THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT 
 
 From the Library of 
 
 Henry Goldman, Ph.D. 
 
 1886-1972
 
 THE GREEN HAND
 
 FAMOUS NOVELS OF THE SEA 
 
 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 ADVENTURES OF A NAVAL LIEUTENANT 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE CUPPLES 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 GEORGE GIBBS 
 
 NEW YORK 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1902
 
 COPYRIGHT 1899, 
 BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
 
 Stack 
 Annex 
 
 PR, 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE popularity of The Green Hand, both among seamen 
 and others, as being true to life, has been wide. It has, how 
 ever, been thought desirable to issue a revised edition, freed 
 from various expressions now to a certain extent obsolete or 
 otherwise unsuitable. 
 
 Some considerable time has now elapsed since the period to 
 which these adventures refer, not without producing a good 
 deal of alteration in much that goes on at sea, most especially 
 in the outward accessories of nautical life. The spanking 
 frigate of former days, for instance, is now no more ; her place 
 being, to the eye at any rate, ill taken up by the ironclad 
 screw-steamer. The mechanical appliances have been im- 
 proved, particularly in the merchant service, as, for example, 
 by the Patent-Reefing-Topsail, which is only one of the 
 countless new helps to the seaman. In navigation, instead 
 of now taking five, six, or seven months to reach Australia 
 from this country, the captain of any clipper-line sailing ship 
 would be ashamed of himself if he did not do it within three. 
 Not to multiply cases, Jack himself has, as a rule, added the 
 moustache to his exuberance of whisker; he thinks better 
 than he used to do of these excellent institutions, the Sailors' 
 Homes; he is frequently a temperance man, and has even 
 been known to take the chair at a meeting for vindication of 
 sailors' rights. 
 
 But the state of the case, from a plain practical point of 
 view, is pretty well illustrated by an anecdote current at sea 
 among forecastle story-tellers. According to them, a singu- 
 lar discovery was made, some forty years or so back, in 
 Portsmouth harbor, aboard no less conspicuous a craft than 
 that immortal three-decker hulk, H. M. S. "Victory" herself,
 
 PREFACE 
 
 when some alterations were being made down in her lower 
 decks. There certain of the dockyard people, having occasion 
 to lift a small out-of-the-way lazarette hatch, down on the 
 after-part of the orlop, which had been long covered with 
 old coils of hawsers or the like, were surprised to find a man 
 lying beneath, who rubbed his eyes, stretched himself as if 
 waking out of sleep, and was finally brought up on deck. 
 From undoubted evidence it turned out that he had been shut 
 down in joke, under the effect of some strange potion, his 
 rough messmates having of course intended to release him 
 before long; but a sudden commotion of a more important 
 nature had arisen, owing to which they had forgotten him 
 until too late, being themselves appointed on active service 
 abroad. Hence it occurred that he had been left there, fast 
 enclosed and asleep, ever since shortly after Trafalgar, when 
 the "Victory" had come home with Nelson's body, and been 
 paid off, dismantled, and moored in her place as a hulk. 
 From a young reefer, this gentleman had meanwhile grown 
 into a grizzled oldster, on midshipman's half-pay, not likely 
 to have his services further required, seeing that the French 
 had long ceased to offer battle afloat. He was however freely 
 invited into professional society, where his opinions on the 
 changes that had taken place were naturally much looked to. 
 The things he is said to have principally remarked as new, 
 were that pigtails had gone out of fashion, the midshipmen's 
 messes were supplied with silver forks, boatswains in stimu- 
 lating the men at work put more force into their language, 
 less into their rattans, and that the leading-blocks of the 
 mizzen-topsail-reef-tackles hung at the slings of the yard in- 
 stead of being as formerly at the rim of the round-top; nor 
 did he ever feel sure that such changes were for the better. 
 This yarn, with a good moral tacked on at the end, in one 
 form or another, still affords entertainment to many a tarry 
 audience in ships outward bound, at second dog-watch time, 
 when rolling down the Trades; particularly if spun by some 
 fluent ex-man-o'-war's-rnan from any of her Majesty's iron- 
 clads. The said moral generally being to the effect, that little 
 
 vi
 
 PREFACE 
 
 difference is made in essentials at sea by progress in the mere 
 shoregoing world. 
 
 In the following story no great amount of correction re- 
 quires to be made in bringing it up to date; and, except in a 
 few minor points, I have left this to be done by each reader 
 for himself, supposing the case that he should ever find reason 
 in his own professional experience. The terms larboard and 
 starboard are both left in use throughout the book, although 
 the former has long been replaced by the word port which, 
 in my time, was chiefly confined to the helm, when the re- 
 semblance of sound would always have been dangerous at a 
 sudden emergency. The cry "All lar-bowlins ahoy !" no longer 
 is added to the summons that rouses the sleepy watch below. 
 But after everything is said, the main realities of sea-life 
 continue to be what they were. There is constant truth in 
 those grand words known to us all: 
 
 Thy shores are empires, changed in all save Thee 
 
 * # * # 
 
 Unchangeable, save to thy wild waves' play, 
 Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow. 
 
 The strangeness of foreign sights and tropical wonders has 
 not altered; nor the thrill of excitement amid tempest; wind 
 and weather are noway different; the sailor feels as much 
 pride as ever in his ship's good qualities; the occasion of 
 danger still brings out his manhood ; hearts-of-oak will always 
 be ready to man our floating bulwarks so long as Britain 
 remains. 
 
 If it were only in order to express a hearty belief in this, 
 I am glad to have had the opportunity afforded by the few 
 words prefixed to a fresh edition of The Green Hand. And 
 to all young readers who must ere long embark upon the 
 troubled sea of life, success and a good voyage to you is the 
 cordial wish of your sincere friend, 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
 Edinburgh, August 31, 1878. 
 
 vii
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 I SAT UNEASY, LIKE A SMALL PAWN THAT HAD BEEN TRYING 
 
 TO GET TO THE HEAD OP THE BOARD, . . Frontispiece. 
 
 THE SECONDS GAVE THE WORD TO EACH OTHER, AND DROPPED 
 
 Two WHITE HANDKERCHIEFS AT ONCE, .... 60 
 
 NEXT MINUTE THE FIRE OUT OF ONE OF HER BOW-CHASERS 
 
 FLASHED OUT BEHIND THE BLUE BACK OF A SWELL, . 246 
 
 THE FRENCHMAN'S RED CAP AND His DARK, FIERCE FACE 
 
 GLARED ON ME BY THE LIGHT OF THE LANTERN, . . 300 
 
 ix
 
 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 "CoME, old ship, give us a yarn!" said the younger fore- 
 castle-men to an old one, on board of an Indiaman then 
 swiftly cleaving the waves of the western Atlantic before the 
 trade-wind, and outward-bound, with a hearty crew and a 
 number of passengers. It was the second of the two dog- 
 watches; and, the ship being still in the region of evening 
 twilights, her men, in a good humor and with leisure, were 
 then usually disposed, as on this occasion, to make fast their 
 roaming thoughts by help of a good yarn, when it could be 
 got. There were plenty of individuals, amongst a crew of 
 forty, calculated by their experience, or else by their flow of 
 spirits and fancy, to spin it. Each watch into which they 
 were divided had its especial story-teller, with whose merits 
 it twitted the other, and on opportunity of a general reunion, 
 they were pitted against one another like two fighting-cocks. 
 The one was a grave, solemn, old North-Sea whaler with one 
 eye, who professed to look down with contempt upon all raw 
 head-work, on navigation compared with seamanship, and 
 fiction against fact. As for himself, he rested all his fame 
 upon actual experience, and told long dry narratives of old 
 shipmates, of his voyages and adventures, and sometimes of 
 the most incredible incidents, with a genuine briny gusto 
 which pleased the veteran stagers beyond expression. They 
 were full of points of seamanship expedients for nice emer- 
 gencies, tacks, knots, and splices; he gave the very conversa- 
 tion of his characters, with all the "says he" and "says I"; 
 and one long recital of the old fellow's turned upon the ques- 
 tion between himself and a new-fangled second-mate about 
 the right way to set up back-stays, in which he, the sailor, 
 was proved correct by the loss of the ship. The other story- 
 teller, again, was a Wapping man; a lively, impudent young 
 cockney, who had the most miraculous faculty of telling lies 
 not only palpable lies, but lies absolutely impossible; yet 
 they were so sublimely told often, and he contrived to lug into 
 them such a quantity of gorgeous tinsel ornament, as, in his 
 happier efforts, decidedly to carry the day against his oppo- 
 
 1
 
 2 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 nent. The London hand had seen life, too, of which, with 
 respect to what is called the world, his competitor was as 
 ignorant as a child. He had his sentimental vein, accordingly, 
 in which he took the last love-tale out of some "Penny Story- 
 Teller" or fashionable novel he had spelled over below, and 
 made of it a parody that would have thrown its unfortunate 
 author into convulsions of horror, and his critics into shrieks 
 of laughter. The fine language of lords and ladies, of romantic 
 heroines, or of foreign counts and bandits, was gravely re- 
 tailed and gravely listened to by a throng of admiring jack- 
 tars; while the old whaler smoked his pipe sulkily apart, 
 gave now and then a scornful glance out of his weather-eye, 
 and called it "all high-die' and soger's gammon." 
 
 On this occasion, however, the group for'ard did not solicit 
 the services of either candidate, as they happened to have 
 present among them a shipmate who, by general confession, 
 "took the shine" out of both, although it was rarely they could 
 get hold of him. "Old Jack," the captain's private steward, 
 was the oldest seaman on board, and having known the cap- 
 tain when the latter went to sea, had sailed with him almost 
 ever since he commanded t. ship, as well as lived in his house 
 on shore. He did not now keep his watch, nor take his "trick 
 at the helm," except when he chose, and was altogether a priv- 
 ileged sort of person, or one of "the idlers." His name was 
 Jacobs, which afforded a pretext for calling him "Old Jack," 
 with the sailor's fondness for that Christian cognomen, which 
 it is difficult to account for, unless because Jonah and St. 
 John were seafaring characters, and the Roman Catholic 
 holy clerk St. Nicholas was baptized "Davy Jones," with sun- 
 dry other reasons good at sea. But Old Jack was, at any rate, 
 the best hand for a yarn in the "Gloucester" Indiaman, and 
 had been once or twice called upon to spin one to the ladies 
 and gentlemen in the cuddy. It was partly because of his 
 inexhaustible fund of good-humor, and partly from that love 
 of the sea which looked out through all that the old tar had 
 seen and undergone, and which made him still follow the 
 bowsprit, although able to live comfortably ashore. In his 
 blue jacket, his white canvas trousers edged with blue, and 
 glazed hat, coming forward to the galley to light his pipe, 
 after serving the captain's tea of an evening, Old Jack looked 
 out over the bulwarks, sniffed the sharp sea-air, and stood 
 with his shirt-sleeve fluttering as he put his finger in his pipe, 
 the very embodiment of the scene the model of a prime old 
 salt who had ceased to "rough it," but could do so yet if 
 needful.
 
 A SEA STORY 3 
 
 "Come, old ship!" said the man near the windlass, as soon 
 as Old Jack came forward, "give us a yarn, will ye ?" "Yarn !" 
 said Jack, smiling "what yarn, mates? 'Tis a fine night, 
 though, for that same the clouds flies high, and she 's balling 
 off a good ten knots sin' eight bells." "That she is, bo' so 
 give us a yarn now, like a reg'lar old A 1, as you are !" said 
 one. " 'Vast there, mate," said a man-o'-war's-man, winking 
 to the rest "you 're always a-cargo-puddling, Bill ! D 'ye 
 think Old Jack answers to any other hail nor the Queen's? 
 I say, old three-decker in or'nary, we all wants one o' your 
 close-laid yarns this good night. Whaling Jim here rubs his 
 down with a thought overmuch o' the tar, an' young Joe dips 
 'em in yallow varnish so if you says nay, why, we'll all save 
 our grog, and get slewed as soon as may be." "Well, well, 
 mates," said Jack, endeavoring to conceal his flattered feel- 
 ings, "what 's it to be, though ?" "Let 's see," said the man-o'- 
 war's-man "ay, give us the Green Hand!" "Ay, ay, the 
 Green Hand!" exclaimed one and all. This "Green Hand" 
 was a story Old Jack had already related several times, but 
 always with such amusing variations, that it seemed on each 
 repetition a new one the listeners testifying their satis- 
 faction by growls of rough laughter, and by the emphatic way 
 in which, during a pause, they squirted their tobacco juice on 
 the deck. What gave additional zest to this particular yarn, 
 too, was the fact of its hero being no less than the captain 
 himself, who was at this moment on the poop quarter-deck of 
 the ship, pointing out something to a group of ladies by the 
 round-house a tall good-looking man of about forty, with 
 all the mingled gravity and frank good-humor of a sailor in 
 his firm weather-tinted countenance. To have the power of 
 secretly contrasting his present position and manners with 
 those delineated by Old Jack's episode from the "skipper's" 
 previous biography, was the acme of comic delight to these 
 rude sons of Neptune, and the narrator just hit this point. 
 
 "Ye see," began he, " 'tis about six-an'-twenty year gone 
 since I was an able seaman before the mast, in a small Indy- 
 man they called the 'Chester Castle,' lying at that time behind 
 the Isle of Dogs in sight of Grennidge Hospital. She was full 
 laden, but there was a strong breeze blowing up that wouldn't 
 let us get under way; and, besides, we waited for the most 
 part of our hands. I had sailed with the same ship two 
 voyages before; so, says the captain to me one day, 'Jacobs, 
 there 's a lady over at Greenwich yonder wants to send her 
 boy to sea in the ship for a sickening I s'pose. I 'm a-going 
 up to town myself,' says he, 'so take the small quarter-boat
 
 4 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 and two of the boys, and go ashore with this letter, and see the 
 young fool. From what I 've heard,' says the skipper, 'he 's a 
 jackanapes as will give us more trouble than thanks. How- 
 ever, if you find the lady 's bent on it, why she may send him 
 aboard to-morrow if she likes. Only we don't carry no young 
 gentlemen, and if he slings his hammock here, you must lick 
 him into shape. I '11 make a sailor of him, or else a cabin boy.' 
 'Ay, ay, sir,' says I, shoving the letter into my hat ; so in half 
 an hour's time I knocks at the door of the lady's house, rigged 
 out in my best, and hands over the screed to a fat fellow with 
 red breeches and yaller swabs on his shoulders, like a captain 
 of marines, that looked frightened at my hail, for I thou't 
 he'd been deaf by the long spell he took before he opened the 
 door. In five minutes I hears a woman's v'ice ask at the 
 footman if there was a sailor a-waiting below. 'Yes, marm,' 
 says he; and 'Show him up,' says she. Well, I gives a scrape 
 with my larboard foot, and a tug to my hair, when I gets to 
 the door of sich a fine room above decks as ever you see, all 
 full o' tables, an' chairs, an' sofers, an' piangers, an' them sort 
 o' highflying consarns. There was a lady all in silks and 
 satins on one of the sofers, dressed out like a widow, with a 
 pretty little girl as was playing music out of a large port- 
 mankey and a picter of a man upon the vvall, which I at once 
 logged it down for his as she 'd parted company from. 
 'Sarvint, ma'am,' says I. 'Come in, my good man/ says the 
 lady. 'You 're a sailor ?' says she asking, like, to be sure if 
 I warn 't the cook's mate in dish-guise, I fancy. 'Well, marm,' 
 I raps out, 'I make bould to say as I hopes I am !' an' I 
 catches a sight o' myself in a big looking-glass behind the 
 lady, as large as our sky-sail and, being a young fellow in 
 them days, thinks I, 'Blow me, if Betsy Brown axed me that 
 now, I'd up an' hax her if she war a woman!' 'Well,' says 
 she, 'Captain Steel tells me, in this here letter, he 's a-going 
 to take my son. Now,' says she, 'I 'm sore against it could n't 
 you say some 'at to turn his mind ?' 'The best way for that, 
 yer ladyship,' says I, 'is for to let him go, if it was only the 
 length of the Nore. The sea '11 turn his stomich for him, 
 marm,' I says, 'an' then we can send him home by the'pilot.' 
 'He wanted for to go into the navy,' says the lady again, 'but 
 I couldn't think on that for a moment, on account of this 
 here fearful war ; an', after all, he '11 be safer in sailing at sea 
 nor in the army or navy doesn't you think so, my good 
 man ?' 'It 's all you knows about it,' thinks I ; hows'ever, I 
 said there wasn't a doubt on it. *Is Captain Steel a rash 
 man ?' says she. 'How so, marm ?' says I, some'at taken aback.
 
 A SEA STORY 5 
 
 'I hope he does not sail at night, or in storms, like too many 
 of his profession, I 'm af eard,' says she ; 'I hope he always 
 weighs the anchor in such cases, very careful.' Oh, in course/ 
 says I, not knowin', for the life of me, what she meant. I 
 did n't like to come the rig over the poor lady, seein' her so 
 anxious like; but it was no use, we was on such different tacks, 
 ye see. 'Oh yes, marm,' I says, 'Captain Steel al'ays reefs 
 taups'ls at sight of a squall brewing to wind'rd; and then 
 we 're as safe as a church, ye know, with a man at the wheel 
 as knows his duty.' 'This relieves my mind,' the lady says, 
 'wery much;' but I couldn't think why she kept sniffing all 
 the time at her smelling-bottle, as she wor agoin' to faint. 
 'Don't take it to heart so, yer ladyship,' I says at last; 'I'll 
 look after the young gentleman till he finds his sea-legs.' 
 'Thank you,' says she; 'but I beg your parding, would ye be 
 kind enough for to open the winder, and look out if you see 
 Edward ? I think he 's in the garding. I feel sich a smell 
 of pitch and tar !' I hears her say to the girl ! and says she tb 
 me again, 'Do you see Edward there? give a call to him, 
 please.' Accordently, I could ri't miss sight of three or four 
 young slips alongside, for they made plenty of noise one of 
 'em on top of a water-barrel smoking a sea-gar ; another sing- 
 ing out inside of it for mercy; and the rest roaring round 
 about it, like so many Bedlamites. 'No wonder the young 
 scamp wants off to sea,' thinks I, 'he 's got nothin' arthly to 
 do but mischief.' 'Which be 's the young gentleman, marm ?' 
 says I, lookin' back into the room 'is it him with the sea-gar 
 and the red skull-cap?' 'Yes,' says the lady 'call him up, 
 please.' 'Hallo !' I sings out, and all runs off but him on the 
 barrel, and 'Hallo !' says he. 'You 're wanted on deck here, 
 sir,' I says ; and in five minutes in comes my young gemman, 
 as grave as you please. 'Edward,' says his mother, 'this is one 
 of Captain Steel's men.' 'Is he going to take me?' says the 
 young fellow, with his hands in his pockets. 'Well, sir,' I 
 says, ' 'tis a very bad lookout, is the sea, for them as don't 
 like it. You '11 be sorry ten times over you 've left sich a 
 berth as this here, afore you 're down Channel.' The young 
 chap looks me all over from clew to earing, and says he, 'My 
 mother told you to say that !' ' No, sir,' says I, 'I says it on 
 my own hook.' 'Why did you go yourself, then?' sayc he. 
 'I coula n't help it,' answers I. 'Oh,' says the impertinent 
 little beggar, 'but you're only one of the common sailors, 
 ain 't you ?' 'Split me !' thinks I, 'if I doesn 't show you the 
 odds betwixt a common sailor, as ye call it, and a lubber of a 
 boy, before long!' But I was n't goin' to let him take the jaw
 
 6 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 out o' me, so I only laughed, an' says I, 'Why, I 'm captain of 
 the f oretop at sea, anyhow.' Where 's your hunif orm, then ?' 
 says the boy, lowering his tone a bit. 'Oh,' I says, 'we doesn 't 
 al'ays wear hunif orm, ye know, sir. This here's what we 
 call ondress.' 'I 'm sorry, sir,' says the lady, 'I did n't ax you 
 to sit down.' 'No offence at all, marm,' I says, but I took a 
 couple o' glasses of brandy as was brought in. I saw 'twas no 
 use goin' against the young chap; so, when he asked what 
 he 'd have to do aboard, I told him nothing to speak of, except 
 count the sails now and then, look over the bows to see how 
 the ship went, and go aloft with a spy-glass. 'Oh,' says his 
 mother at this, 'I hope Captain Steel won 't never allow 
 Edward to go up those dangerous ladders ! It is my pertic'lar 
 request he should be punished if he does.' 'Sartinly, marm, 
 I '11 mention it to the captain,' I says, 'an' no doubt he '11 give 
 them orders as you speak on. The captain desired me to say 
 the young gentleman could come aboard as soon as he likes,' 
 says I before goin' out of the door. 'Very well, sir,' says the 
 lady, 'I shall see the tailor this same arternoon, and get his 
 clothes, if so be it must.' The last word I said was, I puts my 
 head half in again to tell 'em, 'There was no use gettin' any 
 huniforms at present, seem' the ship's sailmaker could do all 
 as was wanted arterwards, when we got to sea.' 
 
 "Well, two or three days after, the captain sent word to say 
 the ship would drop down with the morning tide, and Master 
 Collins had better be aboard by six o'clock. I went ashore 
 with the boat, but the young gemman's clothes warn 't ready 
 yet ; so it was reg'lar made up he was to come on board from 
 Gravesend the day after. But his mother and an old lady, a 
 friend of theirs, would have it they 'd go and see his bedroom, 
 and take a look at the ship. There was a bit of a breeze with 
 the tide, and the old Indiamaii bobbed up and down on it 
 in the cold morning; you could hear the wash of the water 
 a-poppling onto her counter, with her running-gear blown out 
 in a bend ; and Missus Collins thought they 'd never get up 
 the dirty black sides of the vessel, as she called 'em. The other 
 said her husband had been a captain, an' she laid claim to a 
 snatch of knowledge. 'Sailor,' says she to me, as we got 
 under^the quarter, 'that there tall mast is the main-bowsprit, 
 ain't it? and that other is the gallant bowling you call it, 
 don 't you ?' says she. 'No doubt, marm/ says T, winking 
 to the boys not to laugh. 'It 's all right,' I says. Howsoever, 
 as to the bedroom, the captain showed 'em over the cabin, and 
 put 'ern off by saying the ship was so out of order he could n't 
 say which rooms was to be which yet, though they need n't
 
 A SEA STORY 7 
 
 fear Master Ned would get all comfortable ; so ashore the poor 
 woman went, pretty well pleased, considerin' her heart was 
 against the whole consarn. 
 
 "Well, the next afternoon, lying off Gravesend, out comes a 
 wherry with young master. One of the men said there was a 
 midshipman in it. 'Midshipman be blowed!' says I; 'did ye 
 ever see a reefer in a wherry, or sitting anywheres out o' the 
 starn-sheets ? It's neither more nor less nor this precious 
 greenhorn as we 've got.' 'Why don 't the bo'sun pipe to man 
 side-ropes for him ?' says t'other ; 'but, my eye, Bob,' says 
 he to me, 'what a sight of traps the chap's got in the boat ! 
 'twill be enough to heel the "Chester Castle" to the side he 
 berths upon, on an even keel. Do he mean to have the cap- 
 tain's cabin, I wonder !' Up the sides he scrambles, with the 
 help of a side-ladder, all togged out to the nines in a span-new 
 blue jacket and anchor buttons, a cap with a gould band, 
 and white ducks made to fit as jemmy-jessamy a looking 
 fellow as you 'd see of a cruise along London parks with the 
 waterman singing out alongside to send down a tackle for the 
 dunnage, which it took a pair of purchase-blocks to hoist them 
 out on board. 'What 's all this ?' says the mate, coming f or'ard 
 from the quarter-deck. "Tis the young gemman's traps, 
 sir,' I says. Says the mate, 'D 'ye think we 've got spare 
 room to stow all this lumber? Strike it down into the fore- 
 hold, Jacobs and get out a old blue shirt or two, and a 
 Scotch cap, for the young whelp first, if he wants to save that 
 smooth toggery of his for his mammy. You 're as green as 
 cabbage, I'm feared, my lad!' says he. By this time the boy 
 was struck all of a heap, an' did n't know what to say 
 when he saw the boat pulling for shore, except he wanted 
 to have a sight of his bedroom. 'Jacobs,' says the mate, 
 laughing like an old bear, 'take him below, and show him 
 his bedroom, as he calls it !' So down we went to the half -deck, 
 where the carpenter, bo'sun, and three or four of the 
 'prentices, had their hammocks slung. There I leaves him 
 to overhaul his big donkey of a chest, which his mother had 
 stowed it with clothes enough for a lord ambassador, but 
 not a blessed thing fit to use I would n't 'a given my bit 
 of a black locker for the whole on it, ten times over. There 
 was another choke-full of gingerbread, pots o' preserves, 
 pickles, and bottles ; and, thinks I, 'The old lady did n't 
 know what shares is at sea, I reckon. 'Twill all be gone 
 for footing, my boy, before you Ve seen blue water, or I 'm 
 a Dutchman.' 
 
 "In a short time he was up anchor, going down with
 
 8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 a fast breeze for the Nore; and we stood out to sea that 
 night, having to join a convoy off Spithead. My gen- 
 tleman was turned in all standing, on top o' some sails 
 below; and next day he was as sick as a greenhorn could 
 be, cleaning out his land-ballast where he lay, nor I didn't 
 see him till he 'd got better. 'Twas blowing a strong breeze, 
 with light canvas all in aloft, and a single reef in the 
 tops'ls;but fine enough for the Channel, except the rain when 
 what does I see but the 'Green Hand' on the weather quarter- 
 deck, holding on by the belaying-pins, with a yumbereller 
 over his head. The men for'ard was all in a roar, but none 
 of the officers was on deck save the third mate. The mate 
 goes up to him, and looks in his face. 'Why,' says he, 'you 
 confounded longshore, picked-up son of a greengrocer, what 
 are you after?' an' he takes the article a slap with his lar- 
 board-flipper, as sent it flying to leeward like a puff of 
 smoke. 'Keep off the quarter-deck, you lubber,' says he, 
 giving him a wheel down into the lee-scuppers 'it 's well 
 the captain didn't catch ye! Come aft here, some of ye,' 
 sings out the third mate again, 'to brace up the mainyard: 
 and you, ye lazy beggar, clap on this moment and pull !' 
 At this the greenhorn looks round doubtful like, then at 
 last he takes out a pair o' double gloves, shoves his fingers 
 into 'em, and tails on to the rope behind. 'Well !' says 
 the mate, 'if I ever see the likes o' that! Jacobs, get a 
 tar-bucket and dip his fists in it; larn him what his hands 
 was made for! I never could a-bear to see a fellow ashore 
 with his flippers shoed like his feet; but at sea, confound 
 me, it would make a man green-sick over again.' If you 'd 
 only seen how Master Collins looked when I shoved his missy 
 fingers into the tar, and chucked them gloves o'board! The 
 next moment he ups fist and made a slap at me, when in 
 goes the brush in his mouth; the mate gives him a kick 
 astarn; and the young chap went sprawling down into the 
 half-deck ladder, where the carpenter had his shavin'- 
 glass rigged to crop his chin and there he gets another 
 clip across the jaws from Chips. 'Now,' says the mate, 
 'the chap '11 be liker a sailor to-morrow. He 's got some spunk 
 in him, though, by the way he let drive at you, my lad,' 
 says he; 'that fellow '11 either catch the cat or spoil the 
 monkey. Look after him, Jacobs, my lad,' says the third 
 mate; 'he's in my watch, and the captain wants him to 
 rough it out; so show him the ropes, and let him taste 
 an end now an' then. Ha, ha, ha!' says he again, laughing, 
 * 't is the first time I ever see a embrella loosed out at sea,
 
 A SEA STORY 9 
 
 and but the second I 've seen brought aboard even. He 's 
 the greenest hand, sure enough, it 's been my luck to come 
 across ! But green they say 's nigh to blue, so look out 
 if I don't try to make a sailor of the young spark !' 
 
 "Well, for the next three or four days the poor fellow 
 was knocked about on all hands ; he 'd got to go aloft to 
 the 'gallant cross-trees, and out on the yard foot-ropes 
 the next morning, before breakfast; and, co-ming down, in 
 course, ye know, the men made him fast till he sent down 
 the key of his bottle-chest to pay his footing. If he closed 
 his eyes a moment in the watch, slash comes a bucketful 
 o' Channel water over him. The third mate would keep 
 him two hours on end, larnin' to rig out a sterns'l boom, 
 or grease a royal mast. He led a dog's life of it, likewise, 
 in the half -deck; bein' last come, in course he had al'ays 
 to go and fill the bread-barge, scrub the planks, an' do all 
 the dirty jobs. Them owners' 'prentices, sich as he had for 
 messmates, is always worse to their own kind by far nor 
 the 'camming sailors' as the longshore folks call a foremast- 
 man. I could n't help takin' pity on the poor lad, bein' 
 the only one as had known the way of his upbringing, 
 and I feels a sort of a charge of him like; so one night 
 I gets a quiet spell with him in the watch, an' as soon 's 
 I fell to speak kind-ways, there T seed the water stand i' 
 the boy's eyes. 'It's a good thing,' says he, tryin' to 
 gulp it down 'it 's a goo good thing mother don't see 
 all this!' 'Ho, ho!' says I, 'my lad, 'tis all but another way 
 of bein' sea-sick ! You does n't get the land cleared out, 
 and sniff the blue breeze nat'ral like, all at once ! Hovvs'ever, 
 my lad,' says I, 'take my advice bring your hammock an' 
 chest into the fok'sle; swap half your fine clothes for blue 
 shirts and canvas trousers; turn to, ready and willing, an' 
 do all that 's asked you you '11 soon find the differings be- 
 twixt the men and a few petty officers an' 'prentices half 
 out their time. The men '11 soon make a sailor of you ; you '11 
 see what a seaman is ; you '11 larn ten times the knowledge ; 
 an', add to that, you'll not be browbeat and looked jealous 
 on!' 
 
 "Well, next night, what does he do but f oilers what I 
 said, and afore long most of his troubles was naterally 
 over ; nor there was n't a willin'er nor a readier hand aboard, 
 and every man was glad to put Ned through anything he 'd 
 got to do. The mates began to take note on him ; and though 
 the 'prentices never left off calling him the Green Hand, 
 before we rounded the Cape he could take his wheel with
 
 io THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the best of them, and clear away a sternsail out of the 
 top in handsome style. We were out ten months, and Ned 
 Collins stuck to the fok'sle throughout. When we got 
 up the Thames, he went ashore to see his mother in a check 
 shirt, and canvas trousers made out of an old royal, with 
 a tarpaulin hat I built for him myself. He would have 
 me to come the next day over to the house for to have 
 a supper; so, havin' took a kindness to the young chap, 
 why, I couldn't say nay. There I finds him in the midst 
 of a lot o' soft-faced slips and young ladies, a spinning 
 the wonderfullest yarns about the sea and the East Ingees, 
 makin' 'em swallow all sorts of horse-marines' nonsense, 
 about marmaids, sea-sarpents, an sich like. 'Hallo, my 
 hearty!' says he, as soon as he saw me, 'heave a-head here, 
 and bring to an anchor in this here blessed chair. Young 
 ladies,' says he, 'this is Bob Jacobs, as I told you kissed a 
 marmaid hisself . He ? s a wonderful hand, is Bob, for the 
 fair ones !' You may fancy how flabbergasted I was at this, 
 though the young scamp was as cool as you please, and 
 wouldn't ha' needed much to make him kiss 'em all round; 
 but I was al'ays milk-an'-water alongside of women, if they 
 topped at all above my rating. 'Well,' thinks I, 'my lad, I 
 would n't ha' said five minutes agone, there was anything 
 of the green about ye yet, but 1 see 'twill take another 
 voy'ge to wash it all out.' For to my thinkin', mates, 'tis 
 more of a landlubber to come the rig over a few poor 
 creators that never saw blue water, than not to know the 
 ropes you war n't told. 'Oh, Mister Jacobs !' says Missus 
 Collins to me that night, before I went off, 'd'ye think 
 Edward is tired of that 'ere horridsome sea, yet?' 'Well, 
 marm,' I says, 'I 'm af eared not. But I '11 tell ye, marm,' 
 says I, 'if you wants to make him cut the consarn, the 
 only thing ye can do is to get him bound apprentice to it. 
 From what I 've seen of him, he 's a lad that won't bear aught 
 again his liberty ; an' I do believe, if he thought he could n't 
 get free, he'd run the next day!' Well, after that, ye see, 
 I didn't know what more turned up of it; for I went round 
 to Hull, myself, and ships in a timber-craft for the Baltic, 
 just to see some'at new. 
 
 "Now, one day, the third voy'ge from that time, no sooner 
 does we get up to Blackwall than we hears of a strong press 
 from the men-o'-war; and as I'd got a desperate mislike to 
 the sarvice, there was a lot of us marchantmen kept stowed 
 away close in holes an' corners till we could suit ourselves. At 
 last we got well tired, and a shipmate o' mine and I
 
 A SEA STORY n 
 
 wanted to go and see our sweethearts over in the town. So 
 we hired the slops from a Jew, and makes ourselves out 
 to be a couple o' watermen, with badges to suit, a-carrying of 
 a large parcile and a ticket on it. In the afternoon we came 
 back again within sight of the Tower, where we saw the 
 coast was clear, and makes a fair wind along Rosemary Lane 
 and Cable Street. Just then we saw a tall young fellow, 
 in a brown coat, an' a broad-brim hat, a-standing in the 
 door of a shop, with a paper under his arm, on the lookout 
 for some one. 'Twig the Quaker, Bob!' my shipmate says 
 to me. As soon as he saw us, out the Quaker steps, and 
 says he to Bill, in a sleepy sort of a v'ice, 'Friend, thou'rt a 
 waterman, I b'lieve?' 'Yes/ says Bill, with an oath, 'that's 
 what we hails for. D'ye want a boat, master?' 'Swear not, 
 friend,' says the broad-brim; 'but what I want is this, 
 you see. We have a large vessel, belonging to our house, 
 for to send to Havannah, and willin' to give double 
 wages, but we can 't find any marineers at this present 
 time for to navigate. Now,' says he, 'I s'pose this onf ortunate 
 state o' things is on account of the sinful war as is a-goin' 
 on they're afraid of the riskses. Hows'ever, my friends,' 
 says he, 'perhaps, as you knows the river, thee could put 
 us upon a way of engagin' twenty or more bold marineers, 
 as is not af eared of venturing for good pay?' and with 
 this he looks into his papers; and says Bill, 'Well, sir, I 
 don't know any myself do you, Bob?' and he gives me a 
 shove, and says under the rose, 'No fear, mate,' says Bill, 
 'he 's all over green don't slip the chance for all hands 
 of us at Jobson's.' 'Why, master,' I says, 'what 'ud ye give 
 them marineers you speaks on, now ?' 'Four pound a month, 
 friend,' says he, looking up; 'but we gives tea in place 
 of spirits, and we must have steady men. We can 't wait, 
 neither,' says he, 'more nor three days, or the vessel won't 
 sail at all.' 'My eye !' says Bill, ' 'twon't do to miss, Bob ! 
 stick to him, that 's all.' 'Well, sir,' I says, 'I thinks I does 
 have a notion of some'at of the sort. If you sends your 
 papers to Jobson's Tavern to-night, second lane 'twixt Barna- 
 by Street and the Blue Anchor Road, over the water, 
 why, I might get ye as many hands for to sign as you 
 wants.' 'Thanks, friend,' says the young broad-brim, 'I will 
 attend to thine advice.' So he bids us good-day, and 
 stepped into his door again. 'Bill,' says I, as we went off, 
 'now I think on it, I can't help a notion I've seen that chap's 
 face afore.' 'Very like,' says Bill ; 'for the matter o' that, 
 'tis the same with me them broad-brims is so much of
 
 12 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 a piece. But, that 'ere fellow don't know nothin' of ships, 
 sure enough, or he would n't offer what he did, and the 
 crimps' houses all of a swarm with hands !' 
 
 " 'Take my word, mate,' says I, 'it 's a paying trip, or 
 he would n't do it leave a Quaker alone for that. Why, 
 the chap's a parfit youngster, but I am blessed if he don't 
 look as starched as if he 'd sat over a dask for twenty year !' 
 
 "Well, strike me lucky, mates all, if the whole affair war n't 
 a complete trap! Down comes a clerk with the papers, sure 
 enough but in ten minutes more the whole blessed lot of 
 us was puckalowed, and hard an' fast, by a strong press- 
 gang. They put us into a cutter off Redriff Stairs, and the 
 next noon all hands was aboard of the 'Pandora' frigate at 
 Sheerness. The first time of being mustered on deck, says 
 Bill to me, 'Cuss my eyes, Bob, if there is n't the 'f arnal 
 Quaker!' I looked, and sees a midshipman in uniform 
 like the rest, and so it was. 'The sly, soft-sawderin' beg- 
 gar!' says I. 'All fair in war, and a press-mate!' says one o' 
 the frigate's men. All the while I kept looking and looking 
 at the midshipman; and at last I says to Bill when we got 
 below, giving a slap to my thigh, 'Blessed if it ain't ! it 's 
 the Green Hand himself!' 'Green Hand!' says Bill, sulky 
 enough, 'who's the Green Hand? Blow me, Bob, if I 
 don't think we 're the green hands ourselves, if that 's 
 what you 're upon !' So I told him the story about Ned 
 Collins. 'Well,', says he, 'if a fellow was green as Chinee 
 rice, cuss me if the reefers' mess would n't take it all 
 out on him in a dozen watches. The softest thing I know, 
 as you say, Bob, just now, it 's to come the smart hand 
 when you're a lubber; but to sham green after that style, 
 ye know, why, it is a mark or two above either you or I, 
 messmate. So, for my part, I forgives the young scamp, 
 'cause I ought to ha' known better.' 
 
 "By the time the frigate got to sea the story was blowed 
 over the whole main-deck; many a good laugh it gived the 
 different messes; and Bill, the midshipman, and me, got the 
 name of the 'Three Green Hands.' 
 
 "One middle-watch Mister Ned comes for'ard by the booms 
 to me, and says he, 'Well, Bob .Jacobs, you don't bear a 
 grudge, I hope?' 'Why,' says I, 'Mister Collins, 'twould 
 be mutiny now, I fancy, you being my officer.' So I gave 
 a laugh; but I couldn't help feelin' hurt a little, 'twas so 
 like a son turnin' against his father, as 'twere. Why, Bob,' 
 says he, 'did ye think me so green as not to know a sea- 
 man when I- saw him ? I was af eared you 'd know me that
 
 A SEA STORY 13 
 
 time.' 'Not I, sir,' I answers; 'why, if we hadn't sailed 
 so long in company, I wouldn't know ye now!' So Master 
 Ned gived me to understand it was all for old times he 
 wanted to ship me in the same craft; but he knew my 
 misliking to the sarvice, though he said he 'd rather ha' 
 lost the whole haul of 'em nor myself. So many a yarn 
 we had together of a dark night, and for a couple of years 
 ( we saw no small sarvice in the 'Pandora.' But if ye 'd seen 
 Ned, the smartest reefer aboard, and the best liked by the 
 men, in the fore-tops'l bunt in a gale, or over the main- 
 deck hatch, with an enemy's frigate to leeward, or on a 
 spree ashore at Lisbon or Naples, you would n't ha' said 
 there was anything green in his eye, I warrant ye! He 
 was made acting-lieutenant of a prize he cut out near 
 Chairboorg, before he passed examination; so he took me 
 for his prize-bo'sun, and carried her into Plymouth. Soon 
 after that the war was ended, and all hands of the 'Pandora' 
 paid off. Master Ned got passed with flying colors, and 
 confirmed lieutenant besides, but he had to wait for a ship. 
 He made me say where I 'd be found, and we parted 
 company for about a year. 
 
 "Well, I was come home from a short trip, and one day 
 Leftenant Collins hunts me up at Wapping Docks, where 
 I 'd had myself spliced, six years before, to Betsy Brown, an' 
 was laid up for a spell, having seen a good deal of the sea. 
 Ye must know the young leftenant was fell deep in love 
 with a rich Indy naboob's daughter, which had come over 
 to take her back to the East Ingees. The old fellow was 
 hard close-hauled again' the match, notwithstanding of the 
 young folks makin' it all up ; so he 'd taken out berths 
 aboard of a large company's ship, and bought over the cap- 
 tain on no account to let any king's navy man within the 
 gangways, nor not a shoulder with a swab upon it, red or 
 blue, beyond the ship's company. But, above all, the old 
 tyrant would n't have a blue- jacket, from, stem to starn, 
 if so be he'd got nothing ado but talk sweet; I s'pose he 
 fancied his girl was mad after the whole blessed cloth. The 
 leftenant turns over this here log to me, and, says he, 'I '11 
 follow her to the world's end, if need be, Bob, and cheat 
 the old villain!' 'Quite right, too, sir,' says I. 'Bob/ says 
 he, 'I '11 tell ye what I wants you for to do. Go you and 
 enter for the "Seringapatam" at Blackwall, if you 're for 
 sea just now; I'm goin' for to s'cure my passage myself, 
 an' no doubt doorin' the voy'ge something '11 turn up to 
 set all square; at any rate, I'll stand by for a rope to
 
 14 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 pull!' 'Why, here's a rum go!' thinks I to myself. 'Is 
 Ned Collins got so green again, spite of all that 's come 
 an' gone, for to think the waves is a-goin' to work won- 
 ders, or ould Neptune under the line's to play the parson 
 and splice all!' 'Well, sir,' I says, 'but don't you think 
 the skipper will smoke your weather-roll, sir, at sea, as you 
 did Bill Pikes an' me, you know, sir?' says I. 'Oh, Bob, 
 my lad,' says the leftenant, 'leave you that to me. The 
 fellow most onlikest to a sailor on the Indyman's poop 
 will be me, and that 's the way you '11 know me.' 
 
 "Well, ship I does with the 'Seringapatam' for Bombay 
 plenty of passengers she had; but only clerks, naboobs, old 
 half -pay fellows, and ladies, not to speak o' children and 
 nurses, black and white. She sailed without my seein' 
 Leftenant Collins, so I thought I was to hear no more 
 on it. When the passengers began to muster on the poop, 
 by the time we got out o' Channel, I takes a look over the 
 ladies, in coilin' up the ropes aft, or at the wheel; I knowed 
 the said girl at once by her good looks, and the old fellow 
 by his grumpy, yallow frontispiece. All on a sudden I 
 takes a note of a figger coming up from the cuddy, which 
 I made out at once for my Master Ned, spite of his wig 
 and a pair o' high-heeled boots, as gave him the walk of 
 a chap a-treading amongst eggs. When I hears him lisp 
 out to the skipper at the round-house if there was any fear of 
 wind, 'twas all I could do to keep the juice in my cheek. 
 Away he goes up to windward, holding on by everything, 
 to look over the bulwarks behind his sweetheart, givin' 
 me a glance over his shoulder. At night I see the two 
 hold a sort of collogue abaft the wheel, when I was on my 
 trick at the helm. After awhile there was a row- got up 
 amongst the passengers, with the old naboob and the skipper, 
 to find out who it was that kept a-singing every still night in 
 the first watch, alongside of the ladies' cabin, under the 
 poop. It could n't be cleared up, hows'ever, who it was. All 
 sorts o' places they said it corned from mizzen-chains, 
 quarter-galleries, lower-deck ports, and davit-boats. But 
 what put the old hunks most in a rage was, the songs was 
 every one on 'em such as 'Rule Britannia,' 'Bay of Biscay,' 
 'Britannia's Bulwarks,' and 'All in the Downs.' The captain 
 was all at sea about it, and none of the men would say 
 anything, for by all accounts 'twas the best pipe at a 
 sea-song as was to be heard. For my part, I knowed pretty 
 well what was afloat. One night a man corned for'ard 
 from the wheel, after steering his dog-watch out, and
 
 A SEA STORY 15 
 
 'Well, I'm blessed, mates,' says he on the fok'sle, 'but that 
 chap aft yonder with the lady he 's about the greenest hand 
 I've chanced to come across. What d'ye think I hears 
 him say to old Yallow-chops an hour agonef 'What was 
 it, mate?' I says. 'Says he, "Do ye know, Sar Chawls, is 
 the hoshun reelly green at the line green, ye know, Sar 
 Chawls, reelly green ?" "No, sir," says the old naboob, " 't is 
 blue." "Whoy, ye don't sa ay so!" says the young chap, 
 pullin' a long face.' 'Why, Jim,' another hand drops in, 'that's . 
 the very chap as sings them first-rate sea-songs of a night. I 
 seed him myself come out o' the mizzen-chains !' 'Hallo !' 
 says another at this, 'then there 's some' at queer i' the wind ! 
 I thought he gave rather a weather-look aloft, comin' on deck 
 i' the morning. I'll bet a week's grog that chap's desarted 
 from the king's flag, mates!' Well, ye know, hereupon I 
 could n't do no less nor shove in my oar, so I takes word 
 from all hands not to blow the gaff,* an' then gives 'em the 
 whole yarn to the very day, about the Green Hand for 
 somehow or another I was al'ays a yarning sort of a customer. 
 As soon as they heard it was a love consarn, not a man 
 but swore to keep a stopper on his jaw; only, at findin' 
 out he was a leftenant in the Royal Navy, all hands 
 was for touching hats when they went past. 
 
 "Hows'ever, things went on till we 'd crossed the line 
 a good while; the leftenant was making his way with the 
 girl at every chance. But, as for the old fellow, I did n't 
 see he was a fathom the nearer with him; though, as the 
 naboob had never clapped eyes on him to know him like, 
 'twan't much matter before heaving in sight o' port. The 
 captain of the Indyman was a rum, old-fashioned codger, 
 all for plain sailing and old ways I should n't say over- 
 much of a smart seaman. He read the sarvice every Sunday, 
 rigged the church an' all that, if it was anything short of a 
 reef-taups'l breeze. 'Twas queer enough, ye may think, to 
 hear the old boy drawling out, 'As 't was in the begin- 
 ning -' then, in the one key, 'Haul aft the mainsheet 
 'Is now, and ever shall be -' 'Small pull with the weather 
 brace -' 'Amen -' 'Well the mainyard -' 'The Lord 
 be with you -' 'Taups'l yard well !' As for the first orficer, 
 he was a dandy, know-nothing young blade, as wanted to 
 show off before the ladies; and the second was afraid to call 
 the nose on his face his own, except in his watch; the third 
 was a good seaman, but ye may well fancy the craft stood 
 often a poor chance of being rightly handled. 
 
 * Let out the secret.
 
 16 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 " 'Twas one arternoon watch, off the west coast of Af ricay, 
 as hot a day as I ever mind on, we lost the breeze with a 
 swell, and just as it got dcwn smooth, land was made out, 
 low upon the starboard bow, about south-east-and-by-sou', as 
 near as may be. The captain was turned in sick below, 
 and the first orficer on deck. I was at the wheel myself, 
 and I hears him say to the second as how the land breeze 
 would come off at night. A little after, up comes Leftenant 
 Collins, in his black wig and his 'longshore hat, an' he be- 
 gins to squint over the starn to nor'west'ard. 'Jacobs, my 
 lad,' whispers he to me, 'how do ye like the looks o' 
 things?' 'Not overmuch, sir,' says I; 'small enough sea- 
 room, leastways for a sky like that 'ere.' Up goes he 
 to the first officer, after a bit. 'Sir,' says he, 'do ye notice 
 how we've risen the land within the last hour and a half?' 
 ''No, sir,' says the first mate. 'What d'ye mean?' 'Why, 
 there's a current here, takin' us inside the point,' says he. 
 'Sir.' says the Company's man, 'if I didn't know what's 
 what, d' ye think I 'd larn it off a gentleman as is so con- 
 founded green ? There's nothing of the sort,' he says. 'Look 
 on the starboard quarter, then,' says the leftenant, 'at the 
 man-o'-war bird afloat yonder with its wings spread. Take 
 three minutes' look!' says he. Well, the mate did take a 
 minute or two's squint through the mizzen-shroud, and 
 pretty blue he got, for the bird came abreast of the ship 
 by that time. 
 
