
and have already gone through such frightful trials in company.”
162
AFLOAT AND ASHORE
“Oh! I shall do well enough – there’ll be Neb; and as for
Rupert, I think he will be better satisfied ashore than at sea.
Rupert is a sort of a natural lawyer.”
By this I merely meant he was good at a subterfuge, and
could tell his own story.
“Yes, but Neb is not Rupert, Miles,” Lucy answered, quick
as thought, and, I fancied, a little reproachfully.
“Very true – no doubt I shall miss your brother, and that,
too, very much, at times; but all I meant in speaking of Neb
was, as you know, that he and I like each other, too, and have
been through just the same trials together, you understand,
and have known each other as long as I can remember.”
Lucy was silent, and I felt embarrassed, and a little at a loss
what to say next. But a girl approaching sixteen, and who is
with a youth who possesses her entire confidence, is not apt
to be long silent. Something she will say; and how often is that
something warm with natural feeling, instinct with truth, and
touching from its confiding simplicity!
“You will sometimes think of us, Miles?” was Lucy’s next
remark, and it was said in a tone that induced me to look her
full in the face, when I discovered that her eyes were suffused
with tears.
“Of that you may be very certain, and I hope to be rewarded
in kind. But, now I think of it, Lucy, I have a debt to pay you,
and, at the same time, a little interest. Here are the half-joes
you forced me to take last year, when we parted at Clawbonny.
See, they are exactly the same pieces; for I would as soon have
parted with a finger, as with one of them.”
163
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
“I had hoped they might have been of use to you, and had
quite forgotten them. You have destroyed an agreeable illusion.”
“Is it not quite as agreeable to know we had no occasion
for them? No, here they are; and, now I go with Mr. Hardinge’s
full approbation, you very well know I can be in no want of
money. So, there is your gold; and here, Lucy, is some interest
for the use of it.”
I made an effort to put something into the dear girl’s hand
as I spoke, but all the strength I could properly apply was not
equal to the purpose. So tightly did she keep her little fingers
compressed, that I could not succeed without a downright effort at force.
“No – no – Miles,” she said hurriedly – almost huskily;
“that will never do! I am not Rupert – you may prevail with
him; never with me!”
“Rupert! What can Rupert have to do with such a thing as
this locket? Youngsters don’t wear lockets.”
Lucy’s fingers separated as easily as an infant’s, and I put
my little offering into her hand without any more resistance. I
was sorry, however, to discover that, by some means unknown
to me, she had become acquainted with the arrangement I had
made as respected the twenty dollars a month. I afterwards ascertained that this secret had leaked out through Neb, who
had it from one of the clerks of the counting-house who had
visited the ship, and repeated it to Mrs. Bradfort’s black maid,
in one of his frequent visits to the house. This is a common
channel of information, though it seldom proves as true as it
did in this instance.
164
AFLOAT AND ASHORE
I could see that Lucy was delighted with her locket. It was
a very pretty ornament, in the first place, and it had her own
hair, that of Grace, Rupert, and my own, very prettily braided
together, so as to form a wreath, made like a rope, or a grummet, encircling a combination of letters that included all our
initials. In this there was nothing that was particular, while
there was much that was affectionate. Had I not consulted
Grace on the subject, it is possible I should have been less cautious, though I declare I had no thought of making love. All
this time I fancied I felt for, and trusted Lucy as another sister.
I was shrewd enough to detect Rupert’s manner and feeling
towards my own sister, and I felt afraid it was, or soon would
be, fully reciprocated; but as to imagining myself in love with
Lucy Hardinge, or any one else, the thought never crossed my
mind, though the dear girl herself so often did!
I saw Lucy’s smile, and I could not avoid noticing the manner in which, once or twice, unconsciously to herself, I do believe, this simple-minded, sincere creature, pressed the hand
which retained the locket to her heart; and yet it made no very
lively impression on my imagination at the time. The conversation soon changed, and we began to converse of other things.
