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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
day; a request with which she had the good nature to comply.
Which was most gratified by this exhibition, the young lady or
myself, it might be difficult to say; for there is a mutual satisfaction in admiring, and in being admired.
When I went into the cabin to say good-night, I found Emily Merton, with the necklace in her hand, gazing at it, by the
light of a powerful lamp, with eyes as liquid and soft as the
pearls themselves. I stood still to admire her; for never before
had I seen her so bewitchingly beautiful. Her countenance
was usually a little wanting in intellectual expression, though
it possessed so much of that which I have described as angelic;
but, on this occasion, it seemed to me, to be full of ideas. Can
it be possible, whispered conceit – and what very young man
is entirely free from it – can it be possible, she is now thinking how happy a woman Mrs. Miles Wallingford will one day
be? – Am I in any manner connected with that meditating
brow, that reflecting air, that fixed look, that pleased and yet
doubting expression?
“I was about to send for you, Captain Wallingford,” said
Emily, the instant she saw me, and confirming my conceited
conjectures, by blushing deeper than I had seen her before, in
the whole of that blushing, sensitive, and enjoyable day; “about
to send for you, to take charge of your treasure.”
“And could you not assume that much responsibility, for a
single night?”
“‘T would be too great – it is an honour reserved for Mrs.
Wallingford, you know.”
This was smilingly said, I fancied sweetly and kindly, and yet
it was said not altogether without something that approached
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
to an équivoque; a sort of manner that the deep, natural feeling
of Grace, and needle-like truth of Lucy had rendered unpleasant to me. I took the necklace, shook the young lady’s hand for
good-night – we always did that, on meeting and parting for
the day – paid my compliments to the father, and withdrew.
I was dressing next morning, when Neb came bolting into
my state-room, with his Clawbonny freedom of manner, his
eyes looking lobsters, and his necklace of pearl, glittering between a pair of lips that might have furnished a cannibal two
famous steaks. As soon as fairly established in command, I had
brought the fellow aft, berthing him in the steerage, in order
to have the benefit of more of his personal service than I could
obtain while he was exclusively a foremast Jack. Still, he kept
his watch; for it would have been cruel to deprive, him of that
pleasure.
“Oh! Masser Mile!” exclaimed the black, as soon as he could
speak; “‘e boat! – ‘e boat!”
“What of the boat? – Is any one overboard?”
“‘E whale-boat, sir! – Poor Captain Marble – ‘e whale-boat,
sir!”
“I understand you, Neb – go on deck, and desire the officer
of the watch to heave-to the ship, as soon as it is proper; I will
come up, the instant I can.”
Here, then, I thought, Providence has brought us on the
track of the unfortunate whale-boat; and we shall doubtless see
the mutilated remains of some of our old companions – poor
Marble, doubtless, from what Neb said – well, the will of God
be done. I was soon dressed; and, as I went up the cabin-ladder,
the movement on deck denoted the nature of the excitement
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
that now prevailed generally, in the ship. Just as I reached the
quarter-deck, the main-yard swung round, and the sails were
brought aback. The whole crew was in commotion, and it was
some little time before I could learn the cause.
The morning was misty, and the view round the ship, until within a few minutes, had been confined to a circle of less
than a mile in diameter. As the sun rose, however, the mist
broke away gradually, and then the watch caught a view of
the whale-boat mentioned by Neb. Instead of being floating
about on the ocean, with the remains of its unfortunate crew
lying in its bottom, as I had expected to see it, when I caught
the first glimpse of the unlooked-for object, it was not a mile
distant, pulling briskly for us, and containing not only a full,
but a strong and an animated crew.
Just at that instant, some one cried out “Sail-ho!” and sure
enough, a ship was seen some four or five miles to leeward, a
whaler evidently, turning to windward, under easy canvass, in
order to rejoin her boat, from which she had lately been separated by the night and the fog. This, then, was no more than
a whaler and her boat; and, on sweeping the horizon with a
glass, Talcott soon discovered, a mile to windward of the boat,
a dead whale, with another boat lying by it, in waiting for the
approach of the ship, which promised to fetch as far to windward, on its next tack.