 " 'It 's a under-drif t,' says the leftenant, wonderful know- 
 ing-like 'though it 's nothing on the surf age, look ye, why, 
 with the draught the ship has it 's a-taking her along like 
 a tide-way, below ! Now, d' ye think you 'd weather that 
 there point two hours after this, if a gale come on from 
 the nor' -west, sir? 7 'Well,' says the first mate, 'I dare 
 say we should n't but what of that ?' 'Why, if you 'd cruised 
 for six months off the coast of Africa, as I 've done,' says 
 the leftenant, 'you 'd think there was something ticklish 
 about that white spot in the sky, to nor' -west! But on top 
 o' that, the weather-glass is fell a good bit since four bells.' 
 'Weather-glass !' the mate says, 'why, that don't matter much 
 in respect of a gale, I fancy.' Ye must understand, weather- 
 glasses wan't come so much in fashion at that time, ex- 
 cept in the Royal Navy. 'Sir,' says the mate again, 'mind 
 your business, if you 've got any, and I '11 mind mine !' 'If 
 I was you,' the leftenant says, 'I 'd call the captain.' 'Thank 
 ye,' says the mate 'call the captain for nothing!' Well, in 
 an hour more the land was quite plain on the starboard
 
 A SEA STORY 17 
 
 bow, and the mate comes aft again to Leftenant Collins. 
 The clouds was beginning to grow out of the clear sky 
 astarn, too. 'Why, sir,' says the mate, 'I'd no notion you 
 was a seaman at all ! What would you do yourself now, sup- 
 posin' the case you put a little ago?' 'Well, sir,' says Mr. 
 Collins, 'if you '11 do the thing, I '11 put ye up to it at 
 
 one e ' 
 
 At this point of Old Jack's story, however, a cabin- 
 boy came from aft, to say that the captain wanted him. 
 The old seaman knocked the ashes out of his pipe, which 
 he had smoked at intervals in short puffs, put it in his 
 jacket pocket, and got up off the windlass end. "Why, old 
 ship !" said the ,man-o'-war's-man, "are ye goin' to leave 
 us in the lurch with a short yarn again?" "Can't help it, 
 bo',' said Old Jack; "orders must be obeyed, ye know," and 
 away he went. "Well, mates," said one, "if the yarn's 
 been overhauled before, what was the upshot of it? I 
 did n't hear it myself." "Blessed if I know," said several 
 "Old Jack did n't get the length last time he 's got now." 
 "More luck!" said the man-o'-war's-man ; "'tis to be hoped 
 he'll finish it next time!" 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WE left the forecastle group of the "Gloucester" disap- 
 pointed by the abrupt departure of their story-teller, Old 
 Jack, at so critical a thread of his yarn. As old Jacobs 
 went aft on the quarter-deck, where the binnacle-lamp be- 
 fore her wheel was newly-lighted, he looked in with a sea- 
 man's instinct upon the compass-boxes, to see how the ship 
 headed ; ere ascending to the poop, he bestowed an approv- 
 ing nod upon his friend the steersman, hitched up his 
 trousers, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand in 
 a proper deference to female society, and then proceeded 
 to answer the captain's summons. The passengers, in a 
 body, had left the grand cabin to the bustling steward and 
 his boys, previously to assembling there again for tea 
 not even excepting the little coterie of inveterate whist- 
 players, and the pairs of inseparable chess-men, to whom 
 an Indian voyage is so appropriately the school for future 
 nice practice in etiquette, war, and commerce. Everybody 
 had at last got rid of sea-sickness, and mustered for a
 
 i8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 promenade; so that the lofty poop of the Indiaman, dusky 
 as it was, and exposed to the breeze, fluttered with gay 
 dresses like the midway battlement of a castle by the 
 waves, upon which its inmates have stolen out from some 
 hot festivity. But the long heave from below, raising her 
 stern-end slowly against the western space of clear-obscure, 
 in the manner characteristic of a sea abaft the beam, and 
 rolling her to either hand, exhibited to the eyes on the 
 forecastle a sort of alto relievo of figures, amongst whom 
 the male, in their blank attempts to appear nautical be- 
 fore the ladies, were distinguished from every other ob- 
 ject by the variety of ridiculous postures. Under care of 
 one or two bluff, good-humored young mates officers pol- 
 ished by previous opportunities of a kind unknown either 
 to navy-men or mere "cargo-fenders," along with several 
 roguish little quasi-midshipmen the ladies were supported 
 against the poop-rail, or seated on the after-gratings, where 
 their contented dependence not only saved them from the 
 ludicrous failures of their fellow-passengers, but gained 
 them, especially the young ones, the credit of being bet- 
 ter sailors. An accompaniment was contributed to this 
 lively exercise on the part of the gentlemen promenaders, 
 which otherwise, in the glimmering sea-twilight, would have 
 been striking in a different sense, by the efforts, namely, of 
 a little band of amateur musicians under the break of 
 the poop, who, with flute, clarionet, bugles, trombone, 
 and violin, after sundry practisings by stealth, had for 
 the first time assembled to play "Rule Britannia." What, 
 indeed, with the occasional abrupt checks, wild nourishes, 
 and fantastic variations caused by the ship's roll; and what 
 with the attitudes overhead, of holding on refractory hats 
 and caps, of intensely resisting and staggering legs, or of 
 sudden pausing above the slope which one moment before 
 was an ascent, there was additional force in the designa- 
 tion quaintly given to such an aspect of things by the fore- 
 mast Jacks that of a "cuddy jig." As the still-increas- 
 ing motion, however, shook into side-places this central group 
 of cadets, civilians, and planters adrift, the grander feat- 
 ures of the scene predominated: the broad mass of the 
 ship's hull looming now across and now athwart the streak 
 of sinking light behind drawn out by the weltering out- 
 line of the waters; the entire length of her white decks ever 
 and anon exposed to view, with their parallel lines, their 
 nautical appurtenances, the cluster of hardy men about 
 the windlass, the two or three "old salts" rolling to and
 
 A SEA STORY 19 
 
 fro along the gangway, and the variety of forms blend- 
 ing into both railings of the poop. High out of, and over 
 all, rose the lofty upper outline of the noble ship, statelier and 
 statelier as the dusk closed in about her the expanse of can- 
 vas whitening with sharper edge upon the gloom ; the hauled- 
 up clews of the main-course, with their huge blocks, swell- 
 ing and lifting to the fair wind and the breasts of the 
 topsails divided by their tightened buntlines, like the shape 
 of some full-bosomed maiden, on which the reef-points 
 heaved like silken fringes, as if three sisters, shadowy and 
 goddess-like, trod in each other's steps towards the deeper 
 solitude of the ocean; while the tall spars, the interlacing 
 complicated tracery, and the dark top-hamper showing be- 
 tween, gave graceful unity to her figure; and her three 
 white trucks, far overhead, kept describing a small clear 
 arc upon the deep blue zenith as she rolled: the man at 
 the wheel midway before the doors of the poop-cabin, with 
 the light of the binnacle upon his broad throat and bearded 
 chin, was looking aloft at a single star that had come 
 out beyond the clew of the main-topsail. 
 
 The last stroke of "six bells," or seven o'clock, which 
 had begun to be struck on the ship's bell when Old Jack 
 broke off his story, still lingered on the ear as he brought 
 up close to the starboard quarter-gallery, where a little 
 green shed or pent-house afforded support and shelter to the 
 ladies with the captain. The erect figure of the latter, 
 as he lightly held one of his fair guests by the arm, while 
 pointing out to her some object astern, still retained the 
 attitude which had last caught the eyes of the forecastle 
 group. The musical cadets had just begun to pass from 
 "Rule Britannia" to "Shades of Evening"; and the old 
 sailor, with his glazed hat in his hand, stood waiting 
 respectfully for the captain's notice. The ladies, however, 
 were gazing intently down upon the vessel's wake, where 
 the vast shapes of the waves now sank down into a hollow, 
 now rose seething up into the rudder-trunk, but all marked 
 throughout with one broad winding track, where the huge 
 body of the ship had swiftly passed. From foaming white- 
 ness it melted into yeasty green, that became in the hol- 
 low a path of soft light, where the sparks mingled like 
 golden seed; the wave-tops glimmered beyond; star-like 
 figures floated up or sank in their long undulations; and 
 the broad swell that heaped itself on a sudden under 
 the mounting stern bore its bells, and bubbles, and flashes 
 upwards to the eye. When the ship rose high and steady
 
 20 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 upon it, and one saw down her massy taffrail, it looked 
 to a terrestrial eye rather like some mystic current issuing 
 from the archway under a tall tower, whose foundations 
 rocked and heaved; and so said the romantic girl beside 
 the captain, shuddering at the vividness of an image which 
 so incongruously brought together the fathomless deep and 
 the distant shores cf solid old England. The eye of the 
 seaman, however, suggested to him an image more akin to 
 the profession, as he directed his fair companion's atten- 
 tion to the trough of the ship's furrow, where, against the 
 last low gleam of twilight, and by the luminous wake, could 
 be seen a little flock of black petrels, apparently running 
 along it to catch what the mighty ploughshare had turned 
 up; while a gray gull or two hovered aslant over them in 
 the blue haze. As he looked round, too, to aloft, he ex- 
 changed glances with the old sailor, who had listened 
 an expression which even the ladies understood. "Ah! 
 Jacobs," said the captain, "get the lamp lighted in my cabin, 
 and the teakettle aft. With the roll she has on her, 'twill 
 be more ship-shape there than in the cuddy." "Ay, ay, sir," 
 said the old seaman. "Plow does she head just now, Jacobs?" 
 "Sou'-west-and-by-south, sir." "She'd lie easier for the ladies 
 though," said the captain, knowing his steward was a fa- 
 vorite with them, "were the wind a point or two less fair. 
 Our old acquaintance, Captain Williamson, of the 'Seringa- 
 patam' now, Jacobs, old-fashioned as he was, would have 
 braced in his lee-yard only to steady a lady's teacup." 
 "Ay, your honor," replied Jacobs, and his weather eye twin- 
 kled, "and washed the fok'sle under, too! But ye know, sir, 
 he 'd got a reg'lar-built naboob aboard, and a beauty be- 
 sides !" "Ah, Mr. Jacobs !" exclaimed the romantic young 
 lady, "what was that? Is it one of your stories?" "Well, 
 your ladyship, 'tis a bit of a yarn, no doubt, and some'at 
 of a cur'ous one." "Oh !" said another of the captain's 
 fair protegees, "I do love these 'yarns,' as you call them; 
 they are so expressive, so and all that sort of thing." 
 "Nonsense, my love," said her mother; " you don't under- 
 stand them, and 'tis better you should not they are low, 
 and contain a great many bad words, I fear." "But think 
 of the imaginative feeling, aunt," rejoined the other girl, 
 "and the adventures ! Oh. the ocean of all places for that ! 
 Were it not for sea-sickness, I should dote upon it! As 
 for the storm just now, look how safe we are, and see how 
 the dear old ship rises up from the billows, with all her 
 sails so delightfully mysterious one over another!" "Bless
 
 A SEA STORY 21 
 
 your heart, marm, yes," responded Old Jack, chuckling; "you 
 talks just like a seaman, beggin' your pardon. As, con- 
 sarns the tea, sir, I make bold to expect the '11 be a shift 
 o' wind directly, and a slant deck, as soon as we get fair 
 into the stream, rid o' this bit of a bubble the tail of it 
 kicks up hereabouts." "Bear a hand then, Jacobs," said 
 t the captain, "and see all right below for the party in 
 the cabin we shall be down in a few minutes." The ( 
 captain stood up on the quarter-gallery, to peer round into 
 the dusk and watch the lifting of the main-royal; but the 
 next minute he called to the ladies, and their next neigh- 
 bors, to look towards the larboard bow, and see the moon 
 rise. A long edge of gray haze lay around the eastern 
 horizon, on which the dark rim of the sea was defined 
 beyond the roll of the waves, as with the sweep of a soft 
 brush dipped in indigo: while to westward it heaved up, 
 weltering in its own watery light against the gloom. From 
 behind this low fringe of vapor was silently diffusing, as 
 it were, a pool of faint radiance, like a brook bubbling 
 from under ice; a thread of silver ran along the line of 
 haze, growing keener at one point, until the arch of the 
 moon shot slowly up, broad and fair: the wave-heads rising 
 between were crested here and there with light; the bow 
 of the ship, the bellies of her fore-canvas, her bowsprit 
 with the jibs hanging idly over it, and the figurehead be- 
 neath, were tinged by a gentle lustre, while the hollow 
 shadows stole out behind. The distant horizon, mean- 
 while, still lay in an obscure streak, which blended into the 
 dark side of the low fog-bank, so as to give sea and cloud 
 united the momentary appearance of one of those long 
 rollers that turn over on a beach, with their glittering 
 crest: you would expect to see next instant what actually 
 seemed to take place the whole outline plashing over in 
 foam, and spreading itself clearly forward, as soon as the 
 moon was free. With the airy space that flowed from her 
 came out the whole eastern seaboard liquid and distinct, 
 as if beyond either bow of the lifting Indiaman one sharp 
 finger of a pair of compasses had flashed round, drawing a 
 semi-circle upon the dull background, still cloudy, glimmer- 
 ing, and obscure. From the waves that undulated towards 
 her stern, the ship was apparently entering upon a smoother 
 zone, where the small surges leaped up and danced in moon- 
 shine, resembling more the current of some estuary in 
 a full tide. To north-westward, just on the skirts of the 
 dark, one wing of a large, soft-gray vapor was newly smit-
 
 22 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 ten by the moon-gleam; and over against it on the south- 
 east,, where the long fog-bank sank away, there stretched 
 an expanse of ocean which, on its farthest verge, gave 
 out a tint of the most delicate opal blue. The ship, to the 
 south-westward of the Azores, and going large before the 
 trade-wind, was now passing into the great Gulf Stream, 
 which there runs to the south-east; even the passengers 
 on deck were sensible of the rapid transition with which 
 the lately cold breeze became warmer and fitful, and the 
 motion of the vessel easier. They were surprised, on looking 
 into the waves alongside, to perceive them struggling, as 
 it were, under a trailing net -work of sea-weed; which, as 
 far as one could distinctly see, appeared to keep down 
 the masses of water like so much oil flattening their 
 crests, neutralizing the force of the wind, and communi- 
 cating a strangely sombre green to the heaving element. In 
 the winding track of the ship's wake the eddies now abso- 
 lutely blazed; the weeds she had crushed down rose to the 
 surface again in gurgling circles of flames, and the showers 
 of sparks came up seething on either side amongst the 
 stalks and leaves; but as the moonlight grew more equally 
 diffused, it was evident that she was only piercing an arm 
 of that local weed-bed here formed, like an island, in the 
 bight of the stream. Farther ahead were scattered patches 
 and bunches of the true Florida Gulf-weed, white and moss- 
 like; which, shining crisp in the level moonlight, and tip- 
 ping the surges as it floated past, gave them the aspect 
 of hoary-bearded waves, or the garlanded horses of Nep- 
 tune. The sight still detained the captain's party on deck, 
 and some of the ladies innocently thought these phenomena 
 indicative of the proximity of land. 
 
 "I have seldom seen the Stream so distinct hereabouts," 
 said Captain Collins to his first officer, who stood near, hav- 
 ing charge of the watch. "Nor I, sir," replied the chief 
 mate; "but it no doubt narrows with different sea- 
 sons. There goes a flap of the fore-topsail, though! The 
 wind fails, sir." " 'Tis only drawing ahead, I think," said 
 the captain; "the stream sucks the wind with its heat, and 
 we shall have it pretty near from due nor'-west immedi- 
 ately." "Shall we round in on the starboard hand, then, sir, 
 and keep both wind and current aft?" "I think not, Mr. 
 Wood," said the captain. " 'Twould give us a good three 
 knots more every hour of the next twenty-four, sir," per- 
 sisted the officer eagerly and chief mates generally con- 
 fine their theories to mere immediate progress. "Yes," re-
 
 A SEA STORY 23 
 
 joined the captain, "but we should lose hold of the 'trade' 
 on getting out of the stream again. I intend driving her 
 across, with the nor'-wester on her starboard beam, so 
 as to lie well up afterwards. Get the yards braced to lar- 
 board as you catch the breeze, Mr. Wood, and make her 
 course south-west by west." "Very well, sir." "Ladies," 
 said the captain, "will you allow me to hand you below, 
 where I fear Jacobs will be impatient with the tea?" 
 
 "What a pity, Captain Collins," remarked the romantic 
 Miss Alicia, looking up as they descended the companion 
 "what a pity that you cannot have that delicious moonlight 
 to shine in at your cabin windows just now; the sailors yonder 
 have it all to themselves." "There is no favor in these 
 things at sea, Miss Alicia," said the captain, smiling. "Jack 
 shares the chance there, at least, with his betters; but I can 
 promise those who honor my poor suite of apartments this 
 evening both fine moonshine and a steadier floor." On 
 reaching the snug little after-cabin, with its swinging lamp 
 and barometer, its side "state-room," seven feet long, and its 
 two stern-windows showing a dark glimpse of the rolling 
 waters, they found the tea things set, nautical style, on the 
 hard-a-weather, boxed -up table the surgeon and. one or two 
 elderly gentlemen waiting, and old Jacobs still trimming up 
 the sperm-oil lights. Mrs. St. Clair, presiding in virtue of 
 relationship to their host, was still cautiously pouring out the 
 requisite half-cups, when, above all the bustle and clatter in 
 the cuddy, could be heard the sounds of ropes thrown down on 
 deck, of the trampling watch, and the stentorian voice of the 
 first officer. "Jacobs!" said the captain, a minute or two 
 afterwards; and that worthy factotum instantly appeared 
 from his pantry alongside of the door from whence, by-the- 
 way, the old seaman might be privy to the whole conversation 
 "stand by to dowse the lamp when she heels," an order 
 purposely mysterious to all else but the doctor. Every one 
 soon felt a change in the movement of their wave-borne habi- 
 tation ; the rolling lift of her stern ceased ; those who were 
 looking into their cups saw the tea apparently take a decided 
 inclination to larboard as the facetious doctor observed, a 
 "tendency to port." The floor gradually sloped down to the 
 same hand, and a long, wild, gurgling wash was suddenly 
 heard to run careering past the timbers of the starboard 
 side. 
 
 "Dear me!" fervently exclaimed every lady at once; when 
 the very next moment the lamps went out, and all was dark- 
 ness. Captain Collins felt a little hand clutch his arm in
 
 24 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 nervous terror, but the fair owner of it said nothing; until, 
 with still more startling effect than before, in a few seconds 
 there shot through both stern windows the full rays of the 
 moon, pouring their radiance into the cabin, shining on the 
 backs of the books in the hanging shelves by the bulkhead, 
 on the faces of the party, and the bald forehead of old Jacobs 
 "standing by" the lamp lastly, too, revealing the pretty 
 little Alicia with her hand on the captain's arm, and her pale, 
 terrified face. "Don't be alarmed, ladies !" said the surgeon, 
 "she's only hauled on the starboard tack!" "And her 
 counter to the east,'' said the captain. 
 
 "But who put out the lamp?" rejoined the doctor. "Ah, 
 I see, sir ! 'But when the moon, refulgent lamp of night.' " 
 "Such a surprise!" exclaimed the ladies, laughing, although 
 as much frightened for a moment by the magical illumination 
 as by the previous circumstances. "You see," said the captain, 
 "we are not like a house we can bring round our scenery to 
 any window we choose." "Very prettily imagined it was, too, 
 I declare!" observed a stout old Bombay officer, "and a fine 
 compliment to the ladies, by jingo, sir!" "If we had any of 
 your pompous Bengal 'Quy hies' here though, colonel," said 
 the doctor, "they would n't stand being choused so uncere- 
 moniously out of the weather side, I suspect." "As to the 
 agreeable little surprise I meant for the ladies," said Captain 
 Collins, "I fear it was done awkwardly, never having com- 
 manded an Indiaman before, and laid up ashore these half- 
 a-dozen years. But one's old feelings get freshened up, and 
 without knowing the old 'Gloucester's' points, I can't help 
 reckoning her as a lady too a very particular old 'Begum,' 
 that won't let anyone else be humored before herself 
 especially as I took charge of her to oblige a friend." "How 
 easily she goes now!" said the doctor, "and a gallant sight 
 at this moment, I assure you, to anyone who chooses to put 
 his head up the companion." "Ah, mamma !" said one of the 
 girls, "could n't you almost think this was our own little par- 
 lor at home with the moonlight coming through the window 
 on both sides of the old elm, where we were sitting a month 
 ago hearing about India and papa ?" 
 
 "Ah!" responded her cousin, standing up, "but there was 
 no track of moonshine dancing beyond the track of the ship 
 yonder ! How blue the water is, and how much warmer it has 
 grown of a sudden !" 
 
 "We are crossing the great Gulf Stream," said the captain 
 "Jacobs ! open one of the stern-ports." " 'Tis the very 
 place and time, this is," remarked a good-humored cotton-
 
 A SEA STORY 25 
 
 grower from the Deccan, "for one of the colonel's tiger-hunts, 
 uow!" "Sir!" answered the old officer, rather testily, "I am 
 not accustomed to thrust my tiger-hunts, as you choose to 
 call my humble experiences, under people's noses !" "Cer- 
 tainly not, my dear sir," said the planter "but what do you 
 say, ladies, to one of the captain's sea-yarns, then? Nothing 
 better, I 'm sure, here now, sir eh ?" Captain Collins 
 smiled, and said he had never spun a yarn in his life, ex- 
 cept when a boy, out of matter-of-fact old junk and tar. 
 "Here is my steward, however," continued he, "who is the 
 best hand at it I know, and I daresay he '11 give you one." 
 "Charming!" exclaimed the young ladies; and "What was 
 that adventure, Mr. Jacobs," said Miss Alicia, "with a beauty 
 and a nabob in it, that you alluded to a short time ago?" 
 "I did n't to say disactly include upon it, your ladyship," 
 replied old Jacobs, with a tug of his hair, and a bow not just 
 a la maitre; "but the captain can give you it better nor I 
 can, seeing as his honor were the Nero on it, as one may 
 say." "Oh!" said the surgeon, rubbing his hands, "a lady 
 and a rupee-eater in the case!" "There seems something 
 curious about this said adventure of yours, my dear captain," 
 said Mrs. St. Glair, archly, "and a beauty too ! It makes me 
 positively inquisitive, but I hope your own fair lady has heard 
 the story?" "Why, not exactly, ma'am," replied Captain 
 Collins, laughing as he caught the doctor looking preter- 
 naturally solemn, after a sly lee-wink to the colonel, who, 
 having his back to the moonlight, stretched out his legs and 
 indulged in a grim, silent chuckle, until his royal-tiger coun- 
 tenance was unhappily brought so far flush* in the rays as to 
 betray a singular daguerreotype, resembling one of those cut- 
 paper phantasmagoria thrown on a drawing-room wall, un- 
 mistakably black and white, and in the character of Malicious 
 Watchfulness. The rubicund, fidgety little cotton-grower 
 twiddled his thumbs, and looked modestly down on the deck, 
 with half -shut eyes, as if expecting some bold revelation of 
 nautical depravity; while the romantic Miss Alicia colored 
 and was silent. "However," said the captain, coolly, "it is 
 no matrimonial secret, at any rate ! We both talk of it some- 
 times when we read the Church Service of a Sunday night at 
 home, with Jacobs for the clerk." "Do, Mr. Jacobs, oblige 
 us !" requested the younger of the girls. "Well, miss," said 
 he, smoothing down his hair in the door-way, and hemming, 
 " 'tant neither for the likes o' me to refuse a lady, nor 
 accordin' to rules for to give such a yarn in presence of a 
 
 Flush, i.e. level
 
 26 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 supperior officer, much less the captain; with a midship 
 helm, ye know, marm, ye carn't haul upon one tack nor the 
 other. Not to say but next forenoon watch "I see, 
 
 Jacobs, my man," interrupted Captain Collins, "there 's 
 nothing for it but to fore-reach upon you, or else you '11 
 be 'Green-Handing' me aft as well as forward; so I must 
 just make the best of it, and take the winch in my own 
 fashion at once !" "Ay. ay, sir ay, ay, your honor !" 
 said Old Jack demurely, and concealing his gratification 
 as he turned off into the pantry, with the idea of for the 
 first time hearing the captain relate the incidents in question. 
 "My old shipmate," said the latter, "is so fond of having 
 trained his future captain, that it is his utmost delight to spin 
 out everything we ever met with together into one endless 
 yarn, which would go on from our first acquaintance to the 
 present day, although no ship's company ever heard the last 
 of it. Without falling knowingly to leeward of the truth, he 
 makes out every lucky coincidence almost to have been a feat 
 of mine, and puts in little fancies of his own, so as to give the 
 whole thing more and more of a marvellous air the farther it 
 goes. The most amusing thing is, that he almost always 
 begins each time, I believe, at the very beginning, like a cap- 
 stan without a pawl sticking in one thing he had forgot 
 before, and forgetting another ; sometimes dwelling longer on 
 one part a good deal like a ship making the same voyages 
 over again. I knew, now, this evening, when I heard the men 
 laughing, and saw Old Jack on the forecastle, what must be 
 in the wind. However, we have shared so many chances, and 
 I respect the old man so much, not to speak of his having 
 dandled my little girls on his knee, and being butler, steward, 
 and flower gardener at home, that I can't really be angry at 
 him, in spite of the sort of every man's rope he makes of me !" 
 "How very amusing a character he is!" said one young lady. 
 "A thought too tarry, perhaps?" suggested the surgeon. 
 "So very original and like a a seaman !" remarked Miss 
 Alicia, quietly, but as if some other word that crossed her 
 mind had been rejected, as descriptive of a different variety, 
 probably higher. "Original, by Jove !" exclaimed the colonel ; 
 "if my Khansa-man, or my Al)dar } * were to make such a dan- 
 cing dervish and tumasha-f of me behind back, by the holy 
 Vishnu, sir, I 'd rattan him myself within an inch of his 
 life!" "Not an unlikely thing, colonel," put in the planter; 
 "I 've caught the scoundrels at that trick before now." " What 
 did you do ?" inquired the colonel, speculatively. "Could n't 
 help laughing, for my soul, sir; the puclcree-bund% rascals 
 
 , * Steward and butler t Sport. J Turban-wearing.
 
 A SEA STORY 27 
 
 did it so well, and so funnily!" The irascible East-Indian 
 almost started up in his imaginative fury, to call for his 
 palkee, and chastise his whole veranda, when the doctor re- 
 minded him that it was a long way there. "Glorious East!" 
 exclaimed the medico, looking out astern, "where we may cane 
 our footmen, and whence, meanwhile, we can derive such 
 Sanscrit-sounding adjurations, with such fine moonlight!" 
 
 The presence of the first officer was now added to the 
 party, who came down for a cup of tea, fresh from duty, and 
 flavoring strongly of a pilot cheroot. "How does she head, 
 Mr. Wood?" asked the captain. 
 
 "Sou'-west-by-west, sir a splendid night, under every- 
 thing that will draw spray up to the starboard cathead !" 
 
 "But as to this story, again, Captain Collins ?" said Mrs. St. 
 Clair, as soon as she had poured out the chief mate's cup. 
 "Well," said the captain, "if you choose to listen till badtime 
 to a plain draught of the affair, why I suppose I must tell it 
 you; and what remains then may stand over till next fine 
 night. It may look a little romantic, being in the days when 
 most people are such themselves, but, at any rate, we sailors 
 or else we should never have been at sea, you know; so 
 you '11 allow for that, and a spice to boot of what we used to 
 call at sea 'lovemaking' ; happily there were no soft speeches 
 in it, like those in books, for then I should n't tell it at all. 
 
 "By the time I was twenty-four, I had been nine years at 
 sea, and at the end of the war, was third lieutenant of a crack 
 twenty-eight, the saucy 'Iris' as perfect a sloop-model, 
 though over-sparred certainly, as ever was eased off the ways 
 of Chatham, or careened to a north-easter. The Admiralty 
 had almost learned to build by that day, and a glorious ship 
 she was, made for going after the small fry of privateers, 
 pirates, and slavers, that swarmed about the time. Though I 
 had roughed it in all sorts of craft, from a first-rate to a dirty 
 French lugger prize, and had been eastward, so as to see the 
 sea in its pride at the Pacific, yet the feeling you have de- 
 pends on the kind of ship you are in. I never knew so well 
 what it was to be fond of a ship and the sea; and when I 
 heard of the poor 'Iris', that had never been used to anything 
 but blue water on three parts of the horizon at least, laying 
 her bones not long after near Wicklow Head, I could n't help 
 a gulp in the throat. I once dreamed I had gone down in her, 
 and risen again to the surface with the loss of my brains, such 
 as I had had; while at the same moment, there I was, still 
 sitting below on a locker in the wardroom, with the arms of
 
 28 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 her beautiful figure-head around me, and her mermaid's tail 
 like the best-bower cable, with an anchor at the end of it far 
 away out of soundings, over which I bobbed and dipped for 
 years and years, in all weathers, like a buoy. We had no 
 Mediterranean time of it, though, in the 'Iris,' off the Guinea 
 coast, from Cape Palmas to Cape Negro; looking out to wind- 
 ward for white squalls, and to leeward for black ones, and 
 inshore for Spanish cattle-dealers, as we called them, had 
 made us all as sharp as so many marline spikes ; and our cap- 
 tain was a man that taught us seamanship, with a trick or 
 two beyond. The slavers had not got to be so clever then, 
 either, with their schooners and clippers; they built for stow- 
 age, and took the chance, so that we sent in bale after bale 
 to the West India admiral, made money, and enjoyed our- 
 selves now and then at the Cape de Verdes. However, this 
 kind of thing was so popular at home, as pickings after the 
 great haul was over, that the 'Iris' had to give up her station 
 to a post-frigate, and be paid off. The war was over, and 
 nobody could expect to be promoted without a friend near the 
 blue table-cloth, although a quiet hint to a secretary's palm 
 would work wonders, if strong enough. But most of such 
 lucky fellows as ourselves dissipated their funds in blazing 
 away at balls and parties, where the gold band was everything, 
 and the ladies wore blue ribbons and anchor brooches in honor 
 of the navy. The men spent everything in a fortnight, even 
 to their clothes, and had little further chance of eating the 
 king's biscuit with hopes of prize-money; I used to see knots 
 of them, in red shirts and dirty slops, amongst the foremast 
 Jacks in outward-bound ships, dropping past Greenwich, and 
 waving their hats to the Hospital. You knew them at once 
 by one of them giving the song for the topsail-halyards, in- 
 stead of the merchantmen's bull's chorus; indeed, I could 
 always pick off the dashing men-o'-war's-men, by face and eye 
 alone,out from among the others, who looked as sober and 
 solitary, with their serious faces and way of going about a 
 thing, as if every one of them was the whole crew. I once 
 read a bit of poetry called the 'Ancient Mariner,' to old Jacobs, 
 who by the bye is something of a breed betwixt the two kinds, 
 and his remark was: 'That old chap warn't used to hoisting 
 altogether with a run, your honor ! By his looks I 'd say he 
 was bred where there was few in a watch, and the watch- 
 tackle laid out pretty often for an eke to drag down the fore- 
 tack.' 
 
 "As I was riding down to Croydon in Surrey, where my 
 mother and sister had gone to live, I fell in with a sample of
 
 A SEA STORT 29 
 
 the hard shifts the men-o'-war's-men were put to in getting 
 across from harbor to some merchant port, when all their 
 money was chucked away. It was at a little town called 
 Bromley, where I brought to by the door of a tavern and had 
 a pail for the horse, with a bottle of cider for myself at the 
 open window, the afternoon being hot. There was a crowd of 
 towns -people at the other end of the street, country bumpkins 
 and boys women looking out at the windows, dogs barking, 
 and children shouting the whole concern bearing down 
 upon us. 
 
 " 'What 'a all this ?' said I to the ostler. 
 
 " 'Don't know, sir,' said he, scratching his head ; ' 'tis very 
 hodd, sir! That corner is rather a sharp turn for the coach, 
 sir, and she do sometimes run over a child there, or some- 
 think. But 'taint her time yet! Nothink else hever 'appens 
 'ere, sir.' 
 
 "As soon as I could hear or see distinctly for the confusion, 
 I observed the magnet of it to be a party of five or six regular 
 blue- jackets, a good deal battered in their rig, who were roar- 
 ing out sea-songs in grand style as they came along, leading 
 what I thought at first was a bear. The chief words I heard 
 were what I knew well. 'We '11 disregard their tommy-hawks, 
 likewise their scalping-knives and fight alongside of our 
 mates to save our precious lives like British tars and sowl- 
 diers in the North Americay !' 
 
 "On getting abreast of the inn door, and finding an offing 
 with good holding-ground, I suppose, they hove to and struck 
 up the 'Buffalo,' that finest of chants for the weather fore- 
 castle with a spanking breeze, outward bound, and the pilot 
 lately dropped : 
 
 " Come, all you young men and maidens, that wishes for to sail, 
 
 And I will let you hear of where you must a-roam ; 
 We'll embark into a ship which her taups'ls is let fall, 
 
 And all unto an ileyand where we never will go home ; 
 Especiallye you ladles that's anxious for to rove 
 
 There's fishes in the sea, my love, likewise the buck an'doe, 
 We'll lie down on the banks of yon pleasant shadye gro-ove, 
 Through the wild woods we'll wander and we'll chase the buffalo ho ho 
 We'll chase the buffalo ! 
 
 "I really couldn't help laughing to see the slapping, big- 
 bearded fellows, like so many foretopmen, showing off in this 
 manner one mahogany-faced thoroughbred leading, the rest 
 thundering in. at the chorus, with a tremendous stress on the 
 'Lo ho ho,' that made the good Bromley folks gape. As 
 to singing for money, however, I knew no true tar with his 
 members whole would do it; and I supposed it to be merely
 
 30 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 some 'spree ashore,' until the curious-looking object from 
 behind was lugged forward by a couple of ropes, proving to be 
 a human figure above six feet high, with a rough canvas 
 cover as far as the knees. What with three holes at the face, 
 and the strange color of the legs, which were bare with a 
 pair of turned-up India shoes, and the whole shape like a 
 walking smoke-funnel over a ship's caboose I was puzzled 
 what they would be at. The leading tar immediately took off 
 his hat, waved it round for a clear space, and gave a hem! 
 while he pointed to the mysterious creature. 'Now, my lads !' 
 said he, 'this here wonderful bein' is a savitch we brought 
 aboard of us from the Andyman Isles, where he was caught 
 one mornin' paddling round the ship in a canoe made out of 
 the bark of a sartain tree. Bein' the ownly spice of the sort 
 brought to this country as yet is, and we havin' run short of 
 the needful to take us to the next port, we expects every lady 
 and gemman as has the wherewithal will give us a lift by 
 consideration of this same cur'ous sight, and does n't 
 'Heave ahead, Tom, lad!' said another encouragingly, as the 
 sailor brought up fairly out of breath. 'Does n't want no 
 man's money for nou't, d'ye see, but all fair an' above board. 
 We 're not agoin' to show this 'ere sight excep' you makes up 
 half-a-guinea amongst ye arter that all hands may see shot- 
 free them 's the articles !' 'Ay, ay. Tom, well said, old ship !' 
 observed the rest; and, after a considerable clinking of coin 
 amongst the crowd, the required sum was poured, in pence 
 and sixpences, into Tom's hat. 'All right !' said he, as soon 
 as he had counted it 'hoist away the tarpaulin, mates!' 
 For my part, I was rather surprised at the rare appearance of 
 this said savage, when his cover was off his legs and arms 
 naked, his face streaked with yellow, and both parts the 
 color of red boom- varnish; his red hair done up in a tuft, 
 with feathers all around it, and a bright feather tippet over 
 his shoulders, as he stood, six feet in his yellow slippers, and 
 looking sulkily enough at the people. 'Bobbery puckalow,' 
 said the nautical head-showman, and all at once up jumped 
 the Andaman islander, dancing furiously, holding a little 
 Indian punkah over his head, and nourishing with the other 
 hand what reminded me strongly of a ship's top-maul shout- 
 ing 'Goor goor gooree !' while two of the sailors held on by 
 the ropes.The-crowd made plenty of room, and Tom proceeded 
 to explain to them very civilly, that 'in them parts 'twas so hot 
 the natives would n't fight, save under a portiable awning.' 
 Having exhibited the points of their extraordinary savage, he 
 was calmed again, by another uncouth word of command,
 
 A SEA STORY 31 
 
 when the man-o'-war's-man attempted a further traverse on 
 the good Bromley folks, for which I gave him great credit. 
 'Now, my lads and lasses,' said he, taking off his hat again, 'I 
 s'pose you 're all British subjects and Englishmen !' at which 
 there was a murmur of applause. 'Very good, mates all!' 
 continued the foretopman, approvingly. 'Then, in course, ye 
 knows as how whatsomever touches British ground is free!' 
 'Britons never, never shall be slaves !' sung out a boy, and the 
 screaming and hurrahing was universal. Tom stuck his 
 tongue in his cheek to his messmates, and went on : 'Though 
 we was all pressed ourselves, and has knocked about in sar- 
 vice of our king and country, an' bein' poor men, we honors 
 the flag, my lads!' 'Hoorah! hoorah! hoorrray!' 'So you 
 see, gemmen, my shipmates an' me has come to the resolve of 
 lettiii' this here wild savitch go free into the woods though 
 bein' poor men, d'ye see, we hopes ye '11 make it up to us a bit 
 first ! What d'ye say, all hands ? slump together for the other 
 
 guinea, will ye, and off he goes this minute, and Eh? 
 
 what d'ye say, shipmates?' 'Ay, ay, Tom, sink the damage, 
 too!' said his comrades; 'we'll always get a berth at Black- 
 wall, again!' 
 
 " 'Stand by to ease off his tow-lines, then,' said Tom 
 'now look sharp with the shiners there, my lads ownly a 
 guinea!' 'No, no!' murmured the towns-people, 'send for the 
 constable we'll all be scalped and murdered in our beds! 
 no, no, for God's sake, mister sailors!' A grocer ran out 
 of his door to beg the tars would n't think of such a thing, 
 and the village constable came shoving himself in with the 
 beadle. 'Come, come,' said the constable, in a soothing 
 stylo, while the beadle tried to look big and blustering, 'you 
 must n't do it, my good men not on no desideration, here 
 in his majesty's name. Take un on to the next parish I 
 border all good subjects to resist me!' 'What!' growled the 
 foretopman, with an air of supreme disgust, 'han't ye no 
 f eelin's for liberty hereaway ? Parish be blowed ! Bill, 
 my lad, let go his moorings, and give the poor wretch his 
 nat'ral freedom !' 'I 'm right down ashamed on my country,' 
 said Bill. 'Hullo, shipmates, cast off at once, an' never mind 
 the loss I hasn't slept easy myself sin' he wor cotched!' 
 'Nor me either,' said another ; 'but I 'm feared he '11 play 
 old Harry when he 's loose, mate.' 
 
 "I had been watching the affair all this time from inside, a 
 good deal amused, in those days, at the trick especially so 
 well carried out as it was by the sailors. 'Here, my fine 
 fellows,' said I at last, 'bring him in, if you please, and let me
 
 32 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 have a look at him.' Next minute in came the whole party, 
 and supposing from my plain clothes I was merely some long- 
 shore traveller, they put their savage through his dance with 
 great vigor. 'Wonderfully tame he 's got, your honor !' 
 said the topman ; 'it 's nothing to what he does if you freshens 
 his nip.' 'What does he eat?' I asked, pretending not to 
 understand the hint. 'Why, naught to speak on, sir,' said 
 he ; 'but we wonst lost a boy doorin' the cruise, nobody know'd 
 how though 'twas thought he went o'board, some on us had 
 our doubts.' 'Curiously tattooed, too,' I said; 'I should 
 like to examine his arm.' 'A bit obstropolous he is, your 
 honor, if you handles him.' 'Never mind,' said I, getting 
 up and seizing the wrist of the Andaman islander, in spite 
 of his grins; and my suspicions were immediately fulfilled 
 by seeing a whole range of familiar devices marked in blue on 
 the fellow's arm amongst them an anchor with a heart trans- 
 fixed by a harpoon, on one side the word 'Sal,' and on the 
 other 'M. O., 1811.' 'Where did you steal this top-maul, you 
 rascal ?' said I, coolly looking in his face ; while I noticed one 
 of the men overhauling me suspiciously out of his weather- 
 eye, and sliding to the door. 'I did n't stale it at all,' ex- 
 claimed the savage, giving his red head a scratch, ' 'twas 
 Bill Green there by japers ! whack, pillalew, mates, I 'm 
 done!' 'Lor! oh lor!' said Bill himself, -quite crestfallen, 
 'if I did n't think 'twas him. We 're all pressed again, 
 mate, it's the leftenaut.' 'Pressed, bo'?' said Tom; 'more 
 luck, I wish we was but they would n't take ye now for a 
 bounty, you know.' Here I was fain to slack down and give a 
 hearty laugh, particularly at recognizing Bill, who had been 
 a shipmate of Jacobs and myself on the old 'Pandora,' and 
 was nicknamed 'Green' I believe from a small adventure 
 of ours so I gave the men half-a-guinea apiece to carry them 
 on. 'Long life to your honor,' said they; and said Tom, 
 'If I might make so bould, sir, if your honor has got a ship 
 yet, we all knows ye, sir, and we'd enter, if 'twas for the 
 North Pole itself.' 'No, my lad,' said I, 'I 'm sorry to say 
 I have not got so far yet. Dykes, my man, can you tell 
 me where your old messmate Jacobs has got to?' 'Why, 
 sir,' replied Bill, 'I did hear he was livin' at Wapping with 
 his wife, where we means to give him a call too, sir.' 'Good 
 day, your honor,' said all of them, as they put on their hats 
 to go, and covered their curiosity again with his tarpaulin. 
 'I 'm blessed, Bill,' said Tom, 'but we '11 knock off this hero 
 carrivanning now, and put before the wind for Blackwall.' 
 'Won't you give your savage his freedom, then?' I asked.
 
 A SEA STORY 33 
 
 'Sartinly, your honor,' replied the roguish foretopman, his 
 eye twinkling as he saw that I enjoyed the joke. 'Now, 
 Mick, my lad, ye must run like the devil so soon as we casts 
 ye off.' 'Oh, by the powers, thry me!' said the Irishman; 
 'I 'm sick, tired o' this cannible minnatchery. By the holy 
 Moses, though, I must have a dhrop o' dew in me, or I '11 
 fall!' Mick accordingly swigged off a noggin of gin, and 
 declared himself ready to start. 'Head due nor'-east from 
 the sun, Mick, and we '11 pick you up in the woods, and rig 
 you out all square again,' said the captain of the gang, before 
 presenting himself to the mob outside. 'Now, gemmen and 
 ladies all,' said the sailor coolly, 'ye see we 're bent on givin' 
 this here poor unfort'nate his liberty an' bein' tould we 've 
 got the law on our side, why, we means to do it. More by 
 token, there 's a lef tenant in the Roy'l Navy aboard there, as 
 has made up the little salvage-money, bein' poor men, orderin' 
 us for to do it so look out. If ye only gives him a clear 
 offing, he '11 do no harm. Steady, Bill slack off the star- 
 board sheet, Jack let go all !' 'Oh ! oh ! no ! no ! for 
 God's sake !' screamed the bystanders, as they scuttled off to 
 both hands 'shame, shame knock un down, catch un 
 tipstaff, beadle !' 'Hurrah !' roared the boys, and off went 
 Mick O'Hooney in fine style, flourishing his top-maul, with 
 a wild 'hullaloo,' right away over a fence, into a garden, 
 and across a field towards the nearest wood. Everybody 
 fell out of his way as he dashed on; then some running 
 after him, dogs barking, and the whole of the seamen giv- 
 ing chase with their tarpaulins in their hands, as if to 
 drive him far enough into the country. The whole thing 
 was extremely rich, seen through the open air from the 
 tavern window, where I sat laughing till the tears came 
 into my eyes, at Jack-tars' roguishness and the stupefied 
 Kent rustics, as they looked to each other; then at the sail- 
 ors rolling away full speed along the edge of the planta- 
 tion where the outlandish creature had disappeared; and, 
 lastly, at the canvas cover which lay on the spot where 
 he had stood. They were actually consulting how to guard 
 against possible inroads from the savage at night, since he 
 might be lurking near, when I mounted and rode off; I 
 daresay even their hearing that I was a live and real lieu- 
 tenant would cap the whole story. 
 
 "Croydon used to be a pretty, retired little town, you 
 know, so quiet and old-fashioned that I enjoyed the un- 
 usual rest of it, and the very look of the canal, the market- 
 place, the old English trees and people by comparison
 
 34 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 with even the 'Iris's' white decks, and her circumference of 
 a prospect, so different every morning or hour of the 
 day. My mother and my sister Jane were so kind they 
 petted me so, and were so happy to have me down to 
 breakfast and out walking, even to feel the smell of my 
 cigar that I hardly knew where I was. I gave them 
 an account of the places I had seen, with a few tremen- 
 dous storms and a frigate-fight or two, instead of the 
 horse-marine stories about mermaids and flying Dutchmen 
 I used to pass upon them when a conceited youngster. Jane, 
 the little gypsy, would listen with her ear to a large shell, 
 when we were upon sea matters, and shut her eyes, saying 
 she could fancy the things so well that way. Or was it 
 about India, there was a painted sandal-wood fan carved 
 in open-work like the finest lace, which she would spread 
 over her face, because the seeing through it, and its scent, 
 made her feel as if she were in the tropics. As for my 
 mother, good simple woman, she was always between as- 
 tonishment and horror, never having believed that lieu- 
 tenants would be so heartless as to masthead a midship- 
 man for the drunkenness of a boat's crew, nor being able to 
 understand why, with a gale brewing to seaward, a captain 
 tried to get his ship as far as he could from land. The 
 idea of my going to sea again never entered her head, the 
 terrible war being over, and the rank I had gained being 
 invariably explained to visitors as at least equal to that 
 of a captain amongst soldiers. To the present day, this 
 is the point with respect to seafaring matters on which 
 my venerated and worthy parent is clearest: she will take 
 off her gold spectacles, smoothing down her silver hair 
 'with the other hand, and lay down the law as to reform 
 in naval titles, showing that my captain's commission puts 
 me on a level with a military colonel. However, as usual, 
 I got tired by little and little of this sort of thing; I fancy 
 there 's some peculiar disease gets into a sailor's brain that 
 makes him uneasy with a firm floor and no offing beyond; 
 certainly the country about Croydon was to my mind, at 
 that time, the worst possible all shut in, narrow lanes, 
 high hedges and orchards, no sky except overhead, and no 
 horizon. If I could only have got a hill, there would have 
 been some relief in having a lookout from it. Money I 
 had no want of; and as for fame or rank, I neither had 
 the ambition, nor did I ever fancy myself intended for an 
 admiral or a Nelson ; all my wish was to be up and driv- 
 ing about, on account of something that was in me. I always
 
 A SEA STORY 35 
 
 enjoyed a good breeze as some do champagne; and the 
 very perfection of glory, to my thinking, was to be the 
 soul of a gallant ship in a regular Atlantic howler; or to 
 play at long bowls with one's match to leeward, off the 
 ridges of a sea, with both weather and the enemy to man- 
 age. Accordingly, I wasn't at all inclined to go jog- 
 ging along in one of your easy merchantmen, where you 
 have nothing new to find out; and I only waited to hear, 
 from some friends who were bestirring themselves with the 
 Board, of a ship where there might be something to do. 
 These were my notions in those days, before getting sobered 
 down, which I tell you for the sake of not seeming such a 
 fool in this said adventure." 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "WELL, one evening my sister Jane and I went to a race- 
 ball at Epsom, where, of course, we saw all the 'beauty and 
 fashion,' as they say, of the country round, with plenty of 
 the army men, who were in all their glory, with Waterloo 
 and all that; we two or three poor nauticals being quite 
 looked down upon in comparison, since Nelson was dead, 
 and we had left ourselves nothing at the end to fight 
 with. I even heard one belle ask a dragoon 'what uniform 
 that was was it the horse-artillery corps?' 'Haw!' said 
 the dragoon, squinting at me through an eyeglass, and then 
 looking with one eye at his spurs, and with the other 
 at his partner, 'not at all sure! T do think, after all, Miss 
 
 , 't is the the marine body a sort of amphibious ani- 
 mals ! They were n't with us, though, you know could n't 
 be, indeed, though it was Waterloo ! Haw! haw! you'll ex- 
 cuse the joke, Miss - ?' 'Ha! ha! how extremely witty, 
 
 Captain !' said the young lady, and they whirled away 
 
 towards the other end of the hall. I never felt more in- 
 clined to pull a fellow's nose, till all of a sudden my head 
 turned, and T forgot there was such a thing as a dragoon 
 in the world, for I saw what I thought the loveliest young 
 creature ever crossed my eyes, coming out of the refresh- 
 ment-room with two ladies, an old and an elderly one. The 
 first was finely dressed out, and I set her down for an aunt, 
 she was so unlike; the other for a governess. The young 
 lady was near sixteen to appearance, all in white. There 
 were many beauties in the ballroom you would have called
 
 36 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 handsomer; but there was something about her altogether 
 I could compare to nothing else but the white figure-head 
 of the 'Iris,' sliding gently along in the first curl of a 
 breeze, with the morning sky far out on the bow curious 
 as you may think it, ladies ! Her hair was brown, and 
 her complexion remarkably pale notwithstanding; while her 
 eyes were as dark blue, too, as as the ocean near the line, 
 that sometimes, in a clear calm, gets to melt till you scarcely 
 know it from the sky. 'Look, Edward !' whispered my sis- 
 ter, 'what a pretty creature ! She can't be English, she looks 
 so different from everybody in the room. And such pearls 
 in her hair ! such a beautifully large diamond in that brooch ! 
 Who can she be, I wonder?' I was so taken up, however, 
 that I never recollected at all what Jane said till at night, 
 in thinking the matter over; and then a whole breeze of 
 whisperings seemingly came from every corner of the cloak- 
 room, of 'Who is she?' 'Who can she be?' 'Who's her 
 father?' and so on, which I remembered to have heard. I 
 only noticed at the time that somebody said she was the 
 daughter of some rich East India nabob or other, just come 
 home. A post-captain who was present one of Colling- 
 wood's flag-lieutenants went up to the old chaperon, whom 
 he seemed to know, and got into talk with her: I found 
 afterwards she was an admiral's widow. In a little I saw 
 him introduced to the young lady, and ask her to dance; 
 I fancied she hung back for a moment, but the next she 
 bowed, gave a slight smile to the captain's gallant sea- 
 fashion of deep respect to the sex, and they were soon 
 swimming away in the first set. Her dancing was more like 
 walking with spread wings upon air than upon planks with 
 one's arms out, as the captain did. I 'd have given my 
 eyes, not to speak of my commission and chances to come, 
 to have gone through that figure with her. When the captain 
 had handed her to her seat again, two or three of the dragoons 
 sauntered up to Lady Somers's sofa: it was plain they were 
 taken; and after conversing with the old lady, one of 
 them, Lord Somebody, as I understood, got introduced, in 
 his turn, to the young beauty. As may be supposed, I kept a 
 lookout for his asking her to dance, seeing that, if she had 
 done so with one of the embroidered crew, and their clat- 
 tering gear, I 'd have gone out that instant, found out the 
 Waterloo fellow next day, and, if not shot myself, have 
 drilled him with an anchor button for a bullet, and run off 
 in the first craft I could get. The cool, easy, impertinent 
 way this second man made his request, though just as if
 
 A SEA STORY 37 
 
 he could n't be refused, and didn't care about it it was 
 as different from the captain of the 'DiomedeV as red 
 from blue. My heart went like the main-tack blocks thrash- 
 ing when you luff too much; so you may guess what I 
 felt to see the young lady, who was leaning back on the 
 sofa, give her head a pettish sort of turn to the old one, 
 without a word, as much as to say she didn't want to. 
 'My love!' I heard the old lady say, 'I fear you are tired! 
 My lord, your lordship must excuse Miss Hyde on this 
 occasion, as she is in delicate health!' The dragoon was 
 a polite nobleman, according to his cloth; so he kept on 
 talking and smiling, till he could walk off without seeming 
 as if he 'd got his sabre betwixt his feet ; but I fancied 
 him a little down by the head when he did go. All the time 
 the young beauty was sitting with her face as quiet and 
 indifferent as may be, only there was a sparkle in her blue 
 eyes, and in nothing else but the pearls in her hair, as she 
 looked on at the dancing; and, to my eye, there was a 
 touch of the rose came out on her pale cheek, clear, though 
 it was before the dragoon spoke to her. Not long after, 
 an oldish gentleman came out with a gray-haired old gen- 
 eral from the refreshment-room : a thin yellow-complexioned 
 man he was, with no whiskers and bald forehead and a 
 bilious eye, but handsome, and his face as pompous and 
 solemn-looking as if he 'd been First Lord, or had got a 
 whole court-martial on his shoulders for next day. I should 
 have known him from a thousand for a man that had lived 
 in the East, were it nothing but the quick way he looked 
 over his shoulder for a servant or two, when he wanted 
 his carriage called no doubt just as one feels when he 
 forgets he 's ashore, like I did every now and then, looking 
 up out to windward, and getting a garden-wall or a wood 
 slap into one's eyesight, as 'twere. I laid down the old 
 gentleman at once for this said nabob; in fact, as soon 
 as a footman told him his carriage was waiting, he walked 
 up to the young lady and her companions, and went off 
 with them, a steward and a lady patroness convoying them 
 to the break of the steps. The only notion that ran in my 
 head, on the way home that night with my sister, was, 'By 
 heavens! I might just as well be in love with the bit of 
 sky at the end of the fly ing-jib-boom!' and all the while 
 the confounded wheels kept droning it into me, till I was 
 as dizzy as the first time I looked over the fore-royal-yard. 
 The whole night long I dreamed I was mad after the 
 figure-head of the 'Iris,' and asked her to dance with me,
 
 38 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 on which she turned round with a look as cold as water, 
 or plain 'No.' At last I caught firm hold of her and jumped 
 overboard; and next moment we were heaving on the blue 
 swell in sight of the black old Guinea coast when round 
 turned the figure and changed into Miss Hyde; and the 
 old nabob hauled us ashore upon a beautiful island, where 
 I woke and thought I was wanted on deck, although it was 
 only my mother calling me. 
 