I have since fancied that Grace had left us alone in order that
I might return the half-joes to Lucy, and offer the locket; for,
looking round and seeing the latter in its new owner’s hand,
while Lucy was bestowing on it one of the hundred glances of
grateful pleasure it received that afternoon, she waited until
we came up, when she took my arm, remarking, as this was to
be our last evening together, she must come in for her share
of the conversation. Now, I solemnly affirm that this was the
165
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
nearest approach to anything like a love-scene that had ever
passed between Lucy Hardinge and myself.
I would gladly pass over the leave-taking, and shall say but
little about it. Mr. Hardinge called me into his room, when we
got back to the house. He spoke earnestly and solemnly to me,
recalling to my mind many of his early and most useful precepts. He then kissed me, gave me his blessing, and promised
to remember me in his prayers. As I left him, and I believe he
went on his knees as soon as my back was turned, Lucy was
waiting for me in the passage. She was in tears, and paler than
common, but her mind seemed made up to sustain a great
sacrifice like a woman. She put a small, but exceedingly neat
copy of the Bible into my hand, and uttered, as well as emotion
would permit – “There, Miles; that is my keepsake. I do not ask
you to think of me when you read; but think of God.” She then
snatched a kiss, and flew into her room and locked the door.
Grace was below, and she wept on my neck like a child, kissing
me again and again, and calling me “her brother – her dear,
her only brother.” I was obliged actually to tear myself away
from Grace. Rupert went with me to the ship, and passed an
hour or two on board. As we crossed the threshold, I heard a
window open above my head, and, looking up, I saw Lucy, with
streaming eyes, leaning forward to say, “Write, Miles – write
as often as you possibly can.”
Man must be a stern being by nature, to be able to tear
himself from such friends, in order to encounter enemies,
hardships, dangers and toil, and all without any visible motive. Such was my case, however, for I wanted not for a competency, or for most of those advantages which might tempt
166
AFLOAT AND ASHORE
one to abandon the voyage. Of such a measure, the possibility
never crossed my mind. I believed that it was just as necessary
for me to remain third-mate of the Crisis, and to stick by the
ship while she would float, as Mr. Adams thinks it necessary
for him to present abolition petitions to a congress, which will
not receive them. We both of us, doubtless, believed ourselves
the victims of fate.
We sailed at sun-rise, wind and tide favouring. We had anchored off Courtlandt street, and as the ship swept past the
Battery I saw Rupert, who had only gone ashore in the pilot’s
boat at day-light, with two females, watching our movements.
The girls did not dare to wave their handkerchiefs; but what
cared I for that – I knew that their good wishes, kind wishes,
tender wishes, went with me; and this little touch of affection,
which woman knows so well how to manifest, made me both
happy and sad for the remainder of the day.
The Crisis was an unusually fast ship, faster even than the
Tigris; coppered to the bends, copper-fastened, and with a liveoak frame. No better craft sailed out of the republic. Uncle
Sam had tried to purchase her for one of his new navy; but
the owners, having this voyage in view, refused his tempting
offers. She was no sooner under her canvass, than all hands of
us perceived we were in a traveller; and glad enough were we
to be certain of the fact, for we had a long road before us. This,
too, was with the wind free, and in smooth water; whereas
those who knew the vessel asserted her forte was on a bowline
and in a sea-that is to say, she would sail relatively faster than
most other craft, under the latter circumstances.
167
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
There was a strange pleasure to me, notwithstanding all I
had suffered previously, all the risks I had run, and all I had
left behind me, in finding myself once more on the broad
ocean. As for Neb, the fellow was fairly enraptured. So quickly
and intelligently did he obey his orders, that he won a reputation before we crossed the bar. The smell of the ocean seemed
to imbue him with a species of nautical inspiration, and even
I was astonished with his readiness and activity. As for myself,
I was every way at home. Very different was this exit from the
port, from that of the previous year. Then everything was novel, and not a little disgusting. Now I had little, almost nothing,
to learn – literally nothing, I might have said, were it not that
every ship-master has certain ways of his own, that it behooves
all his subordinates to learn as quickly as possible. Then I lived
aft, where we not only had plates, and table-cloths, and tumblers, and knives and forks; but comparatively clean articles of
the sort. I say comparatively, the two other degrees being usually wanting in north-west traders.