“They desire to speak us, I suppose, Mr. Talcott,” I remarked.
“The ship is probably an American; it is likely the captain is in
the boat, and he wishes to send letters or messages home.”
A shout came from Talcott, at the next instant – then he
cried out –
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
“Three cheers, my lads; I see Captain Marble in that boat,
as plainly as I see the boat itself!”
The cheers that followed, were a spontaneous burst of joy.
They reached the approaching boat, and gave its inmate an
earnest of his reception. In three more minutes. Marble was
on the deck of his old ship. For myself, I was unable to speak;
nor was poor Marble much better off though more prepared
for the interview.
“I knew you, Miles; I knew you, and the bloody ‘Pretty
Poll,’” he at last got out, the tears running down his cheeks like
water, “the moment the fog lifted, and gave me a fair glimpse.
They’ve got her – yes – d – – n her – God bless her, I mean –
they’ve got her, and the bloody Frenchmen will not go home
with that feather in their caps. Well, it couldn’t have happened
to a cleverer fellow; and I’m just as happy as if I had done it
myself!”
There he stood, sound, safe, and sturdy as ever; and the four
Sandwich Islanders were all in the boat, just as well as if they
had never quitted the ship. Every man of the crew had to shake
hands with Marble, congratulations were to be exchanged, and
a turbulent quarter of an hour passed, before it was possible
to get a coherent account from the man of what had befallen
him. As soon as practicable, however, he motioned for silence,
and told his own story aloud, for the benefit of all hands.
“You know how I left you, men,” Marble commenced,
swabbing his eyes and cheeks, and struggling to speak with
something like an appearance of composure, “and the errand
on which I went. The last I saw of you was about half an hour
before the gust broke. At that time I was so near the ship, as to
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
make out she was a whaler; and, nothing doubting of being in
sight of you in the morning, I thought it safer to pull alongside
of her, than to try to hunt for the schooner in the dark. I found
an old shipmate in the whaler’s captain, who was looking for
a boat that had struck adrift the night before; and both parties
were pleased. There was not much time for compliments, however, as you all know. The ship bore up to speak you, and then
she bore up, again and again, on account of the squalls. While
Mr. Wallingford was probably hugging the wind in order to
find me, we were running off to save our spars; and next morning we could see nothing of you. How else we missed each other, is more than I can say; for I’ve no idee you went off and left
me out here, in the middle of the ocean – ”
“We cruised for you, within five miles of the spot, for a
whole day!” I exclaimed, eagerly.
“No, no – Captain Marble,” the men put in, in a body, “we
did all that men could do, to find you.”
“I know it! I could swear to it, without a word from one of
you. Well, that’s the whole story. We could not find you, and I
stuck by the ship as a matter of course, as there was no choice
between that and jumping overboard; and here has the Lord
brought us together again, though we are every inch of five
hundred miles from the place where we parted.”
I then took Marble below, and related to him all that had
occurred since the separation. He listened with the deepest
interest, manifesting the strongest sympathy in our success.
Nothing but expressions of gratification escaped him, until I
remarked, as I concluded my account –
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
“And here is the old ship for you, sir, just as we lost her; and
glad am I to see her once more in so good hands.”
“Who put that bloody poop on her, you or the Frenchman,
Miles?”
“The Frenchman. Now it is peace, however, it is no great
matter; and the cabin is very convenient for the Major and his
daughter.”
“It’s just like ‘em! Spoiling the neatest quarter-deck on the
ocean, with a bloody supernumerary cabin!”
“Well, sir, as you are master now, you can have it all cut
away again, if you think proper.”
“I! I cut away anything! I take the command of this ship
from the man who has so fairly won it! If I do, may I be d – –
d!”
“Captain Marble! You astonish me by this language, sir; but
it is nothing more than a momentary feeling, of which your
own good sense – nay, even your duty to the owners – will
cause you to get rid.”
“You never were more mistaken in your life, Master Miles
Wallingford,” answered Marble, solemnly. “I thought of all
this the moment I recognised the ship, and that was as soon as
I saw her; and my mind was made up from that instant. I cannot be so mean as to come in at the seventh hour, and profit
by your courage and skill. Besides, I have no legal right to command here. The ship was more than twenty-four hours in the
enemy’s hands, and she comes under the usual laws of recapture and salvage.”