 "All I had found out about them was, that Sir Charles 
 Hyde was the name of the East Indian, and how he was 
 a Bengal judge newly come home; where they lived, no- 
 body at the ball seemed to know. At home, of course, it 
 was so absurd to think of getting acquainted with a rich 
 Indian judge and his daughter, that I said no more of the 
 matter; although I looked so foolish and care-about-noth- 
 ing, I suppose, that my mother said to Jane she was sure 
 I wanted to go to sea again, and even urged me to 'take 
 a trip to the Downs, perhaps.' As for going to sea, how- 
 ever, I felt I could no more stir, then, from where I was, 
 than with a best bower down, and all hands drunk but the 
 captain. There was a favorite lazy spot of mine near 
 the house, where I used to lie after' dinner, and puff away 
 amongst the grass, at the back of a high garden-wall with 
 two doors in it, and a plank across a little brook running 
 close under them. All round was a green paddock for cows; 
 there was a tall tree at hand, which I climbed now and then 
 half-mast high, to get a look down a long lane that ran 
 level to the sky, and gave you a sharp gush of blue 
 from the far end. Being a luxurious dog in those days, 
 like the cloth in general when hung up ashore, I used to 
 call it 'The Idler's Walk,' and 'The Lazy Watch,' where 
 I did duty somewhat like the famous bo'sun that told his 
 boy to call him every night and say the captain wanted 
 him, when he turned over with a polite message, and no 
 good to the old tyrant's eyes. 
 
 "Well, one afternoon I was stretched on the softest bit 
 of this retreat, feeling unhappy all over, and trying to think 
 of nothing in particular, as I looked at the wall and smoked 
 my cheroot. Excuse me if I think that, so far as I re- 
 member, there is nothing so consolatory, though it can't 
 of course cure one, as a fine Manilla for the 'green sick- 
 ness/ as our foremast fellows would say. My main idea 
 was that nothing on earth could turn up to get me out 
 of this scrape, but I should stick eternally, with my head 
 sails shivering aback, or flapping in a sickening dead calm.
 
 A SEA STORY 39 
 
 It was a beautiful hot summer afternoon, as quiet as pos- 
 sible, and I was weary to death of seeing that shadow of the 
 branch lying against the white wall down to the keyhole 
 of the nearest door. All of a sudden I heard the sweetest 
 voice imaginable, coming down the garden as it were, sing- 
 ing a verse of a Hindostanee song I had heard the Bengal 
 r girls chant with their pitchers on their heads at the well, 
 of an evening : 
 
 La li ta la, ta perisi, 
 
 La na comalay ah sahm-r&, 
 
 Madna, ca rahm 
 
 Ram li ta, co-ca-la lir jhi ! 
 
 La li ta la, vanga-la ta perisi. 
 
 'Coc-coka-cokatoo ; screamed a harsh voice, which I cer- 
 tainly could distinguish from the first. 'Pretty cockatoo!' 
 said the other coaxingly; and the next minute the large 
 pink-flushed bird itself popped his head over the top-stones 
 above the door, floundering about with his throat foul of the 
 silver chain fast to his leg, till he hung by his beak on my 
 side of the wall, half choked, and trying to croak out 
 'Pretty pretty cocky!' Before I had time to think, the 
 door opened, and, by heavens ! there was my very charmer 
 herself, with the shade of the green leaves showered over 
 her distressed face. She had scarcely seen me before I 
 sprang up and caught the cockatoo, which bit me like an 
 imp incarnate, till the blood ran down my fingers as I 
 handed it to its mistress, my heart in my mouth, and more 
 than a quarter-deck bow in my cap. The young lady 
 looked at me first in surprise, as may be supposed, and 
 then, with a smile of thanks that set my brain all 
 afloat, 'Oh, dear me!' exclaimed she, 'yon are hurt!' 'Hurt!' 
 I said, looking so bewildered, I suppose, that she could n't 
 help laughing. 'Tippoo is very stupid,' continued she, smil- 
 ing, 'because he is out of his own country, I think. You 
 shall have no sugar to-night, mister cockatoo, for biting 
 your friends.' 
 
 "'Were you ever in India madam?' I stammered out. 
 'Not since I was a child,' she answered; but just then I 
 saw the figure of the nabob sauntering down the garden, and 
 said I had particular business ard must be off. 'You are 
 very busy here, sir?' said the charming young creature, 
 archly. 'You are longing till you go to sea, I dare say like 
 Tippoo and me.' 'You?' said T. staring at the keyhole whilst 
 she caught my eye, and blushed a little, as I thought. 'Yes,
 
 40 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 we are going I long to see India again, and / remember 
 the sea, too, like a dream.' 
 
 "Oh, heavens ! thought I, when I heard the old gentleman 
 call out 'Lota! Lota beebee-lee! Kabultah, meetoowahT* 
 and away she vanished behind the door, with a smile dropped 
 to myself. The tone of the judge's voice, and his speaking 
 Hindoo, showed he was fond of his daughter, at any rate. 
 Off I went, too, as much confused as before, only for the 
 new thought in my head. 'The sea, the sea!' I shouted, 
 as soon as out of hearing, and felt the wind, as 'twere, 
 coming from aft at last, like the first ripple. 'Yes, by 
 George !' said I, 'outward bound for a thousand. I '11 go, if 
 it was before the mast.' All at once I remembered I didn't 
 know the ship's name, or when. Next day, and the next 
 again. I was skulking about my old place, but nobody ap- 
 peared not so much as a shadow inside the keyhole. At 
 last one evening, just as I was going away, the door opened; 
 I strolled slowly along, when, instead of the charming Lota, 
 out came the flat brown turban of an ugly Tcitmagar, with 
 a moustache, looking round to see who was there. 'Salaam, 
 sah'b,' said the brown fellow, holding the door behind him 
 with one paw. 'Burra judge sahib bhote bhote salaam 
 send uppiserf sah'b 'ope not dekhe$ after sahib cook-maid.' 
 'Joot bahtf hurkut-jee '\ said I, laughing. 'Sah'b been my 
 coontree ?' inquired the Bengalee more politely. 'Jee, yes' 
 I said, wishing to draw him out. 'I Inglitsh can is-peek,' 
 continued the dark footman, conceitedly; 'ver well, sah'b, 
 but one misfortune us for come i-here. Baud carry make 
 plenty too much poork too much graug drink. Termeric 
 chili banana not got not coco-tree got pah! Baud 
 coontree, too much i-cold, sah'b?' 'Curse the rascal's impu- 
 dence,' I thought, but I asked him if he wasn't going back. 
 'Yis, sah'b, such baht^ Al-il-alah? Mohummud burra Meer- 
 kea. Bote too much i-smell, my coontree.' 'When are you 
 going?' I asked, carelessly. 'Two day this time, sah'b.' 
 'Can you tell me the name of the ship?' I went on. 'The 
 Tcitmagar looked at me slyly, stroked his moustache, and 
 meditated; after which he squinted at me again, and his 
 lips opened so as to form the magic word, ' BucTcshisTi?' 'Jee,' 
 said I, holding out a crown piece, 'the ship's name and the 
 harbor?' 'Se,' began he; the coin touched his palm 'ring'; 
 his fingers closed on it, and 'patahm,' dropped from his 
 leathery lips. 'The "Seringapatam" ?' I said. 'Alin, sah'b.' 
 
 * Little pirl! Do you hear, sweet one? t Officer. jLook. "Tis a lie, 
 you scoundrel. , 1 That is true.
 
 A SEA STORY 41 
 
 'London, eh?' I added; to which he returned another re- 
 luctant assent, as if it wasn't paid for, and I walked off. 
 However, I had not got round the corner before I noticed 
 the figure of the old gentleman himself looking after me 
 from the doorway; his worthy kitmagar salaaming to the 
 ground, and no doubt giving information how the 'cheep 
 uppiser' had tried to pump him to no purpose. The nabob 
 looked plainly as suspicious as if I had wanted to break 
 into his house, since he held his hand over his eyes to 
 watch me out of sight. 
 
 "At night, I told my mother and sister I should be off 
 to London next day for sea. What betwixt their vexation 
 at losing me, and their satisfaction to see me more cheerful, 
 with talking over matters, we sat up half the night. I 
 was so ashamed, though, to tell them what I intended, con- 
 sidering what a fool's chase it would seem to anyone but 
 myself, that I kept all close; and, I am sorry to say, I 
 was so full of my love affair, with the wild adventure 
 of it, the sea, and everything besides, as not to feel their 
 anxiety enough. How it was to turn out I didn't know; 
 but somehow or other I was resolved I 'cl contrive to make 
 a rope if I couldn't find one; at the worst, I might carry 
 the ship, gain over the men, or turn pirate and discover 
 an island. Early in the morning I packed my traps, drew a 
 cheque for my prize-money, got the coach, and bowled off for 
 London, to knock up Bob Jacobs, my sea godfather; this 
 being the very first step, as it seemed to me, in making the 
 plan feasible. Rough sort of confidant as he may look, there 
 was no man living I would have trusted before him for 
 keeping a secret. Bob was true as the topsail sheets; and 
 if you only gave him the course to steer, without any of 
 the 'puzzlement,' as he called the calculating part, he would 
 stick to it, blow high, blow low. He was just the fellow 
 I wanted, for the lee brace, as it were, to give my weather 
 one a purchase, even if I had altogether liked the notion of 
 setting off all alone on what I could n't help suspecting 
 was a sufficiently hare-brained scheme as it stood; and, to 
 tell the truth, it was only to a straightforward, simple- 
 hearted tar like Jacobs that I could have plucked up 
 courage to make it known. I knew he would enter into it 
 like a reefer volunteering for a cutting out, and make 
 nothing of the difficulties especially when a love matter 
 was at the bottom of it: the chief question was how to 
 discover his whereabouts, as Wapping is rather a wide 
 word. I adopted the expedient of going into all the to-
 
 42 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 bacco-shops to inquire after Jacobs, knowing him to be 
 a more than commonly hard smoker, and no great drinker 
 ashore. I was beginning to be tired out, however, and give 
 up the quest, when, at the corner of a lane near the docks, 
 I caught sight of a little door adorned with what had 
 apparently been part of a ship's figure-head the face of a 
 nymph or nereid, four times as large as life, with tarnished 
 gilding, and a long wooden pipe in her mouth that had all 
 the effect of a bowsprit, being stayed up by a piece of 
 marline to a hook in the wall, probably in order to keep 
 clear of people's heads. The words painted on its two head- 
 boards, as under a ship's bow, were 'Betsy Jacobs,' and 
 'licensed' on the top of the door; the window was stowed 
 full of cakes of cavendish, twists of negrohead, and coils 
 of pigtail; so that, having heard my old shipmate speak 
 of a certain Betsy, both as sweetheart and partner, I made 
 at once pretty sure of having lighted, by chance, on his 
 very dry-dock, and went in without more ado. I found 
 nobody in the little shop, but a rough voice, as like as 
 possible to Jacobs' own, was chanting the sea-song of 'Come, 
 cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer,' in the back- 
 room, in a curious sleepy kind of drone, interrupted every 
 now and then by the suck of his pipe, and a mysterious 
 thumping sound, which I could only account for by the 
 supposition that the poor fellow was mangling clothes, or 
 gone mad. I was obliged to kick on the counter with all 
 my might, in competition, before an eye was applied from 
 inside to the little window; after which, as I expected, 
 the head of Jacobs was thrust out of the door, his hair 
 rough, three days' beard on his chin, and he in his shirt 
 and trousers. Hisht!' said he, in a low voice, not seeing 
 me distinctly for the light, 'you 're not callin' the watch, 
 my lad ! Hold on a bit, and I '11 serve your orders di- 
 rectly.' After another stave of 'Hearts of oak are our 
 ships,' etc., in the same drawl, and a still more vigorous 
 thumping than before, next minute out came Bob again ; 
 with a wonderful air of importance, though, and drawing 
 in one hand, to my great surprise, the slack of a line of 
 'half-inch,' on which he gave now and then a tug and an 
 ease off, as he came forward, like a fellow humoring a 
 newly-hooked fish. 'Now then, my hearty!' said he, shading 
 
 his eyes with the other hand, 'bear a ' 'Why, Jacobs, old 
 
 ship/ I said, 'what 's this you 're after ? Don't you know 
 your old apprentice, eh?' 
 
 "Jacobs looked at my cap and epa\ilette, and gave out
 
 A SEA STORY 43 
 
 his breath in a whistle, the only other sign of aston- 
 ishment being that he let go his unaccountable-looking 
 piece of cord. 'Lord bless me, Master Ned!' said he '1 
 axes pardon, Lieutenant Collins, your honor!' 'Glad you 
 know me this time, Bob, my lad,' said I, looking round 
 'and a comfortable berth you've got of it, I dare say. But 
 what the deuce are you about in there ? You have n't a sav- 
 age, too, like some friends of yours I fell in with a short 
 time ago! Or perhaps a lion or a tiger, eh, Jacobs?' 'No, 
 no, your honor lions be blowed !' replied he, laughing, 
 but fiddling with his hands all the while, and standing 
 between me and the room, as if half ashamed. ' 'Tis only 
 the tiller-ropes of a small craft I am left in charge of, 
 sir. But won't ye sit down, your honor, till such time as 
 my old 'oomaii comes aboard to relieve me, sir ? Here 's a 
 cheer, and may be you 'd make so free for to take a pipe 
 of prime Americans, your honor?' 'Let's have a look 
 into your cabin, though, Bob, my man,' said I, curious to 
 know what was the secret; when all at once a tremendous 
 squall from within let me sufficiently into it. The old 
 salt had been rocking the cradle, with a fine little fellow of 
 a baby in it, and a line made fast to keep it in play 
 when he served the shop. 'All the pitch is in the fire now, 
 your honor,' said he, looking terribly nonplussed ; 'I 've 
 broached him to, and he 's all aback till his mammy gets 
 a hold of him.' 'A good pipe the little rogue's got, though,' 
 said I: 'and a fine child he is, Jacobs do for a bo'sun 
 yet.' 'Why, yes, sir,' said he, rubbing his chin with a grati- 
 fied smile, as the urchin kicked, threw out his arms, and 
 roared like to break his heart ; 'I 'in thinking he 's a sailor all 
 over, by natur', as one may say. He don't like a calm 
 no more nor myself; but that's the odds of being ashore, 
 where you needs to keep swinging the hammocks by 
 hand, instead of havin' it done for you, sir.' In the midst 
 of the noise, however, we were caught by the sudden ap- 
 pearance of Mistress Jacobs herself a good-looking young- 
 woman, with a market-basket full of bacon and greens, and 
 a chubby little boy holding by her apron, who came through 
 the shop. The first thing she did was to catch up the 
 baby out of the cradle, and begin hushing it, after one or 
 two side glances of reproach at her husband, who attempted 
 to cover his disgrace by saying, 'Betsy, my girl, where 's 
 your manners? why don't you off h^ts to the leftenant? 
 it 's my wife, your honor.' Mrs. Jacobs curtesied twice 
 very respectfully, though not particularly fond of the pro-
 
 44 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 fession, as I found afterwarcis; and I soon quite gained 
 her smiles and good graces by praising her child, with 
 the remark that he was too pretty ever to turn out a 
 sailor; for, sharp as mothers are to detect this sort of 
 flattery to anybody else's bantling, you always find it takes 
 wonderfully with respect to their own. Whenever Jacobs and 
 I were left to ourselves, I struck at once into my scheme 
 the more readily for feeling I had the weather hand of 
 him in regard of his late appearance. It was too ridicu- 
 lous, the notion of one of the best foretopmen that ever 
 passed a weather-earing staying at home to rock his wife's 
 cradle and attend the shop; and he was evidently aware of 
 it as I went on. It was a little selfish, 1 dare say, and Mrs. 
 Jacobs would perhaps have liked me none the better for it ; 
 but I proposed to him to get a berth in the Indiaman, 
 sail with me for Bombay, and stand by for a foul hitch 
 in something or other. 'Why, sir/ said he, 'it shan't be 
 said of Bob Jacobs he were ever the man to hang back 
 where a matter was to be done that must be done. I does n't 
 see the whole bearings of it as yet, but ownly you give 
 the orders, sir, and I '11 stick to 'em.' "T is a long stretch 
 between this and Bombay, Jacobs', said I, 'and plenty of 
 room for chances.' 'Ay, ay, sir, no doubt,' said he, 'your 
 honor can talk the length of the best bower cable.' 'More 
 than that, Bob, ray lad,' said I, 'I know these Company 
 men ; if they once get out of their regular jog, they 're 
 as helpless as a pig adrift on a grating; and before they 
 grow used to sailing out of convoy, with no frigates to 
 whip them in, depend upon it Mother Carey will have 
 to teach them a new trick or two.' 'Mayhap, sir,' put 
 in Jacobs, doubtfully, 'the best thing 'ud be if they cast 
 the ship away altogether, as I 've seen done myself for 
 the matter of an insurance. Ye know, sir, they lets it 
 pass at Lloyd's now the war 's over, seein' it brings custom- 
 ers to the underwriters, if so be ownly it don't come over 
 often for the profits. Hows'ever it needs a good seaman 
 to choose his leeshore well, no doubt.' 'Oh !' answered I, 
 laughing, 'but the chances are, all hands would want to 
 be Robinson Crusoe at once ! No, no only let 's r:et aboard, 
 and take things as they come.' 'What 's the ship's name, 
 sir?' inquired Jacobs, sinking his voice, and looking cau- 
 tiously over his shoulder toward the door. 'The "Seringa- 
 patam" do you know her?' I said. 'Ay, ay, sir, well 
 enough,' said he, readily 'a lump of a ship she is, down 
 off Blackwall in the stream, with two more country-built,
 
 A SEA STORY 45 
 
 and tumbles home rather much from below the plank- 
 sheer for a sightly craft, besides being flat in the eyes of 
 her, and round in the counter, just where she should n't, sir. 
 Them Parchec Bombay shipwrights does clap on a lot of 
 onchristien flummeries and gilt mouldings, let alone quarter- 
 galleries fit for the king's castle !' 'In short, she 's tea-wagon 
 all over,' said I, 'and just as slow and as leewardly, to 
 boot, as teak can make her?' 'Pier lines is not that bad, 
 though, your honor,' continued Jacobs, 'if you just knocked 
 off her poop and she 'd bear a deal o' beating for a sea- 
 boat. They 've got a smart young mate, too ; for I seed 
 him t'other day a-sending up the yards, and now she 's 
 as square as a frigate, all ready to drop down river.' The 
 short and long of it was, that I arranged with my old 
 shipmate, who was fully bent on the cruise, whether Mrs. 
 Jacobs should approve or not, that, somehow or other, we 
 should both ship our hammocks on board of the 'Seringa- 
 patam' he before the mast, and I wherever I could get. On 
 going to the agent's, however which I did as soon as I 
 could change my uniform for plain clothes I found, to 
 my great disappointment, from a plan of the accommoda- 
 tions, that not only were the whole of the poop-cabins 
 taken, but those on the main-deck, also. Most of the pas- 
 sengers, I ascertained, were ladies, with their children and 
 nurses, going back to India, and raw young cadets, with 
 a few commercial and civilian nondescripts; there were 
 no troops or officers, arid room enough, except for one 
 gentleman having engaged the entire poop, at an immense 
 expense, for his own use. This I, of course, supposed was 
 the nabob, but the clerk was too close to inform me. 'You 
 must try another ship, sir,' said he, coolly, as he shut the 
 book. 'Sorry for it, but we have another booked to sail 
 in a fortnight. A 1, sir; far finer vessel couple of hun- 
 dred tons larger and sails faster.' 'You be hanged !' mut- 
 tered I, walking out; and a short time after I was on 
 board. The stewards told me as much again; but on my 
 slipping a guinea into the fingers of one, he suddenly 
 recollected there was a gentleman in stateroom No. 14, 
 starboard side of the main skylight, who, being alone, 
 might perhaps be inclined to take a chum, if I dealt with 
 him privately. 'Yankee, sir, he is,' said the steward, by 
 way of a useful hint. However, I didn't need the warning, 
 at sight of the individual's long nose, thin lips, and saPow 
 jawbones, without a whisker on his face, and his shirt-collar 
 turned down, as he sat overhauling his traps beside the
 
 46 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 carronade, which was tethered in the stateroom, with its 
 muzzle through the port. He looked a good deal like 
 a jockey beside his horse; or, as a wit of a schoolboy cadet 
 said afterwards, the Boston gentleman, calling himself Daniel 
 C. Snout, Esquire like Daniel praying in the lion's den, 
 and afraid it might turn round and roar. I must say 
 the idea did n't quite delight me, nor the sight of a fearful 
 quantity of baggage which was stowed up against the bulk- 
 head; but after introducing myself and objecting to the 
 first few offers, I at last concluded a bargain with the 
 American for a hundred guineas, provisions exclusive, which, 
 he remarked, was 'considerable low, I prognosticate, mister!' 
 'However,' said he, 'I expect you 're a conversationable in- 
 dividual a little: I allowed for that, you know, mister. One 
 can't do much of a trade at sea that 's a fact ; and I cal- 
 culate we '11 swap information by the way. I 'm water-pruff, 
 I tell you, as all our nation is. You '11 not settle at Bum- 
 bay, I reckon, mister?' But though I meant to pay my 
 new messmate in my own coin at leisure afterwards, and 
 be as frank and open as day with him the only way to 
 meet a Yankee I made off at present as fast as possible, 
 to bring my things aboard, resolving to sleep at Blackwall, 
 and then to stow myself out of sight for sick, until there 
 was somebody to take off the edge of his confounded talk. 
 
 "Xext afternoon, accordingly, I found myself once more 
 afloat, the Indiaman dropping down with the first breeze. 
 The day after, she was running through the Downs with it 
 pretty strong from north-east, a fair wind the pilot-boat 
 snoring off close-hauled to windward, with a white spray over 
 her nose; and the three dungaree topsails of the 'Seringa- 
 patam' lifting and swelling, as yellow as gold, over her white 
 courses in the blue Channel haze. The breeze freshened till 
 she rolled before it, and everything being topsyturvy on 
 deck, the lumber in the way, the men as busy as bees 
 setting her ship-shape it would have been as much as a 
 passenger's toes were worth to show them from below; so 
 that I was able to keep by myself, just troubling my sea- 
 manship so much as to stand clear of the work. Enjoy it 
 I did, too ; the first sniff of the weather was almost enough 
 to make me forget what I was there for. I was every 
 now on then on the point of fisting a rope, and singing 
 out to the men; till at length I thought it more com- 
 fortable, even for me, to run up the mizzen shrouds when 
 everybody was forward, where I stowed myself out of sight 
 in the cross-trees.
 
 A SEA STORY 47 
 
 "About dusk, while I was waiting to slip down, a stronger 
 puff than ordinary made them clew up the mizzeii-royal 
 from deck, which I took upon myself to furl off-hand 
 quick enough to puzzle a couple of boys that came aloft for 
 the purpose, especially as, in the meantime, I had got down 
 upon the topsail-yardarm out of their notice. When they 
 got on deck again, I heard the little fellows telling some 
 of the men, in a terrified sort of way, how the mizzen-royal 
 had either stowed itself, or else it was Dick Wilson's ghost, 
 that fell off the same yard last voyage more by token, he 
 used always to make fast the gaskets just that fashion. At 
 night, however, the wind having got lighter, with half 
 moonlight, there was a muster of some passengers on deck, 
 all sick and miserable, as they tried to keep their feet, and 
 have the benefit of air the Yankee being as bad as 
 the worst. I thought it wouldn 't do for me to be altogether 
 free, and accordingly stuck fast by Mr. Snout, with my 
 head over the quarter-deck bulwarks, looking into his face, 
 and talking away to him, asking all sorts of questions about 
 what was good for sea-sickness, then giving a groan to 
 prevent myself laughing, when the spray splashed up upon 
 his 'water-pruff face, he responding to it as Sancho Panza 
 did to Don Quixote, when the one examined the other's 
 mouth after a potion. All he could falter out was, how 
 he wondered 1 could speak at all when sick. 'Oh! oh 
 dear !' said I, with another howl. 'Yes 't is merely because 
 I can't think! And I daresay you are thinking so much 
 you can't talk the sea is so full of meditation, as Lord 
 
 Byron oh oh this water will be the death of me!' 
 
 'I feel as if the whole tarnation Atlantic was inside of 
 my bowels!' gasped he through his nostrils. 'Oh!' I could 
 not help putting in, as the ship and Mr. Snout both gave 
 a heave up, 'and coming out of you!' 
 
 "During all this time T had felt so sure of my ground as 
 scarcely to trouble myself about the Bengal judge and his 
 treasure of a daughter; only in the midst of the high 
 spirits brought up by the breeze, T hugged myself now 
 and then at the thought of their turning out by degrees 
 as things got settled. Nobody would suspect the raw chap 
 I looked, with smooth hair and a high collar, of any par- 
 ticular cue: I must say there was a little vanity at the 
 bottom of it, but I kept thinking more and more how 
 snug and quietly I 'd enjoy all that went on, sailing on 
 one tack with the passengers and the old nabob himself, 
 and slipping off upon the other when I could come near
 
 48 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the charming young Lota. The notion looks more like 
 what some scamp of a reefer, cruising ashore, would have 
 hit upon, than suits my taste nowadays; but the cockpit 
 had put a spice of the imp in me, which I never got clear 
 of till this very voyage, as you'll see, if we get through 
 the log of it. 
 
 "The first time I went down into the cuddy was that 
 evening to tea, where all was at sixes and sevens like the 
 decks; the lamps ill-trimmed, stewards out of the way, and 
 a few lads trying to bear up against their stomachs by 
 the help of brandy and biscuits. The main figure was a 
 jolly-looking East Indian, an indigo-planter, as he turned out, 
 with a bald forehead, a hook nose, and his gills covered 
 with white whiskers that gave him all the cut of a cocka- 
 too. He had his brown servant running about on every 
 hand, and being an old stager, did his best to cheer up 
 the rest; but nothing I saw showed the least sign of the 
 party I looked after. I was sure I ought to have made 
 out something of them by this time, considering the stir 
 such a grandee as Sir Charles Hyde would cause aboard; 
 in fact, there did n't seem to be many passengers in her, 
 and I began to curse the lying scoundrel of a kitmagar for 
 working 'Tom Cox's traverse' on me, and myself for being 
 a greater ass than T 'd fancied. Indeed, I heard the planter 
 mention by chance that Sir Charles Hyde, the district 
 judge, had come home last voyage from India in this very 
 'Seringapatam,' which, no doubt, I thought, put the Mo- 
 hammedan rascal up to his trick. 
 
 "I was making up my mind to an Indian trip, and the 
 pure pleasure of Daniel Catoson Snout, Esquire's com- 
 pany for two blessed months, when all of a sudden I felt 
 the ship bring her wind a-quarter, with a furious plunge 
 of the Channel water along her bends, that made every 
 landsman's bowels yearn as if he felt it gurgle through him. 
 One young: fellow, more drunk than sick, gave a wild 
 bolt right over the cuddy table, striking out with both 
 arms and legs as if afloat, so as to sweep half of the glasses 
 down on the floor. The planter, who was three cloths in the 
 wind himself, looked down upon him with a comical air 
 of pity as soon as he had got cushioned upon the wreck. 
 'My dear fellow,' said he, 'what do you feel eh?' 'Feel, 
 you old blackguard !' stammered the griffin, 'I feel every- 
 thing! Goes through through my vitals as if I was a con 
 founded whale! C can't stand it !' 'You Ve drunk your- 
 self aground, my boy!' sung out the indigo-man; 'stuck 
 fast on the coral eh ? Never mind, we '11 float you off,
 
 A SEA STORY 49 
 
 only don't flounder that way with your tail! by George, 
 you scamp, you've ruined my toe oh dear!' I left the 
 planter hopping round on one pin, and holding the gouty 
 one in his hand, betwixt laughing and crying; on deck I 
 found the floating Nab Light bearing broad on our lee- 
 bow, with Cumberland Fort glimmering to windward, and 
 the half-moon setting over the Isle of Wight, while we 
 stood up for Portsmouth Harbor. The old captain, and 
 most of the officers, were on the poop for the first time, 
 though as stiff and uncomfortable from the sort of land- 
 sickness and lumber-qualms that sailors feel till things are 
 in their places, as the landsmen did until things were out 
 of them. The skipper walked the weather side by him- 
 self and said nothing; the smart chief officer sent two 
 men, one after another, from the wheel for 'cows' that 
 did n't know where their tails were ; and as for the middies, 
 they seemed to know when to keep out of the way. In a 
 little, the spars of the men-of-war at Spithead 'were to be 
 seen as we rose on a sea; before the end of the first watch, 
 we were running outside the Spit Buoy, which was nodding 
 and plashing with the tide in the last slant of moonshine, 
 till at last we rounded to, and down went the anchor in five 
 fathoms, off the Motherbank. What the Indiaman wanted 
 at Portsmouth I did n't know ; but, meantime, I had given 
 up all hopes of the nabob being in her, and the only 
 question with me was, whether I should take the opportunity 
 of giving all hands the slip here, even though I left my 
 Yankee friend disconsolate, and a clear gainer by dollars 
 beyond count. 
 
 "Early next morning there were plenty of wherries looking 
 out for fares; so, as the Indiaman was not to sail before 
 the night-ebb, when the breeze would probably spring up 
 fair again, I hailed one of them to go ashore at the point, 
 for a quiet stroll over Southsea Common, where I meant to 
 overhaul the whole bearings of the case, and think if it 
 were n't better to go home, and wait the Admiralty's pleas- 
 ure for a ship. I had n't even seen anything of Jacobs, 
 and the whole hotel-keeping ways of the Indiaman be- 
 gan to disgust me, or else I should have at once decided 
 to take the chance of seeing Lota Hyde somehow or other 
 in India; but, again, one could scarcely endure the notion 
 of droning on in a frigate without so much as a Brest 
 lugger to let drive at. It was about six o'clock; the morn- 
 ing-gun from the guard-ship off the dockyard came booming 
 down through the harbor, the blue offing shone like silver,
 
 50 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 arid the green tideway sparkled on every surge, up to where 
 they were flashing and poppling on the copper of the frigates 
 at Spithead. I noticed them crossing yards and squaring; 
 the farthest out hove up anchor, loosed fore-topsail, cast 
 her head to starboard, and fired a gun as she stood slowly 
 out to sea under all sail, with a light air freshening 
 abeam. The noble look of her almost reconciled me of 
 itself to the service, were it for the mere sake of having 
 a share in driving such a craft between wind and water. 
 Just then, however, an incident turned up in spite of me, 
 which I certainly olid n't expect, and which had more, even 
 than I reckoned at the time, to do with my other adventure; 
 seeing that it made me, both then and afterwards, do the 
 direct opposite of what I meant to do, and both times put 
 a new spoke in my wheel, as we say at sea here. 
 
 "I had observed a seventy-four, the 'Stratton,' lying op- 
 posite the Spit Buoy, on board of which, as the waterman 
 told me, a court-martial had been held the day before, 
 where they broke a first lieutenant for insulting his cap- 
 tain. Both belonged to one of the frigates: the captain 
 I had seen, and heard of as the worst tyrant in the navy; 
 his ship was called 'a perfect hell afloat'; that same week 
 one of the boys had tried to drown himself alongside, and 
 a corporal of marines, after coming ashore and drinking a 
 glass with his sweetheart, had coolly walked down to the point, 
 jumped in between two boats and the jetty, and kept him- 
 self under water till he was dead. The lieutenant had 
 been dismissed the service, and as I recognized the name, 
 I wondered whether it could actually be my schoolfellow, 
 Tom Westwood, as gallant a fellow and as merry as ever 
 broke biscuit. Two sailboats, one from around the 'Strat- 
 ton's' quarter, and the other from over by Gosport, steer- 
 ing on the same tack for Southsea, turned my attention as 
 I sauntered down to the beach. The bow of the nearest 
 wherry grounded on the stones as I began to walk quicker 
 towards the town-gates, chiefly because I was pretty ready 
 for an early breakfast at the old Blue Posts, and also be- 
 cause I had a slight notion of what these gentlemen wanted 
 on Southsea Beach at odd hours. Out they jumped, how- 
 ever one man in naval undress, another a captain in full 
 fig, the third a surgeon coming right athwart my course 
 to bring me to. The first I almost at once remembered 
 for the notorious captain of the 'Orestes,' or 'N'Oreste,' 
 as the midshipmen called her, from her French build and 
 her character together. 'Hallo, you sir!' said the other
 
 THE SECONDS GAVE THE WORD TO EACH OTHER, AND DROPPED TWO 
 WHITE HANDKERCHIEFS AT ONCE.
 
 A SEA STORY 51 
 
 captain, decidedly, 'you must stand still.' 'Indeed!' said I; 
 'and why so, if you please?' 'Since youare here,wedon't intend 
 allowing you to pass for some few minutes.' 'And what if I 
 should do I choose, sir?' I asked. 'If you stir two steps, 
 sir, I shall shoot you,' replied the captain, who was one 
 of the bullying school. 'Oh, very well,' I said, rather con- 
 founded by hiis impertinence, 'then I shall stay'; and I 
 accordingly stood stock-still, with my arms folded, until the 
 other boat landed a party of two. They were in plain 
 clothes; nor did I give them any particular heed till the 
 seconds had stationed their men, when the captain of the 
 'Orestes' had his back to me, and his antagonist stood di- 
 rectly facing. As his pale resolved features came out 
 before me with the morning sun on them, his lips together, 
 and his nostrils large, I recognized my old friend West- 
 wood. The captain had broke him the day before, and now 
 had accepted his challenge, being a known dead shot, while 
 the lieutenant had never fired a bullet in cold blood; there 
 was, no doubt, a settled purpose in the tyrant to crush 
 the first man that had dared to thwart his will. Westwood's 
 second came forward and mentioned to the other that his 
 friend was still willing to withdraw the words spoken 
 in first heat, and would accordingly fire into the air. 
 'Coward!' shouted the captain of the 'Orestes' immediately, 
 'I shall shoot you through the heart!' 'Sir,' said I to his 
 second, 'I will not look on; and if that gentleman is shot, 
 I will be witness against you both as murderers.' I dropped 
 down behind a stone out of the line of fire, and to keep 
 my eyes off the devilish piece of work, though my blood 
 boiled to knock the fellow down that I was speaking to. 
 Another minute, and the suspense was too great for me 
 to help looking up. Just at that moment I saw how set 
 Westwood's face was; he was watching his enemy with an 
 eye that showed to me what the other's must be seeking 
 for his life. The seconds gave the word to each other in 
 the middle, and dropped two white handkerchiefs at once with 
 their hands together; I caught the flash of Westwood's 
 pistol, when, to my astonishment, I saw the captain of 
 the 'Orestes' next moment jerk up his arm betwixt me and 
 the sky, fire in the air, and slowly fall back he was dead! 
 shot through the heart. One glance at his face gave you 
 a notion of the devilish meaning he had had; but what 
 was my surprise when his second walked up to Westwood, 
 and said to him, 'Sir, you are the murderer of Captain 
 Buncombe my friend fired in the air as you proposed.'
 
 52 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 'You are mistaken, sir,' answered Westwood, coldly; 'Captain 
 Duncombe sought my life, and I have used the privilege 
 of self-defence.' 'The surgeon is of my opinion,' said the 
 other; 'and I am sorry to say that we cannot allow you 
 to depart.' 'I shall give myself up to the authorities at 
 once,' said Westwood. 'We have only your word for that, 
 which I must be permitted, in such a case, to doubt,' replied 
 the captain, whose evident wish it was to detain Westwood 
 by force or threats while he sent off his surgeon. The worst 
 of it was, as I now found, that since the court-martial and 
 the challenge, an Admiralty order had arrived, in consider- 
 ation of several gallant acts during the war, as well as private 
 representation, restoring him to the service; so that he had, 
 in fact, called out and shot his superior officer. As for 
 the charge now brought forward, it was too absurd for 
 any to believe it, unless from rage or prejudice; the case 
 was bad enough, at any rate, without it. 
 
 "In the meantime I had exchanged a word or two with 
 Westwood's friend ; after which, lifting a second pistol which 
 lay on the sand, I went up to the captain. 'Sir,' said I, 
 'you used the freedom, a little ago, of forcing me into your 
 concerns, and I have seen the end of it. I have now got 
 to tell you, having watched your conduct, that either you 
 must submit to be made fast here for a bit, else, by the 
 God that made me, I '11 shoot you through the head.' The 
 captain looked at me, his surgeon sidled up to him; and 
 being a man near my own size, he suddenly tried to wrench 
 the pistol out of my hands. However, I had him the next 
 moment under my knee, while Westwood's second secured the 
 little surgeon, and took a few round sea-turns about his wrists 
 and ankles with a neckerchief. My companion then gave 
 me a hand to do the same with his superior officer the medico 
 all the time singing out like a bull, and the captain threat- 
 ening while the dead body law stark and stiff behind us, 
 the eyes wide, the head down, and the breast up, the hand 
 clinching a pistol, just as he had fallen. Westwood stood 
 quite unconscious of everything we did, only he seemed to 
 be watching the knees drawn up as they stiffened, and the 
 sand-flies gathering about the mouth. 'Shall we clap a stop- 
 per between their teeth ?' said the second to me he had beem 
 at sea, but who he was I never knew 'the surgeon will be 
 heard on the walls, he bellows so !' 'Never mind,' said I, 
 'we '11 just drop them beyond tide-mark the lee of the stones 
 yonder.' In fact, from the noise the tide was making, I ques 
 tion if the shots could have been heard even by the watermen,
 
 A SEA STORY 53 
 
 who had prudently sheered out of sight round a point. I 
 could n't help looking, when we had done this, from the cap- 
 tain's body to his own frigate, as she was sluing round head 
 on to us, at single anchor, to the turn of tide, with her buoy 
 dancing on the brisk blue sweep of water, and her figure-head 
 shining in the sunlight. As soon as we had covered over the 
 corpse with tangle, Westwood started as if we had 
 taken something away from him, or freed him of a spell. 
 'Westwood!' said I, laying my hand on his shoulder, 'you 
 must come along with me.' He said nothing, but followed 
 us quietly round to the wherries, where I told the watermen 
 that the other party had gone a different way to keep clear, 
 and we wanted them to pull for Gosport. At Gosport we had 
 Westwood rigged out in black clothes, his hair cropped, and 
 whiskers shaved off as I thought it the fittest thing for his 
 case, and what he could best carry out, to go aboard of the 
 Indiaman with me as if he were a missionary. Poor fellow! 
 he did n't well know what he was. So, having waited till 
 dusk, to let the watermen lose our track, and his friend having 
 posted off for Dover, he and I both got safe over to the 
 'Seringapatam,' where I had him stowed in the first con- 
 venient stateroom I could find. I had actually forgot, 
 through the excitement, all about having missed my first 
 chase; from one hour to another I kept watching the tide- 
 marks ashore, and the dog-vane on the ship's quarter, all 
 impatience to hear the word given for 'all hands up anchor,' 
 and hoping our worthy friends on Southsea Beach were still 
 lying within hearing of the Channel flood. At last the order 
 did come ; round went the capst. .1 merrily enough, till she had 
 hove short and up with fore-topsail set; the anchor was catted, 
 and off went the lumbering old craft through the Solent about 
 midnight, before a fine rattling breeze, in company with six 
 or seven others, all running for the Needles. They were, 
 loosing the Indiaman's royals when I heard a gun from the 
 guardship in harbor; and a little after up went a rocket, 
 signalling to some frigate or other at Spithead; away they 
 kept at it, with lights from the telegraph to her masthead, 
 for several minutes. 'All 's up !' thought I, 'and both West- 
 wood and myself are in for it !' 
 
 "Next morning at daybreak, accordingly, no sooner did the 
 dawn serve to show us Portland Light going out on the 
 weather quarter, with a whole fleet of Channel craft and 
 Mediterranean brigs about us, we surging through it as fast 
 as the Indiaman could go than there was a fine forty-four 
 standing off and on right in our course, in fact the very
 
 5 4 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 identical 'Orestes' herself! She picked us out in a moment 
 bore up, stood across our weather-bow, and hailed. 'What 
 ship 's that ?' said the first luff in her mizzen rigging. 
 
 " 'The "Seringapatam," Honorable Company's ship, Captain 
 Williamson!' sung out our first officer, with his cap off. 
 'Heave to, till I send a boat aboard of you,' hailed the naval 
 man, and there we bobbed to each other with mainyards 
 backed. In a few minutes a master's mate with gig's crew 
 was under our lee-quarter, and the mate came on deck. 
 'Sir/ said he, 'the Port Admiral will thank you to deliver 
 these despatches for Sir Charles Hyde, who I believe is 
 aboard.' 'Certainly, sir,' said the first officer, 'they shall 
 be given to him in an hour's time.' 
 
 " 'Good morning, and a fine voyage,' said the master's 
 mate politely; and I took the occasion of asking if Captain 
 Buncombe were on board the 'Orestes.' 'No, sir,' answered 
 the midshipman, 'he happens to be ashore at present.' I 
 have seldom felt so relieved as when I saw the frigate haul 
 round her mainyard, and go sweeping off to leeward, while 
 we resumed our course. By noon we had sunk the land about 
 Start Point, with a breeze which it was no use wasting at that 
 season to take 'departures'; and as the afternoon set in 
 hazy, we were soon out of sight of Old England for good. 
 For my part, I was bound eastward at last with a witness, 
 and, like a young bear, again 'all my troubles before me.' 
 
 "There is two bells, though," interrupted the narrator, 
 starting. "Let us see what sort of night it is before the ladies 
 retire."
 
 A SEA STORY 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE evening after that in which the commander of the 
 ''Gloucester" Indiaman introduced his adventures, nearly the 
 same party met on the poop to hear them continued. 
 
 "Well then," began Captain Collins, leaning back against 
 a stanchion of the quarter-rail, with folded arms, legs crossed, 
 and his eyes fixed on the weather-leech of the mizzen-topsail 
 to collect his thoughts; "well then, try to fancy the 'Seringa- 
 patam,' in chase of the 'Gloucester'; and if I do use a few 
 extra sea-terms, I consider the ladies good enough sailors 
 for them already. At any rate, just throw a glance aloft now 
 and then, and our good old lady will explain herself; to her 
 own sex, she ought to be as good as a dictionary, with signs 
 for the hard words ! 
 
 "The second day out we had the wind more from seaward, 
 which broke up the haze into bales of cloud, and away they 
 went rolling in for the Bay of Biscay ; with a longer wave and 
 darker water, and the big old Indiaman surged over it as easily 
 as might be, the blue breeze gushing right into her main-tack 
 through the heave of the following seas, and the tail of the 
 trade-wind flying high above her trucks in shreds and patches. 
 Things got more ship-shape on deck; anchor-flukes brought 
 in-board on the head-rail, and cables stowed away the very 
 best sign you can have of being clear of the land. The first 
 officer, as they called him, was a good-looking fellow, that 
 thought no small-beer of himself, with his glossy blue jacket 
 and Company's buttons, white trousers, and a gold thread 
 round his cap ; he had it stuck askew to show how his hair was 
 brushed; and changed his boots every time he came on deck. 
 Still he looked like a sailor, if but for the East-India brown 
 on his face, and there was no mistake about his knowing how 
 to set a sail, trim yards, or put the ship about; so that the 
 stiff old skipper left a great deal to him, besides trusting him 
 for a first-rate navigator that had learned head-work at a 
 naval school. The crew were to be seen all mustering before 
 tea-time in the dog-watch, with their feet just seen under the 
 foot mat of the fore-course, like actors behind a playhouse 
 curtain men that I warrant you had seen every country 
 under heaven amongst them as private as possible, and 
 ready to enjoy their pots of tea upon the forecastle, as well 
 as their talk. 
 
 "However, all this was nothing to me, as I saw no sign of
 
 56 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the passengers I had counted on. I could do little for poor 
 Westwood but leave him to mope below, over his own 
 thoughts. 
 
 "If the Indian judge really chanced to be on board alter 
 all, he evidently fought shy of company, and perhaps meant 
 to have his own mess-table under the poop as long as the voy- 
 age lasted ; scarcely any of the ladies had apparently got their 
 sea-qualms over yet, and, for all I knew, she might not be with 
 him, even if he were there ; or, if she were, her father seemed 
 quite Turk enough to keep her boxed up with jalousie-blinds, 
 Calcutta fashion, and give her a walk in the middle watch, 
 with the poop tabooed till morning. The jolly, red-faced in- 
 digo-planter was the only one that tried to get up anything 
 like spirit at the table; indeed, he would have scraped ac- 
 quaintance with me, if I had been in a mood for it ; all I did 
 was to say 'Yes' and 'No,' and to take wine with him. 'Poor 
 fellow !' said he, turning to three or four of the cadets, that 
 stuck by him like pilot-fish to an old shark, 'he's thinking 
 of his mother at home, I daresay.' The foo^ thought this 
 was meant for a joke, and began to laugh. 'Why you 
 unfledged griffins you,' said the planter, 'what d'ye see to 
 nicker at, like so many jackals in a trap ? D'ye suppose one 
 thinks the less of a man for having a heart to be sick in, as 
 well as a stomach eh ?' 'Oh, don't speak of it, Mr. Rollock !' 
 said one. 'Come, come, old boy,' said another, with a white 
 moustache on his lip, ' 'twon't do for you to go the sentimen- 
 tal, you know.' 'Capsize my main-spanker, 'tis too funny, 
 though,' put in a fellow who wore a glazed hat on deck, and 
 put down all the ropes with numbers on paper, as soon as he 
 had done being sick. The planter leaned back in his chair, 
 looked at them coolly, and burst out a-laughing. 'Catch me 
 ever "going home" again,' said he. 'Of all the absurd 
 occasions for impudence with the egg-shell on its head 
 coming out, hang me if these fifteen thousand miles of in- 
 fernal sea-water ain't the worst. India for ever! that's the 
 place to try a man. He 's either sobered or gets room to work 
 there; and just wait, my fine fellows, till I see you on the 
 Custom-house Bunda at Bombay, or setting off up country 
 you 're all of you the very food for sircars and coolies. That 
 quiet lad there, now, soft as he looks' meaning me 'I can 
 tell by his eye he won't be long a griff he '11 do something. 
 I tell you what, as soon as he's tasted his first mango-fish, 
 he'll understand the country. Why, sir,' said he again, 
 smacking his lips, ' 'tis worth the voyage of itself you begin 
 a new existence so to speak. I '11 be bound all this lot o'
 
 A SEA STORY 57 
 
 water don't contain one single mango-fish. Remember, boys, 
 I promised you all a regular blow-out of mango-fish, and 
 florican with bread-sauce, whenever you can get across to 
 Chuckbully Factory.' 'Blow, good breeze, then; blow away 
 the main jib!' said the nautical young gentleman; 'I'll join 
 you, old fellow!' 'Not the best way to bring it about 
 though,' said the indigo-planter, good-naturedly, not knowing 
 but there was such a sail on the ship. 
 
 "The yellow setting sun was striking over the starboard 
 quarter-boat, and the Bay of Biscay lay broad down to lee- 
 ward for a view a couple of large craft, with all studding- 
 sails set before the wind, making for land, far enough off to 
 bring their canvas in a piece, and begin to look blue with the 
 air one like a milk-woman with pitchers and a hoop; the 
 other like a girl carrying a big- bucketful of water, and lean- 
 ing the opposite way to steady herself. There was one far to 
 north-east, too, no more than a white speck in the gray sky; 
 and the land-cloud went up over it into so many sea-lions' 
 heads, all looking out of their manes. The children clapped 
 their hands and laughed; and the ladies talked about the 
 vessels, and thought they saw land Spain or the Pyrenees, 
 perhaps. However, it was n't long before my American friend 
 Snout caught sight of me in the midst of his meditations, as 
 he turned bolt round on his toes to hurry aft again. 'The 
 fact is, mister,' said he, 'I 'm riled a little at the 'tarnation 
 pride of you Britishers. There now,' said he, pointing at the 
 blaze of the sun to westward, with his chin, 'there 's a con- 
 solation. I calculate the sun 's just over Noo-York, which I 
 expect to give you old country folks considerable pain.' 
 