The Crisis went to sea with a lively breeze at south-west,
the wind shifting after she had got into the lower bay. There
were a dozen sail of us altogether, and in our little fleet were
two of Uncle Sam’s men, who felt disposed to try their hands
with us. We crossed the bar, all three of us, within a cable’s
length of each other, and made sail in company, with the wind
a trifle abaft the beam. Just as Navesink disappeared, our two
men-of-war, merchantmen altered, hauled up on bowlines,
and jogged off towards the West Indies, being at the time about
a league astern of us. This success put us all in high good-humour, and had such an effect on Marble in particular, that he
168
AFLOAT AND ASHORE
began to give it as his opinion that our only superiority over
them would not be found confined to sailing, on an experiment. It is very convenient to think favourably of one’s self,
and it is certainly comfortable to entertain the same notion as
respects one’s ship.
I confess to a little awkwardness at first, in acting as an
officer. I was young, and commanded men old enough to be
my father – regular sea-dogs, who were as critical in all that
related to the niceties of the calling, as the journalist who is
unable to appreciate the higher qualities of a book, is hypercritical on its minor faults. But a few days gave me confidence,
and I soon found I was obeyed as readily as the first-mate. A
squall struck the ship in my watch, about a fortnight out, and
I succeeded in getting in sail, and saving everything, canvass
and spars, in a way that did me infinite service aft. Captain
Williams spoke to me on the subject, commending the orders I
had given, and the coolness with which they had been issued;
for, as I afterwards understood, he remained some time in the
companion-way, keeping the other two mates back, though all
hands had been called, in order to see how I could get along
by myself in such a strait. On this occasion, I never saw a human being exert himself like Neb. He felt that my honour was
concerned. I do really think the fellow did two men’s duty,
the whole time the squall lasted. Until this little incident occurred, Captain Williams was in the habit of coming on deck
to examine the heavens, and see how things were getting on,
in my night-watches; but, after this, he paid no more visits of
this sort to me, than he paid to Mr. Marble. I had been gratified
169
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
by his praises; but this quiet mode of showing confidence, gave
me more happiness than I can express.
We had a long passage out, the wind hanging to the eastward near three weeks. At length we got moderate southerly
breezes, and began to travel on our course. Twenty-four hours
after we had got the fair wind, I had the morning watch, and
made, as the day dawned, a sail directly abeam of us, to windward, about three leagues distant, or just hull down. I went
into the main-top, and examined her with a glass. She was a
ship, seemingly of about our own size, and carrying everything
that would draw. I did not send word below until it was broad
daylight, or for near half an hour; and in all that time her bearings did not vary any perceptible distance.
Just as the sun rose, the captain and chief-mate made their
appearance on deck. At first they agreed in supposing the
stranger a stray English West-Indiaman, bound home; for, at
that time, few merchant vessels were met at sea that were not
English or American. The former usually sailed in convoys,
however; and the captain accounted for the circumstance that
this was not thus protected, by the fact of her sailing so fast.
She might be a letter-of-marque, like ourselves, and vessels of
that character did not take convoy. As the two vessels lay exactly abeam of each other, with square yards, it was not easy
to judge of the sparring of the stranger, except by means of
his masts. Marble, judging by the appearance of his topsails,
began to think our neighbour might be a Frenchman, he had
so much hoist to the sails. After some conversation on the subject, the captain ordered me to brace forward the yards, as far
as our studding-sails would allow, and to luff nearer to the
170
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]