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AFLOAT AND ASHORE
“But the owners, Captain Marble – remember there is a
cargo to be taken in at Canton, and there are heavy interests
at stake.”
“By George, that would make me so much the more firm.
From the first, I have thought matters would be better in your
hands than mine; you have an education, and that’s a wonderful thing, Miles. As to sailing a ship, or stowing her, or taking care of her in heavy weather, or finding my way across an
ocean, I’ll turn my back on no man; but it’s a different thing
when it comes to figures and calculations.”
“You disappoint me greatly in all this, sir; we have gone
through so much together – ”
“We did not go through the recapture of this vessel together, boy.”
“But it was your thought, and, but for an accident, would
have been your deed.”
“I don’t know that; I have reflected coolly in the matter,
after I got over my mortification; and I think we should have
been flogged, had we attacked the French at sea. Your own
plan was better, and capitally carried out. Harkee, Miles, this
much will I do, and not a jot more. You are bound to the island, I take it for granted, to pick up odds and ends; and then
you sail for Canton?”
“Precisely – I am glad you approve of it, as you must by seeing into it so readily.”
“Well, at the island, fill up the schooner with such articles
as will be of no use at Canton. Let her take in the copper, the
English goods, and the like of that; and I will carry her home,
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
while you can pursue the v’y’ge in the ship, as you alone have
a right to do.”
No arguments of mine could turn Marble from his resolution. I fought him all day on the subject, and at night he was
put in command of the “Pretty Poll,” with our old second-mate
for his first officer.
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CHAPTER XIX
“Thou shalt seek the beach of sand,
Where the water bounds the elfin land;
Thou shalt watch the oozy brine
Till the sturgeon leaps in the light moonshine.”
Drake.
There is but a word to say of the whaler. We spoke her, of
course, and parted, leaving her her boat. She passed half an
hour, close to us, and then went after her whale. When we lost
sight of her, she was cutting in the fish, as coolly as if nothing
had happened. As for ourselves, we made the best of our way
for the island.
Nothing worth relating occurred during the remainder of
the passage. We reached our place of destination ten days after we found Marble; and carried both the ship and schooner
into the lagoon, without any hesitation or difficulty. Everything was found precisely as we had left it; two months having
passed as quietly as an hour. The tents were standing, the different objects lay where they had been hastily dropped at our
hurried departure, and everything denoted the unchangeable
character of an unbroken solitude. Time and the seasons could
alone have produced any sensible alteration. Even the wreck
had neither shifted her bed, nor suffered injury. There she lay,
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
seemingly an immovable fixture on the rocks, and as likely to
last, as any other of the durable things around her.
It is always a relief to escape from the confinement of a
ship, even if it be only to stroll along the vacant sands of some
naked beach. As soon as the vessels were secured, we poured
ashore in a body, and the people were given a holiday. There
was no longer an enemy to apprehend; and we all enjoyed
the liberty of movement, and the freedom from care that accompanied our peculiar situation. Some prepared lines and
commenced fishing; others hauled the seine; while the less
industriously disposed lounged about, selected the fruit of
the cocoa-nut tree, or hunted for shells, of which there were
many, and those extremely beautiful, scattered along the inner and outer beaches, or lying, visible, just within the wash
of the water. I ordered two or three of the hands to make a
collection for Clawbonny; paying them, as a matter of course,
for their extra services. Their success was great; and I still possess the fruits of their search, as memorials of my youthful
adventures.
Emily and her maid took possession of their old tents,
neither of which had been disturbed; and I directed that the
necessary articles of furniture should be landed for their use.
As we intended to remain eight or ten days at Marble Land,
there was a general disposition to make ourselves comfortable; and the crew were permitted to bring such things ashore
as they desired, care being had for the necessary duties of the
ships. Since quitting London, we had been prisoners, with the
short interval of our former visit to this place, and it was now
deemed wisest to give the people a little relaxation. To all this,
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