 " 'No doubt,' said I, with a sigh ; 'one can't help thinking 
 of a banker run off with ever so much English gold.' 'You 're 
 a sensible chap, you are. It 's a right-down asylum for 
 oppressed Europains that can't be denied.' 'And Africans, 
 too,' I put in. 'Indy, now,' said he; 'I reckon there's a sight 
 of dollars made in that country you don't s'pose I 'm goin' 
 out there for nothing? We'll just take it out o' your hand? 
 yet, mister. I don't ought to let you into the scheme till I 
 know you better, you see; but I expect to want a sort o' 
 company got up before we land. There 's one of your nabobs 
 now came into the ship at Possmouth, with a whole tail of 
 niggurs dressed up ' 'And a lady with him, I think ?' 
 said I, as coolly as I could. 'I '11 somehow open on that chap 
 about British tyranny, I guess, after gettin' a little knowledge 
 out of him. We 'd just rise the niggurs, if they had not such 
 a right-down cur'ous mythullogy but I tell you now, mister,
 
 5 8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 that 's one of the very p'ints I expect to meet. Miss'naries 
 won't do it so slick off in two thousand years, I kinder think, 
 
 like 
 
 as this identical specoolation will in ten besides ^ 
 Peruvain mines, which the miss'nary line dont. 1m a 
 regoolar down-easter, ye see kinder piercin' into a subject, 
 like our nation in gin'ral and the whull schim hangs to- 
 gether a little, I calculate, mister?' 'So I should think, Mr. 
 Snout, indeed,' I said. Here the American gave another 
 chuckle, and turned to again on his walk, double quick till 
 you 'd have thought the whole length of the poop shook, when 
 who should I see with the tail of my eye but my friend the 
 Tcitmagar salaaming to Mr. Snout by the break of the quarter- 
 deck. The Yankee seemed rather taken aback at first, and 
 did n't know what to make of him. 'S'iaam sah'b,' said the 
 dark servant with an impudent look, and loud enough for me 
 to hear, as I stepped from aft. 'Judge sahib i-send genteeman 
 salaam say too much hiwy boot he get all same as illim- 
 phant. S'pose master not so much loud walk this side?' 
 'Well!' broke out the American, looking at the Bengalee's 
 flat turban and moustache, as if he were too great a curiosity 
 to be angry with, then turning on his heel to proceed with 
 his walk. *'Now, mister,' said he to me, 'that 's what I call 
 an incalculable impudent black ; but he 's the first I ever saw 
 with hair on his lip, it 's a fact.' 'Master not mind?' said the 
 kitmagar, raising his key next time Mr. Snout wheeled round. 
 'Judge sahib burra burra buhadoorkea! ver' great man!' 
 'Low niggur !' said Mr. Snout, tramping away aft ; 'there 's 
 your British regoolations, I say, young man niggurs baaing 
 on the quarter-deck, and free-born citizens put off it!' 
 'Bhote Tchoob, mistree !' squeaked out the native again ; 'burra 
 judge sahib not to i-sleep apter he dine, eh? Vert well; T 
 tell the sahib, passiger mistree moor stamp-i-stamp all the 
 moor I can say !' So off he went to report in the poop-cabin. 
 A little after up shot a head wrapped in a yellow bandanna, 
 just on the level of the poop-deck, looking through the 
 breast-rail; and the next thing I saw was the great East- 
 Indian himself, with a broad-flapped Manilla hat over his top- 
 gear, and a red-flowered dressing-gown, standing beside the 
 binnacle with Captain Williamson. 'What the deuce; Captain 
 Williamson,' said the judge, with an angry glance up to the 
 poop, 'cannot I close my eyelids after d : nner for one inst.int 
 in my own private apartments, sir for his hideous noise? 
 Who the deuce is that person there eh, eh ?' 'He 's an 
 American gentleman, I believe, Sir Charles,' replied the 
 captain. 'Believe, sir,' said the judge; 'you ought to know
 
 A SEA STORY 59 
 
 every individual, I think, Captain Williamson, whom you 
 admitted into this vessel. I expressly stipulated for quiet, 
 sir I understood that no suspicious or exceptionable persons 
 should travel in the same conveyance with my suwarry. I 'd 
 have taken the whole ship, sir !' 'I 've no more to do than 
 tell him the regulations aboard, Sir Charles,' said the captain, 
 'and the annoyance will cease.' 'Tell him, indeed!' said the 
 judge, a little more good-humoredly. 'Why, captain, the 
 man looks like a sea-pirate. You should have taken only 
 such raw griffins as that young lad on the other side. Ho, 
 kitmagar!' 'Maharaj?' said the footman, bowing down to 
 the deck. 'Slippers lao!' 'Jee khodabund,' answered the 
 native, and immediately after he reappeared from the round- 
 house door, with a pair of turned-up yellow slippers. 'Take 
 them up with my salaam to that gentleman there,' said Sir 
 Charles, in Hindostanee, 'and ask him to use them.' 
 'Hullo !' sung out Mr. Snout, on being hove-to by the Icit- 
 magar, with one hand on his breast, and the other holding 
 the slippers, 'this won't do ! You 'd better not rile me again, 
 you cussed niggur you. Out o' my way!' There they went 
 at it along the poop together, Mr. Snout striding right for- 
 ward with his long legs, and the Jcitmagar hopping backward 
 out of his way, as he tried to make himself understood; till, 
 all at once, the poor darky lost his balance at the ladder- 
 head, and over he went with a smash fit to have broken his 
 neck, if the captain's broad back had n't fortunately been 
 there to receive it. The rage of Sir Charles at this was quite 
 beyond joking; nothing else would satisfy him but the un- 
 lucky Yankee's being shoved off the poop by main force, and 
 taken below the one stamping and roaring like an old 
 buffalo, and the other testifying against all 'aristocratycal 
 t?/ranny.' 
 
 "At eight bells again I found it a fine, breezy night, the 
 two upper mates walking the weather quarter-deck in blue- 
 water style, six steps and a look to windward, then a wheel 
 round, and, now and then, a glance into the binnacle. I went 
 aft and leaned over the 'Seringapatam's' lee quarter, looking 
 at the white back-wash running aft from her bows, in green 
 sparks, into the smooth alongside, and the surge coming 
 round her counter to meet it. Everything was set aloft that 
 could draw, even to a starboard main-topmast stunsail; the 
 high Indiaman being lighter than if homeward-bound, and 
 the breeze strong abeam, she had a good heel-over to port ; but 
 she went easily through the water, and it was only at the other 
 side you heard it rattling both ways along the bends. The
 
 6o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 shadow of her went far to leeward, except where a gleam came 
 on the top of a wave or two between the sails and under their 
 foot. Just below the sheer of the hull, aft, it was as dark as 
 night, though now and then the light from a port struck on it 
 and went in again ; but every time she sank, the bight of her 
 wake from astern swelled up away round the counter, with its 
 black side as smooth as a looking-glass. I kept peering into 
 it, expecting to see my own face, while all the time I was 
 very naturally thinking of one quite different, and felt uneasy 
 till I should actually see her. 'Confound it,' I thought, 
 'were it only a house, one might walk round and round it till 
 he found out the window.' I fancied her bewitching face 
 through the garden-door, as clearly as if I saw it in the dark 
 head of the swell ; but I 'd have given more only to hear that 
 imp of a cockatoo scream once whereas there was nothing 
 but the water working up into the rudder-case; the pintles 
 creaking, and the tiller-ropes cheeping as they traversed ; and 
 the long welter of the sea when the ship eased down, with the 
 surgeon and his friends walking about and laughing up to 
 windward. From that again, I ran on putting things together, 
 till, in fact, Jacobs' notion of a shipwreck seemed by far the 
 best. No doubt Jacobs and Westwood, with a few others, 
 would be saved, while I did n't even object much to the old 
 nabob himself, for respectability's sake, and to spare crape. 
 But, by Jove, would n't one bring him to his bearings soon 
 enough there? Every sailor gets hold of this notion some 
 night-watch or other, leaning over the side, with pretty 
 creatures aboard he can scarce speak to otherwise; and I was 
 coiling it down so fast myself, at the moment, that I had just 
 begun to pitch into the nabob about our all being Adam's 
 sons and daughters, under a knot of green palm-trees, at the 
 door of a wooden house, half thatched with leaves, when I 
 was brought up with a round turn by seeing a light shining 
 through the hazy bull's-eye in the deck where I stood. Xo 
 doubt the sweet girl I had been thinking of was actually 
 there, and going to bed; I stretched over the quarter, but the 
 heavy mouldings were in the way against seeing more than 
 the green bars of the after window all turned edgeways to 
 the water, where the gallery hung out like a corner turret 
 from the ship's side. Now and then, however, when she 
 careened a little more than ordinary, and the smooth lee 
 swell went heaping up opposite, I could notice the light 
 through the Venetians from the stateroom come out upon the 
 dark water in broad bright lines, like the grate across a fire, 
 then disappearing in a ripple, till it was gone again, or some-
 
 A SEA STORY 61 
 
 body's shadow moved inside. It was the only lighted window 
 in the gallery, and I looked every time it came as if I could 
 see in ; when at last, you may fancy my satisfaction, as, ail of 
 a sudden, one long slow heave over of the ship showed me the 
 whole bright opening of the port, squared out of her shadow, 
 where it shone upon the glassy round of the swell. 'Twas as 
 plain as from a mirror in a closet the lighted gallery window 
 with its frame swung in, a bit of the deck-roof I was standing 
 on, and two female figures at the window mere dark shapes 
 against the lamp. I almost started back at the notion of their 
 seeing me, but away lengthened the light on the breast of 
 the swell, and it sank slowly down into a black hollow, as the 
 Indiaman eased up to windward. Minute by minute, quite 
 breathless, did I watch for such another chance; but next 
 time she leaned over as much, the port had been closed, and 
 all was dark; although those few moments were enough to 
 send the heart into my mouth with sheer delight. The figure 
 I had seen, holding with one hand by the portsill, and ap- 
 parently keeping up her dress with the other, as if she were 
 looking down steadily on the heave of the sea below it 
 could n't be mistaken. The line of her head, neck, and 
 shoulders, came out more certain than if they had n't been 
 filled up with nothing but a black shadow; it was just Lota 
 Hyde's, as she sat in the ballroom amongst the crowd, I 'd 
 have bet the 'Victory' to a bumboat on it ; only her hair hung 
 loose on one side, while the girl behind seemed to be dressing 
 the other, for it was turned back, so that I saw clear past her 
 cheek and neck to where the lamp was, and her ear gleamed 
 to the light. For one moment nothing could be plainer than 
 the glimpse old Davy Jones gave me by one of his tricks ; but 
 the old fellow was quite as decorous in his way as a chamber- 
 blind, and swallowed his pretty little bit of blab as quickly as 
 if it had been a mermaid caught at her morning toilet. When- 
 ever I found there was to be no more of it for the night, the 
 best thing to calm one's feelings was to light a cigar and walk 
 out the watch; but I took care it should rather be over 
 the nabob's head than his daughter's, and went up to the 
 weather side, where there was nobody else by this time, wish- 
 ing her the sweetest of dreams, and not doubting I should see 
 her next day. 
 
 "I daresay I should have walked out the first watch, and 
 the second too, if Westwood had n't come up beside me before 
 he turned in. 
 
 " 'Why, you look like the officer of the watch, Ned !' said 
 my friend, after taking a glance round at the night. 'Yes
 
 62 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 what? a a I don't think so,' stammered I, not knowing 
 what he said, or at least the meaning of it, though certainly 
 it was not so deep. 'I hope not though, Tom!' said I again; 
 1 'tis the very thing I don't want to look like !' 'You seem 
 bent on keeping it up, and coming the innocent, at any rate,' 
 said he ; 'I really did n't know you the first time I saw you in 
 the cuddy.' 'Why, man, you never saw our theatricals in the 
 dear old 'Iris,' on the African station ! I was our best female 
 actor of tragedy there, and did Desdemona so well that the 
 black cook, who stood for Othello, actually cried. He said, 
 "Nobody but 'ee dibble umself go for smudder inissee Dasde- 
 moner!"' 'I daresay,' said Westwood; 'but what is the 
 need for it now, even if you could serve as a blind for me?' 
 'My dear fellow,' said I, 'not at all you 've kept it up very 
 well so far just go on.' 'Keep it up, Ned?' inquired he 
 'what do you mean? I've done nothing except keep quiet 
 from mere want of spirits.' 'So much the better,' I said; 'I 
 never saw a man look more like a prophet in the wilderness; 
 it does n't cost you the least trouble why you 'd have done 
 for Hamlet in the 'Iris,' if for nothing else! After all, though, 
 a missionary don't wear blue pilot cloth trousers, nor tie his 
 neckerchief as you do, Tom. You must bend a white neck- 
 cloth to-morrow morning ! I 'm quite serious, Westwood, I 
 assure you,' continued I. 'Just think of the suspicious look 
 of two navy men being aboard an Indiaman, nobody knows 
 how! Why, the first frigate we speak, or port we touch at, 
 they 'd hand one or both of us over at once which I, for my 
 part, should n't at all like !' 'Indeed, Collins,' said Tom, turn- 
 ing round, 'I really cannot understand why you went out in 
 her ! It distresses me to think that here you 've got your- 
 self into this scrape on my account ! At least you '11 put back 
 
 in the first home-bound ship we ' 
 
 "'Oh!' exclaimed I, blushing a little in the dark though, 
 both at Westwood's simplicity, and my not wishing to tell 
 him my secret yet 'I 'm tired of shore I want to see India 
 again I'm thinking of going into the army!' 'The army, 
 indeed !' said Westwood, laughing for the first time, 'and you 
 still midshipman all over. No, no that won't do! I see 
 
 a sailor's, all fair and above-board, than I can manage! 
 won't humbug you, at any rate I tell you I've got a 
 scheme of my own, and you '11 know more of it soon.' Tom 
 whistled; however I went on to tell him. 'The long and
 
 A SEA STORY 63 
 
 the short of it is, Westwood, you '11 bring both of us down by 
 the head if you don't keep up the missionary.' 'Mission- 
 ary!' repeated he; 'you don't mean to say you and Neville 
 intended all that long toggery you supplied my kit with, 
 for me to sail under missionary colors ? I tell you what, Ned, 
 it's not a character I like to cut jokes upon, much less to 
 sham.' 'Jokes!' said I; 'there's no joking about it; 'tis 
 serious enough.' 'Why,' said Westwood, 'now I know the 
 reason of a person like a clergyman sighting me through 
 his spectacles for half an hour together, these two even- 
 ings below ! This very afternoon he called me his brother, 
 and began asking me all manner of questions, which I 
 could no more answer than the cook's mate.' 'Clergyman 
 be hanged!' said I, 'you must steer clear of him, Tom 
 take care you don't bowse up your jib too much within hail 
 of him! Mind, I gave your name, both to the head-stew- 
 ard and the skipper, as the Eeverend Mr. Thomas, going 
 back to Bombay. There was nothing else for it, Westwood,' 
 I said, 'when you were beyond thinking for yourself. All 
 you Ve got to do with that solemn dissenting chap in the 
 spectacles is just to look as wise as possible, and let him know 
 you belong to the Church. And as for shamming, you 
 need n't sham a bit take to it, my dear fellow, if that 
 will do you good.' I said this in joke, but Westwood seemed 
 to ponder on it for a minute or two. 'Indeed, Collins,' 
 said he gravely, 'I do think you 're right. What do we 
 sailors do but give up everything in life for a mere school- 
 boy notion, and keep turning up salt water for years to- 
 gether like the old monks did the ground; only they grew 
 corn and apples for their pains, and we have nothing but 
 ever so many dull watches and wild cruises ashore to re- 
 member! How many sailors have turned preachers and 
 missionaries, just because something, by accident, as it 
 were, taught them to put to account what you can't help 
 feeling now and then in the very look of the sea. What 
 does it mean in the Scriptures, Ned, about "seeing the 
 wonders of the Lord in the deep"?' As Westwood said 
 this, both of us stopped on the taffrail, and, somehow or other, 
 a touch of I did n't well know what went through me. I 
 held my breath, with his hand on my arm, just at the 
 sight I had seen a thousand times the white wake running 
 broad away astern, with a mark in the middle as if it had been 
 torn, on to the green yeast of the waves, then right to their 
 black crests plunging in the dark. It was midnight ahead, 
 and the clouds risen aloft over where I had been looking
 
 64 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 half an hour before; but the long ragged split to west- 
 ward was opened up, and a clear glaring glance of the 
 sky, as pale as death, shot through it on the horizon. -'I 
 can't be sorry for having gone to sea,' said Westwood, again ; 
 'but isn't it a better thing to leave home and friends, as 
 those men do, for the sake of carrying the gospel to the 
 heathen ?' As soon as we wheeled round, with the ship be- 
 fore us, leaning over and mounting to the heave, and her 
 spread of canvas looming out on the dark, my thoughts 
 righted. 'Well,' said I, 'it may be all very well for some 
 every one to his rope; but, for my part, I think if a man 
 had n't been made for the sea, he could n't have built a 
 ship, and where would your missionaries be then? You're 
 older than I am, Westwood, or I 'd say you let some of 
 your notions run away with you, like a Yankee ship with 
 her short-handed crew!' 'Oh, Ned,' said he, 'of all places 
 in the world for one's actions coming back on him, the sea 
 is the worst, especially when you 're an idler, and have 
 nothing to do but count the sails, or listen to the pas- 
 sengers' feet on deck. These two days, now, I 've thought 
 more than I ever did in my life. I can't get that man's 
 death out of my head; every time the sea flashes round me 
 as I come from below, I think of him it seems to me he is 
 lying yet by the side of the Channel. I can't help having 
 the notion he perhaps fired in the air!' ' 'T was a base lie !' 
 said I ; 'if he were n't there,, you would n't be here, I can tell 
 you, Westwood.' 'I don't know how I shall ever drag through 
 this voyage,' continued he. 'If there were a French gun- 
 boat to cut out to-morrow morning, or if we were only to 
 have a calm some day in sight of a Spanish slaver 't is 
 nothing but a jogging old Indiaman though ! I shall never 
 more see the flag over my head with pride every prospect 
 I had was in the service!'
 
 A SEA STORY 65 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 "NEXT morning was fine, and promised to be hot; the ship 
 still with a side-wind from near south-west, which 't was 
 easy to see had slackened since midnight with a pour of 
 rain, the sails being all wet, and coats hung to dry in the 
 fore-rigging; she was going little more than five or six 
 knots headway. The water was bluer, lifting in long waves, 
 scarce a speck of foam except about the ship; but instead 
 of having broke up with the sun, or sunk below the level, 
 the long white clouds were risen high to leeward, wander- 
 ing away at the top, and facing us steady below out of the 
 sky, a pretty sure sign they had more to do. However, the 
 Indiaman was all alive from stem to stern; decks drying as 
 clean as a table; hens and ducks clucking in the coops at 
 their food; pigs grunting; stewards and cabin-boys going- 
 fore and aft, below and above, and the men from aloft 
 coming slowly down for breakfast, with an eye into the 
 galley funnel. Most of the passengers were upon deck, in 
 knots all along the poop-nettings, to look out for Corvo 
 and Flores, the westernmost of the Azores, which we had 
 passed before daybreak. 
 
 " 'I say, Fawd !' said the warlike cadet with the moustache, 
 all of a sudden yawning and stretching himself, as if he'd 
 been struck with the thing himself, 'cussed dull this vessel 
 already, ain't it ?' 'No,' said Ford, the nautical man ; 'that 's 
 because you 're not interested in the ocean the sea as I am ! 
 You should study the craft, Bob, my boy ! I '11 teach you 
 to go aloft. I only wish it would blow harder not a 
 mere capful of wind, you know, but a tempest!' 'By Jove! 
 Fawd,' said the other, 'hoiu we shall enjoy India even that 
 breakfast with old Rollock! By the bye, ain't breakfast 
 ready yet?' These two fellows, for my part, I took for 
 a joint-model, just trying to hit a mid-helm betwixt them, 
 else I could n't have got through it ; accordingly they both 
 patronized me. 'Haw, Cawlins!' said one, nodding to me. 
 'Is that you, my boy ?' said the other ; 'now you 're a fellow 
 never would make a sailor!' 'I daresay not,' I said gravely, 
 'if they have all to commence as horse-marines.' 'Now, 
 such ignorance !' said Ford ; 'marines don't ride horses, Col- 
 lins, you fellow ! how d' you think they could be fed at 
 sea, eh?' 'Well now that didn't occur to me!' said I, 
 in the cadet key. 'Fawd, my boy, you know too much
 
 66 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 you 're quite a sea-cook !' 'Oh, now ! But I 'm afraid, Win- 
 terton, I never shall land ashore in India I am tempted 
 to go into the navy, instead.' 'I say, Mr Ford/ put in a 
 fat unlicked cub of a tea-middy, grinning as he listened, 
 'I've put you up to a few rises aboard, but I don't think I 
 told you we've got a dozen or so of donkeys* below in the 
 steerage?' 'Donkeys ! no ?' said the griffin. 'Yes,' replied 
 the midshipman; 'they kick like mad, though, if they get 
 loose in a gale why mine, now, would knock a hole through 
 the side in no time I'll show you them for a glass of 
 grog, Mr. Ford.' 
 
 "'Done!' and away they went. 'That fool, Fawd, you 
 know, Cawlins, makes one sick with his stuff; I declare he 
 chews little bits of tobacco in our room till he vomits as 
 much as before,' said Winterton. 'I tell you what, Caw- 
 lins, you 're a sensible man I '11 let you into a secret ! What 
 do you think there 's the deucedest pretty girl in the 
 vessel, we've none of us seen except myself; I caught a 
 sight of her this very mawning. She don't visit the cuddy 
 at all; papa's proud, you pusseeve a nabob, in short!' 'Oh, 
 dear !' said I. 'Yes, I do assure you, quite a bew-ty ! What 's 
 to be done? we absolutely must meet her, eh, Cawlins?' 
 Here I mused a bit. 'Oh!' said I, looking up again, 'shall 
 we send a deputation, do you think?' 'Or get up a ball, 
 Cawlins? Hallo, what's this?' said he, leaning over the 
 breast-rail to look at a stout lady who was lugging a chubby 
 little boy of three or four, half dressed, up the poop-stair, 
 while her careful husband and a couple of daughters blocked 
 it up above. 'See, Tommy, dear !' said she, 'look at the land 
 the nice land, you know, Tommy.' 'Come away, my love,' 
 said her spouse, 'else you won't see it.' Tommy, however, 
 hung back manfully. 'Tommy don't want wook at yand' 
 sang out he, kicking the deck; 'it all such 'mell of a sheep, 
 ma; me wook at 'at man wis gate feel. Fare other feel, 
 man ? Oh, fat a ugwy man !' The honest tar at the wheel 
 pulled up his shirt, and looked terribly cut at this plain 
 remark on his phiz, which certainly wasn't the most beau- 
 tiful ; meanwhile he had the leech of the main-to'gallant- 
 sail shaking. 'Mind your helm, there,' sung out the second 
 mate from the capstan. 'My good man,' said the lady, 'will 
 you be so kind as to show us the land?' 'Ay, ay, sir,' 
 growled he, putting up his weather spokes; 'sorry I carn't, 
 ma'am please not to speak to the man at the wheel.' Jacobs 
 was coiling down the ropes on a carronade close by, and 
 stepped forward: 'Beg your ladyship's pardon,' said he, 'but 
 
 Sea slang for sailors' chests.
 
 A SEA STORY 67 
 
 if ye '11 give me charge o' the youngster till you goes on 
 the poop why, I 've got a babby at home myself.' The 
 stout lady handed him over, and Jacobs managed the little 
 chap wonderfully. This was the first time Tommy had 
 been on deck since leaving home, and he could n't see over 
 the high bulwarks, so he fancied it was a house he was in. 
 'Oh, suts a big tees, man' shouted he, clapping his hands as 
 soon as he noticed the sails and rigging aloft; 'suts warge 
 birds in a tees' 'Ay, ay, my little man,' answered Jacobs, 
 'that 's the wonderful tree. Did ye ever hear Jack and the 
 Bean-stalk, Tommy ?' 'Oh, 'ess, to be soo, man,' said Tommy, 
 scornfully, as if he should think he had. 
 
 " 'Well, little un,' said Jacobs, 'that 's it, ye see. It 
 grows up every night afore Jack's door and them's Jack an' 
 his brothers a-comin' down out on the wonderfowl coun- 
 try aloft, with fruits in their hands.' The little fellow was 
 delighted, and for going aloft at once. 'Ye must wait a bit, 
 Tommy, my lad, till you 're bigger,' said Jacobs ; 'here, I '11 
 show you the country, though'; so he lifted the boy up to 
 let him see the bright blue sea lying high away round the 
 sky. In place of crying, as he would have done other- 
 wise, Tommy stared with pleasure, and finished by vowing 
 to get as soon big as possible, Jacobs advising him to eat 
 always as hard as he had been doing hitherto. 
 
 "That morning the breakfast party was in high spirits; 
 Mr. Finch, the chief officer, rigged up to the nines in white 
 trousers and Company's jacket, laying himself out to please 
 the young ladies, with whom he began to be a regular hero. 
 He was as blustering as a young lion, and as salt-tongued 
 as a Channel pilot to the men; but with the ladies, on the 
 poop or in the cabin, he was always twisting his sea-talk 
 into fine language, like what you see in books, as if the 
 real thing weren't good enough. He rubbed his hands 
 at hearing the mate on deck singing out over the skylight 
 to trim yards, and gave a look along to the captain. 'You 
 must understand, ladies,' said the mate, 'this is what we 
 mariners call the "ladies' wind"!' 'Oh delightful!' 'Oh 
 so nice!' 'You sailors are so polite!' exclaimed the young 
 ladies 'then does it actually belong to us?' 'Why, it's a 
 Trade wind, Miss Fortescue!' said Ford, the nautical cadet, 
 venturing to put in a word; but the ladies paid no at- 
 tention to him, and the chief mate gave him a look of 
 contempt. 'You see, ladies, the reason is,' said the mate, 
 in a flourishing way, 'because it's so regular, and as gen- 
 tle as as why it wafts your bark into the region of, you
 
 68 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 see the ' 'The "Doldrums,"' put in the third mate, 
 
 who was a brinier individual by far, and a true seaman, 
 but wished to pay his compliments, too, between his moutn- 
 fuls 'At any rate,' Finch went on, 'it's congenial, I may 
 say, to the feelings of the fair you need never touch her 
 braces from one day to another. I just wish, Miss *or- 
 tescue, you'd allow me the felicity of letting you see how 
 to put the ship about.' 'A soldier might put her in stays, 
 miss,' said the third mate again, encouragingly, 'and out oi 
 'em again; she's a remarkably easy craft, owing to her 
 'Confound it, Mr. Rickett,' said the first mate, turning 
 round to his unlucky inferior, 'you're a sight too coarse 
 for talking to ladies. Well the captain didn't hear you! 
 Rickett looked dumfoundered, not knowing what was 
 wrong ; the old ladies frowned ; the young ones either blushed 
 or put their handkerchiefs to their mouths, and some took 
 the occasion for walking off. 
 
 "The weather began to have a different turn already by 
 the time we got up the clouds banking to leeward, the sea 
 dusky under them, and the air-line between rather _ bluish. 
 Two or three lazy gulls in our wake began to look alive and 
 show themselves, and a whole black shoal of porpoises went 
 tumbling and rolling across the bows for half an hour, till 
 down they dived of a sudden, head-foremost, one after an- 
 other in the same spot, like so many sheep through a gap. 
 
 "My gentleman-mate was to be seen everywhere about 
 the decks, and active enough, I must say; the next minute 
 he was amongst two or three young ladies aft, as polite as 
 a dancing-master, showing them everything in board and 
 out, as if nobody knew it except himself. Here a young 
 girl, one of Master Tommy's sisters, came skipping aft, half 
 in a fright. 'Oh, Miss Fortescue!' cried she, 'just think! 
 I peeped over into a nasty black hole there, with a ladder in it, 
 and saw ever so many common sailors hung up in bags from 
 the ceiling. Oh, what do you think, one of them actually 
 kissed his hand to me!' 'Only one of the watch below 
 awake, miss,' said the mate; 'impertinent swab-^I only 
 wish I knew which it was.' 'Poor fellows,' said the 
 young ladies, 'pray don't be harsh to them but what have 
 they been doing?' 'Oh, nothing,' said he, with a laugh, 
 *but swing in their hammocks since eight bells.' 'Then 
 are they so lazy as to dislike getting up to such de- 
 lightful-looking occupations?' 'Why, ma'am,' said the mate, 
 staring a little, 'they 've been on deck last night two watches, 
 of four hours each, I must say that for them.' 'Dear me!'
 
 A SEA STORY 69 
 
 broke out the ladies; and on this the chief officer took oc- 
 casion to launch out again concerning 'the weary vigils,' as 
 he called them, 'which we mariners have to keep, far dis- 
 tant from land, without a smile from the eyes of the fair 
 to bless us. But, however, the very thought of it gives 
 courage to 'the sailor's manly heart, to disregard the bil- 
 
 t lows' fearful rage, and reef topsails in the tempest's angry 
 height !' Thought I, 'He 'd much better do it before.' How- 
 ever, the young ladies did n't seem to see that, evidently 
 looking upon the mate as the very pink of seamen! and 
 he actually set a second lower stud-sail, to show them how 
 fast she could walk. 
 
 " 'D' ye know, sir,' put in the third mate, coming from 
 forward, 'I 'm in doubt it 's going to be rather a sneezer, sir, 
 if ye look round the larboard stun-s'ls.' Sure 'enough, 
 if our fine gentleman had had time, amidst his polite- 
 ness, just to cast an eye beyond his spread of cloth, 
 he would have noticed the clouds gathered all in a lump 
 to north-eastward, one shooting into another the breast of 
 them lowering down to the horizon, and getting the same 
 color as the waves, till it bulked out bodily in the middle. 
 You 'd have fancied the belly of it scarce half a mile off 
 from the white yard-arms, and the hollow of it twenty 
 coming as stealthily as a ghost, that walks without feet after 
 you, its face to yours, and the skirt of its winding-sheet 
 in 'kingdom-come' all the while. I went up on the poop, 
 and away behind the spanker I could see the sun gleam 
 for one minute right on the eye of a stray cloud risen to 
 nor'-west, with two short streaks of red, purple, and yellow 
 together what is called a 'wind-gall'; then it was gone. 
 The American was talking away with jovial old Rollock 
 and Ford, who began to look wise, and think there was 
 mischief brewing in the weather. 'Mind your helm there, 
 sirrah!' sung out the mate, walking aft to the wheel, as 
 everything aloft fluttered. 'She won't lie her course, sir,' 
 said the man. 'All aback, for'ud !' hailed the men at work 
 
 ? on the bowsprit; and hard at it went all hands, trimming 
 yards over and over again; the wind freshening fast, stun- 
 sails flapping, booms bending, and the whole spread of 
 canvas in a cumber, to teach the mate not to be in such 
 a hurry with his absurd merchantmen's side-wings next 
 time. The last stun-sail he hauled down caught full aback 
 before the wheel could keep her away quick enough; the 
 sheet of it hitched foul at the boom end, and crack through 
 went the boom itself, with a smash that made the ladies
 
 7 o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 think it a case of shipwreck commencing. The loose scud 
 was flying fast out from behind the top of the clouds, 
 and spreading away overhead, as if it would catch us on the 
 other side; while the clouds themselves broke up slowly to 
 both hands, and the north-east breeze came sweeping along 
 right into the three topsails, the wind one way and the 
 sea another. As she rounded away steadying before it, 
 you felt the masts shake in her till the topsails blew out 
 full; she gave one sudden bolt up with her stern, like an 
 old jackass striking behind, which capsized three or four 
 passengers in a heap, and next minute she was surging 
 along through the wide heave of the water as gallantly 
 as heart could wish, driving a wave under her bows that 
 swung back under the fore-chains on both sides, with two 
 boys running up the rigging far aloft on each mast to stow 
 the royals. The next thing I looked at was poor Ford's 
 nautical hat lifting alongside on the top of a wave, as if 
 it were* being handed up to him ; but no sooner seen, than 
 it was down in the hollow a quarter of a mile off, a couple 
 of white gulls making snatches at it and one another, and 
 hanging over it again with a doubtful sort of scream. Still 
 the wind was as yet nothing to speak of when once aft; 
 the sea was getting up slowly, and the Indiaman's easy 
 roll over it made every one cheerful, in spite of the shifts 
 they were put to for getting below. When the bell struck for 
 dinner, the sun was pretty clear, away on our starboard 
 bow; the waves to south-westward glittered as they rose; 
 one side of the ship shone bright to the leech of the main- 
 to'gallant-sail, and we left the second mate hauling down 
 the jibs for want of use for them. The splendid pace 
 she went at was plain, below in the cuddy, to everybody; 
 you felt her shoving the long seas aside with the force of a 
 thousand horses in one, then sweep they came after her, 
 her stern lifted, she rolled round, and made a floating rush 
 ahead. In the middle of it, something darkened the half -open 
 sky-light, where I perceived the Scotch second mate's twisted 
 nose and red whiskers, as he squinted down with one eye 
 aloft, and disappeared again; after which I heard them 
 clew up to'gallant-sails. Still she was driving through it 
 rather too bodily to let the seas rise under her; you heard, 
 the wind hum off the main-topsail, and sing through be- 
 twixt it and the main-course, the scud flying over the skysail- 
 mast truck, which I could see from below. The second mate 
 looked in once more, caught 'the first officer's eye with a 
 glance aloft, and the gallant mate left attending to the
 
 A SEA STORY 71 
 
 ladies to go on deck. Down went the skylight frame, and 
 somebody carefully threw a tarpaulin over it, so that there 
 was only the light from the port windows, by which a 
 dozen faces turned still whiter. 
 
 "The moment I shoved my head out of the booby-hatch, I 
 saw it was like to turn out a regular gale from nor' -east. 
 Both courses brailed close up, and blowing out like rows 
 of big bladders; the three topsail-yards down on the caps 
 to reef, their canvas swelling and thundering on the stays 
 like so many mad elephants breaking loose; the wild sky 
 ahead of us staring right through in triumph, as it were, 
 and the wind roaring from aft in her bare rigging; while a 
 crowd of men in each top were laying out along the foot- 
 ropes to both yard-arms. Below, they were singing out at 
 the reef-tackles, the idlers tailing on behind from the cook 
 to the cabin-boys, a mate to each gang, and the first officer, 
 with his hands to his mouth, before the wheel, shouting, 
 'Bear a hand ! d' ye hear ! two reefs.' It did one's heart 
 good, and I entered into the spirit of it, almost forgiving 
 Finch his fine puppy lingo, when I saw him take it so 
 coolly, standing like a seaman, and sending his bull's voice 
 right up with the wind into the bellies of the topsails 
 so I e'en fell to myself, and dragged with the steward upon 
 the inizzen reef-tackle till it was chock up. There we 
 were, running dead before it, the huge waves swelling 
 long and dark after us out of the mist, then the tops 
 of them scattered into spray; the glaring white yards 
 swayed slowly over aloft, each dotted with ten or a dozen 
 sturdy figures, that leaned over, with the reef -points in their 
 hands, waiting till the men at the earings gave the word ; and 
 Jacobs' face, as he turned round to do so hanging on 
 heaven knows what at one of the ends was as distinct as 
 possible against the gray scud miles off, and sixty feet 
 above water. A middy, without his cap, and his hair 
 blowing out, stood holding on in the maintop to quicken 
 them; the first mate waved his hand for the helmsman to 
 'luff a little.' The ship's head was rounded slowly up 
 as she rose on a big blue swell, that caught a wild gleam 
 on it from westward, when I happened to glance towards 
 the wheel. I could scarcely trust my eyes in fact it had 
 never been less in my mind since coming aboard than 
 at that very point but outside one of the round-house 
 doors, which was half open, a few feet from the bulwark 
 I leaned over of all moments in the day, there stood Lota 
 Hyde herself at last. Speak of faces ! why I had n't even
 
 7 2 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 power to turn farther round, and if I was half out of 
 breath before, what with the wind and with pulling my 
 share, I was breathless now all my notions of her never 
 came up to the look of her face at that instant. She just 
 half stopped, as it were, at sight of the state of things, her 
 hands letting go of the large shawl, and her hair streaming 
 from under a straw hat tied down with a ribbon her lips 
 parted betwixt dread and bewilderment, and her eyes wan- 
 dering round till they settled to gazing straight at the 
 scene ahead in pure delight. I actually looked away aloft 
 from her again, to catch what it was she seemed to see 
 that could be so beautiful! the second reef just made 
 fast, men crowding in to run down and hoist away with 
 the rest, till, as they tailed along decks, the three short- 
 ened topsails rose faster up against the scud, and their 
 hearty roaring chorus was as loud as the gale. 'Keep her 
 away, my lad,' said the mate, with another wave of his 
 hand; the topsails swelled fair before it, and the India- 
 man gave a plunge right through the next sea, rising 
 easily to it, heave after heave. The setting sun struck two 
 or three misty spokes of his wheel through a cloud, that 
 made a big wave here and there glitter; the ship's white 
 yards caught some of it, and a row of broad backs, with 
 their feet stretching the foot-rope as they stowed the fore- 
 sail, shone bright out, red, blue, and striped, upon the 
 hollow of the yellow fore-topsail, in the midst of the gale; 
 while just under the bowsprit you saw her black figure- 
 head, with his white turban, and his hand to his breast, 
 giving a cool salaam now and then to the spray from her 
 bows. At that moment, though, Lota Hyde's eye was the 
 brightest thing I could find all the blue gone out of the 
 waves was in it. As for her seeing myself, I had n't had 
 space to think of it yet, when all of a sudden I noticed 
 her glance light for the first time, as it were, on the mate, 
 who was standing all the while with his back to her on 
 the same plank of the quarter-deck. 'Down main-course!' 
 he sung out, putting one hand in his jacket pocket; 'down 
 both tacks that 's it, my men down with it !' and out 
 it flapped, slapping fiercely as they dragged it by main 
 force into the bulwark-cleats, till it swelled steady above 
 the main-stay, and the old ship sprang forward faster than 
 before, with a wild wash of the Atlantic past her sides. 
 
 "'Another hand to the wheel, here!' said the first officer. 
 He took a look aloft, leaning to the rise of her bows, then 
 to windward as she rolled; everything looked trim and
 
 A SEA STORY 73 
 
 weatherly, so he stepped to the binnacle, where the lamp 
 was ready lighted; and it just struck me what a smart, 
 good-looking fellow the mate was, with his sunburnt face; 
 and when he went to work, straightforward, no notion of 
 showing off. 
 
 " 'Confound it, though,' thought I of a sudden, seeing her 
 eyes fixed on him again, and then to seaward. 'Mr. Macleod,' 
 said he to the second mate, 'send below the watch, if you 
 please. This breeze is first-rate, though !' 
 
 "When he turned round he noticed Miss Hyde, started, 
 and took off his cap with a fine bow. 'I beg pardon, ma'am,' 
 said he, 'a trifle of wind we have. I hope, Miss Hyde, it 
 has n't troubled you in the round-house ?' What Miss Hyde 
 might have said I don't know, but her shawl caught a gust 
 out of the spanker, though she was in the lee of the high 
 poop; it blew over her head, and then loose I sprang for- 
 ward but the mate had hold of it r and put it over her 
 again. The young lady smiled politely to the mate, and 
 gave a cold glance of surprise, as I thought, at me. I 
 felt that moment I could have knocked the mate down 
 and died happy. 'Why, sir,' said he, with a cool half-sneer, 
 'I fancied none of you gentlemen would have favored us 
 this capful of wind plenty of air there is on deck, though.' 
 
 "It just flashed through my mind what sort of rig I 
 was in I looked over my infernal longshore toggery, and 
 no wonder she did n't recollect me at all. 'Curse this con- 
 founded folly T muttered I, and made a dart to run up the 
 poop-steps, where the breeze took me slap aback, just as the 
 judge himself opened the larboard door. 'Why, Violet,' ex- 
 claimed he, surprised at seeing his daughter, 'are you 
 exposing yourself to this disagreeable I declare a perfect 
 storm!' 'But see, papa!' said she, taking hold of his arm, 
 'how changed the sea is ! and the ship ! just look where 
 the sun was !' 'Get in get in, do !' kept on her father ; 'you 
 can see all that again in some finer place; you should have 
 had a servant with you, at least, Violet.' 'I shall come out 
 oftener than I thought, papa, I can tell you!' said she, in an 
 arch sort of way, before she disappeared. 
 
 "The mate touched his cap to the judge, who asked 
 where the captain was. ' 'Gad, sir,' said the judge crossly, 
 'the floor resembles an earthquake every piece of furniture 
 swings, sir ; 't is well enough for sleeping, but my family 
 find it impossible to dine. If this oolta-poolta continues in 
 my apartments, I must speak to Captain Williamson about 
 it. He must manage to get into some other part of the
 
 74 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 sea, where it is less rough,' saying which, he swayed him- 
 self in and shut the door. 
 
 "I still kept thinking and picturing her face Lota Hyde s 
 when she noticed the mate. After all, anyone that knew 
 tack from bowline might reef topsails in a fair wind; 
 but a girl like that would make more count of a man know- 
 ing how to manage wind and sea than of the Duke on his 
 horse at Waterloo beating Bonaparte; and as for talk, he 
 would jaw away the whole voyage, no doubt, about moon- 
 light and the ocean, and your genteel fancy mariners. 'By 
 George, though!' thought I, 'if the mate's a better man 
 than me, hang me it's all right; but burn my wig if I 
 don't go and turn a Hindoo fakeer with my one arm 
 stuck up in the air till I die. Go it, old lady,' said I, as I 
 glanced over the side before going below for the night, 
 'roll away, only shake something or other to do out of the 
 pace you 're going at.' 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 "THE next morning, when Westwood and I went on deck, 
 there was still a long sea running after us. However, by 
 noon the sun came sifting through aloft, the breeze got warm, 
 the decks were dry as a bone, and one just saw the large 
 dark-blue swells lift up alongside with a shower of spray, 
 between the seams of the bulwarks. By six o'clock, again, 
 it was got pretty dusk ahead, and I strolled forward right 
 to the heel of the bowsprit with Westwood, looking down 
 through her head-boards into the heap of white foam that 
 washed up among the woodwork every time she plunged. 
 One knot of the men were sitting with their legs over the 
 break of the topgallant forecastle, swinging as she rolled 
 laughing, roaring, and singing as loud as they could bawl, 
 since the wind carried it all forward out of the officers' 
 hearing. I was rather surprised to see and hear that Jacobs' 
 friends, Bill Dykes and Tom, were there; the rogues were 
 taking back their savage to the Andaman Isles again, I 
 
 suppose. 
 < - 
 
 Well, my lads,' said Tom, a regular sample of the 
 -o'-warVman, 'this is what I calls balling it off. That 
 mate knows how to make her go, anyhow.' 'We '11 soon be 
 into tropical regents, I consider,' remarked Bill, who made
 
 A SEA STORY 75 
 
 a point of never using sea-phrases except ashore, when he 
 came out double salt, to make up for his gentility afloat. 
 'Hum,' grumbled a big ugly fellow, the same so flattered at 
 the wheel by little Tommy, 'I doesn't like your fair winds. 
 1 ''11 tell you what, mates, we '11 be havin' it puff more 
 from east'ard ere third watch.' 'What 's the odds, Harry, 
 old ship?' said Tom, 'a fair wind still.' 'I say, my lads,' 
 exclaimed Tom again, looking along toward the poop, 'yon- 
 der's the ould naboob squinting out the round-house doors! 
 what's he after now, I wonder?' 
 
 "On stooping down, accordingly, I could see the Judge's 
 face with the binnacle light shining on it, as he swayed 
 to and fro in the doorway, seemingly in a passion at 
 something or other. 'Why,' said Bill, 'I consider he can't 
 altogether circumstand the shindy as this here roll kicks 
 up inside of his blessed paliss.' 'Nabob, does ye call him,' 
 said Harry, sulkily ; 'I '11 tell you what, mates, he be n't 
 nothin' but a reg'lar ould tyrant. T'other mornin 7 there, 
 I just chances to brush against him as I kiles up a rope; 
 says he, "Fellow" an' says he to the skipper, "I 'd take 
 it kind," says he, "if ye 'd horder them commin sailors 
 for to pay more contention alongside o' my legs, Captain 
 Williamson." Why, do the old beggar not think as a feller 
 bo n't a man as well as hisself , with his commin sailors, an' 
 Le Mowed to him.' 'Well though, Harry, old ship,' said 
 Tom, 'ain't that daurter of his'n. a jewel ! I say, mates, she 's 
 all rounded into the head, and a clear run from aft, like a 
 corvette model. My eye, that hair of her is worth gold ; I 'd 
 go down on the deck to please her, d'ye see.' 'No doubt,' 
 says Bill, 'she 's what I call a exact sparkler.' 'Well, I 
 does n't know,' said Harry, 'last vy'ge but one we 'd got one 
 aboard, a'most beautifuller half as high again, an twice 
 her beam I'm not sure but she 'All my eye, mess- 
 mates,' broke in Tom; 'that one were built for stowing, ye 
 see, bo', like yer cargo lumpers. No, this here young gal 
 'minds me o' no other blessed thing but the "Nymph" 
 corvette's figure-head and that war n't her match, neither. 
 She don't look down upon a sailor, I can tell ye; there, I 
 see her t'other morning-watch a-talkin' to Jacobs yonder, as 
 
 pleasant and cheery as Hullo, there's the captain corned 
 
 out of the naboob's cabin, and speaking with the mate by 
 the compass blest if they an't a-goin' to alter her course.' 
 
 ' 'Send aft here to the bracps !' sung out the first officer 
 to the boatswain. 'Blow me, shipmates, that 's yeer naboob 
 now, I'll bet a week's grog,' growled Harry; 'ship's course
 
 76 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 as fair as a handspike through a grummit; couldn't bring 
 the wind more aft; my eyes, the sea's comin' to be bought 
 and sold.' Whatever it might be for, in came the star- 
 board yard-arms till she lay over a little; down studding 
 and topgallant-sails, as neither of them could stand it 
 except from aft; and off went the old ship rising high 
 athwart the seas, her head sou' -south-east, and one streak 
 of broken yellow light, low down to westward on her lee 
 quarter. It was beginning to blow harder, too, and by eight 
 bells it was 'Reef topsails, single reef.' The waves played 
 slap on her weather side, the heavy sprays came showering 
 over her bulwarks forward, and the forecastle planks were 
 far from being so comfortable for a snooze as the night 
 before. 
 
 "As soon as the wheel was relieved, and the other watch 
 below, 'the ugly man' and his companions returned. 'Mates,' 
 said he, solemnly, planting his back against the bitts, 'I 've 
 sailed this five-and-twenty year before the mast, an' I never 
 yet seed the likes o' that! Take my say for it, we're on a 
 wind now, but afore next mornin' we'll be close-hauled, 
 beating up against it.' 'Well,' said another, 'she leaks a 
 deal in the eyes of her below; in that case, Harry, your 
 watch as slings in the fore-peak '11 be all afloat by that time.' 
 'What day did this craft sail on, I asks?' said the sail- 
 maker, gravely. 'Why, a Thursday night, old ship,' re- 
 plied several eagerly. 'No,' went on the sailmaker; 'you 
 counts sea-fashion, shipmates ; but till ye 're clear o' the 
 pilot, ye know, it 's land-fashion, ye ought for to go by. 
 'Twas Friday by that 'ere said reckoning, shipmates.' 'No! 
 so it was though,' said the rest; 'it don't look well.' 'How- 
 somedever, I 'm not goin' to come for to go and be a croaker,' 
 continued the sailmaker, in a voice like a ghost's. 'Well, 
 luck or no luck, mates; grumbled big Harry, 'if so be them 
 larboard bowlines is hauled taut by the morning watch, 
 blow me if I don't be upsides with that 'ere ould naboob 
 that 's all.' 
 
 "Next morning, after all, it was easy to feel the ship had 
 really been hauled close on a wind. When we went up the 
 weather was clearing, though with a strongish gale from 
 eastward, a heavy sea running, on which the Indiaman 
 strained and creaked as she rose, rolling slowly to windward 
 with her three double-reefed topsails strained full, then 
 pitched head into it as a cloud of foam and spray flew 
 over her weather bow. It was quite early, the decks lately
 
 A SEA STORY 77 
 
 washed down, and the Indian judge walking the weather 
 quarterdeck as grave and comfortable as if it was all right. 
 The captain was with him,' and two mates to leeward. 'Sail 
 ho!' hailed a man on the foreyard. 'Whereaway?' sang out 
 the mate of the watch. 'Broad abeam !' 
 
 "The captain went up to the poop, and I stood on the 
 foremost carronade near the main rigging, where I could 
 just see her now and then white against the blue haze 
 'between the hollows of the waves, as the Indiaman lifted. 
 'There she is!' said I, thinking it was Westwood that 
 stopped behind me; it was the Judge, however, and as soon as 
 I got down he stepped up, holding on with one hand to a 
 back-stay. The ship was rising after a pitch, every bulkhead 
 and timber in her creaking, when all of a sudden I felt by 
 my feet what all sailors feel the same way she was coming 
 up in the wind too fast to mount with the next wave, and 
 a regular comber it was going to be. I looked to the 
 wheel there was big Harry himself with a grin on his 
 face, and his eye on Sir Charles, as he coolly gave her half a 
 weather-spoke more, and then whirled it back again to meet 
 her. 'For heaven's sake, look out, sir!' exclaimed I. 'Why, 
 so I do,' said the Judge, rather good-naturedly. ' 'Zounds ! 
 what 's You felt the whole ship stop creaking for 
 a moment, as she hung with the last wave 'Hold on!' 
 shouted a mid she gave a dull quiver from stem to stern, 
 and I fairly pulled the Judge close into the bulwark, just as 
 smash, like thunder, came a tremendous green sea over us, 
 three in one, washing down into the lee scuppers. The old 
 gentleman staggered up, dripping like a poodle, and unable 
 to see one heard the water trickling through the skylights, 
 and stepping away downstairs like a fellow with iron heels; 
 while there was the sailor at the wheel, grinding down his 
 spokes in right earnest, looking aloft at the shaking fore-top- 
 sail, and the Indiaman seemingly doubtbful whether to fall 
 off or broach-to. Up she rose again, however, and drove round 
 with her Turkhead in the air, then dipped through the spray 
 as gallantly as ever. 
 
 " 'Send that lubber from the wheel, Mr. Macleod !' said the 
 captain angrily, when he came down, 'he nearly broached the 
 ship to just now!' The 'ugly man' put on a double-gloomy 
 face, and grumbled something about her 'steering wild'; but 
 the knowing squint he gave Jacobs, who relieved him, was 
 enough to show me he was one of the best helmsmen aboard. 
 -As for the Judge, he had n't the least notion that it was any- 
 thing more than a natural mischance, owing to exposing him-
 
 ;8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 self. He eyed the bulwark as if he could n't understand how 
 any wave was able to rise over it, while the captain was apolo- 
 gizing, and hoping he wouldn't be the worse. 'Eh, young 
 gentleman!' said Sir Charles of a sudden, turning round to 
 me, after a glance from the weather side to the lee one, 'now 
 I observe the circumstances, the probability is I should have 
 had myself severely injured on the opposite side there, had it 
 not been for your presence of mind, sir eh ?' Here I made 
 a bow, and looked as modest as I could. 'I perceive you are 
 wet, young gentleman,' said he again ; 'you 'd better change 
 your dress eh ?' 'Thank you, sir !' I said ; and as he walked 
 off quite drenched to his cabin with the captain, I heard 
 him remark it was 'wonderfully intelligent in a mere griffin.' 
 
 "However, the wind soon got down to a fine topgallant 
 breeze; less of a sea on, the clouds sunk in a long gray bank 
 to leeward, and the strange sail plain abeam of us a large 
 ship steering seemingly more off the wind than the 'Seringa- 
 patam,' with topgallant-sails set you could just see the heads 
 of her courses, and her black lower-yards, when both of us 
 rose together. Our first officer was all alive at the sight; the 
 reefs were out of our topsails already, and he soon had us 
 ploughing along under ordinary canvas, though still hugging 
 the wind. In a short time the stranger appeared to take the 
 challenge, for he slanted his yards, clapped on royals and 
 hauled down a stun-stail, heading our course, till he was one 
 body of white cloth on the horizon. For awhile we seemed 
 to gain on her; but after dinner, there was the other ship's 
 hull up on our lee-bow, rising her white streak out of the 
 water steadily, and just lifting at times on the long blue seas ; 
 she was fore-reaching on us as plain as could be. The mate 
 gave a stamp on the deck, and kept her away a little to set a 
 stun-sail. 'Why,' said I to Westwood, 'he '11 fall to leeward 
 of himself !' 'She 's too much by the head, Collins,' said 
 Westwood; 'that's it!' 'Hasn't he the sense to take the 
 f orecourse off her ?' said I, 'instead of packing more on ! 
 Why that craft weathers on us like a schooner I wish you 
 and I had the Indiaman for an hour or two, Tom!' 
 
 "It was n't an hour before we could see the very waves 
 splashing up under her black weather-side, and over her high 
 bows, as she slanted right through it and rose to windward 
 again, standing up to cross our course a fine frigate-built 
 Indiaman, sharper stemmed than her kind in ordinary, and 
 square in her spread ; one yard-arm just looking over the other 
 as they ranged aloft, and all signs of a weatherly craft. 
 'That 's the "Duke o' Bedford" !' said a sailor at the braces to
 
 A SEA STORY 79 
 
 his companions, 'all oak planks, and not a splinter of teak in 
 her! No chance!' Out flew the British colors from her 
 mizzen-peak, and next the Company's striped ensign at her 
 fore-royal mast-head, as a signal to speak. However, the 
 'Seringapatam' only answered by showing her colors, and held 
 on. All of a sudden the other Indiaman was seen slowly 
 falling off before the wind, as if in scorn at such rude man- 
 ners, and sure of passing us if she chose. For a moment the 
 red sunset glanced through betwixt all three of her masts, 
 every rope as fine as wire! then the canvas swung broad 
 against it, blood-red from the sun, and she showed us her 
 quarter-gallery, with a glimpse of her stern-windows glitter- 
 ing you even made out the crowd of passengers and soldiers 
 on her poop, and a man or two going up her rigging. The 
 sea beyond her lay as blue as blue could be, what with the 
 crimson streak that came zigzag on both sides of her shadow, 
 and gleamed along the smooth troughs, taking a crest or two 
 to dance on by the way; and what with the rough of it near 
 hand, where the tops of the dark waves ran hither and thither 
 in broad white flakes, we surging heavily over them. 
 
 "In a few minutes more the sun was not only down, but the 
 clouds banked up to westward of a deep purple; and almost 
 at once you saw nothing of the other ship except when a stray 
 streak somehow or other caught her rising, or her mast-heads 
 came across a pale line in the clouds. The breeze got pleas- 
 anter as the night went on, and the 'Seringapatam' rattled 
 away in fine style, careening to it by herself. 
 
 "Well, you know, nothing could be better for a good under- 
 standing and high spirits amongst us than a fast course, fine 
 weather, and entering the tropics. As for the tropics, if you 
 have only a roomy ship and a good run of wind, as we had, in 
 those latitudes, everything outside of you seems almost to have 
 double the stuff in it that air and water have in other places; 
 while inside of one, again, one felt twice the life he had be- 
 fore, and everybody else came out newer a good deal than on 
 the parlor rug at home. As the days got each hotter than 
 the last, and the sea bluer and bluer, we began to think better 
 of the heavy old 'Seringapatam's' pace, teak though she was, 
 and her sole good point right before the wind. Every night 
 she lighted her binnacle sooner, till deuce the bit of twilight 
 there was, and the dark sky came down on us like the extin- 
 guisher over a candle. However, the look of things round and 
 aloft made full amends for it, as long as we held the 'Trades'; 
 old Neptune shifting his scenes there so quickly, that nobody- 
 missed getting weather and air, more than he could help, were
 
 80 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 it only a sight how the Indiaman got on, without trouble to 
 any living soul save the man at the wheel, as one long, big, 
 bright wave shoved her to another, and the slower they rose 
 the more business she seemed to do of herself. By the time 
 they had furbished her up at their leisure, the 'Seringapatam' 
 had a queer Eastern style, too, throughout; with her grass 
 mattings and husky coir chafing-gear, the yellow varnish 
 about her, and her three topsails of country canvas, cut nar- 
 row towards the head bamboo stun-sail booms, and spare bits 
 of bamboo always ready for everything; besides the bilious-like 
 gold-colored patches here and there in the rest of her sails, 
 and the outlandish figure-head, that made you sometimes 
 think there might be twenty thousand of them under the 
 bows, dancing away with her like Juggernaut's travelling 
 pagoda. 
 
 "The decks were lively enough to look at ; the men working 
 quietly by twos and threes about the bulwarks all day long, 
 and pairs of them to be made out at different points aloft, 
 yarning away comfortably together, as the one passed the ball 
 for the other's serving-mallet, with now a glance at the 
 horizon, and now a grin at the passengers below, or a cautious 
 squint at the top of the mate's cap. White awnings triced 
 over poop and quarter-deck, the cover of the waist hammock- 
 netting clean scrubbed, and the big shady main-course half 
 brailed-up, rustling and bulging above the boats and booms 
 amidships; every hatchway and door with a round funnel of 
 a wind-sail swelling into it, and their bellies moving like so 
 many boa-constrictors come down from aloft, and going in to 
 catch cadets. You saw the bright white sky dazzling along 
 under the awning-cheeks, that glared on it like snow ; and the 
 open quarter-deck ports let in so many squares of shifting 
 blue light, with a draught of air into the hot carronade 
 muzzles, that seem to gasp for it, with their red tompions 
 stuck out like tongues. The very look of the lifting blue 
 water on the shady side was refreshing, and the brighter the 
 light got, it grew the darker blue. You listened for every cool 
 splash of it on the bends, and every rustle of the canvas aloft ; 
 and instead of thinking, as the landsmen did, of green 
 leaves and a lazy nook for shelter, why to my fancy there 's a 
 great deal more satisfaction in good dark blue, with a spray 
 over the cat-head to show you 're going, and with somewhat to 
 go forj For want of better, one would have given his ears to 
 jump in head-foremost, and have a first-rate bathe the very 
 sea itself kept rising up alongside, to make an easy dive for 
 one, and sinking into little round troughs again, where the
 
 A SEA STORY 81 
 
 surges would have sprinkled over your head. Now and then a 
 bigger wave than ordinary would go swelling up, and out 
 sprang a whole glittering shower of flying-fish, freckling the 
 dark side with drops, and went flittering over into the next, 
 or skimming the crests out of sight into a hollow. 
 
 "The writers and cadets were in high feather at knowing 
 they were in the same latitude as India, and appeared in all 
 sorts of straw hats, white trousers, and white jackets. Ford 
 had left off talking of going aloft for awhile, to flourish about 
 his swimming when he looked over with the surgeon into the 
 smooth of a hollow, and saw something big and green, like aa 
 immense cucumber, floating along within a fathom or two of 
 the ship, deep down in the blue water. While the griffin asked 
 what it was, a little ripple broke above, a wet black horn carne 
 right out of it, and two fiendish round eyes glared up at us 
 ahead of it, as we leaned over the quarter, set wide in a broad 
 black snout, shaped like a gravedigger's shovel; then it sank 
 away into the next wave. Ford shivered, in spite of the heat. 
 'The devil ?' inquired one of the writers, coolly, to the surgeon. 
 'Not just him,' said the Scotchman; 'it 's only the first shark!' 
 
 "The young ladies, in their white dresses, now made you 
 think of angels gliding about: as to the only one I had an 
 eye for, by this time it was n't of not seeing her often enough 
 I had to complain, as she seemed to delight in nothing else 
 but being somewhere or other upon deck, first one part of the 
 ship, then another, as if to see how different the lookout 
 could be made, or to watch something in the waves or the 
 horizon. Instead of sitting with a needle or a book, like the 
 rest, with the corner of one eye toward the gentlemen, or 
 talking and giggling away at no allowance, she would be 
 noticing a man aloft as if she were there herself, or trying to 
 see past a sail, as if she fancied there was something strange 
 on the other side of it. The rest of the girls appeared shy of 
 her at first, no doubt on account of the Judge's separate 
 quarters and his grandee style; next, they made acquaintance, 
 she speaking and smiling just as if she had known them 
 before; then again most of them seemingly got jealous 
 because the cadets squinted after her, while old Rollock said 
 Miss Hyde would be the beauty on Chowringee Course, and 
 the first officer was eternally pointing out things to her, like 
 a showman at a fair. 
 
 "However, she seemed not to mind it at all, either way; 
 those that did talk to her, would scarce hear her answer ere 
 they lost her, and there she was, looking quietly down by 
 herself into the ripples alongside; a minute after she would
 
 82 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 be half -playing with little Tommy, and making companions, 
 of Tommy's young sisters, to see the sheep, the pigs, and 
 cow, or feed the poultry. As for the handsome 'first officer, 
 when he caught occasion for his politeness, she took it 
 graciously enough, and listened to all he said, till, of a 
 sudden, a smile would break over her face, and she seemed to 
 me to put him off as easy as a duchess on the score, it 
 might be, of the Judge's looking for her off the poop, or 
 something else of the kind. 'Twas the more curious how 
 much at home she seemed amongst the men at work, when 
 she chanced to go 'forward' with Tommy and his sisters, as 
 they skipped hither and thither: the rough, blue-shirted 
 fellows took the quids out of their cheeks as soon as they saw 
 the party coming from aft, and began to smirk, shoving the 
 tar-buckets and ropes aside. 
 
 "One forenoon, an old lady under the poop awning, where 
 she and her daughter were sewing together at a bright strip 
 of needlework, asked me to hold her woollen yarns for her as 
 she balled them off being the red coat for a sepoy killing a 
 tiger, which her daughter was making in yellow. I could n't 
 well refuse, seeing that amongst the ladies I was reckoned a 
 uiikl, quiet young man. Even in these days I must say I had 
 a good deal of that look, and at home they used always to call 
 me 'quiet Ned.' My mother, good soul, never would believe 
 I broke windows, killed cats, or fought; and the mystery to 
 her always is why the neighbors had a spite at me, for if I 
 had been a wild boy, she said, or as noisy as little Brown next 
 door, why she would n't have objected to my going to sea ! 
 that noisy little Brown, by the bye, is now a fat banker. So 
 in I had to stick my thumbs at arms'-length, and stoop down 
 to the old lady, the more with a will since I guessed what they 
 were talking of. 
 
 " 'Well though, Kate,' continued the old lady, winding 
 away at the thread, 'you cannot deny her to be a charming- 
 creature, my love?' 'Oh, if you mean pretty!' said the girl, 
 'I don't want to deny it not I, ma'am why should I, in- 
 deed?' 'Pity she 's a little light-headed,' said her mother in a 
 musing away. f Affected,you mean, mother !' said Miss Fortes- 
 cue, 'and haughty.' 'Do you know, Kate,' replied the old lady, 
 sighing, 'I fear she'll soon go in India!' 'Go?' said the 
 daughter, sharply. 'Yes; she won't stand the hot season as 
 I did these flighty girls never do. Poor thing ! she certainly 
 has n't your stamina now, my love !' 
 
 "Here Miss Fortescue bit her lip, tossed her head, and was 
 saying that was n't what she cared about, though in fact she
 
 A SEA STORY 83 
 
 looked ready to cry; when just at that moment I saw Lota 
 Hyde herself half above the little gallery stair, gazing straight 
 at me, for the first time, too; a curious kind of half -smile on 
 her face, as I stood with my paws out, the old lady jerking 
 the yarn off my wrists, and I staring right over her big bonnet 
 at the sky astern of the awning, pretending not to listen. All 
 at once my mouth fell, and before she could turn her face 
 away from the funny countenance I no doubt put on, I saw 
 her cheek rosy and her eyes sparkle with laughter, instead of 
 seeming like one to die soon. 
 
 "For my part I couldn't stand it at all, so I just bolted 
 sheer round and made three strides to the poop-ladder, as 
 dignified as was possible, with ever so many plies of red yarn 
 foul of my wrists, and a big red ball hopping after me when 
 I 'd vanished, like a fellow running from a hot shot ! I dare- 
 say they thought on the poop I 'd had a stroke of the sun on 
 my brain, but till next day I kept clear of the passengers, and 
 took to swigging off stiff nor'-westers of grog as long as 
 Westwood would let me. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 "NEXT evening, when the cuddy dinner was scarce over, I 
 went up to the poop, where there was no one to be seen; the 
 sun just setting on our starboard-quarter in a golden blaze 
 that stretched overhead, with flakes of it melting, as 'twere, 
 all over the sky to port, and dropping in it like threads of oil 
 in water; the ship with a light breeze aft, and stun-sails 
 packed large upon her, running almost due for the line. The 
 waves to westward were like liquid light, and the eddies 
 round our counter came glittering out, the whole spread of 
 her mizzen and main canvas shining like gold cloth against 
 the fore ; then 'twas but the royals and skysails brighter than 
 ever, as the big round sun dipped down with a red streak or 
 two, and the red water-line, against his hot old face. Every 
 blue surge between had a clear green edge about its crest, the 
 hollows turning themselves inside out from deep purple into 
 bright blue, and outside in again and the whole rim of the 
 sea grew out cool and clear, away from the ship's taffrail. A 
 pair of sharp-headed dolphins that had kept alongside for the 
 last few minutes, swimming near the surface, turned tail
 
 84 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 round the moment I put my nose over the bulwark, and shot 
 off like two streaks of a rainbow after the flying-fish. 
 
 "I was just wondering where Lota Hyde could be, this 
 time, when on a sudden I observed little Tommy poke his 
 curly head out of the booby-hatch, peeping cautiously round ; 
 seeing nobody, however, save the man at the wheel, who was 
 looking c /er 'his shoulder at the sun, the small rogue made a 
 bolt out of the companion, and scampererd aft under the 
 awning to the Judge's starboard door, with nothing on but his 
 night-shirt. There he commenced kicking and shoving with 
 his bare feet and arms, till the door flew open, and over went 
 Tommy on his nose, singing out in fine style. The next thing 
 I heard was a laugh like the sound of a silver bell; and just 
 as the boy's sister ran up in a fright lest he had gone over- 
 board, Violet Hyde came out leading the little chap wrapped 
 in a long shawl that trailed astern of him, herself with a 
 straw bonnet barely thrown upon her head. "Tommy says you 
 put him in bed too soon, Jane!' said she, smiling. 'Iss!' said 
 .Master Thomas, stoutly, 'go 'way, Dzane!' 'You hadn't 
 bid me good-night wasn't that it, Tom? But oh! what a 
 sea!' exclaimed she, catching sight of it under the awning. 
 The little fellow wanted to see it, too ; so the young lady lifted 
 him up in her arms, no small weight I daresay, and they both 
 looked over the bulwark : the whole sky far out of the awning 
 to westward being spotted with orange scales, turning almost 
 scarlet, faster than the dusk from both ends could close in; 
 the clear greenish tint of it above the openings of the canvas 
 going up into fathomless blue overhead, the horizon purple, 
 and one or two still black clouds tipped with vermilion 
 against the far sky while the Indiaman stole along, scarce 
 plashing under her bends. 
 
 "Every now and then you heard a whizz and a flutter, as 
 the flying-fish broke out of a bigger surge, sometimes just 
 missing the ship's side; at last two or three fell over the 
 mizzen chains, and pop came one all of a sudden right into 
 the white breast of Miss Hyde's dress inside her scarf, where 
 only the wings kept it from disappearing. She started, Jane 
 screamed, but the little boy coolly pulled it out, commencing 
 to overhaul it in great delight. 'Oh fat a funny ickoo bird!' 
 shouted 'he; 'it's fell down out of 'ese t'ees!' looking aloft. 
 'No, no,' said Miss Hyde, laughing, as she drew her shoulders 
 together with a shiver 'birds' noses don't drop water ! 'Twill 
 die if you don't put it in again, Tommy 'tis a fish!' 'A 
 fish!' said he, opening his eyes wider, and smacking his lips. 
 *Yes, Tommy eat it for my beckfust!' However, the young
 
 A SEA STORY 85 
 
 lady took it out of his hand, and dropped it overboard; on 
 which the small ogre went oti' rather discontented, and kissed 
 her more as a favor than otherwise. It was almost dark 
 already, the water shining up in the ship's wake, and the stars 
 coming out aloft; so I was left wondering at the impudence 
 of flying-fish, and the blessings of being a fat little imp in a 
 frock and trousers, compared with this puzzle of a 'traverse,' 
 betwixt being a third lieutenant and hailing for a 'griffin.' 
 
 "The night following, after a sultry hot day, the wind had 
 varied a good deal, and the ship was running almost close- 
 hauled on a warm south-easterly breeze, with somewhat of a 
 swell in the water. Early in the first watch there was a heavy 
 shower, after which I went on deck, leaving Westwood at his 
 book. The half -moon was just getting down to leeward, clear 
 of a ragged dark cloud, and a. long space of faint white light 
 spread away on the horizon, behind the sheets of the sails 
 hauled aft; so that you just saw a sort of glimmer under 
 them, on the black heave of the swell between. Every time 
 she rolled to leeward on it, a gleam of the moonshine slipped 
 inside the shadow of her high bulwarks, from one wet 
 carronade to another, and went glistening over the moist 
 decks, and among the boats and booms, that looked like some 
 big brute or other lying stretched out on his paws, till you 
 saw the men's faces on the forecastle as if they were so many 
 mutineers skulking in the dark before they rush aft: then up 
 she righted again, and all was dark inboard. 
 
 "The awnings were off, and the gruff third mate creaking 
 slowly to and fro in his soaked shoes ; the Judge stood talking 
 with the captain before one of the round-house doors ; directly 
 after I noticed a young lady's figure in a white dress close by 
 the mizzen-rigging, apparently intent on the sea to leeward. 
 'Well, now or never!' thought I, stepping over in the shadow 
 of the main-sheet. I heard her draw a long breath ; and then, 
 without turning her head at the sound of my foot, 'I wonder 
 if there is anything so strange in India,' exclaimed she; 'is. 
 there now ?' 'No, no, madam !' said I, starting, and watching 
 as the huge cloud grew darker, with a rusty stain in it, while 
 three or four broad-backed swells, one beyond the other, rose 
 up black against the setting moon, as if they 'd plunge right 
 into her. Miss Hyde turned round, with one hand on the 
 bulwark to steady herself, and half looked at me. 'I thought,' 
 said she 'where is papa? I thought my father I 
 begged pardon for intruding, but next minute she appeared 
 to have forgotten it, and said, in a musing sort of way, partly 
 to herself, partly to me 'I seem to remember it all as if I
 
 86 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 just saw that black wave and that monstrous cloud over 
 again! Oh! really that is the very same top it had then, see!' 
 'Yes,' said I, leaning forward, with a notion I had seen it 
 before, though heaven knew when. 'Did you ever read about 
 Columbus and Vasco di Gama?' asked she, though directly 
 afterwards her features broke into a laughing smile as she 
 caught sight of mine at the thought, I. suppose, of my 
 ridiculous figure the last time she saw me. 'No, never,' 
 said 1 ; 'but look to windward, ma'am ; ' 't is coming on a 
 squall again. For heaven's sake, Miss Hyde, go in ! We 're 
 to have another shower, and that pretty thick. I wonder 
 the mate don't stow the royals.' 'What do you meanf 
 said she, turning. 'Why are you alarmed, sir? I see noth- 
 ing particular.' The sea was coming over, in a smooth, 
 round-backed swell, out of a dirty, thick jumble of a sky, 
 with a pitch-black line behind what Ford would have called 
 'wild' by daylight; but the young lady's eye naturally saw 
 no more in it than a dark night. 
 
 "Here the Judge came over from the binnacle, giving me 
 a nod, as much as to say he recollected me. 'I am afraid, 
 sir,' said I, 'if you don't make haste, you '11 get wet.' 'How !' 
 said Sir Charles, ' 't is an exceedingly pleasant night, I 
 think, after such a very hot day. They don't know how to 
 cool rooms here this perpetual wood retains heat till mid- 
 night, sir! That detestable pitch precludes walking the sea 
 absolutely glares like tin. Why do you suppose so now 
 eh, young gentleman?' said he again, turning back, all of a 
 sudden, with his daughter on his arm. 
 
 "'Why why why, Sir Charles,' said I, hesitating be- 
 twixt sham innocence and scarce knowing what reason to 
 give; 'why, I just think that is to say, it's my feeling, 
 you see.' 'Ah, ah, I do see,' replied the Judge, good humor- 
 edly; 'but you shouldn't ape the sailor, my good fellow, 
 as I fancy you do a little. I don't particularly admire the 
 class, but they always have grounds for what they say 
 in their profession, frequently even acute. At your aunt's, 
 Lady Somers's now, Violet, who was naturally so surrounded 
 by naval officers, what I had to object to was, not their 
 want of intelligence, but their forwardness. Eh eh ! who 
 what is thai?' exclaimed he suddenly, looking straight up into 
 the dark, as five or six large drops fell on his face out of it. 
 All at once you heard a long sigh, as it were, in the canvas 
 aloft, a clap like two or three carronades fired off, as all the 
 sails together went in to the mast then a hum in the air 
 far and near and whish ! rush ! came the rain in sheets and
 
 A SEA STORY 87 
 
 bucketfuls off the edge of a cioud over our very heads, 
 plashing and washing about the deck with coils of rope; 
 ship rolling without a breath of wind in her sails; sails 
 flapping out and in; the rain pouring down ten times 
 faster than the scupper-holes would let it out, and smoking 
 gray in the dark hollow of the swells, that sank under the 
 force of it. 
 
 "The first officer came on deck, roaring in the hubbub 
 to clew up and furl the royals before the wind came again. 
 It got pitch-dark, you could n't see your hand before you, 
 and we had all lost mark of each other, as the men came 
 shoving in between us. However, I knew whereabouts Miss 
 Hyde was, so I felt along the larboard rigging till I found 
 a back-stay clasped in her hands, and the soaked sleeve 
 of her muslin dress, while she leaned back on a car- 
 ronade, to keep from being jerked down in the water that 
 washed up over her feet with every roll, full of ropes and a 
 capstan bar or two. Without saying a word, I took up 
 Lota in my arms, and carried her aft in spite of the roll 
 and confusion, steering for the glimmer of the binnacle, 
 till I got her inside one of their own cabins, where there 
 was a lamp swinging aboiit, and laid her on a sofa. I felt 
 somehow or other, as I went, that the sweet creature had n't 
 fainted, though all the while as still as death; accordingly 
 I made off again at once to find the Judge, who, no doubt, 
 was calling for his daughter, with a poor chance of being 
 heard. 
 
 "In a minute or two more the rain was over; it was 
 light enough to make out the horizon, as the belt of foam 
 came broadening out of it; the ship gave two or three wild 
 bounds, the wheel jolting and creaking; up swelled the black 
 waves again over one side, the topsails flapped full as the 
 squall rushed roaring into them, and away she rose; then 
 tore into it like a scared horse, shaking her head and 
 throwing the snow-white foam into her fore-chains. 'T was 
 as much as three men could do to grind down her wheel, 
 leaning and grinning to it; you saw just the Indiaman 
 herself, scarce so far forward as the booms, and the broad 
 swell mounting with her out of the dark, as she slowly 
 squared yards before it, taking in to'gallant-sails while she 
 did so with her topsail-yards lowered on the caps. How- 
 ever, the look of it was worse than its force, else the swell 
 would n't have risen so fast, as every sailor knew ; and 
 by two bells of the mid-watch she was bowling under all, as 
 easy as before, the mate of the watch setting a stun-sail.
 
 88 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 "When I went down, shaking myself like a Newfoundland, 
 Westwood was swinging in his cot with a book turned to 
 the lamp, reading 'Don Quixote' in Spanish. 'Bless me, 
 Ned !' said he, 'you seem to like it ! paying fair and weather- 
 ing it too!' 'Only a little adventure, Westwood!' said I, 
 laughing. 'Why, here have I been enjoying better ad- 
 ventures than we seem likely to have,' said he, 'without 
 stirring a hand, except for the wild swings you gave me 
 from deck. Here's "Don Quixote"- 'Don Quixote be 
 
 hanged!' said I: 'I'd rather wear ship in a gale, myself, 
 than all the humbug that never happened out of an old 
 play-book. What 's the use of thinking you see service, when 
 you don't? After all, you couldn't expect much till we've 
 crossed the Line nothing like the tropics, or the Cape, for 
 thickening a plot, Tom. Then there's the Mozambique, 
 you know!' 'Well, we'll see,' said Westwood, lazily, and 
 half asleep. 
 
 "The whole next day would have been weary enough 
 in itself, as not a single glimpse of the fair Lota could I 
 catch; and the weather, between the little puffs of air 
 and squalls we had, was fit to have melted poor Ford 
 to the bone, but for the rain. However, that day was 
 sufficient, by iits and starts, to bring us up to the Line; and 
 before crossing it, which we did by six o'clock in one of 
 the black squalls, half of the passengers had been pretty 
 well ducked by Neptune and his gang besides. 
 
 "Rare fun we had of it for three or four hours on 
 end; the cadets and writers showing fight in a body, the 
 Yankee being regularly keelhauled, tarred, and feathered, 
 though I believe he had crossed the Line twice by land; 
 while the Scotch surgeon was found out, in spite his caution, 
 never to have been lower than the West Indies so he got 
 double ration. A word to Jacobs took Westwood scot-free; 
 but, for my own part, wishing of course to blind the 
 officers, I let the men stick the tar brush in my mouth 
 the first word I spoke, and was shaved like the mischief, not 
 to speak of plumping afterwards behind the studding-sail 
 caitain into three feet water, where I absolutely saved 
 Ford from drowning, lie being as sick as a dog. 
 
 "Late at night the breeze held and freshened, and, being 
 Saturday night, the gentlemen in the cuddy kept it up- 
 roariously after their troubles; drinking and singing songs 
 Tom Little's and your sentimental affairs; till, being a 
 bit flushed myself, I was on the point of giving them 
 one of Dibdin's, when I thought better of it, and went on
 
 A SEA STORY 89 
 
 deck instead. The mate was there, however, and his red- 
 whiskered Scotch sub with the twisted snout, leaning on 
 the capstan with their noses together. The night was dark, 
 and the ship made a good noise through the water; so 
 'Hang it !' thought I, 'somehow or other I '11 have out a 
 stave of "Black-eyed Susan," at the top of my pipe, though 
 overboard I go for it!' 
 
 "There was nn old square topsail-yard slung alongside 
 to larboard, as far as the quarter-boat, and I went up to 
 the poop to get over and sit on it; especially when I 
 found Ford's friend, the fat midshipman, was in the boat 
 itself, 'caulking'* his watch out, as he did every night in 
 a fresh place. 
 
 "I was no sooner there again, than I saw a light in the 
 aftermost gallery window, and took it in my head if I sung 
 there, why, in place of being afraid there was some one under 
 her casement, that and the wind and water together would 
 put her to sleep, if she was the worse of last night in 
 fact, I may say I was a little ( slewed'-\ at the time. How 
 to get there, though, was the matter, it being rather a 
 nice practice to sling over an Indiaman's quarter-gallery, 
 bulging out from her steep counter; accordingly, first I took 
 the end of a coil round the mizzen-shrouds, and made a 
 bowline-knot to creep -down the stern-mouldings with, and 
 then swing free by help of a guide-line to boot. Just 
 before letting go of the taffrail, another fancy struck me, 
 to hitch the guide-line to the trigger of the life-buoy that 
 hung ready for use ; not that I 'd the notion of saving 
 myself if I went overboard, but just because of the good 
 joke of a fellow slipping his own life-buoy, and then cruising 
 away, with a light at his mast-head, back to the Line. 
 
 " 'T was curious, but when I was 'two or three sheets 
 in the wind/ far from growing stupid, I used always to get 
 a sort of cunning that would have made me try and cheat 
 a purser; so away I lowered myself till the rope was taut, 
 when I slipped easy enough round the counter, below the 
 window. Every time she rolled, out I swung, and in again, 
 till I steadied with my feet, slacking off the other line from 
 one hand. Then I began to give voice like old Boreas 
 himself, with a sort of a notion, at each shove I got, how 
 I was rocking the Indiaman like a big cradle, as Jacobs 
 did his baby. All at once I felt the rope was giving off 
 the belaying-pin, till I came down with a jolt under the 
 window below; only singing the louder, as it was half open, 
 
 Sleeping on deck. f Anglic^, not sober.
 
 9 o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 and I could just look in. With every wash of the waves 
 the water, a couple of fathoms under my feet, blazed up 
 like fire, and the wake ran boiling out from the black stern 
 by the rudder, like the iron out of a furnace ; now and then 
 there came a sulky flare of dumb lightning to leeward, and 
 showed the black swell out of the dark for miles. 
 
 "I fancied I didn't care for the water, but I began to 
 think 'twas rather uncomfortable the notion of sousing 
 into such an infernally flame-looking stream; I was actually 
 in a fright at being boiled, and not able to swim. So I 
 dropped chorus to haul myself up, when of a sudden, by 
 the lamp inside the stateroom, I saw Winterton and Ford 
 come reeling in, one after the other, as drunk as lords. 
 Winterton swayed about quietly on his legs for a minute, and 
 then looked gravely at Ford, as if' he'd got a dreadful 
 secret to make known. 
 
 " 'Ford !' said he. 'Ay,' said Ford, feeling to haul off his 
 trousers 'ay avast you blub-lub-lubber !' I say, Ford!' 
 said the cadet again, in a melancholy way, fit to melt a 
 marline spike, and then fell to cry Ford all the time 
 pulling off his trousers, with a cigar in his mouth, till he 
 got on a chest, and contrived to flounder into his cot with 
 his coat on. After that he stretched over to put the lamp 
 out, carefully enough, but he let fall his cigar, and one leg 
 of his nankeen trousers hung out of the cot, just scraping 
 the deck every time he swung. I watched, accordingly, 
 holding on by the sill, till I saw a spark catch in the stuff, 
 and there it was, swinging slowly away in the dark, with 
 a fiery ring creeping round the leg of the trousers, ready to 
 blow into a flame as soon as it had a clear swing. No 
 doubt the fool would come down safe enough himself 
 with his cot; but I knew Winterton kept powder in the 
 cabin sufficient to blow up the deck above, where that sweet 
 girl was sleeping at the moment. 'Confound it,' I thought, 
 quite cooled by the sight, 'the sooner I get on deck the 
 better.' 
 
 "However, you may fancy my thoughts when I heard 
 men at the taffrail, hauling on the spanker-boom guys; 
 so I held on till they 'd go forward again ; suddenly the 
 mate's voice sung out to know 'what lubber had belayed the 
 slack of a topsail clewline here?' Down I went with the 
 word, as the rope was thrown off, with just time to save 
 myself by a clutch of the port-sill at arm's length where, 
 heaven knew, I couldn't keep long. The mate looked over 
 and caught sight of my face, by a flicker of the summer
 
 A SEA STORY 91 
 
 lightning, as I was slipping down: I gave him one curse 
 as loud as I could hail, and let go the moulding. 'Man 
 overboard,' shouted he, and the men after him; however, I 
 wasn't altogether overboard yet, for I felt the other part 
 of the rope bring me up with a jerk and a swing right 
 under the quarter-boat, where I clung like a cat. 
 
 "How to get on deck again without being seen was 
 the question, and anxious enough I was at thought of the 
 burning train inside, when out jumped some one over my 
 head; I heard a splash in the water, and saw a fellow's 
 face go sinking into the bright wake astern, while the 
 boat itself was coming down over me from the davits. I 
 still had the guide-line from the life-buoy round my wrist, 
 and one moment's thought was enough to make me give 
 it a furious tug, when away I sprang clear into the eddies. 
 The first thing I saw at coming up was the ship's lighted 
 stern-windows driving to leeward, then the life-buoy flaring 
 and dipping on a swell, and a bare head, with two hands, 
 sinking a few feet off. I made for him at once, and held 
 him up by the hair as I struck out for the buoy. A couple 
 of minutes after, the men in the boat had hold of us and 
 it; the ship came sheering round to the wind, and we were 
 very shortly on board again. 
 
 " 'Confound it, Simm, what took you overboard, man ?' 
 asked the mid in the boat at his dripping messmate, the fat 
 reefer. 'Oh, bother!' said he, 'if you must know why, I 
 mistook the quarter-boats; I thought 't was the other I was in 
 when you kicked up that shindy. Now I remember, though, 
 there was too much rain in it for comfort.' 'Well, youngster,' 
 said Tom, the man-o'-war's-man, 'this here gentleman saved 
 your life, anyhow !' 'Why, mate,' whispered Bill, ' 't is the 
 wery same greenhorn we puckalowed so to-day. Did n't he 
 jump sharp over, too ?' 'Pull ! for your lives, my lads !' said 
 I, looking up at Ford's window; and the moment we got on 
 deck, below I ran into the stateroom, and cut Ford down 
 by the heels, with the tinder hanging from him, and one 
 leg of his trousers half gone. As for the poor reefer, a 
 pretty blowing up he got; the men swore I had jumped 
 overboard after him, and the mate would have it that, in- 
 stead of sleeping, he wanted to get into the Judge's cabins; 
 especially when next day Sir Charles was in a rage at his 
 daughter being disturbed by some sailor or other singing 
 outside.
 
 9 2 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 "You must surely be tired by this time, ma'am, of this 
 long-winded yarn of mine?" said the commander of the 
 "Gloucester" to the elder of his fair listeners, next evening 
 they met with the evident expectation of hearing further; 
 "but after all, this voyage must be dull work for you at 
 present, so I dare say you are amused with anything by 
 way of a change. 
 
 "Well, one morning, when Westwood and I went on deck, 
 it was a stark, staring calm; as dead as a mill-pond, save 
 for the long winding heave that seemed to come miles up 
 out of the stale blue water, and get tired with the journey 
 from the horizon to us in one lazy coil, and on every side, 
 just serving to jerk the wheel a spoke back and for- 
 ward, with nobody at it. The very bits of pumpkin-paring 
 and fat which the cook had thrown overboard the night be- 
 fore lay still alongside, with an oily track oozing round 
 about them from the 'slush'* the sails hanging from the 
 yards, up and down, like clothes on a screen and when you 
 looked over the side away from the sun, you saw your own 
 face, like a fellow's that had been long drowned, peering 
 back at you, as it were, round the keel in fact, there you 
 scarce knew where the water was. 
 
 "Somehow or other the ship kept sheering round, by little 
 and little, till, although one had chosen a shady spot, all of a 
 sudden the blazing sun came right into his eyes; or the 
 single streak of white cloud lying behind you, to starboard, a 
 while after stuck itself before your face from the very oppo- 
 site quarter you fancying, too, you had your eye the whole 
 time on the same bit of water. Being lost in a wood or 
 a fog was nothing to it, especially with the sun at noon 
 drawn up right overhead, so that you couldn't look aloft, 
 and staring down into the sea out of a pool of bright 
 light; 'like one tremendously keen little eye,' as some of 
 the passengers said, 'examining a big blind one.' 'Why,' 
 put in one of the writers, T fear he wants to take the 
 mote out of his brother's eye this vessel, that is to say!' 
 'Hang it, I hope not!' said Winterton, rather alarmed. 'He 
 promises well to do it, then,' said another young civilian, 
 'but I wish he 'd take the learn out of his" own first, ha, 
 Smythe?' However, few men have the spirit to laugh at little 
 
 Cook's grease.
 
 A SEA STORY 93 
 
 in a calm near the Line, so Smythe gave no more than 
 a sickly grin, while West wood looked the clergyman very 
 properly. 
 
 "Both passengers and crew, all of us that could swim, 
 gave wistful looks now and then alongside at the water, 
 hot as it seemed, for a bathe; just floating up, as it were, 
 with the mere huge size of it, under a dazzle of light, and 
 so blue and smooth you could n't see a hair's breadth be- 
 low; while, a bit off, the face of it and the very air ap- 
 peared to dance and quiver like little streams of glass. How- 
 ever, all thoughts of bathing were put out of your head 
 when you saw the black three-cornered affair, with a rake 
 aft, somewhat like the end of a scythe, that went steering 
 slowly round us; then cruising hither and thither, till its 
 infernal horn was as dry as the deck; and at times driving 
 straight off, as if it ran in a groove through the level 
 surface; when back again it came from the other side, 
 creeping lazily towards us, till it sank with a light tip, 
 and a circle or two on the blue water. The hook and chain 
 were hanging up and down over the taffrail, with the 
 piece of rank pork looking green in the shadow near the 
 rudder, where you read the white figures of her draught as 
 plain as in dock; but the shark, a fifteen-feet customer, 
 if he was an inch, was too knowing to have touched it. 
 
 " 'Pity he 's gone, Collins,' said Ford to me, after we had 
 watched him at last out of sight; 'wasn't there any plan 
 of catching him, I wonder! Now we shall have a bathe 
 though, at any rate.' 'Gone?' said I, 'he won't leave us in 
 a hurry, if we don't leave him!' 'Poh, man!' said Ford, 
 'I tell you he 's tired out and gone away !' Five minutes 
 after Ford was leaning over the quarter and wiping his 
 face, while he fanned himself with his straw hat, which 
 fell out of his hand into the water. He had got over into 
 the mizzen-ehains to throw a line round it, when he gave 
 a loud shriek, and jumped in-board again. Two or three 
 fathoms of green came up from the keel, balancing on a 
 pair of broad fins under Ford's hat, and a big round snout 
 touched it; then a dozen feet of white belly gleamed in the 
 water, the hat gave a gulp as it was drawn down, and a 
 few small air-bells rose to the top. 'He prefers some flavors 
 to others, you see, Ford,' said I. "T is the second hat 
 I 've seen you lose : I hope your head won't be in the third; 
 
 but you mariners, you see ' However, Ford had bolted 
 
 to his cabin. 
 
 "On turning round I perceived Miss Hyde, with the
 
 94 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 general's lady, under the awning on the other side, where the 
 old lady leaned against a cushion, with her hands crossed 
 and her bonnet-strings loose though a strapping raw-boned 
 Irishwoman she was and kept Miss Hyde's maid fanning 
 her from behind with a large feather punkah. The old 
 lady had started at Ford's cry, and gave a look round at 
 me, half fierce and half orderly, as if she expected to 
 know what was the matter at once. 'Only my friend lost 
 his hat, ma'am/ said I, stepping forward. 'These cadets are 
 so 'tagious, my dear!' said she to the young lady, failing 
 back again without the least more notice of me. 'They 
 plague the life of me, but the brigadier can't drill them 
 as he would if this were a troopship I wish he could, for 
 the sake of the profession ! now, my dear, dho kape out 
 of the s-hun !' However, I stuck where I was, fancying I 
 caught the slightest bit of an arch twinkle in the corner of 
 the young lady's eye, though she didn't look at me. 'Keep 
 going, can't ye !' said the old lady, crossly to the maid. 'No, 
 ma'am, indeed!' said the girl, glancing over to her young 
 mistress, 'I 'm ready to drop !' 'Send up papa's kitmagar, 
 then, Wilkins/ said Miss Hyde; and the girl went off 
 toward the gallery stair, muttering she 'hoped she did n't 
 come here to be- made a black Indian slave of at least to a 
 old' the remainder being lost in the stair. 
 
 "As I leaned on the rail-netting, behind the old lady, T 
 happened to tread on her fat pug-dog's tail, whereupon the 
 ugly brute made its teeth meet, without further notice, 
 in the small of my leg, after which it gave a yelp, and 
 ran beneath the chairs. 'What's that, Die?' exclaimed its 
 mistress; 'good hivens! is that same griffin here yet, my dear! 
 Hadn't he ayven the spirit to take a hint? I say, was it 
 you hurt Dianny, young man?' 'Oh dear no, ma'am, not 
 for the world !' said I, looking at my trousers, hard as the 
 thing was to stand, but thinking to smooth her over, though 
 I wasn't quite up to the old Irishwoman it turned out. 'Ha ! 
 ha! so she bit you?' said she, with a flash of her hawk's 
 eye, and leaning back again coolly. 'If he'd only kicked 
 poor Die for it under my chair, now, I 'd have forgiven him ; 
 but he hadn't ayven the heart at the time to drop her 
 a curse and I thinking all the while, too, by the luke 
 of his eye he was from the county Clare! My heart warms 
 to the county Clare always, because, although I 'm not Irish 
 myself, you know, I'd once a schoolfellow was born in it 
 without counting all my relations! Oh, the smooth spal- 
 peen!' continued she, harder than before, glancing at me
 
 A SEA STORY 95 
 
 as I looked all abroad from one to the other; 'listen, niver 
 you let that fellow spake to you, my dear ! he 's too 
 But here I walked quietly off to put the poop's length be- 
 twixt me and the talking old vixen, cursing her and her 
 dog both, quite enough to have pleased her Irish fancy. 
 
 "On the quarter-deck, the Judge and the general seemed 
 really to enjoy the heat and quiet, sitting with their feet up 
 before the round-house, and smoking their long red twisted 
 hookahs, while they watched the wreaths of smoke go whirl- 
 ing straight up from the bowls to the awning, and listened 
 to the faint bubble of it through the water in the bottles, 
 just dropping a word now and then to each other. A tall, 
 thin 'native' servant, with long sooty hair hanging from his 
 snow-white turban, stood behind the Judge's chair, bolt up- 
 right, with his arms folded, and twice as solemn as Sir 
 Charles himself ; you saw a stern-window shining far abaft, 
 through one of the round-house doors, and the fat old 
 fellow of a consumah* busy laying the cloth for tiffin, while 
 the sole breath of air there was came out of there-away. 
 
 "Suddenly eight bells struck, and every one seemed glad 
 of something new; the Judge's consumah came out salaaming 
 to say tiffin was ready; the cuddy passengers went below 
 for wine-and-water and biscuit; and the men were at dinner. 
 There being nothing to take care of on deck, and the heat 
 of course getting greater, not a soul stayed up but myself; 
 but I preferred at the moment lighting a cheroot, and going 
 up aft to see clear of the awnings. The cockatoo had been 
 left on the poop-rail, with its silver chain hitched round one 
 of the mizzen back-stays, where it shifted from one leg to 
 the other, hooked itself up the back-stay as far as it could 
 go, then hurried down again, and mused a bit, as wise as 
 Solomon then screamed out at the top of its voice 'Tip 
 tip pr-r-retty cacka tip-poo cok-ka whee-yew-ew-ew !' 
 finishing by a whistle of triumph fit to have split one's ears, 
 or brought a gale of wind though not on account of skill 
 in its books, at any rate. Again it took to swinging quietly 
 head-down, at furious rate, and then slewed upright to plume 
 its feathers, and shake the pink tuft on its head. 
 
 "No sooner had I got up the stair, however, than, to my 
 perfect delight, I saw Violet Hyde was still sitting aft, and 
 the old Irishwoman gone; so I stepped to the taffrail at 
 once, and, for something to be about, I hauled up the shark- 
 hook from astern. The moment I caught her eye, the 
 young lady smiled by way of making up, no doubt, for 
 
 *East Indian steward.
 
 96 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the old one. 'How very solitary it is!' said she, rising 
 and looking out; 'the ship almost seems deserted, except by 
 us!' 'By Jove! I almost wish it were,' thought I. 'A dead 
 calm, madam,' 1 said, and likely to hold the under-swell's gone 
 quite down, and a haze growing.' 'Are we sure ever to leave 
 this spot then?' asked she, with a slight look of anxiety. 
 'Never fear it,ma'arn,'said I; 'as soon as the haze melts again, 
 we 're near a breeze, I assure you only, by the length of 
 the calm and the heat together, not to speak of our being 
 so far to east'ard, I 'm afraid we may n't get rid of it with- 
 out a gale at the end to match.' 'Indeed ?' said Miss Hyde. 
 
 "The fact was, Westwood and I had been keeping a log, 
 and calculated just now we were somewhere to south-east- 
 ward of Ascension; whereas, by the captain and mate's 
 reckoning she was much farther to west. 
 
 " 'I never thought the sea could appear so dreadful,' 
 said she, as if to herself 'much more than in a storm.' 
 'Why, madam,' said I, 'you have n't exactly seen one this voy- 
 age one needs to be close-hauled off the Cape for that.' 
 
 "Somehow or other, in speaking to her, by this time I 
 forgot entirely about keeping up the sham cadet, and slipped 
 into my own way again; so all at once I felt her two dark- 
 blue eyes looking at me curiously. 'Plow! why,' exclaimed 
 she suddenly, and then laughing, 'you seem to know all 
 about it!- why, you speak have you been studying sea 
 affairs so thoroughly, sir, with your friend, who but I do 
 think, now, one can scarcely trust to what you have said?' 
 'Well why well,' said I, fiddling with the shark-hook, 'I 
 don't know how it is, but I feel as if I must have been 
 at sea some time or other before ; you would n't suppose 
 it, ma'am, but whenever I fix my eyes on a particular rope, 
 1 seem almost to know the name of it.' 'And its use, too?' 
 asked she, merrily. 'I shouldn't wonder!' said I; 'perhaps 
 I was lorn at sea, you know, madam!' and I gave a side- 
 look to notice how she took it. 'Ah! perhaps!' said Miss 
 Hyde, laughing; 'but do you know one sometimes fancies 
 these things; and now I think of it, sir, I even imagined 
 for a moment I had seen yourself before !' 'Oh,' said I, 'that 
 couldn't be the case; I'm sure, for my part, I should 
 recollect clear enough if I'd seen a a lady anywhere! I 
 think you said something of the kind, ma'am, that night 
 of tb.e last squall about the water and the clouds, ma'am, 
 you remember?' The young lady looked away, though a 
 notion Doomed to flash through her mind. 'Yes,' said she, 
 that terrible rain, you were ' 'Washed into the lee-
 
 A SEA STORY 97 
 
 scuppers,' said I, indifferently, for I did n't want her to 
 suspect it was / that had kissed her hand in the dark 
 as 1 carried her in. 'I hope Sir Charles and your- 
 self got in safe, Miss Hyde?' However, she was watch- 
 ing the water along-side, and suddenly she exclaimed, 
 'Dear! what a pretty little fish!' 'By heavens!' said I, 
 seeing the creature with its sharp nose and blue bars, as 
 it glanced about near the surface, and then swam in be- 
 low the ship's bilge again, 'that's one of the old villain's 
 pilots he 's lying right across our keel ! I wish I could 
 catch that shark!' 
 
 "The pork was of no use for such an old sea-lawyer, and 
 I cast a wistful eye on the Irishwoman's fat pug-dog 
 stretched asleep on her shawl by the bulwark ; 'he 'd take 
 that in a trice, though!' I even laid out some marline 
 from a stern-locker, and noticed how neatly one could pass 
 the hook under her belly round to the tail, and seize her so 
 snugly on, muzzled and all; but it was no go, with the 
 devil to pay afterwards. All of a sudden I heard some- 
 body hawking and spitting above the awning forward, near 
 where the cockatoo kept still trying to master his own name. 
 'The Yankee, for a thousand !' thought I ; 'is Daniel trying 
 to walk along the spanker-boom?' Next, some one sung out, 
 'Hal-loo-oo-oo !' as if there was a tomahawk over him, ready 
 to split his brain. Miss Hyde looked alarmed, when the 
 Scotch mate, as I thought, roared, 'Shiver my tops'ls !' Then 
 it was a sailor hailing gruffly, 'Bloody Capting Brown 
 bloody Capting Brown Capting Brown !' 
 
 " 'Somebody drunk aloft !' thought I, walking forward 
 to see: when a funny little black head peeped round the 
 awning, with a yellow nose as sharp as a marline spike, and 
 red spectacles, seemingly, round its keen little eyes; then, 
 with a flutter and a hop, the steward's pet mina-bird* came 
 down, and lighted just under the cockatoo. 'Ha!' said I, 
 laughing, 'it 's only Parson Barnacle !' as the men called 
 him a sooty little creature scarce bigger than a black- 
 bird, with a white spot on each wing, and a curious pair of 
 natural glasses on his head, which they kept in the fore- 
 castle and taught all sorts of 'jaw,' till they swore he could 
 have put the ship about, took kindly to tar, and hunted 
 the cockroaches like a cat. 
 
 * Mina-bird, or prackle, a frequent pet in homeward-hound East-Indiamen, 
 and singular for its mimetic faculty; but impudent, and, from educational 
 disadvantages, not particularly select in its expressions: appearance as de- 
 scribed by the lieutenant.
 
 98 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 "No doubt he was glad to meet his countryman the 
 cockatoo, but Tippoo stuck up his crest, swelled his chops, 
 and looked dreadfully frightened; while the mina-bird cocked 
 his head on one side, gave a knowing wink as it were, 
 though all the time as grave, with his spectacles, as a 
 real parson. 'How's her head?' croaked he, in a voice like 
 a quartermaster's; 'blowing hard!' 'Old Capting Brown!' 
 and hopped nearer to the poor cockatoo, who could stand 
 it no longer, but hooked himself up the back-stay as fast 
 as possible, out of sight, the chain running with him; and 
 just as I swung myself clear of the awning to run aloft for 
 a catch of it, out flew Parson Barnacle to the end of the 
 cro jack-yard, while the cockatoo gave a flap that loosed the 
 Tciimagar's lubberly hitch, and sent him down with his wings 
 spread on the water. 
 
 "At another time it wouldn't have cost me a thought to 
 go head-foremost after him, when I heard his young mis- 
 tress exclaiming, 'Oh, poor, dear Tippoo will be drowned! 7 
 but recollecting our hungry green friend on the other side, I 
 jumped down for the end of a rope to slip myself quietly 
 alongside with. However, at the very moment, Tom, the 
 man- o'-war's-man, happening to come up from the fore- 
 hatchway to throw something overboard, and seeing Miss 
 Hyde's cockatoo, off went his shoes and jacket at once, and 
 I heard the splash as he struck the water. I had scarce time 
 to think, either, before I saw Mick O'Hooney's red head 
 shoot up on deck, and heard him sing out, 'Man overboard, 
 be the powers, boys ! Folly my lader ! Hurroo !' and over 
 he sprang. 'Here's dip,' said another, and in half a minute 
 every man that could swim was floundering in the smooth 
 water alongside, or his head showing as it came up pitching 
 the cockatoo to each other, and all ready to enjoy their 
 bathe; though, for my part, I made but one spring to the 
 ship's starboard quarter, to use the only chance of saving 
 the thoughtless fellows, from a bloody fate to some of them. 
 
 "I knew the shark would be cautious at first, on such a 
 sudden to-do, and I had marked his whereabouts while the 
 men were well toward the bows; and 'hang it,' thought 1, 
 seeing the old woman's fat pug in my way, 'Dianny, or 
 die all; I bear no malice, but you must go for it, my beauty !' 
 As quick as thought, I made one turn of marline round her 
 nose, took oiT the pork, and lashed her fast on to the hook 
 all standing, in spite of her squeaks ; then twisted the lady's 
 shawl round the chain for a blind to it, and flung the 
 whole right over the larboard quarter, where I guessed the
 
 A SEA STORY 99 
 
 old fellow would be slewing round astern to have a lookout 
 before he went fairly in chase. I watched the line sink 
 slowly with the weight over the gunwale for half a minute, 
 afraid to let him see my head, and trembling for fear I 
 should hear a cry from one of the men: when jerk went the 
 rope clear of a belaying-pin as he ran off with his bait. I 
 took a quick turn to hook him smartly in the throat, and 
 then eased off again till the 'cleats' brought him up with 
 a 'surge' fit to have parted the line, had it not been good 
 new inch-and-a-half rope though, as it was, the big India- 
 man would soon have sheered stern-round to the force of it, 
 if he 'd only pulled fair. 
 
 "The young lady stood noticing what I did, first in a 
 perplexed sort of a way, and then with no little surprise, 
 especially when the shark gave every now and then a 
 fiercer tug, as he took a sweep astern; by this time, how- 
 ever, everybody was on deck in a crowd, the passengers 
 all in a flurry, and half of the men scrambling up from 
 alongside to tail on to the line, and run him out of water. 
 So away they went with it full-speed towards the bows, 
 as soon as the ladies were out of the way dragging two or 
 three cadets back-foremost, head over heels, down the poop 
 stair till, in spite of his tugging, the shark's round snout 
 showed over the taffrail, with the mouth wide open under 
 his chjn, as it were, and one row of teeth laid flat be- 
 hind another, like a comb-maker's shop-counter. A running 
 bowline passed round his handsome waist, then another pull, 
 and over he came on the poop, floundering fourteen feet 
 long, and flourishing his tail for room, till the carpenter 
 chopped it across, in a lucky moment, with his axe. 
 
 "All hands gathered round the shark to see him cut up, 
 which was as good as a play to them, becalmed as we were; 
 when, to my no small dismay, I heard Mrs. Brigadier 
 Brady's loud voice asking where her dog was; and the 
 brigadier himself, who seemed more afraid of his wife 
 than anybody else, kept poking about with his red-faced 
 English butler to find the animal. Tor God's sake,' said 
 he, in a half whisper, twenty times over, 'have n't ye 
 seen Mrs. Brady's dog, any of ye ? she '11 rout the ship 
 inside out for it, captain, if we don't soon ase her mind/ 
 However, I knew only Miss Hyde was aware who caught 
 the shark, and as she did n't appear to have told, why of 
 course I kept all fast myself. 'Here's a 'baccy-box!' sung 
 out the big old boatswain, standing astride over the ta ; l, 
 while the cook and his black mate ripped away from the
 
 ioo THE GREEN HAND 
 
 tail up. 'Hand over, if ye please, sir,' said 'ugly' Harry, 
 'it 's mine, Mr. Burton !' Harry gave it a wipe 011 his knee, 
 and coolly bit a quid off the end of his lost pigtail. The 
 next thing was Ford's hat, which 110 one claimed, so black 
 Sambo clapped it on his woolly head. 
 
 "'What's that you've got there now, Sambo?' said the 
 boatswain; 'out with it, my lad!' 'Golly!' chuckled the 
 nigger, rolling the whites of his eyes and grinning like mad ; 
 'oh sar, Misser Barton! dis 'ere shark riglar navligator! I 
 'clare to you, sar, um got chr'ometer aboard. Oh gum; 
 berry much t'ink dis you own lost silber tickler, Misser 
 Barton.' 'Bless me, so it is, my lad,' said the boatswain, as 
 the black handed him a silver watch as big as a turnip, and 
 he looked at the cook, who was busy fumbling with his knife. 
 'Sorry as you was taxed with it, doctor,'* said he doubt- 
 fully; 'well, I'm blow'd, though it only goes an hour 
 and a half and here it's a ticking yet.' Here a burst 
 of laughter went round, and somebody sung put, 'Maybe 
 the ould pawn-broking Judas of a shark winded it up hisseif, 
 jist to mark the time o' his "goin' off the hooks." ' 'I say, 
 doctor,' hailed another, 'too bad, ain't it though, to cut up 
 your uncle?' 'Ha, ha, ha,' cried the cadets and writers, look- 
 ing at the Scotch surgeon ; 'd' ye hear that, doctor ? I 
 would n't stand it. They say you ain't particular in Edin- 
 bro', though. Some rum mistakes happened there, eh, doctor ?' 
 "The Scotchman got into a passion at this, being the 
 worst cut they could give any fellow from a country where 
 they were famous for kindred and body-snatching at once 
 but all of a sudden there was a 'Hulloo ! Shiver my 
 taw'sels! What this? Let's see'; and the whole poopful of 
 us were shoving together, and jumping on each other's 
 shoulders to have a look. 'Well, we-ell,' said the old boat- 
 swain, as he peered curiously into the mess of shark's 
 bowels 'I'll be blowed.' 'The likes o' that now!' croaked 
 the old sailmaker, lifting up his two hands, ' 't ain't lucky, 
 Mr. Burton !' 'My eye ! them 's not young sharks, anyhow !' 
 said one of the men. 'What 's t'ou think they be, mun,' said 
 the north-country Chips, 'but litter o' young blind poops ? an' 
 here's t' ou'd un, see, as deed's mutton! Dang him, but 
 some un 's got an' baited t' hook wi 't, there 's nou't else 
 in's guts.' 
 
 "The whole poop was one roar of laughing, when Mrs. 
 Brady's p\ig was found delivered of four pups inside the 
 shark, since she went overboard, and two of 'em alive; the 
 
 * Familiar metonymy, or nickname, at sea, for the ship's cook.
 
 A SEA STORY 101 
 
 news ran fore and aft in a moment. 'Took short she 's been, 
 Jack!' said one. 'Beats the prophet Joney!' 'I say, mate, 
 them whelps is born twice over. Blessed if my Sal at home, 
 now, would n't give a year's 'lotment for one on 'em.' 
 
 " 'Look out, all hands of ye,' cried some one, 'there 's the 
 old girl herself coming on deck ; sharp 's the word.' And 
 away we scuttled right and left, some aloft, and some 
 down one poop-ladder, as Mrs. Brady, with the brigadier 
 and his butler after her, came fuming up the other. The 
 black made one spring over the quarter as soon as he saw her ; 
 but the Irish topman, Mick, slipped his foot amongst the 
 shark's blood, and rolled on his back, while the old bo'sun 
 made stand in the thick of it behind. 'Saze the villains, I 
 charge ye, brigadier,' screamed Mrs. Brady, though he 
 and his man servant only kept dodging the boatswain round 
 a sort of a quagmire of blood and grease, while the old 
 vixen caught Mick by his red hair and whiskers. 'Where 's 
 my dog, ye murderous spalpeen ?' said she, panting for 
 breath; 'what have ye done with my Dianny, ye monsther? 
 Spake, or T '11 'Be the holy elaven thousand, yer lady- 
 ship !' said Mick, 'an' it 's lost did ye think she wor ! Isn't 
 there five of 'em back ! Whisper ! yer ladyship's riv'rence 
 she's laid in, poor craythure, an' -' 'Oh! you Irish thief!' 
 Tug came both Mrs. Brady's hands through his hair, while 
 the butler caught a kick in the stomach from Mick's foot. 
 'Murther!' gasped the poor fellow, 'sure an' I dun' know 
 she was ayven a faym'le, fur me own part; bad luck t' ye, 
 mates, give uz a hand. Och, an' is this the road ye thrate 
 a counthryman, mim?' 'Me your countryman! ye bogtrottin' 
 wretch, ye!' screamed the old fury, her brogue getting worse 
 the more she heated 'take that! don't rise, if ye dare.' 
 'Faix thin, yer ladyship darlin',' said O'Hooney, grinning in 
 spite of his hard usage, 'I tould a lie och, lave some o' me 
 
 hair ! murther intirely ! I 'm ' 
 
 "All the time none of us could stir for sheer laughing, 
 but seeing poor Mick like to fare hard with the old vixen, 
 , who was near as big as himself, and as strong as a horse, I 
 whispered to the men to run round and let go the poop 
 awning so down it came, with a few buckets of water in 
 it, over the five of them; and you just saw Mrs. Brady's 
 sharp elbow through the canvas, lifted for the next slap, 
 when we had her all fast, struggling like a cat in a bag, 
 while O'Hooney and the boatswain crept out below. 'Stiff 
 breeze that, as we've had!' said the bo'sun, shaking him- 
 self on the forecastle. 'Couldn't ve 've bowsed over on the
 
 102 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 old jade's pitticuts, Mick?' said one of his shipmates, 'and 
 capsized her all standing?' 'Sorra fut you'd stir, yourself, 
 mate,' said he, wiping his face, 'wid such a shay grinny- 
 deer ! the 'd manhandle ye as asy's twurl a mop !' 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 "AFTER all this, you may suppose one didn't weary so 
 much, even of the calm. As soon as the decks were clear, 
 most of us took tea on the poop, for fear of meeting the 
 brigadier's lady below, every one holding his cup ready for 
 a start. Rollock, the planter, who had slept and swung in 
 his cot half the day, was like to split his sides when he 
 heard the story; by the way, I believe both the little pups lived 
 and throve on goat's milk, and the men called one of them 
 'Young Jonah,' though he had so much of the terrier that 
 the old lady disowned him. 
 
 "It was quite dark, and cool for a night near the Line, 
 though not a ripple stirred, and I stayed after the rest to 
 smoke a cigar, stopping every now and then near the after- 
 most bull's-eye, that shone through the deck, and thinking 
 of Lota. 'By Jove !' thought I, 'she has n't said a word to 
 the Judge about our having met before. Think of having 
 a secret, almost, with her!' After all, though, I felt well 
 enough I might as soon hope for the Emperor of China's 
 daughter as for such a creature, unless something wonder- 
 fully strange fell out ; deucedly in love as I was, I was n't 
 puppy enough to fancy I'd ever succeed by mere talk; 'but 
 here 's for a bold heart and a weather eye,' I thought ; 'and if 
 these can do it, I will!' said I aloud, when some one clapped 
 me on the shoulder. 
 
 "'Well, Tom, are you there?' said I, thinking it was 
 Westwood. 'Why,' answered old Rollock, laughing, 'not so 
 far wrong, my boy but as it's thirty years since any 
 one called me so, I thought you were, for a moment ! Medi- 
 tating, eh ?' 'Only a cigar before bedtime will you have one, 
 sir?' 'Ah well,' said the planter, 'I'll take a light at least 
 queer life this, eh? Shouldn't know this was water, now 
 more like train-oil! Looks junglish a little under the stars 
 yonder.' 'Nothing but the haze come down,' said I ; ' 't is 
 clear enough aloft, though look out for squalls ere long.' 
 'As your friend Ford would have it,' said Rollock; <but how
 
 A SEA STORY 103 
 
 a lad of your spirit can manage to stand this so well, 1 
 can't think!' 'Deyvilish dull, sir!' said I, with a lazy 
 drawl, 'but can't be helped, you know.' 'Come, come, now, 
 don't mend it by copying poor Winterton,' chuckled Rollock; 
 'you 're no fool, Collins, so don't pretend to be. I say, though, 
 Collins, my boy,' continued he rather gravely, 'there is one 
 really soft piece I begin to notice in you lately I fear 
 you're falling in love with that girl!' 'I, sir!' said I; 'dear 
 me, what makes you 'My dear boy,' went on the kind- 
 hearted old fellow, 'I take an interest in you; no lad of 
 your stuff practises all this tomfoolery without something 
 under it, and I see you 've some serious meaning or other. 
 Did you know her before?' 'Oh why not exactly,' I 
 dropped out, taken rather short. 'I see, I see!' he went on; 
 'but I tell you what, Collins, a cadet can do nothing 
 madder than marry at first landing; she had better be a 
 cold-hearted flirt, after all though, God knows, no man 
 can say what that does but one that 's felt it ! I I mean 
 I Tcneiv a young fellow that went out as ambitious as you 
 can be, and he 
 
 "Here the planter's voice shook a little, and he stopped, 
 puffing at his cheroot till the short end of it just lighted 
 up his hook nose and part of his big white whiskers in 
 the dark, only you saw his eye glistening, too. 'Devil take 
 it !' thought I, 'who 'd have expected the old boy to be so 
 sharp, though?' 'Well but, Collins,' said he at last, 'just 
 you enter heart and soul into your profession ; I 'd stake 
 my life you '11 rise, who knows how far when you get 
 captain's pay even, then you may think of it that is, if 
 she 'Why/ said I, d'ye suppose the Judge would 
 'Judge!' exclaimed Mr. Rollock 'worse and worse! Weren't 
 we talking of pretty little Kate Fortescue? My dear boy, 
 you don't intend to say you mean Miss Hyde ! I left that to 
 your puppy of a "first officer," as they call him! Why, that 
 young girl will be the beauty of Calcutta.' At this I fancied 
 some one else gave a whistle near us. 'Of course, sir,' said 
 I, raising my voice, 'you did n't suppose me such a fool.' 
 In fact, Miss Fortescue had never entered my head at all. 
 'Something strange about you, Collins !' said the planter, 
 a little shortly; 'you puzzle me, I must say.' As we turned 
 to go below, I heard somebody walk down the poop-ladder, 
 and then the mate's voice sung out from the binnacle to 
 'strike eight bells!' 
 
 "The calm was as dead as ever next morning, and, if pos- 
 sible, hotter than before not a rope changed aloft, nor a
 
 104 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 cloth in the sails moved; but it was pretty hazy round us, 
 which made the water a sort of pale old-bottle blue, that 
 sickened you to look at; and a long dipping and drawling 
 heave gradually got up as if there were blankets on it; 
 the ship, of course, shifting round and round again, slowly, 
 like a dog going to lie down, and the helm giving every 
 now and then a sudden jolt. Near noon it cleared up with 
 a blaze of light, as it were; the sole difference at first being, 
 that what looked like melting lead before now turned into 
 so many huge bright sheets of tin, every sudden bend of 
 it as good as flashing up thousands of needles in your eyes. 
 A good deal surprised we were, however, shortly after, to 
 find there was a sail in sight, another square-rigged vessel, 
 seemingly standing up on the horizon six or seven miles 
 off. Being end on to us at the time, though every glass 
 in the ship was brought to bear on her, 't was hard 
 to say what she was; then she and we went bobbing and 
 going up and down with a long round heave between us, 
 slowly enough, but always at cross purposes, like two fel- 
 lows see-sawing on a plank over a dyke. When she was 
 up, we were down, and we just caught sight of her royal, 
 no bigger than a gull on the water; yerk, went our rudder, 
 and next time she seemed to have vanished out of the glasses 
 altogether, till we walked round to the other side, and made 
 her out again under the awning on the opposite beam. At 
 length she lifted broad to its for a moment or two, showing 
 a long pale sort of hull with a red streak, apparently with- 
 out ports, and brig-rigged, though the space betwixt her two 
 masts was curious for that kind of craft. 
 
 " 'Wonderful light -sparred for her size that brig, sir,' said 
 the third officer, dropping his glass. 'Ay, so she is, Mr. 
 Small,' replied Captain Williamson; 'what would you call 
 her then ? You Ve as good knowledge of craft as any man, 
 Mr. Small, I think.' 'Why,' said the old mate, screwing 
 his eye harder for a long look, 'I 'd say she 's not a cruiser, 
 Captain Williamson no, nor a Greenock Indyman nor 
 
 a ' 'Oh!' said Finch, 'some African timberer or other, 
 
 I dare say, Small.' 'Well, Mr. Finch,' said the third mate, 
 handing him the glass, 'mayhap you'll just say yourself, 
 sir.' 'No, no, Mr. Small/ said the captain; 'I'd trust to 
 you as soon as any man, sir, in a matter of the kind.' 'Why, 
 the hull of her's wonderful Yankee-like, sir,' said Small, 
 again ; 'I 'm thinking they Ve been and squared her out of 
 a schooner and made a bad job of it, too, sir! Bless us! 
 what a lean-headed pair o' taups'ls as high as our fore
 
 A SEA STORY 105 
 
 one, sir.' Suddenly the old mate gave his thigh a slap, 
 and laid down his glass on the capstan; 'Lor', sir!' said he, 
 'that's the thing; she's nothing more nor less but a John 
 Crapeau, Captain Williamson!' 
 
 " 'I dare say you 're right, Mr. Small,' said the skipper, 
 taking the glass; 'just so ay, ay I thought it myself!' 
 'Pity old Nap 's boxed up yonder nowadays, then, sir,' said 
 the first officer, rubbing his hands and pointing to eastward, 
 where he thought St. Helena was; 'why, sir, we should have 
 the peppering of the Frenchman ; I don't suppose we 'd 
 need to care though she were twice the size and what 's 
 more, we want fresh water before seeing the Cape, sir !' 
 'Well,' said the old skipper, laughing, 'that is the worst of 
 it, Finch ! As for spirit, you 've as much as any man, Mr. 
 Finch, and I do think we 'd know how to take the weather- 
 hand of him eh ?' 'I'll be bound we should !' said Finch, 
 laughing, too. As for the Frenchman, both Westwood and 
 I had made him out by his rig at once, thanks to man- 
 o'-war practice; but we smiled to each other at the notion 
 of making a prize of Monsieur, under Finch's management, 
 with not a gun that could have been used for half a day, 
 and everything else at sixes and sevens. 
 
 "In a little while it was proposed amongst the cadets, 
 hot as the calm was, to make a party to go and see the 
 French vessel. Ford, of course, was at the head of it. Win- 
 terton thought they would no doubt have plenty of cham- 
 pagne on board, and some others, who could row, wanted to 
 try their hands. Accordingly the captain's gig was got ready, 
 a sort of awning rigged over it, and two or three of them 
 got in; when one, who was Miss Fortescue's cousin, per- 
 suaded her to join, if Mr. Rollock would come. Then the 
 brigadier, being rather a good-humored man, said he should 
 like to face the French once more, and Daniel Snout shoved 
 himself eagerly in without asking, by your leave. One 
 of the men was sent to take charge; and as there was 
 room still, I was just going to jump in, too, for the amuse- 
 ment of it, when Mrs. Brady hurried to the taffrail with 
 her parasol up, and said, if the brigadier went she should 
 go as well in fact, the old woman's jealousy of her rib 
 was always laughably plain. 'Hang it ! then,' thought 1, 
 'catch me putting myself in the same boat with her! the 
 same ship is enough in all conscience !' So away they 
 were lowered off the davits, and began pulling in tolerable 
 style for the brig, a couple of hours' good work for such 
 hands at mid-day, smooth water as it was.
 
 106 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 "'Now, gentlemen,' said the first officer, briskly, as we 
 looked after them clipping over the long bright blue heave 
 'now, gentlemen, and ladies also, if you please, we '11 have 
 another party as soon as the men get their dinner give 
 these gentlemen a full hour's law, we '11 overhaul them. See 
 the larboard quarter-boat clear, Jacobs.' It was just the 
 least possible hazy again behind the brig in the distance, and 
 as the Judge stood talking to his daughter on the poop, 1 
 heard her say, 'Is the other vessel not coming nearer al- 
 ready, papa? See how much more distinct its sails are 
 this moment there! one almost observes the white can- 
 vas!' 'Pooh, Lota child!' answered Sir Charles, 'that cannot 
 be 't is perfectly calm, don't you know ?' In fact, however, 
 Lota showed a sailor's eye for air, and I was noticing it 
 myself; but it was only the air made it look so. 'Ah! now,' 
 exclaimed she again, "t is as distant as ever ! That must 
 have been the light'; besides, the brig had been lifting on 
 a wide swell. 
 
 " 'I beg pardon, Sir Charles,' said the mate, coming up 
 and taking off his cap, 'but might I use the freedom per- 
 haps yourself and Miss Hyde would like to visit the French 
 brig?' The Judge looked at his daughter as much as to 
 ask if she would like it. 'Oh yes! so much!' exclaimed 
 she, her bright eyes sparkling, 'shall we?' 'No! Not //' 
 said Sir Charles. 'I shall take my siesta. Quite safe, sir 
 eh?' 'Oh, quite safe, Sir Charles!' said Finch, 'a dead 
 calm, sir I '11 take the utmost care you may be sure, Sir 
 Charles as safe as the deck, sir!' 'Oh, very well,' replied 
 the Judge, and he walked down to see after his tiffin. The 
 young lady was going down the quarter-gallery stair, when 
 I caught my opportunity to say 'I hope you'll excuse it, 
 Miss Hyde, ma'am but I do trust you '11 not risk going in 
 the boat so far, just now !' Half a minute after I spoke, she 
 turned round, and looked at me with a curious sort of ex- 
 pression in her charming face, which I couldn't make out 
 whether it was mischievous, whether it was pettish, or 
 whether 't was inquisitive. 
 
 "'Dear me!' said she, 'why do you ' 'The weather 
 
 might change,' I said, looking round about, 'and I should n't 
 
 wonder if it did or a swell might get up or ' 'I must 
 
 say, Mr. Mr. Collins,' said she, laughing slightly, 'you are 
 very gloomy in your anticipations almost timorous, I de- 
 clare ! I wonder how you came to be so weather-wise ! But 
 why did you not advise poor Mrs. Brady, now?' I couldn't 
 see her face as she spoke, but the tone of the last words
 
 A SEA STORY 107 
 
 made me feel I 'd have given worlds to look round and see 
 what it was like at the moment. 'Perhaps, ma'am,' said 1, 
 'you may remember the rain?' 'Well, we shall see, sir!' replied 
 she, glancing up with a bright sparkle in her eye for an 
 instant, but only toward the end of the spanker-boom, as it 
 were; and then tripping down the stair. 
 
 "I kept watching the gig pull slowly toward the brig 
 in the distance, and the cutter making ready on our quar- 
 ter till the men were in, with Jacobs amongst them; where 
 they sat waiting in no small glee for the mate and his party, 
 who came up a few minutes after; and I was just be- 
 ginning to hope that Violet Hyde had taken my advice, 
 when she and another young lady came out of the round- 
 house, dressed for the trip, and the captain gallantly handed 
 them in. 'My compliments to the French skipper, Mr. Finch,' 
 said the captain, laughing, 'and if he ain't better engaged, 
 happy to see him to dinner at two bells* in the dog-watch, 
 we '11 make it !' 'Ay, ay, sir,' said Finch. 'Now then ! all 
 ready 'f 'Smythe 's coming yet,' said a 'writer.' 'We can't 
 wait any longer for him,' replied the mate; 'ease away the 
 falls, handsomely, on deck!' 'Stop,' said I, 'I'll go then!' 
 'Too late, young gentleman,' answered the mate, sharply, 
 'you '11 cant us gunnel up, sir ! lower away, there !' How- 
 ever, 1 caught hold of a rope and let myself down the 
 side, time enough to jump lightly into her stern-sheets the 
 moment they touched the water. The officer stared at me 
 as he took the yokelines to steer, but he said nothing, and 
 the boat shoved oft', while Miss Hyde's blue eyes only opened 
 out, as it were, for an instant, at seeing me drop in so 
 unceremoniously; and her companion laughed. 
 
 " '1 should n't have supposed you so nimble, Mr. Collins !' 
 said the writer, looking at me through his eyeglass. 'Oh,' 
 said 1, 'Ford and I have practised climbing a good deal 
 lately.' 'Ha ! ha !' said the civilian, 'should n't be surprised, 
 now, if your friend were to take the navigation out of 
 Mr. Finch's hands, some day!' 'Bless me, yes, sir!' said 
 Finch, with a guffaw, as he sat handling the lines care- 
 lessly, and smiling to the ladies, with his smart cap over 
 one ear; 'to be sure ha! ha! ha! it's certain, Mr. .Bev- 
 eridge! Wouldn't you take the helm here, sir?' to me. 
 'Oh, thank you, no, sir !' replied I, modestly, 'I 'm not quite 
 so far yet but we've got a loan of Hamilton Moore and 
 Falconer's Dictionary from the midshipmen, and mean 
 to 'No doubt you'll teach us a trick or two yet!' 
 
 *Five o'clock p. M.
 
 io8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 said Finch, with a sneer. 'Now, for instance,' said I, coolly, 
 'aloft yonder, you 've got the throat halyards jammed in the 
 block with a gasket, and the mizzen-topsail clewlines^ rove 
 wrong side of it, which Hamilton Moore distinctly 
 
 "'Hang the lubber that did it, so they are!' exclaimed 
 the mate, looking through the spyglass we had with us. 'Now 
 you've your jibs hauled down, sir,' continued I, 'and if 
 a squall came on abeam, no doubt they 'd wish to shorten sail 
 from aft, and keep her away however, she would broach-to 
 at once, as Hamilton Moore shows must 'You and 
 Hamilton Moore may Well, no fear of a squall just 
 now, at any rate, ladies,' said he. 'Stretch out, men let 's 
 head upon Mr. Ford and his gig, yet !' 
 
 "Terribly hot it was, close to the water, and so stifling 
 that you scarce could breathe, while the long glassy swell 
 was far higher than one thought it from the ship's deck; 
 however, we had an awning hoisted, and it refreshed one a 
 little both to hear the water and feel it below again, as the 
 cutter went sliding and rippling over it to long slow strokes 
 of the oars ; 'her crew being all men-o'-war's-men, that knew 
 how to pull together and take it easy. The young ladies 
 kept gazing rather anxiously at the big old 'Seringapatam,' 
 as she rose and dropped heavily on the calm, amused 
 though they were at first by a sight of their late home 
 turning 'gable' on to us, with her three masts in one, and 
 a white straw hat or two watching us from her taft'rail; 
 whereas, ahead, they only now and then caught a glimpse 
 of the brig's upper canvas, over a hot, hazy, sullen-looking 
 sweep of water as deep-blue as indigo with six hairy brown 
 breasts bending before them to the oars, and as many 
 pair of queer, rollicking, fishy sort of eyes, fixed steadily 
 on the bonnets aft, in a shame-faced, down-hill kind of 
 way, like fellows that couldn't help it. In fact, I noticed 
 a curious grin now and then on every one of the men's 
 faces, and a look to each other when they caught sight of 
 myself sitting behind the mate, as he paid out his high- 
 ilying speeches; Jacobs, again, regarding me all the while 
 out of the whites of his eyes, as it were, in a .vooden, 
 unknowing fashion fit to have made a cat laugh seeing 
 he never missed his mark for one moment, and drew back 
 his head at every pull with the air of a drunken man 
 keeping sight of his own waistcoat buttons. 
 
 "By the time we were half-way, the swell began to get 
 considerable, and the mate stepped up abaft to look for 
 the gig. 'Can't see the boat yet,' said he; 'give way there,
 
 A SEA STORY 109 
 
 my lads stretch out and bend your backs ! there 's the 
 brig !' 'Hallo !' exclaimed he again, 'she 's clewed up royals 
 and to'gallant-s'ls ! By heavens ! there go her tops'is down, 
 too! Going to bend new sails, though, I dare say, for it 
 looks clear enough there.' 'The ship 's run up a flag aft, 
 sir,' said Jacobs. 'The so she has,' said Finch, turning- 
 round ; 'recall signal ! What 's wrong ? Sorry we can't dine 
 aboard the French vessel this time, ladies !' said he, 'ex- 
 tremely so and the griffins there after all, too. I hope 
 you won't be disappointed in any great measure, Miss Hyde; 
 but if you wished it now, miss, I 'd even keep on, and ' 
 
 "The young lady colored a little at this, and turned to 
 her companion just as I remembered her doing from the 
 dragoon in the ballroom. 'Do you not think, Miss Wynd- 
 ham,' said she, l we ought not to wish any officer of the ship 
 should get reproved, perhaps, on our account ?' 'Oh dear no,' 
 said Miss Wyndham; 'indeed, Mr. Finch, you had better go 
 back, if the captain orders you.' 
 
 " 'Hold on there with your larboard oars, you lubbers !'' 
 sang out Finch, biting his lip, and round we went, pulling 
 for the Indiaman again; but by this time the swell was 
 becoming so heavy as to make it hard work, and it was 
 soon rarely we could see her at all; for nothing gets up 
 so fast as a swell, sometimes, near the Line; neither one 
 way nor the other, but right up and down,without a breath 
 of wind, in huge smooth hills of water, darker than lead, 
 not a speck of foam, and the sky hot and clear. ' Twas 
 almost as if a weight had been lifted from off the long heav- 
 ing calm, and the whole round of it were going up dark into 
 the sky, in one weltering jumble, the more strange that it 
 was quiet: sweep up it took the boat, and the bright wet 
 oar blades spread feathering out for another stroke to 
 steady her, let alone making way; though that was noth- 
 ing to the look of the Indiaman when we got near. She 
 was rolling her big black hull round in it as helpless as a 
 cask ; now one side, then the other, dipping gunwale to in the 
 round swell that came heaping up level with her very rail, 
 and went sheeting out bright through the bulwarks again ; the 
 masts jumping, clamps and boom-irons creaking on the yards, 
 and every sail on her shaking, as her lower yard-arms took 
 it by turns to aim at the water you heard all the noise 
 of it, the plunge of her flat broadside, the plash from her 
 scuppers, the jolts of her rudder, and voices on board; and 
 wet you may be sure she was from stem to stern.
 
 no THE GREEN HAND 
 
 " 'Comfortable,' thought I ; 'we 've come home too soon of 
 a washing-day, and may wait at the door, I fear !' 'Oh dear,' 
 exclaimed the three griffins, 'how are we to get in!' and the 
 young ladies looked pale at the sight. The mate steered for 
 her larboard quarter without saying a word, but I saw he 
 lost coolness and got nervous not at all the man for a hard 
 pinch; seemingly, he meant to make a dash alongside and 
 hook on. 'If you do, sir,' said 1, you'll be smashed to 
 staves'; and all at once the ship appeared almost over our 
 heads, while the boat took a send in. I looked to Jacobs 
 and the men, and they gave one long stroke off, that seemed 
 next heave to put a quarter of a mile between us. 'Close 
 shave that,' said the bowman. 'Begs pardon, sir,' said Jacobs, 
 touching his hat, with his eyes still fixed past the mate, upon 
 me ; 'has n't we better keep steadying off, sir, till such time 
 as a sulk in the swell 'Hold your jaw, sirrah,' growled 
 Finch, as he looked ahead, still more flurried ; 'there 's a 
 squall coming yonder, gentlemen, and if we don't get quick 
 aboard, we may lose the ship in it ! Pull round, d 'ye hear 
 there!' Sure enough, when we lifted, there was the .French 
 brig clear out against a sulky patch of dark-gray sky, 
 growing in, as it were, far off behind the uneven swell, till it 
 began to look pale; the Jndiaman's topsails gave a loud flap 
 out, too, one after the other, and fell to the mast again. 
 
 "Suddenly I caught the glance of Violet Hyde's eyes 
 watching me seriously, as I sat overhauling the India- 
 man for a notion of what to do, and I fancied the charm- 
 ing girl had somehow got nearer to me during the last 
 minute or two, whether she knew it or not; at any rate, 
 the thought of having such a creature to protect made 
 all my blood tingle. 'Never fear, ma'am,' said I, in a half 
 whisper; when Finch's eye met mine, and he threw me a 
 malicious look, sufficient to show what a devil the fellow 
 would be if ever he had occasion; however, he gave the 
 sign for the men to stretch out again, and high time it 
 was, as the Indiaman's main-topsail made another loud 
 clap like a musket-shot. Still he was holding right for 
 her quarter the roll the ship had on her was fearful, and 
 it was perfect madness to try it; but few merchant mates 
 have chanced to be boating in a Line swell, I dare say; 
 when just as we came head on for her starboard counter, 
 I took the boat's tiller a sudden shove with my foot, as if 
 by accident, that sent us sheering in close under her stern. 
 The bowman prized his boat-hook into the rudder-chains, 
 where the big hull swung round us on both sides like an
 
 A SEA STORY in 
 
 immense wheel round its barrel, every stern window with 
 a face watching us though one stroke of the loose rudder 
 would have stove us to bits, and the swell was each moment 
 like to make the men let go, as it hove us up almost near 
 enough to have caught a hand from the lower-deck. 
 
 " 'For God's sake steady your wheel,' said I ; 'hard a-port !' 
 while the mate was singing out for a line. 'Now, up you go/ 
 said I to Jacobs, in the hubbub, 'look sharp, and send us 
 down a whip and basket from the boom-end, as we did 
 once in the "Pandora," you know !' Up the rope went Jacobs 
 like a cat, hand over hand: and five minutes after, down 
 came the 'basket' over our heads into the boat, made out 
 of a studding-sail and three capstan-bars, like a big grocer's 
 scale dangling from the spanker-boom. The mate proposed 
 to go up first with Miss Hyde, but she hung back in 
 favor of her companion; so away aloft went Miss Wynd- 
 ham and he, swinging across the Indiaman's stern as she 
 rolled again, with a gantline to steady them in Finch 
 holding on to the whip by one hand, and the other round 
 the young lady, while my blood crept at the thought how it 
 might have been Lota herself ! 
 
 "As soon as it came down again, she looked for a moment 
 from me to Jacobs, when Captain Williamson himself shouted 
 over the tailrail: 'Sharp, sharp, there! the squall's coming 
 down ! she '11 be up in the wind ! let 's get the helm free !' and 
 directly after I found myself swinging twenty feet over 
 the water with Violet Hyde, as the ship heeled to a puff 
 that filled the spanker, and rose again on a huge swell, 
 gathering steerage way, while every bolt of canvas in her 
 flapped in again at once like thunder. I felt her shudder 
 and cling to me there was one half minute we swung 
 fairly clear of the stern; they stopped hoisting and I al- 
 most thought I 'd have wished that same half minute half a 
 day; but a minute after she was in the Judge's arms on the 
 poop; the men had contrived to get the cadets on board, too, 
 and the boat was dragging astern, with the line veered out, 
 and her crew still in it baling her out. 
 
 "I fixed my eyes at once, breathless as we of the boat 
 party were, on the weather-signs and the other vessel, which 
 everybody on the poop was looking at, as soon as we were 
 safe, and our friends in the gig had to be thought of. 
 The short top-swell was beginning to soften in long, regu- 
 lar seas, with just air enough aloft to give our light sails 
 a purchase on it, and put an end to the infernal clatter; 
 but the vapor had gathered quicker than you could well
 
 ii2 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 fancy behind the brig in the distance, so that she looked 
 already a couple of miles nearer, rising up two or three 
 times on as many huge swells that shone like blue glass, 
 while she steadied herself like a tight-rope dancer on the top 
 of them, by a studding-sail set high from each side. On 
 the far horizon beyond her, you'd have thought there was 
 a deep black ditch sunk along under the thickening blue 
 haze, as it stretched out past her to both hands, till actually 
 the solid breast of it seemed to shove the brig bodily 
 forward over the oily-like water, every spar and rope dis- 
 tinct; then the fog lifted below as if the teeth of a saw 
 came spitting through it, and we saw her bearing down 
 towards us cloud, water, and all, as it were with a white 
 heap of foam at her bows. 
 
 " 'Brace up sharp, Mr. Finch !' said the old skipper hastily, 
 'and stand over to meet her. Confound this ! we must have 
 these people out of that brig in a trice; we shall soon have 
 a touch of the Horse Latitudes, or my name 's not Kichard 
 Williamson ay, and bid good-bye to 'em, too, I think!' 
 
 "For a quarter of an hour or so, accordingly, we kept 
 forging slowly ahead, while the brig continued to near us. 
 No one spoke, . almost you heard the lazy swash of the 
 water round our fore-chains, and the stillness aboard had 
 a gloomy enough eifect, as one noticed the top of the haze 
 creep up into round vapory heads upon the sky, and felt it 
 darkening aloft besides. We were scarce three quarters of 
 a mile apart, and could see her sharp black bows drip over 
 the bright sheathing, as she rolled easily on the swell; when 
 the Indiaman suddenly lost way again, sheered head round, 
 and slap went all her sails from the royals down, as if she 
 had fired a broadside. Almost the next moment, a long 
 low growl ran muttering and rumbling far away round the 
 horizon, from the clouds and back to them again, as if 
 they had been same huge monster or other on the watch, 
 with its broad green muzzle shooting quietly over us as 
 it lay; the brig dipped her gilt figure-head abeam of us, and 
 then showed her long red streak; the swell sinking fast, and 
 the whole sea far and wide coming out from the sky as 
 dark and round as the mahogany drum-head of the capstan. 
 
 '' 'Bless me, Small,' said the captain, 'but I hope they 've 
 not knocked a hole in my gig ay, there they are, I think, 
 looking over the brig's quarter but don't seem to have a 
 boat to swim! Get the cutter hauled alongside, Mr. Steb- 
 bing,' continued he to the fourth mate, 'and go aboard for 
 them a^ occe confounded bothering, this! Mind get my
 
 A SEA STORY 113 
 
 gjg safe, sir, if you please can ye parley-voo, though, Mr. 
 Stebbing?' 'Not a word, sir,' said the young mate, a 
 gentlemanly, rather soft fellow, whom the other three all 
 used to snub. 'Bless me, can't we muster a bit o' French 
 amongst us ?' said the skipper ; 'catch a monshoor that knows 
 a word of English, like any other man 'specially if they 've 
 a chance of keeping my gig!' 'Well, sir,' said I, 'I'll be 
 happy to go with the officer, as I can speak French well 
 enough!' 'Thank ye, young gentleman, thank ye,' said he, 
 'you 'il do it as well as any man, I 'm sure only look sharp, 
 if you please, and bring my gig with you!' So down the 
 side we bundled into the cutter, and pulled straight for the 
 brig, which had just hoisted French colors, not old 'three- 
 patches,' of course, but the new Restoration flag. 
 
 "1 overhauled her well as we got near, and a beautiful 
 long schooner-model she was, with sharp bows, and a fine 
 easy-run hull from stem to stern, but dreadfully dirty, and 
 spoiled with top bulwarks, as if they meant to make her 
 look as clumsy as possible; while the brig-rig of her aloft, 
 with the ropes hanging in bights and hitches, gave her 
 the look of a hedge-parson on a race horse; at the same 
 time, 1 counted six closed ports of a side, in her red streak, 
 the exact breadth and color of itself. Full of men, with a 
 long gun, and schooner-rigged, she could have sailed round 
 the Indiaman in a light breeze and mauled her to any 
 extent. 
 
 "They hove us a line out of the gangway at once, the 
 mate got up her side as she rolled gently over, and I fol- 
 lowed him: the scene that met our eyes as soon as we 
 reached the deck, however, struck me a good deal on various 
 accounts. We could n't at first see where Mr. Kollock and 
 his party might be, for the shadow of a thick awning after 
 the glare of the water, and the people near the brig's gang- 
 way; but I saw two or three dark-faced, very French-like 
 individuals, in broad-brimmed straw hats and white trousers, 
 seemingly passengers; while about twenty Kroomen and 
 negroes, and as many seamen with unshaven chins, ear- 
 rings, and striped frocks, were in knots before the longboat, 
 turned keel up amidships, careless enough, to all appearance, 
 about us. One of the passengers leaned against the main- 
 mast, with his arms folded over his broad chest, and his legs 
 crossed, looking curiously at us as we came up; his dark 
 eyes half closed, the shadow of his hat down to his black 
 moustache, and his shirt-collar open, showing a scar on 
 his hairy breast; one man, whom I marked for the brig's
 
 ii 4 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 surgeon, beside him; and another waiting for us near the 
 bulwarks a leathery-faced little fellow, with twinkling black 
 eyes, and a sort of cocked hat fore-and-aft on his cropped 
 head. 'Moi, monsieur,' said he, slapping his hand on his 
 breast as the mate looked about him, 'oui, je suis capitaine, 
 monsieur.' 
 
 "'Good-day, sir,' said Stebbing, 'we've just come aboard 
 for our passengers and the gig sir, if you please.' 'Cer- 
 tainement, monsieur,' said the French skipper, bowing and 
 taking a paper from his pocket, which he handed to the mate, 
 'I comprind, sare monsieur le capitaine de la fregate An- 
 glaise, il nous demande nos vat you call peppares viola! 
 I have 'ad le honneur, messieurs, to be already sarch by vun 
 off vos crusoes pour des esclaves! vous imaginez cela, mes- 
 sieurs!' and here the worthy Frenchman cast up his hands 
 and gave a grin which seemed meant for innocent horror. 
 'Slaifs! chez le brigantin "Louis Bourbon," Capitaine Jean 
 Duprez? Non!' said he, talking away like a windmill, 'de 
 
 Marseilles a 1'Isle de France, avec les vins choisis ' 'You 
 
 mistake, monsieur,' said I, in French; 'the ship is an India- 
 man, and we have only come for our friends, who are en- 
 joying your wine, I dare say, but we must ' 'Comment 'f 
 
 said he, staring, 'what, monsieur? have de gotness to ' 
 
 "Here the moustached passenger suddenly raised himself 
 off the mast, and made one stride between us to the bul- 
 warks, where he looked straight out at the Indiaman, his 
 arms still folded, then from us to the French master. He 
 was a noble-looking man, with an eye I never saw the like 
 of in anyone else, 't was so clear, bold, and prompt it 
 actually went into you like a sword, and I could n't help 
 fancying him in the thick of a battle, with thousands of 
 men and miles of smoke. 'Duprez,' said he, quickly, 'je 
 vous le dis encore debarquez ces miserables! nous com- 
 battronsP 'Then, mon ami,' said the surgeon, in a low, cool, 
 determined tone, stepping up and laying a hand on his 
 shoulder, 'aussi, nous couperons les ailes de I'Aigle, seule- 
 ment ! Hush, mon ami, restrain this unfortunate madness 
 of yours! c'est bien mal-a-propos, a present!' and he whis- 
 pered something additional, on which the passenger fell back 
 and leaned against the mainmast as before. 'Ah!' said the 
 French master in his own language, shaking his head, and 
 giving his forehead a tap, 'le pauvre homme-la! He has 
 had a coup-de-soleil, messieurs, or rather of the moon, you 
 perceive, from sleeping in its rays! Ma foil' exclaimed he,
 
 A SEA STORY 115 
 
 on. my explaining the matter, Vest pos-sible? we did 
 suppose your boat proposed us the honor to visit, when 
 evidently deterred by the excessive undulation! My friends, 
 
 resign yourselves to a misfort ' 'Great heavens! Mr. 
 
 Stebbing,' said I, 'the boat is lost!' 'By George! what will 
 the captain say, then !' replied he ; however, as soon as I 
 told him the sad truth, poor Stebbing, being a good- 
 hearted fellow, actually put his hands to his face and 
 sobbed. 
 
 "All this time the brig's crew were gabbling and kicking 
 up a confounded noise about something they were at with, 
 the spare spars, and in throwing tarpaulins over the hatches; 
 for it was fearfully dark, and going to rain heavy; the slight 
 swell shone and slid up betwixt the two vessels like oil, and 
 the clouds to south-westward had gathered up to a steep 
 black bank, with round coppery heads, like smoke over a 
 town on fire. 'Will you go down, messieurs,' said the French- 
 man, politely, 'and taste my vin de ' 'No, sir,' said I, 'we 
 must make haste off, or else besides, by the way, we 
 could n't, for you 've got all your hatches battened down !' 
 'Diable, so they are!' exclaimed he, 'par honneur, gentle- 
 men, I regret the occasion of ha!' Just before, a glaring 
 brassy sort of touch had seemed to come across the face of the 
 immense cloud; and though everything, far and wide, was 
 as still as death, save the creaking of the two ships' yards, 
 it made you think of the last trumpet's mouth! But at 
 this moment a dazzling flash leaped zigzag out of it, 
 running along from one cloud to another, while the huge 
 dark mass, as it were, tore right up, changing and turning it 
 inside out like dust you saw the sea far away under it, 
 heaving from glassy blue into unnatural-like brown when 
 crash broke the thunder over our very heads, as if something 
 had fallen out of heaven, then a long bounding roar. The 
 mad French passenger stood up, walked to the bulwarks, 
 and looked out with his hand over his eyes for the next; 
 while the young mate and I tumbled down the brig's 
 side without further to-do, and pulled fast for the ship, 
 where we hardly got aboard before there was another wild 
 flash, another tremendous clap, and the rain fell in one 
 clash, more like stone than water, on sea and decks. For 
 half an hour we were rolling and soaking in the midst 
 of it, the lightning hissing through the rain, and show- 
 ing it glitter; while every five minutes came a burst of 
 thunder and then a rattle fit to split one's ears. At length, 
 just as the rain began to slacken, you could see it lift bodily,
 
 n6 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the standing sheets of it drove right against our canvas 
 and through the awnings when we made out the .French 
 brig with her jib, topsails, and boom-mainsail full, lean- 
 ing over as she clove through it before the wind. 
 
 "The sauall burst into our wet topsails as loud as the 
 thunder, with a flash almost like the lightning itself, taking 
 us broad abeam; the ship groaned and shook for a minute 
 ere gathering way and falling off, and when she rose and 
 began to go plunging through the black surges, no brig 
 was to be seen: every man on deck let his breath out 
 almost in a cry, scarce feeling as yet but it was equal 
 to losing sight for ever of our late shipmates, or the least 
 hope of them. The passengers, ladies and all, crowded in 
 the companion-hatch in absolute terror, every face aghast, 
 without thinking of the rain and spray; now and then 
 the sulky crest of a bigger wave would be caught sight 
 of beyond the bulwarks, as the sea rose with its green 
 back curling over into white ; and you 'd have said the 
 shudder ran down into the cabin, at thought of seeing 
 one or other of the lost boat's crew come weltering up 
 from the mist and vanish again. I knew it was of no use, 
 but I held on in the weather mizzen-rigging, and looked out 
 to westward, against a wild break of light which the set- 
 ting sun made through the troughs of the sea; once and 
 again I could fancy I saw the boat lift keel up, far off 
 betwixt me and the fierce glimmer. 
 
 " 'Oh, do you see them ? do you not see it yet !' was 
 passed up to me over and over, from one sharp-pitched voice 
 to another; but all I could answer was to shake my head. 
 At last, one by one, they went below; and after what had 
 happened, I must say I could easily fancy what a chill, 
 dreary-like, awful notion of the sea must have come for the 
 first time on a landsman, not to speak of delicate young girls 
 fresh from home, at sight of the drenched quarter-deck lean- 
 ing bare down to leeward, the sleet and spray battering 
 bleak against the round-house doors, where I had seen Miss 
 Hyde led sobbing in, with her wet hair about her face; then 
 the ship driving off from where she had lost them, with her 
 three strong lower-masts aslant into the gale, ghastly-white 
 and dripping her soaked sheets cf canvas blown gray and 
 stiff into the rigging, and it strained taut as iron ; while you 
 saw little of her higher than the tops, as the scud and the 
 dark _ together closed aloft. Poor Miss Fortescue's mother 
 was in fits below in her berth the two watches were on 
 the yards aloft, where no eye could see them, struggling
 
 A SEA STORY 117 
 
 hard to furl and reef; so altogether it was a gloomy enough 
 moment. I stayed awhile on deck, wrapped in a pea-coat, 
 keeping my feet and hanging on, and thinking how right 
 down in earnest matters could turn of a sudden. I was n't 
 remarkably thoughtful in these days, I dare say, but there 
 did I keep, straining my eyes into the mist to see, 1 could n't 
 tell what, and repeating over and over again to myself 
 these few words out of the prayer-book, 'In the midst of 
 life we are in death,' though scarce knowing what I said. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 "HOWEVER, the Indiaman's officers and crew had work 
 enough in managing her at present: after a sunset more 
 like the putting out of him than anything else, with a flaring 
 snuff and a dingy sort of smoke that followed, the wind grew 
 from sou'-west into a regular long gale, that drove the 
 tops of the heavy seas into the dead-lights astern, rising aft 
 out of the dark like so many capes, with the snow drifting off 
 them over the poop. At midnight, it blew great guns, with 
 a witness; the ship, under storm staysails and close-reefed 
 main-topsail, going twelve knots or more, when, as both 
 the captain and mate reckoned, we were near St. Helena 
 on our present course, and to haul on a wind was as much as 
 her spars were worth; her helm was put hard down, and we 
 lay to for morning, the ship drifting off bodily to leeward with 
 the water. The night was quite dark, the rain coming in sud- 
 den spits out of the wind ; you only heard the wet gale sob and 
 hiss through the bare rigging into her storm canvas, when 
 the lookout men ahead, sung out, 'Land land close to star- 
 board !' 'Bless me, sir,' said the mate to the captain, 'it 's 
 the Rock well that we did 'Hard up ! hard up with 
 the helm!' yelled the men again, 'it 's a ship!' 
 
 "1 ran to the weather main-chains and saw a broad black 
 mass, as it were, rising high abeam, and seeming to come out 
 from the black of the night, with a gleam or two in it which 
 they had taken for lights ashore in the island. The 'Seringa- 
 patam's' wheel was put up already, but she hung in the gale, 
 doubtful whether to fall off or not: and the moment she did 
 sink into the trough, we should have had a sea over her 
 broadside fit to wash away men, boats, and all let alone the 
 other ship bearing down at twelve knots. 'Show the head
 
 u8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 of the fore-topmast-staysail!' shouted I with all my strength 
 to the forecastle, and up it went slapping its hanks to the 
 blast the Indiaman sprang round heenng to her ports on the 
 next sea, main-topsail before the wind, and the staysail down 
 again. Next minute a large ship, with the foam washing over 
 her catheads, and her martingale gear dripping under the 
 huge white bowsprit, came lifting close past us as black as 
 shadows aloft, save the glimmer of her maintack to the 
 lanterns aboard and knot after knot of dim faces above her 
 bulwarks shot by, till you saw her captain standing high in 
 the mizzen-ehains, with a speaking-trumpet. He roared out 
 something or other through it, and the skipper sung out 
 under both his hands, 'Ay, ay, sir,' in answer; but it turned 
 out after that nobody knew what it was, unless it might be, as 
 I thought, 'Where are you going?' The minute following, 
 we saw her quarter-lanterns like two will-o'-the-wisps beyond 
 a wave, and she was gone a big frigate running under half 
 her canvas, strong though the gale blew. 
 
 "'Why, Mr. Finch,' said Captain Williamson, as soon as 
 we had time to draw breath, 'who was that bid show the 
 f o'topmast-stays'l ; 't wan't you?' 'No,' said the mate, 'I 'd like 
 to know who had the hanged impudence to give orders here 
 without -' 'Well now, Finch,' continued the old skipper, 
 'I 'm not sure but that was our only chance at the moment, 
 sir ; and if 't was one of the men, why I 'd pass it over, or even 
 give him an extra glass of grog in a quiet way.' No one could 
 say who it was, however; and, for my part, the sight of the 
 frigate made me still more cautious than before of letting out 
 what Westwood and I were. In fact, I could n't help feeling 
 rather uneasy, and I was glad to hear the superstitious old 
 sailmaker whispering about how he feared there was no luck 
 to be looked for 'when drowned men and ghostesses began to 
 work the ship !' 
 
 "The first streak of dawn was hardly seen, when a sail 
 could be made out in it, far on our lee bow, which the officers 
 supposed to be the frigate. Westwood and I, however, were 
 of opinion it was the French brig, although by sunrise we lost 
 sight of her again. Every one in the cuddy talked of our un- 
 fortunate friends and their melancholy fate; even Ford and 
 Winterton were missed, while old Mr. Eollock had been the 
 life of the passengers. But there was naturally still more felt 
 for the poor girl Fortescue; it made all of us gloomy for a 
 day or two; though the fresh breeze and the Indiaman's fast 
 motion, after our wearisome spell of a calm, did a great deal 
 to bring things round again. Westwood was greatly taken
 
 A SEA STORY 119 
 
 up with my account of the brig and her people, both of us 
 agreeing there was somewhat suspicious about her, though 1 
 thought she was probably neither more nor less than a slaver, 
 and he had a notion she was after something deeper: what 
 that might be, 't was hard to conceive, as they did n't appear 
 like pirates. One thing, however, we did conclude from the 
 matter, that the brig couldn't have been at all inclined 
 for visitors; and, in fact, there was little doubt but she 
 would actually refuse letting the boat aboard, if they reached 
 her; so in all likelihood our unhappy friends had been 
 swamped on that very account, just as the squall came on. 
 When this idea got about the ship, of course you may suppose 
 neither passengers nor crew 'to have felt particularly amiable 
 towards the French vessel ; and if we had met her again, with 
 any good occasion for it, all hands were much inclined to give 
 her a right-down thrashing, if not to make prize of her as a 
 bad character. 
 
 " 'Well, Tom,' said I to Westwood one day, 'I wish these 
 good folks may n't be disappointed, but I do suspect this 
 blessed mate of ours will turn out to have run us into some 
 fine mess or other with his navigation ! Did you notice how 
 Ulue the sky looked this morning, over to eastward, compared 
 with what it did just now where the sun set?' 'No,' said 
 Westwood, 'not particularly; but what of that'f 'Why, in 
 the "Iris," ' replied I, 'we used always to reckon that a sign, 
 hereabouts, of our being near the land! Just you see now, 
 to-morrow morning, if the dawn has n't a hazy yellow look in 
 it before the breeze fails ; in which case 't is the African coast 
 to a certainty ! Pity these "Hyson Mundungo" men, as Jack 
 calls them, should n't have their eyes about them as well as on 
 the log-slate. I dare say now,' continued I, laughing, 'you 
 heard the first mate bothering lately about the great variation 
 in the compass here ? Well, what do you suppose was the rea- 
 son of it, but that sly devil of a kitmagar shoving in his block 
 for grinding curry under the feet of the binnacle every time 
 he was done using it ! I saw him get a kick one morning from 
 the man at the wheel, who chanced to look down and notice 
 him. Gocd solid iron it is, though painted and polished like 
 marble, and the circumcised rascal unluckily considered the 
 whole binnacle as a sort of second Mecca for security.' 'Hang 
 the fellow!' said Westwood, 'but I don't see much to laugh 
 at, Ned. Why, if you 're right, we shall all be soaked and 
 fried into African fever before reaching the Cape, and we 've 
 had misfortunes enough already. Only think of an exquisite 
 creature like Miss ' 'Oh,' interrupted I, fancying Master
 
 i-2o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 Tom began lately to show sufficient admiration for her, 
 'betwixt an old humdrum and a conceited fool like that, what 
 could you expect? All I say is, my dear parson, stand by 
 for a pinch when it comes.' 
 
 "On going down to tea in the cuddy, we found the party 
 full of spirits, and for the first time there was no mention of 
 their lost fellow passengers, except amongst a knot of cadets 
 and writers rather elevated by the Madeira after dinner, who 
 were gathered round the Reverend Mr. Knovvles, pretending 
 to talk regretfully of his Yankee friend Mr. Daniel Snout. 
 'Yes, gentlemen,' said the missionary, who was a worthy, 
 pimple-hearted person, 'in spite of some uncouthness, and per- 
 haps limited views, the result of defective education, he was 
 an excellent man, I think.' 'Oh certainly, certainly,' said a 
 writer, looking to his friends, 'and the one thing needful you 
 spoke of just now, sir, I dare say he had it always in his eye, 
 now ?' 'Mixed, I fear,' replied the missionary, 'with some ele- 
 ment of worldly feeling, for in America they are apt to make 
 even the soul, as well as religious association, matter of com- 
 merce; but Mr. Snout, I have reason to be assured, had the 
 true welfare of India at heart. We had much interesting 
 conversation on the subject.' 'Ah,' saij the sharp civilians, 
 'he was fond of getting information, was poor Daniel. Was 
 that why he asked you so many questions about the Hindoo 
 gods, Mr. Knowles?' 'He already possessed much general 
 knowledge of their strange mythology himself,' answered the 
 missionary, 'and I confess I was surprised at it, especially as 
 he confessed to me that that gorgeous country, with its 
 many boundless capabilities, should have occupied his 
 thoughts more and more from boyhood, amidst the secular 
 activity of modern life even as it occurred unto myself !' 
 
 "Here the worthy man took off his large spectacles, gave 
 them a wipe, and put them on again, while he finished his tea. 
 'Before this deplorable dispensation,' continued he again, 
 'he was on the point of revealing to me a great scheme at 
 once for the enlightenment, I believe, of that benighted land, 
 and for more lucrative support to those engaged in it. I fear, 
 gentlemen, it was enthusiasm but I have grounds for think- 
 ing that our departed friend has left in this vessel many 
 packages of volumes translated into several dialects of the 
 great Hindoo tongue not omitting, I am convinced, the best 
 of books.' 'Where!' exclaimed several of the cadets, rather 
 astonished. 'Well! poor Snout can't have been such a bad 
 fellow, after all!' 'All hum!' said the writer, doubtfully, 
 'depend upon it. I should like now to have a peep at
 
 A SEA STORY 121 
 
 Jonathan's bales!' 'I myself have thought, also,' said the 
 missionary, 'it would gratify me to look into his apartment 
 and were it permitted to use one or two of the volumes, 1 
 
 should cheerfully 011 our arrival in Bom ' 'Come along/ 
 
 said the cadets 'let 's have a look ! should n't wonder to see 
 Daniel beside his lion yet, within ! or hear "Guess I ain't." ' 
 'My young friends,' said the missionary, as we all went along 
 the lighted passage, 'such levity is unseemly' ; and indeed the 
 look of the stateroom door, fastened outside, as the steward 
 had left it before the gale came on, made the brisk cadets 
 keep quiet till the lashing on it was unfastened 't was so like 
 breaking in upon a ghost. However, as it chanced, Mr. Snout's 
 goods had got loose during her late roll, and heaped down to 
 leeward against the door so, whenever they turned the 
 handle, a whole bundle of packages came tumbling out of the 
 dark as it burst open, with a shower of small affairs like so 
 many stones after them. 
 
 " 'What 's all this 'f exclaimed the cadets, stooping to 
 look at the articles by the lamp-light, strewed as they were 
 over the deck. The reverend gentleman stooped, too, stood 
 straight, wiped his spectacles, and fixed them on his nose, 
 then stooped again; at length one long exclamation of 
 surprise broke out of his mouth. They were nothing but 
 little ugly images done in earthenware, painted and gilt, 
 and all exactly the same: the writer dived into a canvas 
 package, and there was a lot of a different kind, somewhat 
 larger and uglier. Every one made free with a bale for him- 
 self, shouting out his discoveries to the rest. 'I say, Smythe, 
 this is Vishnu, it 's marked in the corner !' 'I say, Kamsay, 
 here 's Brahma !' 'Ha ! ha ! ha ! if 7 have n't got JSeeva !' '1 
 say, what 's this though ?' screamed a young lad, hauling at 
 the biggest bale of all, while the missionary stood stock 
 upright, a perfect picture of bewilderment, 'Lo!' being all he 
 could say. The lad had lighted on a gross or so of hideous 
 gentlemen and ladies with three heads and five arms, packed 
 nicely through each other in cotton, but inside the stateroom. 
 At this last prize, however, the poor missionary could stand 
 it no longer. 'Oh ! oh !' groaned he, clapping his hand to his 
 head, and walking slowly off to his berth ; while, as the truth 
 gleamed on the cadets and us, we sat down on the deck 
 amidst the spoil, and roared with laughter like to go into i n 'ts, 
 at the unfortunate Yankee's scheme for converting India.* 
 
 It is here due to the credit of onr friend the captain, who was not unusually 
 ima<rinati ve for a sailor, to state, that this speculation, as a commercial one. is 
 strictly and literally a fact, as the Anglo-Indian of Calcutta can probably
 
 122 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 I had found the American by no means to my fancy as a 
 berth-mate, so after some dealings with the steward, I not 
 only had secured a pretty comfortable berth for my poor 
 friend Westwood,but one for myself. This had been, in short, 
 roon afterwards managed, with the help of some shifting 
 among the best-natured of the young cadets. 
 
 " 'Well hang me !' said a writer, as soon as he could 
 speak, 'but this is a stroke beyond the Society for Diffusing 
 Useful Knowledge!' 'Every man his own priest ha! ha! 
 ha!' shouted another. 'I say, Cmythe,' sung out a cadet, 
 'just fancy ha ! ha ! "D. Snout, Esquire, and Co." ho ! ho ! 
 ho ! you know it 's too rich to enjoy by ourselves, "if 7/thullogy 
 store," Bombay, near the cathedral!' 'Cheap Brahmas, 
 wholesale and retail eh? families supplied!' 'By George! 
 he 's a genius lost !' said Smythe ; 'but the parson need n't 
 have broken with him for that I should n't wonder, now, if 
 they had joined partnership, but Daniel might have thought 
 of mining all their clay heads with gunpowder and percussion 
 locks, so that the missionary could have gone round after- 
 wards and blown up heathenship by a touch !' 
 
 "The noise of all this soon brought along the rest of the 
 gentlemen, and few could help laughing. When the thing 
 got wind on deck, however, neither the old skipper nor the 
 men seemed to like it much; what with the notion of the 
 ship's being taken, as it were, by a thousand or two of ugly 
 little imps and Pagan idols, besides bringing up a drowned 
 man's concerns, and 'yawhawing,' as they said, into his very 
 door it was thought the best thing to have them all chucked 
 overboard next morning. 
 
 ' 'T was a beautifully fine night, clear aloft, and the moon 
 rising large on our larboard bow, out of a delicate pale sort of 
 haze, as the ship headed southard with the breeze; for I 
 marked the haze particularly, as well as the color of the sky, 
 that lay high over it, like a deep-blue hollow going away down 
 beyond, and filling up with the light. There was no living 
 belpw^ for heat, and the showers of cockroaches that went 
 whirring at the lamps, and marching, with their horrid feelers 
 out, straight up your legs; so, fore and aft, the decks were 
 astir with us all. Talk of moonlight on land ! but even in the 
 tropics you have to see it pouring right down, as it was then, 
 the whole sky full of it aloft as the moon drew farther up, 
 till it came raining, as it were, in a single sheet from one 
 
 testify. The bold and all but poetical catholicity of the idea could have been 
 reached, perhaps, by the " progressing " American intellect alone, while Staf- 
 fordshire, it is certain, furnished its realization; the investment, it is never- 
 theless believed, proved eventually unprofitable.
 
 A SEA STORY 123 
 
 bend of the horizon to another, the water scarce rippling 
 to the breeze, only heaving in long low swells that you 
 heard just wash her bends; one track brighter than the 
 rest, shining and glancing like a looking-glass drawn out, for 
 a mile or so across our quarter, and the ship's shadow under 
 her other bow. You saw the men far forward in her head, and 
 clustered in a heap on the bowsprit-heel, enjoying it mightily, 
 and looking out or straight aloft, as if to polish their 
 mahogany faces, and get their bushy whiskers silvered ; while 
 the awnings being off the poop, the planks in it came out like 
 so much ivory from the shade of the spanker, which sent 
 down a perfect gush of light on every one moving past. For 
 the air, again, as all the passengers said, it was balmy, though 
 for my part perhaps it might be a fancy of mine but now 
 and then I thought it sniffed a little too much that way to be 
 altogether pleasant in the circumstances. 
 
 "Of course, no sooner had I caught sight of Sir Charles 
 Hyde than I looked for his daughter, and last saw some one 
 talking to a young lady seated near the after-gratings, with 
 her head turned round sea-ward, whom it didn't require much 
 guessing for me to name. Not having seen her at all since the 
 affair of the boats, I strolled aft, when I was rather surprised 
 to find that her companion was Tom Westwood, and they 
 seemed in the thick of an interesting discourse. The instant 
 I got near, however, they broke it off ; the young lady turned 
 her head and never, I d swear, was woman's face seen fairer 
 than I thought hers at that moment when the bright moon- 
 light, that had seemed trying to steal round her loose bonnet 
 and peep in, fell straight down at once from her forehead to 
 her chin, appearing, as it were, to dance in under her long 
 eyelashes to meet her eyes ; while one fall of her brown hair 
 hung bright in it, glistening against the shadow round her 
 cheek, that drew the charming line of her nose and lip as 
 clear as the horizon on the sky! The very moment, in fact, 
 that a bitter thought flashed into my mind, for to my fancy 
 she looked vexed at seeing me, and a color seemed mounting 
 tip to her cheek, even through the fairy sort of glimmer on it. 
 Could Tom Westwood have been acting no more than the 
 clerical near such a creature? and if a fellow like him took 
 it in his head, what chance had I? The next minute, 
 accordingly, she rose off her seat, and gave me a slight bow 
 in answer to mine, and walked direct to the gallery stair, 
 where she disappeared. 
 
 "'We were talking of that unlucky adventure the other 
 day,' said Westwood, glancing at me, but rather taken aback,
 
 124 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 as I thought. 'Ay?' said I, carelessly. 'Yes,' continued 
 he; 'Miss Hyde had no idea you and I were particularly 
 acquainted, and seems to think me a respectable clergyman, 
 but 1 must tell you, Ned, she has rather a suspicious opinion 
 of yourself!' 'Oh, indeed!' said I suddenly. 'Fact, Ned,' 
 said he; 'she even remembers having seen you before, some- 
 where or other I hope, my dear fellow, it wasn't on the 
 stage?' 'Ha! ha! how amusing!' 1 said, with the best 
 laugh I could get up. 'At any rate, Collins,' he went on, 
 'she sees through your feigned way of carrying on, and knows 
 you 're neither griffin nor landlubber, but a sailor, for I fancy 
 this is not the first time the young lady has met with the 
 cloth! What do you suppose she asked me now, quite 
 seriously?' 'Oh, I couldn't guess, of course,' replied 1, 
 
 almost with a sneer; 'pray don't ' 'Why, she inquired 
 
 what could be the design of one concealing his profession so 
 carefully and actually appearing to be on a secret under- 
 standing with some of the sailors ! Directly after, she asked 
 whether that brig might n't really have been a pirate, and 
 taken off the poor general, Miss Fortescue, and the rest?' 
 'Ah,' said I, coldly, 'and if I might venture to ask, what did 
 you 'Oh, of course,' replied Westwood, laughing, '1 
 could only hide my amusement and profess doubts, you know, 
 Ned !' 'Very good joke, Mr. Westwood,' thought I to myself, 
 'but at least you can't weather on me quite so innocently, my 
 fine fellow ! I did n't think it of him, after all ! By heaven, I 
 did not!' 
 
 "By the bye, Collins,' exclaimed Westwood in a little, as 
 he kept his eye astern, 'there 's something away yonder on our 
 lee quarter that I 've been watching for these last ten minutes 
 what do think it may be? Look! just in the tail of the 
 moonshine yonder !' What it might be, I cared little enough 
 at the time, but I did give a glance, and saw a little black dot, 
 as it were, rising and falling with the long run of the water, 
 apparently making way before the breeze. 'Only a bit of 
 wood, I dare say,' remarked I ; 'but whatever it is, at any rate, 
 the drift will take it far to leeward of us, so you need n't 
 mind.' Here we heard a steward come up and say to the first 
 officer, who was waiting with the rest to take a lunar observa- 
 tion, that Captain Williamson had turned in unwell, but he 
 wanted to hear when they found the longitude; accordingly 
 they got their altitude, and went on making the calculations 
 on deck. _ 'Well, steward,' said the mate, after a little humming 
 and hawing, 'go down and tell the captain, in the meantime,
 
 A SEA STORY 125 
 
 about five east; but I think it 's a good deal over the mark 
 say 1 '11 be down myself directly.' 
 
 " 'A long sight below the mark, rather !' said I, walking 
 aft again, where Westwood kept still looking out for the black 
 dot. 'You '11 see it nearer now, Ned,' said he ; 'more like a 
 negro's head, or his hand, than a bit of wood eh'f 'Curious !' 
 1 said; 'it lies well up for our beam still, 'spite of the breeze. 
 Must be a shark's back fin, I think, making for convoy. In ten 
 minutes longer the light swell in the distance gave it a lift 
 up fair into the moonshine; it gleamed for a moment, and 
 then seemed to roll across into the blue glimmer of the sea. 'I 
 say, Collins,' said Westwood, gazing eagerly at it, ' 't is more 
 like a bottle, to my sight !' We walked back and forward, 
 looking each time over the taffrail, till at length the affair in 
 Question could be seen dipping and creeping ahead in the 
 smooth shining wash of the surface, just like to go bobbing 
 across our bows and be missed to windward. 'Crossing our 
 hawse I do declare! Hanged if that ain't fore-reaching on us, 
 with a witness !' exclaimed the two of us together : 'And a 
 bottlo it is!' said Westwood. 
 
 "I slipped down the poop-stair, and along to the fore- 
 castle, where I told Jacobs; when two or three of the men 
 went out on the martingale stays, with the bight of a line and 
 a couple of blocks in it, ready to throw round this said float- 
 ing oddity, and haul it alongside as it surged past. Shortly 
 after we had it safe in our hands; a square-built old Dutch- 
 man it was, tight-corked, with a red rag round the neck, and 
 crusted over with salt almost like one of Vanderdecken's 
 messages home, coming up as it did from the wide glittering 
 sea, of a tropical moonlight night, seven weeks or so after our 
 leaving land. The men who had got it seemed afraid of their 
 prize, so Westwood and I had no difficulty in smuggling it 
 away below to our berth, where we both sat down on a locker 
 and looked at one another. 'What poor wretch hove this over- 
 board, I wonder, now,' said he; 'I dare say it may have 
 knocked about, God knows how long, since his affair was set- 
 tled.' 'Why ^ for that matter, Westwood,' replied I, 'I fancy it 's 
 much more important to find there 's a strong easterly current 
 hereabouts just now.'* 
 
 "Here Westwood got a corkscrew, and pulled out the cork 
 with a true parson-like gravity; as we had expected, there 
 was a paper tacked to it, crumpled up, and scrawled over in 
 what we could only suppose was Hood. 
 
 * Currents are designated from the direction they run tcnvards ; winds, the 
 quarter they blow/rom.
 
 i 2 6 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 " 'No. 20,' read he, 'what does that mean ?' 'The twentieth 
 bottle launched, perhaps,' said I, and he went on 'For God a 
 sake, if you find this, keep to the south-west we are going 
 that way, we think we've fallen amongst regular thugs, 1 
 f ear _j us t from the folly of these three griffins (they 're look- 
 ing over my shoulder, though) we are not ill-treated yet, but 
 
 kept below and watched yours in haste ' 'What this 
 
 signature is I can't say for the life of me, Ned; no date 
 either.' 'Did the fellow think he was writing by post, I won- 
 der ?' said I, trying to make it out. 'By the powers, Westwood, 
 though,' and I jumped up, 'that bottle might have come from 
 the Pacific, 't is true but what if it were old llollock, after 
 all ! Thugs, did you say ? Why, I should n't wonder if the 
 jolly old planter were on the hooks still. That rascally brig !' 
 And accordingly, on trying the scrawl at the end, over and 
 over, we both agreed that it was nothing but 'X. Rollock,' " 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE next evening our friend the captain found his fair 
 audience by the tatfrail increased to a round dozen, while 
 several of the gentlemen passengers lounged near, and the 
 chief officer divided his attention between the gay group of 
 ladies below and the "fanning" main-topsail high up, with 
 its corresponding studding-sail hung far out aloft to the 
 breeze ; the narrative having by this time contracted a sort of 
 professional interest, even to his matter-of-fact taste, which 
 enabled him to enjoy greatly the occasional glances of sly 
 humor directed to him by his superior, for whom he evidently 
 entertained a kind of admiring respect, that seemed to be 
 enhanced as he listened. As for the commander himself, he 
 related the adventures in question with a spirit and vivid- 
 ness of manner that contributed to them no small charm: 
 amusingly contrasted with the cool, dry, indifferent sort of 
 gravity of countenance, amidst which the keen gray sea- 
 wardly eye, under the peak of the naval cap, kept changing 
 and twinkling as it seemed to run through the experience of 
 youth again sometimes almost approaching to an undeniable 
 wink. The expression of it at this time, however, was more 
 serious, while it apepared to run alono- the dotted reef -band of 
 the mizzen-topsail above, as across the entry in a log-book, 
 and as if there were something interesting to come.
 
 A SEA STORY 127 
 
 "Well, my dear captain," asked his matronly relative, 
 "what comes next? You and your friend had picked up a 
 a what was it now!" 
 
 "Ah! I remember, ma'am," said the naval man, laughing; 
 "the bottle that was where I was. Well, as you may con- 
 ceive, this said scrap of penmanship in the bottle did take 
 both of us rather on end; and for two or three minutes West- 
 wood and I sat staring at each other and the uncouth-look- 
 ing fist, in an inquiring sort of way, like two cocks over a 
 beetle. Westwood, for his part, was doubtful of its being the 
 planter's writing at all; but the whole thing, when I thougb.1; 
 of it, made itself as clear to me, so far, as two half -hitches, and 
 so the angrier I was at myself for being done by a frog-eating 
 bloody-politeful set of Frenchmen like these. Could we only 
 have clapped eyes on the villainous thieving craft at the time, 
 by Jove ! if I would n't have manned a boat from the India- 
 man, leave or no leave, and boarded her in another fashion. 
 But where they were now, what they meant, and whether we 
 should ever see them again, heaven only knew. For all we 
 could say, indeed, something strange might have turned up 
 at home in Europe a new war, old Boney got loose once 
 more, or what not and I could scarcely fall asleep for guess- 
 ing and bothering over the matter, as restless as the first night 
 we cruised down the Channel in the old 'Pandora.' 
 
 "Early in the morning-watch a sudden stir of the men on 
 deck woke me, and I bundled up in five minutes' time. But 
 it was only the second mate setting them to wash decks, and 
 out they came from all quarters, yawning, stretching them- 
 selves, and tucking up their trousers, as they passed the full 
 buckets lazily along; while a couple of boys could be seen 
 hard at work to keep the head-pump going, up against the 
 gray sky over "the bow. However, I was so anxious to have 
 the first lookout ahead, that I made a bold push through the 
 thick of it for the bowsprit, where I went out till I could see 
 nothing astern of me but the Indiaman's big black bows and 
 figure-head, swinging as it were round the spar I sat upon, 
 with the spread of her canvas coming dim after me out of the 
 fog, and a lazy snatch of foam lifting to her cut-water as the 
 breeze died away. 
 
 "The sun was just beginning to rise; ten minutes before 
 it had been almost quite dark ; there was a mist on the water, 
 and the sails were heavy with dew; when a circle began to 
 open round us, where the surface looked as smooth and dirty 
 as in a dock, the haze seeming to shine through, as the sun- 
 light came sifting through it, like silver gauze. You saw
 
 128 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the big red top of the sun glare against the water-line, 
 and a wet gleam of crimson came sliding from one smooth 
 blue swell to another; while the back of the haze astern 
 turned from blue to purple, and went lifting away into 
 vapory streaks and patches. All of a sudden the ship came 
 clear out aloft and on the water, with her white streak as 
 bright as snow, her fore-royal and truck gilded, her broad 
 foresail as red as blood, and every face on deck shining as 
 they looked ahead, where I felt like a fellow held up on a 
 toasting-fork, against the fiery wheel the sun made ere clear- 
 ing the horizon. Two or three strips of cloud melted in it like 
 lumps of sugar in hot wine; and after overhauling the whole 
 seaboard round and round, I kept straining my eyes into the 
 light, with the notion there was something to be seen in that 
 quarter, but to no purpose ; there was n't the slightest sign of 
 the brig or any other blessed thing. What struck me a little, 
 however, was the look of the water just as the fog was clearing 
 away; the swell was sinking down, the wind fallen for the 
 time to a dead calm; and when the smooth face of it caught 
 the light full from aloft, it seemed to come out all over long- 
 winding wrinkles and eddies, running in a broad path, as it 
 were, twisted and woven together, right into the wake of the 
 sunrise. 
 
 "When I came inboard from the bowsprit, big Harry and 
 another grumpy old salt were standing by the bitts, taking a 
 forecastle observation, and gave me a squint, as much as to 
 ask if I had come out of the east, or had been trying to pocket 
 the flying-jib boom. 'D' you notice anything strange about the 
 water at all ?' I asked in an off-hand sort of way, wishing to 
 see if the men had remarked aught of what I suspected. The 
 old fellow gave me a queer look out of the tail of his eye, and 
 the ugly man seemed to be measuring me from head to foot. 
 'No, sir,' said the first, carelessly; 'can't say as how 1 does'; 
 while Harry coolly commenced sharpening his sheath-knife 
 on his shoe. 'Did you ever hear of currents hereabouts ?' said 
 I to the other man. 'Hereaway !' said he. 'Why, bless ye, sir, 
 it 's unpossible as I could ha' heerd tell on sich a thing, 'cause, 
 ye see, sir, there ain't none so far out at sea, sir al'ays axin' 
 your parding, ye know, sir !' while he hitched up his trousers 
 and looked aloft, as if there were somewhat wrong about the 
 jib-halyards. 
 
 "The Indiaman by this time had quite lost steerage-way 
 and came sheering slowly round, broadside to the sun, while 
 the water began to glitter like a single sheet of quicksilver, 
 trembling and swelling to the firm edge of it far off ; the pale
 
 A SEA STORY 129 
 
 blue sky filling deep aloft with light, and a long white haze 
 growing out of the horizon to eastward. I kept still looking 
 over from the fore-chains with my arms folded, and an eye to 
 the water on the starboard side, next the sun, where, just a 
 fathom or two from the bright copper of her sheathing along 
 the water-line, you could see into it. Every now and then 
 little bells and bubbles, as I thought, would come up in it, 
 and break short of the surface; and sometimes I fancied the 
 line of a slight ripple, as fine as a rope-yarn, went turning and 
 glistening round one of the ship's quarters, across her shadow. 
 Just then the old sailor behind me shoved his face over the 
 bulwark, too, all warts and wrinkles, like a ripe walnut-shell, 
 with a round knob of a nose in the middle of it, and seemed 
 to be watching to see it below, when he suddenly squirted his 
 tobacco juice as far out as possible alongside, and gave his 
 mouth a wipe with the back of his tarry yellow hand; catching 
 my eye in a shamefaced sort of way, as I glanced first at 
 him and then at his floating property. 
 
 "I leaned listlessly over the rail, watching the patch of 
 oily yellow froth as it floated quietly on the smooth face 
 of the water; till all at once I started to observe that be- 
 yond all question it had crept slowly away past our star- 
 board bow, clear of the ship, and at last melted into the 
 glittering blue brine. The two men noticed my attention, 
 and stared along with me; while the owner of the precious 
 cargo himself kept looking after it wistfully into the wake of 
 the sunlight, as if he were a little hurt; then aloft and 
 round about, in a puzzled sort of way, to see if the ship 
 had n't perhaps taken a sudden sheer to port. 'Why, my man,' 
 I said, meeting his oyster-like old sea-eye, 'what 's the 
 reason of that? perhaps there is some current or other here, 
 after all, eh ?' Just as he meant to answer, however, I noticed 
 his watchmate give him a hard shove in the ribs with his 
 huge elbow, and a quick screw of his weather top-light, 
 while he kept the lee one doggedly fixed on myself. I 
 accordingly walked slowly aft as if to the quarter-deck, 
 and came round the long-boat again, right abreast of them. 
 
 "Harry was pacing fore and aft with his arms folded, 
 when his companion made some remark on the heat, peering 
 all about him, and then right up into the air aloft. 'Well 
 then, shipmate,' said Harry, dabbing his handkerchief back 
 into his tarpaulin again, 'I 've seen worse, myself ownly, 
 't was in the Bight o' Benin, look ye an' afore the end 
 o' it, d' ye see, we hove o'erboard nine o' a crew, let alone 
 six dozen odds of a cargo!' 'Cargo!' exclaimed his com-
 
 i 3 o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 panion, in surprise. 'Ay, black passingers they was, ye know, 
 old ship!' answered the ugly rascal, coolly; 'an' I tell ye 
 what it is, Jack, I never sails yet with passengers aboard, 
 but some'at bad turned up in the end ai'ays one or another 
 on 'em 's got a foul turn in his conscience, ye see ! I say, 
 mate,' continued he, looking round, 'did n't ye note that 'ere 
 longshore looking customer as walked afc just now, with 
 them soft quest'ns o' his about 'Why,' says Jack, 'it's 
 him Jacobs and the larboard watch calls the Green Hand, 
 an' a blessed good joke they has about him, to all appear- 
 ance, but they keeps it pretty close.' 'Close, do they,' growled 
 Harry, 'I does n't like the cut of his jib, I tell ye, ship- 
 mate ! Jist you take my word for it, that 'ere fellow 's 
 done some'at bad at home, or he's bent on some'at bad 
 afloat it 's all one ! Don't ye mark how he keeps boxhaulin' 
 and skulking fore an' aft, not to say looking out to wind- 
 'ard every now an' again, as much as he expected a sail 
 to heave in sight?' 'Well, I'm blowed, but you're right, 
 Harry!' said the other, taking off his hat to scratch his 
 head, thoughtfully. 'Ay, and what 's more,' went on Harry, 
 'it 's just corned ath'art me as how I 've clapped eyes on 
 the chap somewheres or other afore this if I don't think 
 it was amongst a gang o' Spanish pirates I saw tried for 
 their lives, and let off in the Havanney !' 
 
 ' 'Thank you, my man,' thought I, as I leaned against 
 the booms on the other side. 'Did you? a wonder it 
 was n't in the Old Bailey, which would have been more 
 possible, though less romantic seeing in the Havannah 1 
 never was !' The curious thing was that I began to have a 
 faint recollection, myself, of having seen this same cross- 
 grained beauty, or heard his voice before; though where 
 and how it was I couldn't for the life of me say at the 
 moment. 
 
 "'Lor' bless us, Harry!' faltered out the old sailor, 'ye 
 don't mean it! sich a young, soft-looked shaver, too!' 
 'Them smooth-skinned sort o' coves is kimmonly the worst, 
 mate,' replied Harry ; 'for that matter ye may be quite 
 .sure he's got his chums aboard an' how does we know 
 but the ship's sold from stem to starn? There's that 'ere 
 black-avizzed parson, now, and one or two more aft cuss 
 me if that 'ere feller smells brine for the first time! An' 
 as for this here Bob Jacobs o' yours, blow me if there 
 ain't over many of his kind in the whole larboard watch, 
 Jack! A man-o'-war's-man ai'ays a blackguard out on a 
 man-o'-war, look-ye!' 'Why, bless me, shipmate,' said Jack,
 
 A SEA STORY 131 
 
 lowering his voice, 'by that recknin', a man don't know his 
 friends in this here craft! The sooner we gives the mate a 
 hint, the better, to my thinking?' 'No, blow me, no, Jack,' 
 said Harry, 'keep all fast, or ye '11 kick up a worse nitty, 
 old boy ! Just you hould 011 till ye see what 's to turn up 
 ownly stand by and look out for squalls, that 's all ! There 's 
 the skipper laid up below in his berth, I hears and to 
 my notions, that 'ere mate of ours is no more but a blessed 
 soldier, with his navigation an' his head-work, an' be blowed 
 to him where 's he runned the ship, I 'd like to know, mess- 
 mate ! 7 'Well, strike me lucky if I 'm fit to guess !' answered 
 Jack, gloomily. 'No, s' help me Bob, if he knows hisself V 
 said Harry. 'But here 's what / says, anyhow if so be 
 we heaves in sight of a pirate, or bumps ashore on a ileyand 
 i' the dark, shiver my tawsels if I does n't have a clip with 
 a handspike at that 'ere soft-sawderin' young blade in 
 the straw hat!' 'Well, my fine fellow,' thought I, 'many 
 thanks to you again, but I certainly shall look out for you!' 
 "All this time I could n't exactly conceive whether the 
 sulky rascal really suspected anything of the kind, or 
 whether he was n't in fact sounding his companion, and 
 perhaps others of the crew, as to how far they would go 
 in case of an opportunity for mischief; especially when I 
 heard him begin to speculate if 'that 'ere proud ould 
 beggar of a naboob, aft yonder, must n't have a sight o' 
 gould and jewels aboard with him! Why, for the matter 
 o' that, mate,' continued he, 'I does n't signify the twinklin' 
 of a marline spike, mind ye, what lubberly trick they 
 sarves this here craft, so be ownly ye can get anyhow 
 ashore, when all 's done ! It 's nouther ship-law nor shore- 
 law, look ye, 'mate, as houlds good on a lonely dazart !' 'Ay, 
 ay, true enough, bo',' said the other, 'but what o' that? there 
 ain't much signs of a dazart, I reckon, in this here blue 
 water !' 'Ho !' replied Harry, rather scornfully, 'that 's 'cause 
 you blue-water, long-v'yage chaps is n't up to them, brother. 
 There's you and that 'ere joker in the striped slops, Jack, 
 chaffing away over the side jist now about a current con- 
 founded sharp he thinks hisself, too but d 'ye think Harry 
 Foster ain't got his weather-eye open ? For my part, 1 
 thinks more of the streak o' haze yonder-away, right across 
 the starboard bow, nor all the currents in 'Ay, ay/ 
 said Jack, stretching out again to look, 'the heat, you means ?' 
 'Heat !' exclaimed the ugly topman, 'heat be blowed ! Hark 
 ye, mate, it may be a strip o' cloud, no doubt, or the steam 
 over a sand-bank ; but so be the calm lasts so long, and
 
 i 32 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 you sees that 'ere streak again by sundown with a touch 
 o' yallow in 't ' 
 
 " 'What what shipmate ?' a*sked Jack, breathless with 
 anxiety. 'Then it's the black coast iv Africay, and no mis- 
 take,' said Harry. 'And what's more,' continued the fellow, 
 coolly, after taking a couple of short turns, 'if there be's 
 a current, why look ye, it '11 set dead in to where the land 
 lays an' I 'm blessed if there 's one aboard, breeze or no 
 breeze, as is man enough for to take her out o' the suck 
 of a Africane current.' 'The Lord be with us!' exclaimed 
 the other sailor, in alarm, 'what 's to be done, Harry, bo' ; 
 when do you mean for to let them know aft?' 'Why, 
 maybe I 'm wrong, ye know, old ship,' said Harry, 'an' a 
 man mustn't go for to larn his betters, ye know; by this 
 time half o' the watch has a notion on it, at any rate. 
 There 's Dick White, Jack Jones, Jim Sidey, an' a few 
 more Wapping men, means to stick together in case o' 
 accidents ; so Jack, man, ye need n't be in sich an a 
 taking. What the' (here he came out with a regular string 
 of topgallant oaths), 'when you finds a good chance shoved 
 into your fist, none o' your doin', ain't a feller to haul in 
 the slack of it 'cause he 's got a tarry paw and ships be- 
 fore the mast ? I tell ye what it is, old ship, 't ain't the 
 first time you an' me 's been cast away, an' I does n't care 
 the drawnin' of a rope-yarn, in them 'ere latitudes, if 1 'm 
 cast away again. Hark ye, ould boy : grog to the mast- 
 head, a grab at the passengers' wallibles, when they han't 
 no more use for 'em, in course; and the pick of the ladies, 
 jist for the takin' o' them ashore!' 
 
 "'lord love ye, Harry, belay there!' said Jack; 'what's 
 the good o' talkin' on what an't like to be?' 'Less like 
 things turn up,' said Harry. 'More by token, if I has n't 
 pitched upon my fancy lass a'ready; an' who knows, old 
 ship, but you marries a nabob's darter yet, and gets yourself 
 shoved all square, like a riglar hare, into his heestate, 
 as they calls it ? For my part, I 've more notion of the 
 maid! An' it '11 go hard with me if we does n't manage 
 to haul that 'ere mishynar parson safe ashore on the strength 
 of it.' 'God bless ye, Harry,' answered Jack, somewhat 
 mournfully, 'I'm twice spliced already!' 'Third time's 
 lucky, though,' replied Harry, with a chuckle, as he walked 
 towards the side again and looked over; the rest of the 
 watch being gathered on the other bow, talking and laugh- 
 ing; the passengers beginning to appear on the poop, and 
 the Scotch second mate standing up aft on the taffrail,
 
 A SEA STORY 133 
 
 feeling for a breath of wind. The big topman came slowly 
 back to his companion, and leaned himself on the spars 
 again. 'Elowcd if I don't think you 're right, mate,' said 
 he, 'you and that 'ere lawyer. You'd a'most say there's 
 a ripple round her larboard bow just now, sure enough 
 like she were broadside on to some drift or another. 
 Hows'ever that 's nouther here nor there ; for my part, I 
 sets more count by the look o' the sky to east'ard; an' be 
 blowed, shipmate, if that same yonder don't make me think 
 of woods/ 'Well,' said Jack, '/ goes by sunrise, messmate, 
 an' I did n't like it overmuch myself, d' ye see ! That 'ere 
 talk o' yours, Harry, consarnin' dazarts and what not why, 
 bless me, it's all my eye this bout, at any rate seem' as 
 how, if we does n't have a stiff snuffler out o' that very 
 quarter afore twenty-four hours is over, you call me lubber!' 
 
 " 'Ho,ho ! old salt,' chuckled Harry, 'none o' them saws 
 holds good hereaway ; if it 's the coast of Af ricay, mate, two 
 watches '11 settle our hash in them longitudes, without going 
 the length o' six! Han't I knocked about the bloody coast 
 of it six weeks at a time, myself, let alone livin' as many 
 months in the woods? so I knows the breedin' of a turnady 
 a cussed sight too well, not to speak on the way the land- 
 blink looms afore you sights it !' 
 
 "'Lived in them there woods, did ye?' inquired Jack. 
 'Ay, bo', an' a rum rig it was, too, sure enough,' said 
 Harry; 'the very same time I told you on, i' the Bight o' 
 Benin. 'My eye,' exclaimed the other, 'a man never knows 
 what he may come to. Let's into the rights of it, Harry, 
 can't ye, afore eight bells strikes?' 
 
 "'Woods!' said Harry, 'I b'lieve ye, ould ship. I see'd 
 enough o' woods, that time, arter all and 't wan't that long 
 agone, either I '11 not say how long, but it wan't last v'yage. 
 A sharp, clinker-built craft of a schooner she wor; I'm not 
 goin' to give ye her right name, but they called her the "Lub- 
 ber-hater"* an' if there wan't all sorts on us aboard, it's 
 blaming ye an' a big double-jinted man-eatin' chap of a 
 Yankee was our skipper, as sly as slush more by token, he 
 had a wart alongside o' one eye as made him look two 
 ways at ye Job Price by name an' arter he 'd made his 
 fortin, I heard he 's took up a teetotal chapel afloat on the 
 Missishippey. She'd got a strapping long nose, that 'ere 
 schooner, so, _my boy, we leaves everything astarn, chase or 
 race, I promise ye; an' as for a blessed ould ten-gun brig 
 what kept a-cruising thereaway, why, we jest got used to 
 
 * Query Liberator?
 
 I 34 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 her, like, and al'ays lowers our mainsail afore takin' the 
 wind of her, by way o' good-by, quite perlite. Blowed^if 
 it warn't rum, though, for to see the brig's white figger'ed 
 over the swell, rollin' under a cloud o' canvas, stens'ls crowded 
 out alow an' aloft, as she jogged arter us. Then she'd 
 haul her wind an' fire a gun, an' go beating away up in chase 
 of some other craft, as caught the chance for runnin' out 
 whenever they sees the "Lubber-hater" well to sea why, 
 s'help me Bob, if the traders on the coast didn't pay 
 Job Price half a dozen blacks apiece every trip, jist for to 
 play that 'ere dodge. At last, one time, not long after 1 
 joined the craft, what does he do but nigh-hand loses 
 her an' her cargo, all owin' to reckonin' overmuch on 
 this here traverse. Out we comes one night in the tail 
 of a squall, an', as soon as it clears, there sure enough 
 we made out the brig, hard after us, as we thinks so 
 never a rag more Job claps on, 'cause two of his friends, 
 ye see, was jist outside the bar in the ISoon river. Well, 
 very soon the cruiser begins to overhaul us, as one gaff- 
 taups'l wouldn't do, nor yet another, till the fly ing- jib 
 and bonnets made her walk away from them in right 'arnest 
 when slap comes a long shot that took the fore-topmast 
 out of us in a twinkling. So when the moonlight corned 
 out, lo an' behold, instead of the brig's two masts stiff and 
 straight against the haze, there was three spanking sticks 
 all ataunto, my boy, in a fine new sloop-o'-war as had fresh 
 come on the station the "Iris," they called her and a 
 fast ship she wor. But all said and done, the schooner 
 had the heels of her in aught short of a reef-taups'l breeze 
 though, as for the other two, the sloop-o'-war picked off 
 both on 'em in the end.' 
 
 "At this point of the fellow's account, I, Ned Collins, 
 began to prick up my ears, pretty sure it was the dear old 
 'Iris' he was talking of; and, thought I, 'Oho, my mate, 
 we shall have you directly listening's all fair with a chap 
 of this breed.' 
 
 "'Well,' said he, ' 'twas the next trip after that, we 
 finds the coast clear, as commonly was for, d' ye see, they 
 could n't touch us if so be we had n't a slave aboard in fact, 
 we heerd as how the cruiser was up by Serry Lony, and 
 left some young lufftenant or other on the watch with a 
 sort o' lateen-rigged tender. A precious raw chap he was, 
 by all accounts and, sure enough, there he kept plying off 
 and on, inshore, 'stead of out of sight to seaward till the 
 craft would make a bolt; an' as soon as ye dropped an
 
 A SEA STORY 135 
 
 anchor, he 'd send a boat aboard with a reefer, to ax if 
 ye 'd got slaves in the hold. In course, ye know, Job 
 Price sends back a message, "palm-ile an' iv'ry, an' gould if 
 we can" h'ists the Portingee colors, brings up his Portingee 
 papers, and makes the Portingee stoo'rd skipper for the 
 spell but anyhow, bein' no less nor three slavers in the 
 mouth of the Bonny river at the time, why, he meant to 
 show fight if need be, and jest manhandle the young navy 
 sprig to his heart's content. Hows'ever, the second or third 
 night, all on a suddent we found he 'd sheered off for a 
 decency's sake, as it might be, an hour or two afore we 'd 
 began to raft off the niggers. Well, mate, right in the midst 
 of it there comes sich a- fury of a turnady off the land, as 
 we 'd to slip cable and run fair out to sea after the other 
 craft what had got sooner full one on 'em went ashore in 
 sight, an' we not ninety blacks aboard yet, with barely a day's 
 water stowed in. 
 
 " 'The next morning, out o' sight of land, we got the 
 sea-breeze, and stood in again under everything, till we 
 made Fernandy Po ileyand three leagues off, or thereby, an' 
 the two ebony-brigs beating out in company, so the skipper 
 stands over across their course for to give them a hail, heaves 
 to and pulls aboard the nearest, where he stays a good 
 long spell and drinks a stiff glass, as ye may fancy, afore 
 parti n'. Back comes Job Price in high glee, and tould the 
 mate as how that mornin' the brigs had fell foul o' the 
 man-o'-war tender, bottom up, an' a big Newfoundling dog 
 a-howlin' on the keel no doubt she 'd turned the turtle in 
 that 'ere squall more by token, he brought the dog alongst 
 with him in a present. So away we filled again to go in 
 for the Bonny river, when the breeze fell, and shortly arter 
 there we was all three dead becalmed, a couple o' miles be- 
 twixt us, sticking on the water like flies on glass, an' 
 as hot, ye know, as blazes the very moral o' this here. By 
 sundown we had n't a drop of water, so the skipper sent 
 to the nearest brig for some ; but strike me lucky if they 'd 
 part with a bucketful for love, bein' out'ard bound. As the 
 Spanish skipper said, 'twas either hard dollars or a stout 
 nigger, and t' other brig said the same. A slight puff o' 
 land-wind we had in the night, though next day 'twas 
 as calm as ever, and the brigs farther off so by noon, my 
 boy, for two blessed casks, if Job Price hadn't to send 
 six blacks in the boat. Shorter yarn, Jack, but the calm 
 held that nierht, too, and blowed if the brigs would sell 
 another breaker what we had we couldn't spare to the
 
 I 3 6 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 poor devils under hatches, and the next day, why they died 
 off like rotten sheep, till we hove the last on 'em o'board; 
 and frighterful enough it was, mind ye, for to see about 
 fifty sharks at work all round the schooner at once, as long 
 as it lasted. 
 
 " 'Well, in the arternoon we 'd just commenced squabbling 
 aboard amongst ourselves, round the dreg water, or whether 
 to board one o' the brigs and have a fair fight, when oif 
 come a bit of a breeze, betwixt the two high peaks on 
 Fernandy Po, both the brigs set stensails, and begins slipping 
 quietly off our skipper gived orders to brace after them, 
 and clear away the long gun amidships; but all on a 
 suddent we made out a lump of a brig dropping down before 
 it round the ileyand, which we knowed her well enough for 
 a Bristol craft as had lost half her hands up the Callebar, 
 in the gould an' iv'ry trade. Down she coomed, wonderfle 
 fast for the light breeze, if there had n't been one o' yer 
 currents besides off the ileyand, till about half a mile away 
 she braces up, seemingly to sheer across it and steer clear 
 of us. Out went our boat, an' the skipper bids every man 
 of her crew to shove a short cutlash inside his trousers. 
 Says he, "I guess we '11 first speak 'em fair, but if we 
 don't ha' water enough, it '11 be 'tarnal queer, that 's all," 
 says he an' Job was a man never swore, but he looked mighty 
 bad, that time, I must say; so we outs oars and pulls right 
 aboard the trader, without answerin' ever a hail, when up the 
 side we bundled on deck, one arter the other, mad for a 
 drink, and sees the master with five or six of a crew, all as 
 white as ghostesses, and two or three Kroomen, besides a 
 long-legged young feller a-sittin' and kicking his feet over 
 the kimpanion hatch, with a tumblerful o' grog in his fist, 
 as fresh to all seemin' as a fish, like a supper-cargo or 
 some'at o' the sort, as them craft commonly has. 
 
 " ' "What schooner 's that ?" axes the master, all abroad 
 like; an' says Job says he, out o' breath, "Never you mind; 
 I guess you'll let's have some water, for we wants it 
 mighty keen!" "Well," says the other, shaking his head, 
 "I 'm af eared we 're short ourselves anyhow," says he, "we '11 
 give ye a dipper the piece" and accordingly they fists us 
 along a dozen gulps, hand over hand. " 'T won't do, 1 guess, 
 mister," says our skipper ; "we wants a cask !" Here the mas- 
 ter o' the brig shakes his head again, and guv a look to 
 the young longshore-like chap aft, which sings out as we 
 could n't have no more for love nor money an' I see Cap'en 
 Price commence for to look savitch again, and feel for the
 
 A SEA STORY 137 
 
 handle on his cutlash. "Rather you'd ax iv'ry or gould 
 dust!" sings out the supper-cargo; "hows'ever," says he, "as 
 ye 've tooken sich a fancy to it, short o' water as we is, 
 why a fair exchange ain't no robbery," says he: "you wants 
 water, an' we wants hands ; have n't ye a couple o' niggers 
 for to spare us, sir, by way of a barter now?" he says. 
 Well, mate, I '11 be blowed if I ever see a man turn so wicked 
 fur'ous as Job Price turns at this here, an' says he, through 
 his teeth, "If ye 'd said a nigger's nail-parin', I could n't done 
 it, so it's no use talkin'." "Oh come, capting," says the 
 young fellow, wonderfle angshis-like, "say one, jist it 's all 
 on the quiet, ye know. Bless me, captin," says he, "I 'd 
 do a deal for a man in a strait, 'tickerly for yerself 
 an' I think we 'd manage with a single hand more. 1 '11 give 
 ye two casks and a bag o' gould dust for one black, and 
 we '11 send aboard for him just now, ourselves !" "No !" roars 
 Job Price, walkin' close up to him ; "ye 've riz me, ye cussed 
 Britisher, ye, an' I tell ye we'll take what we wants!" "No 
 jokes though, captin!" says the feller; "what 's one to a whole 
 raftful I heerd of ye shipping?" "Go an' ax the sharks, ye 
 beggar!" says the skipper; "here, my lads!" says he, an' 
 makes a grab at the other's throat, when slap comes a 
 jug o' rum in his eye-lights, and the young chap ups fist in 
 quick-sticks, and drops him like a cock, big as he was. By 
 that time, though, in a twinklin' the master was flat on 
 deck, and the brig's crew showed no fight when, lo an' 
 behold, my boy, up bundles a score o' strapping man-o'- 
 war's-men out of the cabing. One or two on us got a cut 
 about the head, an' my gentleman supper-cargo claps a 
 pistol to my ear from aft, so we knocked under without 
 more to-do. In five minutes' time every man jack of us 
 had a seizing about his wrists and lower pins; and says 
 Job Price, in a giving-up sort o' v'ice, "You 're too cust 
 spry for playin' jokes on, I calc'late, squire," he says. 
 "Jokes !" says the young feller, "why, it 's no joke in course 
 you knows me?" "Niver seed ye atween the eyes afore," says 
 Job, "but don't bear no malice, mister, now." "That 's it," 
 says the t'other, lookin' at the schooner again, "no more I 
 does, so jist think a bit; han't you really a nigger or so 
 aboard o' ye if it was jist one?" "Squash the one!" says 
 Job, shakin' his head nellicholly like an' "Sorry for it," says 
 the chap, " 'cause ye see I 'm the lufftenant belonging to 
 the 'Irish,' an' I carn^t titch yer schooner if so be ye 
 han't a slave aboard." "Lawk a'mighty! no!" sings out 
 Job Price, 'cause bein' half blinded he couldn't ha' noted
 
 i 3 8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the lot o' man-o'-war's-men sooner. "But I can" says the 
 other, "for piratecy, ye see; an' what's more,'' he says, 
 "there 's no help for it now, I 'm af eared, mister what-they- 
 
 pall-ye." 
 
 "'Well, mate, after that ye may fancy our skipper turns 
 terrible down in the mouth; so without a word more they 
 parbuckles us all down below into the cabin an' what does 
 this here lufftenant do but he strips the whole lot, rigs out 
 as many of his men in our duds, hoists out a big cask o' 
 water on the brig's far side, and pulls round for the schooner 
 hisself togged out like the skipper, and his odd hands laid 
 down in the boat's bottom.' You won't wonder at my teing 
 highly amused with the fellow's yarn, since the fact was 
 that it happened to be one of my own adventures in the 
 days of the 'Iris,' two or three years before, when we saw 
 a good many scenes together, far more wild and stirring, 
 of course, in the thick of the slave trade; but really the 
 ugly rascal described it wonderfully well. 
 
 "'Well,' said Harry, 'I gets my chin shoved up in the 
 starn-windy, where I seed the whole thing, and tould the 
 skipper accordently. The schooner's crew looked out for 
 the water like so many oysters in a tub ; the lufftenant jumps 
 up the sides with his men after him, an' not so much 
 as the cross of two cutlashes did we hear afore the onion- 
 jack flew out a-peak over her mains'l. In five minutes more, 
 the schooner fills away before the breeze and begins to slide 
 off -in fine style after the pair o' brigs, as was nigh half 
 hull-down to seaward by this time. There we was, left 
 neck and heel below in the trader, and he hauled up seem- 
 in'ly for the land; an', arter a bit, says the skipper to me, 
 "Foster, my lad, I despise this way o' things," says he, "ain't 
 there no way on gettin' clear ?" "Never say die, cap'en !" I 
 says ; an' says he, "I calc'late they left considerable few hands 
 aboard?" "None but them sleepy-like scum o' iv'ry men," I 
 says, but be blowed if I seed what better we was, till down 
 comes a little nigger cabin-boy for some'at or other, with a 
 knife in his hand. Job fixes his eye on him I 've heerd he 'd 
 a way in his eye with niggers as they couldn't stand an' 
 says he, soft-sawderin' like, "Come here, will ye, my lad, 
 an' give us a drink," so the black come for'ard with a 
 pannikin, one foot at a time, an' he houlds it out to the 
 skipper's lips for, d'ye see, all on us had our flippers 
 lashed behind our backs, <r Now," says he, "thankee, boy 
 look in atwixt my legs, and ye '11 find a dollar." With 
 that, jest as the boy stoops, Job Price ketches his neck
 
 A SEA STORY 139 
 
 fast betwixt his two knees, an' blowed if he didn't jam 
 them harder, grinning all the time, till down drops the little 
 black throttled on the deck. "That 's for thanking a niggur!" 
 says he, lookin' as savitch as a fiend, and got the knife in 
 his teeth, when he turned to and sawed through the seiz- 
 ing round my wrists an' in course I sets every man clear in 
 quick-sticks. "Now!" says Job, looking round, "the quicker 
 the better that cussed lubber-ratin' hound's got my schooner, 
 but maybe, my lads, this here iv'ry man '11 pay expenses : if 
 I 'm made out a pirate, I '11 arn the name !" 
 
 " 'Well, we squints up the hatchway, and seed a young 
 midshipman a-standing with his back to us, watching the 
 brig's crew at the braces, an' a pistol in one hand when 
 all at once our skipper slips off his shoes, runs up the 
 stair as quiet as a cat, an' caught the end of a capstan- 
 bar as lay on the scuttle. With that down he comes crash 
 on the poor fellow's skull from aft, and brained him in 
 a moment. Every man of us got bloody-minded with the 
 sight, so we scarce knowed what we did, ye know, mate, 
 afore all hands o' them was gone how, I ain't goin' for 
 to say, nor the share as one had in it more nor another. The 
 long an' the short on it was, we run the brig by sun- 
 down in amongst the creeks up the Camaroons river, thinkin' 
 to lie stowed away close thereabouts till all wor cold. How- 
 s'ever, they kicked up the devil's delight about a piratecy, 
 and the sloop-o'-war comes back shortly, when night an' 
 day there was that young shark of a lufftenant huntin' 
 arter us, as sharp as a marline spike we durs n't come 
 down the river nohow, till what with a bad conscience, fogs, 
 and sleepin' every night within stink o' them blasted muddy 
 mangroves an' bulrushes together, why, mate, the whole ten 
 hands died off, one arter the other in the fever leaving 
 ownly me an' the skipper. Job Price was like .a madman 
 over the cargo, worth good knows how many thousand 
 dollars, as he could n't take out but for my part, I gets 
 the brig's punt one night and sculls myself ashore, 'and off 
 like a hare into the bush by moonlight. No use, ye know, 
 for to say what rum chances I meets with in the woods, livin' 
 up trees and the like for fear o' illiphants, sarpents, an' high- 
 annies but, blow me, if I did n't think the farther ye 
 went aloft, the more monkeys an' parrykeets you roused out, 
 jabberin' all night so as a feller could n't close an eye 
 an' as for the sky, be blowed if I ever once sighted it. 
 So, d' ye see, it puts all notions o' fruits an' flowers out 
 o' my head, an' all them jimmy -jessamy sort o' happy-go-
 
 I 4 o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 lucky yarns about barbers' ileyands and shipher-dresses what 
 they used for to spell out o' dicshinars at school ail gam- 
 mon, mate!' 
 
 " 'Lor' love ye, no, surely,' said Jack ; 'it 's in the Bible ! 
 
 "'Ay, ay,' said Harry, 'that's arter ye 've gone to Davy 
 Jones, no doubt; but I've been in the Southsy ileyands 
 since, myself, an' be blowed if it's much better there! 
 Hows'ever, still anon, I took a new fancy, an' away I makes 
 for the river, in sarch of a nigger villache, as they calls 
 'em ; and sure enough, it war n't long ere right I plumps in 
 the midst on a lot o' cane huts amongst trees. But sich a 
 shine and a nitty as I kicks up, ye see, bein' half naked, 
 for all the world like a wild man o' the woods, an' for a 
 full hour I has the town to myself, so I hoists my shirt on a 
 stick over the hut I took, by way of a flag o' truce, an' at 
 last they all begins for to swarm in again. Well, ye see, 1 
 knowed the ways o' the natifs thereabouts pretty well, an' 
 what does I do but I'd laid myself flat afore an ugly divvle 
 of a wooden himmache, as stood on the flour, an' I wriggles 
 and twists myself, and groans like a chap in a fit what they 
 calls fittish, thereaway an' in course, with that they logs me 
 down at once for a rig'lar holy 'possel from Jerusalem. 
 The long an' the short on it was, the fittish-man takes me un- 
 der charge, and sets me to tell fortins or the like with 
 an ould quadrant they got somewheres gives me a hut an' 
 two black wives, begad ! and there I lives for two or three 
 weeks on end, no doubt, as proud as Tommy when, one 
 fine morning, what does I see off shore in the river but 
 that confounded man-o'-war tender, all ship-shape an' ataunto 
 again. So, my boy, I gives 'em to understand as how, 
 bein' over vallible at home with the king of England, in 
 course he 'd sent for to puckalow me away an' no sooner 
 said, but Jhe whole town gets in a fluster the fittish-man, 
 which a knowin' chap he was, takes an' rubs me from heel 
 to truck, with ile out on a sartin nut, as turned me coal- 
 black in half an hour, an' as soon as I looks in the creek, 
 mate, be blowed if I 'd a knewn myself from a nigger, some- 
 how!' 
 
 "To tell the truth, as / thought to myself, it was no 
 wonder, as Master Harry's nose and lips were by no means in 
 the classic style, and his skin, as it was, did n't appear of 
 the whitest. 
 
 " 'So there, ye know, I sits before a hut, grindin' away at 
 maize, with nothink else but a waist-cloth round me, and 
 my two legs stuck out, till such a time as the lufftenant an'
 
 A SEA STORY 141 
 
 two boats' crews had sarched the villache, havin' heerd, no 
 doubt, of a white man thereabouts an' at last off they 
 went. Well, in course, at first this here affair gives the 
 fittish-man a lift in the niggers' eyes, by reason o' havin' 
 turned a white man black 'cause, ye see, them fittish-men 
 has a rig'lar-bred knowledge on plants and sichlike. But 
 hows'ever, in a day or two I begins for to get rayther 
 oneasy, seein' it did n't wash off, an' accordently I made 
 beknown as much to the fittish-man, when, my boy, if he 
 does n't shake his mop-head, and rubs noses, as much as to 
 say, "We ain't agoin' to part." 'Twas no use, and thinks I, 
 "Ye man-eating scum, be blowed if I don't put your neck 
 out, then !" So I turns to with my knife on a log o' wood, 
 carves a himmage twice as big an' ugly as his'n, and 
 builds a hut over it, where I plays all the conjerin' tricks I 
 could mind on till, be hanged if the niggers did n't begin to 
 leave the fittish-man pretty fast, and make a blessed sight 
 more o' me. I takes a couple more wives, gets drunk every 
 day on palm-wine and toddy juice as for the hogs an' the 
 yams they brought me, why I could n't stow 'em away ; an' 
 in place o' wanting myself white again, I rubs myself over 
 and over with that 'ere nut, let alone palm-ile, till the 
 ould fittish-man looks brown alongside o' me. At last the 
 king o' the niggers thereaway King Chimbey they called 
 him, or some'at o' that sort he sends for to see me, an' 
 away to his town they takes me, a mile or two up the coun- 
 try, where I seed him ; but I 'm blowed, Jack, if he 'd got 
 a crown on at all, ownly a ould red marine's coat, an' a pair o' 
 top-boots, what was laid away when he war n't in state. 
 Hows'ever, he gives me two white beans an' a red un in 
 sign o' high favor, and gives me to know as I wor to stay 
 there. But one thing I could n't make out, why the black 
 king's hut an' the josst-house, as they calls it, was all stuck 
 round with bones an' dead men's skulls ! 't wan't long, 
 though, 'ere I finds it out, mate! That 'ere fittish-man, 
 d' ye see, wor a right-down imp to look at, and wicked 
 enough he eyed me; but still anon I sends over for my 
 wives, turns out a black feller out on his hut, an' slings a 
 hammock in it, when the next day or so I meets the first 
 fittish-man in the woods, an' the poor divvle looks wonderfle 
 friendly-like, makin' me all kinds o' woeful signs, and 
 seemin'ly as much as to say for to keep a bright lookout 
 on the other one. All on a suddent what does he do, but 
 he runs a V^'t ?is -far n tree, picks tm a sort of a red mush- 
 room, an' he rubs with it across the back o' my hand, gives
 
 H 2 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 a wink, and scuttles off. What it meaned I couldn't make 
 out, till I gets back to the town, when I chanced to look at 
 my flipper, and there I see a clean white streak alongst it! 
 Well, I thinks, liberty's sweet, an' I'm blessed if a man's 
 able to cruise much to windward o' right-down slavery, thinks 
 I, if he 's black ! Howsomever, thinks I, I '11 jest hold on a 
 bit longer. 
 
 " 'Well, next day, the black king had the blue-devils with 
 drinking rum, an' he couldn't sleep nohow, 'cause, as I 
 made out, he 'd killed his uncle, they said I does n't know 
 but he'd eaten him, too anyhow, I seed him eat as much 
 of a fat hog, raw, as ud sarve out half the watch so the 
 fittish-man tells him there 's nought for it but to please the 
 fittish. What that wor, blowed if I knew; but no sooner 
 sundown nor they hauls me out o' my hut, claps me in a 
 stinking hole as dark as pitch, and leaves me till mornin', as 
 I thought. Jist about the end o' the mid-watch, there kicks 
 up a rumpus like close-reef taups'ls in a hurricane smash 
 goes the sticks over me; I seed the stars, and a whole lot 
 o' strange blacks with long spears, a fightin', yellin', tramp- 
 lin', an' twistin' in the midst of the huts and off I'm 
 hoisted in the gang, on some feller's back or other, at five 
 knots the hour, through the woods till down we all comes 
 in a drove, plash amongst the very swamps close by the 
 river, where, lo an' behold ! I makes out a schooner afloat 
 at her anchor. The next thing I feels a red-hot iron come 
 hiss across my shoulders, so I jumped up and sang out 
 like blazes, in course. But, my flippers bein' all fast, 't was 
 no use; I got one shove as sent me head-foremost into 
 a long canoe, with thirty or forty niggers stowed away 
 like cattle, and out the men pulls for the schooner. A 
 big bright fire there was ashore, astarn of us, I mind, where- 
 they heated the irons, with a chap in a straw hat sarvin' out 
 rum to the wild blacks from a cask; and ye saw the pitch- 
 black woods behind, with the branches shoved out red in 
 the light on it, _ and a bloody-like patch on the water under 
 a clump o' sooty mangroves. An', Jack, if I did n't feel the 
 life sick in me, that time for, d' ye see, I hears nothiri' 
 spoke round me but cussed French, Portingeese, an' nigger 
 tongue 'specially when it jist lighthens on me what sort 
 on a case I were in; an' thinks I, "I'm took for a slave, 
 arter all! an' be hanged, but I left that 'ere 'farnal mush- 
 room a-lying under that there tree yonder!" I begins for to 
 think o' matters an' things, an' about Bristol quay, an' my 
 old mother, a*n' my sister as was at school mind ye,
 
 A SEA STORY 143 
 
 mate, all atwixt shovin' off the mangroves an' coming bump 
 again' the schooner's side an' blow me if I does n't tarn to, 
 an' nigh-hand commences for to blubber when jist then what 
 does I catch sight on, by the lantern over the side, but that 
 'ere villain of a fittish-man, an' what 's more, King Chim- 
 bey hisself, both hauled in the net. And with that I gives 
 a chuckle, as ye may suppose, an' no mistake; for thinks 
 I, so far as consarns myself, this here can't last long, 
 blow me, for sooner or later I '11 find some un to speak 
 to, even an I niver gets rid o' this here outer darkness 
 be blowed if I han't got a white mind, any ways, an' free 
 I '11 be, my boy. But I laughs, in course, when I seed the 
 fittish-man grin at me for thinks I, "My cocks, you're 
 logged down for a pretty long spell of it !" 
 
 "Well, bo', somehow I knows no more about it till such 
 time as I sort o' wakes up in pitch-dark, all ch'oke and 
 sweat, an' a feller's dirty big toe in my mouth, with mine 
 in some un else's eye; so out I spits it, an' makes a scramble 
 for my life. By the roll and the splash I knowed I wor down 
 in the schooner's hold; an' be hanged if there warn't twenty 
 or thirty holding on like bees to a open weather-port, where 
 the fresh wind and the spray come a-blowing through but 
 there, my boy, 't were no go for to get so much as the 
 tip o' yer nose. Accordingly, up I prizes myself with my 
 feet on another poor devil's wool for, d 'ye see, by that 
 time I minds a man's face no more nor so much timber 
 an' I feels for the hatch over me, where by good luck, as I 
 thought, there I finds it not battened down yet, so I shoved 
 my head through on deck like a blacksmith's hammer. 
 
 " 'Well, mate, there was the schooner's deck wet, a swell 
 of a sea on round her, well off the land, no trifle of a 
 morning gale, and the craft heeling to it; a lot o' hands up 
 on her yards, a reefing at the boom mains'l and fo'taups'l, 
 an' if my heart does n't jump into my mouth with the sight, 
 for I feels it for all the world like a good glass o' grog, 
 settin' all to rights. Two or three there was walkin' aft the 
 quarter-deck, so out I sings, "Hullo ! hullo there, shipmates, 
 gives us a hand out o' this !" Two on 'em comes for'ud, one 
 lifts a handspike, but both gives a grin, as much as to 
 say it 's some nigger tongue or other in place o' good English 
 for, d'ye see, they 'd half their faces black-beard, and rings 
 i' their ears when up walks another chap like the skipper, 
 an' more the looks of a countryman. "I 'm a free-born 
 Briton!" roars I again: with that he lends me a squint, 
 looks to the men, and gives some sort of a sign, when they
 
 144 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 jams-to the hatch and nips me fast by the neck. "Devil of 
 a deep beggar, this 'ere!" says he; "jist give him the gag, 
 my lads," says he; "the planters often thinks more of a 
 dumby, 'cause he works the more, and a stout piece o' goods 
 this is!" says he. Well, mate, what does they do but one 
 pulls out a "knife, an' be blowed if they war n't a-goin' for 
 to cut out my tongue; but the men aloft sung out to 
 hoist away the yards; so they left me ready clinched till 
 they'd belay the ropes. Next a hand for'ud, by good luck, 
 hailed "Sail ho!" and they'd some'at else to think o' be- 
 sides me; for there, my boy, little more nor three miles 
 to wind'ard, I seed the "Irish" as she come driving bodily 
 out o' the mist, shakin' out her three to'gallant-sails, an' 
 a white spray flying with her off one surge to another. 
 Rather bad it was, mind ye, for my windpipe, for every time 
 the schooner pitched, away swings my feet clear o' the 
 niggers' heads 'cause, d' ye see, we chanced for to be 
 stowed on the 'tween-decks, an' another tier there was, stuffed 
 in her lower hold an' there I stuck, mate, so as I could n't 
 help watchin' the whole chase, till at last the hatch slacks nip 
 a bit, and down I plumps into the dark again. 
 
 " Well, bo', the breeze got lighter, an' to all seemin' the 
 cursed schooner held her own ; but hows'ever, the sloop-o'-war 
 kept it up all day, and once or twice she tips us a long shot ; 
 till by sunset, as I reckoned, we hears no more on her. The 
 whole night long, again, there we stews as thick as peas 1 
 keeps harknin' to the sighs an' groans, an' the wash along the 
 side, in a sort of a doze ; an' s' help me Bob, I fancies for a 
 moment I 'm swinging in my hammock in the fok'sle, an' it 's 
 no more but the bulkheads and timbers creakin'. Then I 
 thinks it 's some un else I dreams on, as is oneasy, like to 
 choke for heat and thirst ; and I 'm a-chucklin' at him when 
 up I wakes with the cockroaches swarming over my face. An- 
 other groan runs from that end to this, the whole lot on us 
 tries hard, and kicks their neighbors to turn, an' be blowed if 
 I knowed but I was buried in a churchyard, with the horrid 
 worms all a-crawl about me. All on a sudden, nigh-hand to 
 daybreak it was, I hears a gun to wind'ard, so with that 1 
 contrives for to scramble up with my eye to the scuttle-port. 
 'T was a stiffish breeze, an' I seed some'at lift on a sea like a 
 albatross's wing, as one may say though what wor this but 
 the "Irish's" bit of a tender, standing right across our bows 
 for the schooner, ye see, changed her course i' the night-time, 
 rig'lar slaver's dodge, thinkin' for to drop the sloop-o'-war, 
 sure enough. But as for the little f 'lucca, why .they had n't
 
 A SEA STORY 145 
 
 bargained for her at all, lying-to as she did, with a rag o' sail 
 up, in the troughs of the sea, till the schooner was close 
 on her. 
 
 " 'Well, no sooner does they go about, my boy, but the 
 muskeety of a cruiser lets drive at her off the top of a sea, as 
 we hung broadside to them in stays. Blessed if I ever see 
 sich a mark! the shot jist takes our foretop fair slap for 
 the next minute I seed the fore-topmast come over the lee- 
 side, an' astarn we begins to go directly. What 's more, mate, 
 I never see a small craft yet handled better in a sea, as that 
 'ere chap did nor the same thing done, cleaner at any rate 
 for they jist comes nigh-hand tip on our bowsprit-end, as the 
 schooner lifted then up in the wind they went like clock- 
 work, with a starnway on as carried the f'lucca right along- 
 side on us, like a coachman backing up a lane, and grind we 
 both heaved on the swell, with the topmast hamper an' its 
 canvas for a fender atwixt us. Aboard jumps the man-o'- 
 war's-men, in course, cutlash in hand, an' for five minutes 
 some tough work there was on deck, by the tramp, the shots, 
 an' the curses over our heads when off they shoved the 
 hatches, and I seed a tall young feller in a gold-banded cap 
 look below. Be blowed if I was n't goin' to sing out again, 
 for, d 'ye see, I 'm blessed if I took mind on the chap at all, as 
 much by reason o' the blood an' the smoke he 'd got on his face 
 as aught else. Hows'ever, I holds a bit meantime, on account 
 o' Job Price an' that 'ere piratecy consarn till what does I 
 think, a hour or two arter, when I finds as this here were the 
 very lufftenant as chased us weeks on end in the Camaroons. 
 So a close stopper, sure enough, I keeps on my jaw; an' as for 
 scentin' me out amongst a couple o' hundred blacks in the 
 hold, why, 't were fit to paul my own mother herself. 
 
 " 'Well, Jack, by this time bein' near Serry Loney, next 
 day or so we got in- where, what does they do but they 
 lubber-rates us all, as they calls it, into a barracoon ashore, 
 till sich time as the slaver ud be condemned an' off goes the 
 tender down coast again. Arter that, they treats us well 
 enough, but still I dursn't say a word ; for one day, as we goed 
 to work makin' our huts, there I twigs a printed bill upon the 
 church-wall, holdin' out a reward, d 'ye see, consarnin' the 
 piratecy, with my own name and my very build logged down 
 ownly, be hanged if they does n't tack on to it all, by way of 
 a topgallant ink- jury to a man, these here words "He 's a 
 very ugly feller looks like a furriner." Well, mate, I ain't 
 a young maiden, sure enough, but, thinks I, afore I fell foul o' 
 that blasted fittish-man an' his nut, cuss rr.e if I looks jist so
 
 146 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 bad as that 'ere ! So ye know this goes more to my heart nor 
 aught else, till there 1 spells out another confounded lie in the 
 bill, as how Cap'en Price's men had mutinied again' him, and 
 murdered the brig's crew when, in course, I sees the villain's 
 whole traverse at once. So sayin', I watched my chance one 
 night an' went aboard a Yankee brig as were to sail next day ; 
 an' I tells the skipper part o' the story, offerin' for to work my 
 passage across for nothing ; which, says he, "It 's a hinter- 
 estin' narritif e" them was his words ; and, says he, "It 's a 
 land o' freedom is the States, an' no mistake ain't there no 
 more on ye in the like case ?" he says. "Not as I knows on, 
 sir," I answers ; an' says he, "Plenty o' colored gen'lmen there 
 is yonder, all in silks an' satins ; an' I hear," says he, "there 's 
 one on 'em has a chance o' bein' President next time anyhow 
 I 'm your friend," says he, quite hearty. 
 
 " 'Well, the long an' short of it was, I stays aboard the 
 brig, works my spell in her, an' takes my trick at the helium 
 but I 'm blowed, Jack, if the men 'ud let me sleep in the 
 fok'sle, 'cause I was a black, so I slung my hammock aft with 
 the nigger stoord. D' ye see, 1 misgived myself a bit when we 
 sank the coast, for, thinks I, it 's in Africa as that 'ere blessed 
 mushroom are to be found, to take the color oil me hows'- 
 ever, I thinks it carn't but wear out in time, now I 've got out 
 o' that 'ere confounded mess, where, sure enough, things was 
 against me. So at last the v'yage were up, an' the brig got in 
 to New Orleans. There I walks aft to the skipper for to take 
 leave? when says he, wonderfly friendly like, "Now, my lad," 
 says he, "I 'm goin' up river a bit for to sea a friend as 
 takes a interest in your kind an' if ye likes, why I '11 pay yer 
 passage that far?" In course I agrees, and up river we goes, 
 till we lands at a fine house, where I 'm left in a far-handy, ye 
 know, while the skipper an' his friend has their dinner. All 
 at once the gen'l'man shoves his head out of a doure, takes a 
 look at me, an' in again arter that I hears the chink o' dollars 
 then the skipper walks out, shuts the doure, and says he to 
 me, "Now," he says, "that 's a cute sort o' tale ye tould me, my 
 lad, but it 's a lie, I guess !" "Lie, sir !" says I, "what d 'ye 
 mean ?" for ye see that 'ere matter o' the iv'ry brig made me 
 sing small at first. "No slack, Pumpey," says he, liftin' his 
 fore-finger like a schoolmaster; "ain't yer name Pumpey?" 
 
 guess I'd tell ye what tripe you belongs to you're a 
 Mandigy niggur," says he. "It 's all very well," he says, "that
 
 A SEA STORY 147 
 
 'ere yarn, but that 's wot they 'd all say when they comes, 
 they 've been dyed black ! Why," says he, "does n't I see that 
 'ere brand one night on yer back there 's yer arms all over 
 pagan tattooin' " "Bless ye, cap'en," I says, a-holdin' up 
 my arm, "it 's crowns an' anchors !" "Crowns !" says he, 
 turiiin' up his nose, "what does we know o' crowns hereaway 
 we ain't barbers yet, 1 guess" of what he meant by barbers 
 here, mate, I 'm hanged if I knowed. " 'Sides," says he, "you 
 speaks broken Aimerricane !" " 'Merricain ?" I says, "why, 
 I speaks good English! an' good reason, bein' a freeborn 
 Briton as white 's yerself, if so be I could ownly clap hands 
 for a minnet on some o' them mushrooms I tould ye on!" 
 "Where does they grow, then?" axes he, screwin' one eye up. 
 "In Africay yonder, sir," I says, "more 's the pity I had n't 
 the chance to lay hands on them again !" "Phoo !" says he, 
 "glad they ain't here ! An' does you think we 're a-goin' for to 
 send all the way over to Africay for them mushrooms you 
 talks on? Tell ye what, yer free papers 'ud do ye a sight 
 more good here!" says he; "it's no use with a black skin, for 
 to claim white laws ; an' what 's more, ye 're too tarnation 
 ugly-faced for it, let alone color, Pumpey, my man," he says. 
 "I tell ye what it is, Cap'en Edwards," says I, "my frontis- 
 piece ain't neither here nor there, but if you calls me Pumpey 
 again, blowed an' I don't pitch inty ye!" so with that I 
 handles my bones in a way as makes him hop inside the 
 doure an' says the skipper, houldin' it half shut, "Harkee, 
 lad," he says, "it 's no go your tryin' for to run, or they '11 
 make ye think angels o' bo'sun's-mates. But what 's more," 
 says he, "niver you whisper a word o' what ye tells me, about 
 nuts an' mushrooms, or sich like trash no more will 1; for, 
 d 'ye see, my lad, in that case they 'd jest hush ye up for 
 good !" "Who d 'ye mean ?" I says, all abroad, an' of a shiver 
 like mindin' on the slave-schooner again. "Why, the plan- 
 ter's people," says he, "as I 've sold ye to." An' with that he 
 pints into his mouth, and shuts the door. 
 
 " 'Well, mate, ye may fancy how I feels ! Here I stands, 
 givin' a look round for a fair offing; but there was bulwarks 
 two fadoms high all round the house, a big bloodhound lyin 7 
 chained, with his muzzle on his two paws, an' nobody seem'd 
 for to mind me. So, I seed it were all up wonst more; an' at 
 the thou't of a knife in my tongue, I sits right down in the 
 far-handy, rig'lar flabbergasted, when out -that 'ere blasted 
 skipper shoots his head again, an' says he, "Pumpey, my lad, 
 good-day," says he; "you knows some'at o' the water, an' as 
 they've boat-work at times hereaway, I don't know but, if
 
 i 4 8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 you behaves yerself , they '11 trust you with an oar now an' 
 then: for I touid yer master jist now," says he, "as how you 
 carn't speak no English!" Well, I gives him a hoath, 'cause 
 by that time I had n't a word to throw at a dog ; and shortly 
 arter, up comes the overseer with his black mate, walks me off 
 to a shed, strips me, and gives me a pair o' cotton drawers 
 and a broad hat so out I goes the next mornin' for to hoe 
 sugar-cane with a gang o' niggers. 
 
 " 'Well, mate, arter that I kept close enough says no 
 more, but mumbles a lot o' no-man's jargon, as makes 'em all 
 log me down for a sort o' double-Guinea savitch 'cause why, 
 I were hanged afeared for my tongue, seein', if so be I lost it, 
 I 'd be a nigger for ever, sure enough. So the blacks, for most 
 part being country-bred, they talks nothin' but a blessed 
 jumble, for all the world like babbies at home ; an' what does 
 they do but they fancies me a rig'lar African nigger, as proud 
 as Tommy, an' a'most ready for to washup me they wor why, 
 the poor divvies 'ud bring me yams and fish; they kisses my 
 flippers an' toes as I 'd been the Pope ; an' as for the young 
 girls, I 'm blowed if I warn't all the go amongst 'em though 
 I carn't say the same where both 's white, ye know ! What 
 with the sun an' the cocoanut ile, to my thinkin,' I gets 
 blacker an' blacker blessed if I did n't fancy a feller 's very 
 mind turned nigger. I larns their confounded lingo, an' I 
 answers to the name o' Pumpey, blast it, till I right-down 
 forgets that I'd ever another. As for runnin', look ye, 1 
 knowed 't was no use thereaway, as long as my skin tould 
 against me, an' as long as Africay wor where it wor. So, my 
 boy, I seed pretty clear, ye know, as this here world 'ud turn 
 a man into a rig'lar built slave-nigger in the long run if he 
 was a angel out o' heaven ! 
 
 '' 'Well, mate, one day I 'm in the woods amongst a gang, 
 chopping firewood for the sugar-mill, when, what does I light 
 on betwixt some big ground-leaves and sich like, but a lot o' 
 them very same red mushrooms as the fittish-man shows me 
 in Africay! blowed if there warn't a whole sight o' them 
 round about, too ! So I pulls enough for ten, ye may be sure, 
 stuffs 'em in my hat, an' that same night, as soon as all's 
 dark, off I goes into the woods, right by the stars, for the 
 nearest town 'twixt there an' New Orleans. As soon as I got 
 nigh-hand it, there I sits down below a tree amongst the 
 bushes, hauls off my slops, an' I turns to for to rub myself all 
 over, from heel to truck, till daybreak. So, in course, I 
 watches for the light angshis enough, as ye may suppose, to 
 know what color I were. Well, strike me lucky, Jack, if I
 
 A SEA STORY 149 
 
 did n't jump near a f adorn i' the air, when at last I sees I 'm 
 white wonst morel blessed if 1 did n't feel myself a new man 
 from stem to starii! 1 makes right for a creek near by, looks 
 at my face in the water, then up I comes again, an' every yarn 
 o' them cussed slave-togs I pulls to bits, when 1 shoves 'em 
 under the leaves. Arter that I took fair to the water for 
 about a mile, jist to smooth out my wake, like; then I shins 
 aloft up a tree, where I stowed myself away till noon 'cause, 
 d 'ye see, I knowed pretty well what to look for next. An' by 
 this time, mind ye, all them -queer haps made a fellow won- 
 derfle sharp, so I'd scheme out the whole chart aforehand 
 how to weather on them cussed Yankees. 
 
 " 'Accordently, about noon, what does I hear but that 'ere 
 savitch bloodhound comin' along up creek, with a set o' slave- 
 catchers astarn, for to smell out my track. With that, down I 
 went in the water again, rounds a point into the big river, 
 where I gets abreast of a landin'-place, near the town, with 
 craft laying out-stream, boats plyiii', an' all alive. D' ye see, 
 bo', I 'd got no clothes at all, an' how for to rig myself again, 
 'blowed if I knows seein' as how by this time I 'd turned as 
 white as the day I were born, an' a naked white man in a town 
 arn't no better nor a black nigger. So in 1 swims like a por- 
 pus afore a breeze, an' up an' down I ducks in the shallow, for 
 all the world like a chap a-takin' a bath; an' out 1 hollers to 
 all an' sundry, with a Yankee twang i' my nose, for to know if 
 they had seen my clothes, till a whole lot on 'em crowds on the 
 quay. Hows'ever, I bethinks me on that 'ere blasted brand 
 atwixt my shoulders, an' I makes myself out as modest as a 
 lady, kicks out my legs, and splashes like a whale aground, 
 an' sticks out my starn to 'em for to let 'em see it 's white. 
 "Hullo!" I sings out, "han't ye seen my clothes?" "No, 
 stranger," says they, "some un 's runned off with 'em, we 
 calc'lates !" With that I tells 'em I 'm a Boston skipper new 
 corned up from New Orleans ; an' not bein' used to the heat, 
 why, I'd took a bath the first thing; an' I 'scribes the whole 
 o' my togs as if I'd made 'em "split new," says I, "an' a 
 beaver hat, more by token there's my name inside it: an'," 
 says I, "there 's notes for a hundred dollars in my trousers !" 
 
 ' 'By this time down comes the slave-catchers, an' says 
 they, hearin' on it, 'That 'ere tarnation nigger 's gone off with 
 'em, we '11 know un by them marks well enough," says they, 
 an' off they goes across river. "Hullo!" I sings out to the 
 folks, "I 'm a-s-ettin' cold here, so I guess I '11 come ashore 
 again, slick off!" I twangs out. "Guess ye can't, straunger!" 
 they hails; "not till we gets ye some kiverin's! we're con-
 
 150 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 siderable proper here, we are!" "Ain't this a free country, 
 then ?" I says, givin' a divvle of a splash ; an' with that they 
 begs an' axes me for to hould on, an' they 'd fix me, as they 
 calls it, in no time. Well, mate, what does they do but one 
 an' another brings me something as like what I 'scribed as 
 could be, hands 'em along on a pole, an' I puts 'em on then an' 
 there. Arter that, the ladies o' the place bein' blessed modest, 
 1 an' all of a fright leest I 'd a corned out an' gone through the 
 town why, out o' grannytude, as they says, they gets up a 
 supperscription on a hundred dollars to make up my loss 
 has a public meetin' logged down for the evenin', when I 'm 
 for to indress the citizens, as they says, all about freedom an' 
 top-gallantry, an' sichlike. Hows'ever, I jist sticks my tongue 
 in my cheek, eats a blessed good dinner in a hot-ell, whatches 
 my chance, an' off by a track-boat at sundown to New 
 Orleens, where I shipped aboard a English barque, an' gets 
 safe out to sea wonst more.' 
 
 " 'Lord love ye, Harry !' exclaimed Jack hereupon, 'the 
 likes o' that, now ! But I Ve heerd say, them fittish-men you 
 talks on has wonderful knowledge why, mayhap it 's them as 
 keeps all the niggers black, now?' 'Well, bo',' said Harry, 
 'I don't doubt but if them 'Merricaine slaves jist knowed o' 
 that 'ere red mushroom, why they 'd show the Yankees more 
 stripes nor stars ! D' ye see, if a Yankee knowed as his own 
 father were a-hoein' his sugar-canes, blowed if he would n't 
 make him work up his liberty in dollars! All the stripes, 
 d' ye see, mate, is for the blacks, an' all the stars is for the 
 whites, in them Yankee colors as they brags so much about! 
 But what I says is, it 's curst hard to get through this here 
 world, shipmate, if ye doesn't keep well to the wind'ard of 
 it!' 
 
 "I was the more amused with this account of the ugly 
 rascal's adventures that I remembered two or three of the 
 occasions he mentioned, and he told them pretty exactly 
 so far as I had to do with them. As for the fetich-man's 
 curious nut, and that extraordinary mushroom of his, why 
 'ten to one,' thought I, 'but all the while the fellow never once 
 touched a piece of soap!' which, no doubt, had as much to do 
 with it as anything besides. Somehow or other, notwith- 
 standing, I had taken almost a fancy to the villain such a 
 rough sample of mankind he was, with his uncouth grumpy 
 voice, and his huge black beard; and he gave the story in a 
 cool, scornful sort of way that was laughable in itself. 'So, 
 my Lid,' I thought, 'it seems you and I have met twice before ; 
 but if you play any of your tricks this time, Master Harry, I
 
 A SEA STORY 151 
 
 hope you 've found your match' ; and certainly, if I had fan- 
 cied my gentleman was in the slaver's hold that time off the 
 African coast, I 'd have 'lubber-rated' him with a vengeance. 
 "'I say, mates/ said he again, with a sulky kind of 
 importance, to those of the watch who had gathered round 
 during the last half of his yarn, 'there 's three things I hates 
 an' good reason!' 'What he's they, Harry?' asked the 
 rest. 'One 's a Yankee,' said he, 'an' be blowed to him ; the 
 second 's a slaver ; and the third is I carn't abide a nigger, 
 
 nohow. But d' ye see, there 's one thing as I likes ' Here 
 
 eight bells struck out, and up tumbled the watch below, with 
 Jacobs' hearty face amongst them: so I made my way aft, 
 and of course, missed hearing what that said delightful thing 
 might be, which this tarry Esop approved of so much. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 "WHILE I was listening, I had scarcely noticed, that within 
 the last few minutes a light air had begun to play aloft among 
 the higher canvas, a faint cat's-paw came ruffling here and 
 there a patch of the water, till by this time the Indiaman was 
 answering her wheel again, and moving slowly ahead, as the 
 breeze came down and crept out to the leeches of her sails, 
 with a sluggish lifting of her heavy fore-course. The men 
 were all below at breakfast, forward, and, of course, at that 
 hour the poop above me was quite a Babel of idler's voices; 
 while I looked into the compass and watched the ship's head 
 falling gradually off from north-east-by-north, near which it 
 had stuck pretty close since daybreak. The sun was brought 
 before her opposite beam, and such a perfect gush of hazy 
 white light shot from the quarter over the larboard bul- 
 warks, that thereaway, in fact, there might have been a fleet 
 of ships, or a knot of islands, and we none the wiser, as you 
 could n't look into it at all. 
 
 "The chief mate came handing a wonderfully timid young 
 lady down the poop-ladder with great care, and as soon as 
 they were safe on the quarter-deck, she asked with a confiding 
 sort of lisp, 'And where are we going now then, Mr. Finch?' 
 'Well, miss,' simpered he, 'wherever you please, 1 '11 be glad 
 to conduct you!' 'Oh, but the ship I mean,' replied she, 
 giggling prettily. 'Why,' said Finch, stooping down to the 
 binnacle, 'she heads due south-east at present, miss.' 'I am so
 
 I 5 2 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 glad you are going on again !' said the young lady ; 'but oh ! 
 when shall we see dear land once more, Mr. Finch f 'Not for 
 more than a week, I fear,' answered the mate, 'when we arrive 
 at the Cape of Good Hope. But there, miss,your poetic feel- 
 ings will be gratified, I assure you. The hills there, I might 
 say, Miss Brodie,' he went on, 'not to speak of the woods, are 
 quite dramatic! You mustn't suppose the rough mariner, 
 rude as he seems, Miss Brodie, is entirely devoid of romance 
 in his sentiments, I hope!' and he looked down for the 
 twentieth time that morning at his boots, as he handed her 
 down the cabm hatchway, longing to see the Cape, no doubt. 
 'Much romance, as you call it, there is in ugly Harry yonder !' 
 thought I; and comparing this sort of stuff, aft, with the 
 matter-of-fact notions before the mast, made me the more 
 anxious for what might turn up in a few hours, with this 
 gallant first officer left in full charge, and the captain, as I 
 understood, unable to leave his cot. A good enough seaman 
 the fellow was, so far as your regular deep-sea work went, 
 which those India voyagers had chiefly to do with then; but 
 for aught out of the way, or a sudden pinch, why, the peace 
 had just newly set them free of their leading strings, and here 
 this young mate brought his new-fangled school navigation, 
 forsooth, to run the 'Seringapatam' into some mess or other; 
 whereas, in a case of the kind, I had no doubt he would prove 
 as helpless as a child. 
 
 "By this time, for my part, all my wishes for some 
 ticklish adventure were almost gone, when I thought of 
 our feelings at the loss of the boat, as well as the number 
 of innocent young creatures on board, with Lota Hyde her- 
 self amongst them; while here had I got myself fairTy set 
 down for a raw griffin. Yet neither Westwood nor I, unless 
 it came to the very worst, could venture to make himself 
 openly useful! I was puzzled both what to think of our 
 exact case, and what to do; whereas a pretty short time in 
 these latitudes, as the foremast-man had said, might finish 
 our business altogether; indeed, the whole look of things, 
 somehow or other, at that moment, had a strange unsettled 
 touch about it, out of which one unaccustomed to those parts 
 might be sure some change would come. The air, a little 
 ago, was quite suffocating, the heat got greater; and the 
 breeze, though it seemed to strengthen aloft, at times sank 
 quietly out of her lower canvas like a breath drawn in, and 
 caught it again as quietly ere it fell to the masts. What 
 with the slow huge heave of the water, as it washed glittering 
 past, and what with the blue tropical sky overhead, getting
 
 A SEA STORY 153 
 
 paler and paler at the horizon astern, from fair heat while 
 the sunlight and the white haze on our larboard beam, made 
 it a complete puzzle to behold why, I felt just like some 
 fellow in one of those stupid dreams after a heavy supper, 
 with nothing at all in them, when you don't know how long 
 or how often you 've dreamed it before. Deuce the hand or 
 foot you can stir, and yet you 've a notion of something hor- 
 rid that 's sure to come upon you. 
 
 "We could n't be much more than a hundred miles or so to 
 south'ard of St. Helena ; but we might be two thousand miles 
 off the land, or we might be fifty. I had only "been once in my 
 life near the coast thereaway, and certainly my recollections 
 of it were n't the most pleasant. As for the charts, so little 
 was known of it that we could n't depend upon them ; yet 
 there was no doubt the ship had been all night long in a 
 strong set of water toward north-east, right across her course. 
 For my own part, I was as anxious as anyone else to reach the 
 Cape, and get rid of all this cursed nonsense; for since last 
 night, 1 saw quite well by her look that Violet Hyde would 
 never favor me, if I kept in her wake to the day of judgment. 
 There v:as I, too, every time I came on deck and saw those 
 round-house doors, my heart leaped into my throat, and I 
 did n't know port from starboard ! But what was the odds, 
 that I 'd have kissed the very pitch she walked upon, when 
 she was n't for me ! being deep in love don't sharpen the 
 faculties, neither, and the more I thought of matters the 
 stupider I seemed to get. 'Green Hand!' thought 1, 'as 
 Jacobs and the larboard watch call me, it appears why, 
 they 're right enough ! A green hand I came afloat nine 
 years ago, and, by Jove! though I know the sea and what 
 belongs to it, from sheer liking to them, as 't were it seems 
 a green hand I 'm to stick seeing I know so blessed little of 
 womankind, not to speak of that whole confounded world 
 ashore! With all one's schemes and one's weather-eye, 
 something new always keeps turning up to show one what an 
 ass he is ; and, hang me, if I don't begin to suppose 1 'm only 
 fit for working small traverses upon slavers and jack-nasty- 
 faces, after all! There's Westwood, without troubling him- 
 self, seems to weather upon me, with her, like a Baltimore 
 clipper on a Dutch schuyt !' In short, I wanted to leave the 
 'Seringapatam' as soon as I could, wish them all a good voy- 
 age together away for Bombay, sit down under Table Moun- 
 tain, and then perhaps go and travel amongst the Hottentots 
 by way of a change. 
 
 "The chief officer came aft towards the binnacle again, with
 
 154 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 a strut in his gait, and more full of importance than ever, of 
 course. 'This breeze '11 hold, I think, Macleod?' said he to 
 the second mate, who was shuffling about in a lounging, 
 unseamanlike way he had, as if he felt uncomfortable 011 the 
 quarter-deck, and both hands in his- jacket pockets. 'Well,' 
 said the Scotchman, 'do ye not think it 's too early begun, 
 sir ?' and he looked about like an old owl, winking against the 
 glare of light past the mainsheet to larboard ; 'I '11 not say 
 but it will, though,' continued he, 'but 'odsake, sir, it 's terrible 
 warm !' 'Can't be long ere we get into Cape Town now,' said 
 the mate, 'so you '11 turn the men on deck as soon as break- 
 fast 's over, Mr. Macleod, and commence giving her a coat of 
 paint outside, sir.' 'Exactly, Mr. Finch,' said the other, 'all 
 hands it '11 be, sir ? For any sake, Mr. Finch, give they lazy 
 scoundrels something to do!' 'Yes, all hands,' said Finch; 
 and he was going below, when the second mate sidled up to 
 him again, as if he had something particular to say. 'The 
 captain '11 be quite better by this time, no doubt, Mr. Finch ?' 
 asked he. 'Well d'ye mean?' inquired the mate, rather 
 shortly; 'why no, sir, when the surgeon saw him in the 
 morning watch, he said it was a fever, and the sooner we saw 
 the Cape the better for him.' 'No doubt, no doubt, sir,' said 
 the second mate, thoughtfully, putting his forefinger up his 
 twisted nose, which I noticed he did in such cases, as if 
 the twist had to do with his memory 'no doubt, sir, that 's 
 just it ! The doctor 's a sharp Edinbro' lad -did he see 
 aucht by common about the captain, sir?' 'No,' said 
 Finch, 'except that he wanted to go on deck this morning, and 
 the surgeon took away his clothes and left the door locked. 7 
 'Did he, though?' asked Macleod, shaking his head, and 
 looking a little anxious ; 'didna he ask for aucht in particular, 
 sir?' 'Not that I heard of, 'Mr. Macleod,' replied the mate; 
 'what do you mean ?' 'Did he not ask for a green leaf ?' replied 
 the second mate. 'Pooh,' said Finch, 'what if he did?' 
 'Well, sir,' said Macleod, 'neither you nor the doctor 's sailed 
 five voy'ges with the captain, like me. He 's a quiet man, 
 Captain Weelumson, an' well he knows his calling; but some- 
 times warm weather does n't do with him, more especial 
 siccan warm weather as this, when the moon 's full, as it is the 
 night, ye know, Mr. Finch. There 's something else besides 
 that though, when he 's taken that way.' 'Well, vrhat is it ?' 
 asked the mate, carelessly. 'Oo!' said Macleod, 'it can't be 
 that this time, of course, sir it's when he's near the land! 
 The captain knows the smell of it, these times, Mr. Finch, as 
 well as a cockroach does an' it 's then he asks for a green
 
 A SEA STORY 155 
 
 leaf, and wants to go straight ashore I mind he did it the 
 voy'ge before last, sir. He 7 s a quiet man, the captain, as 1 
 
 said, for ord'nar' but when he 's roused, he 's a ' 'Why, 
 
 what was the matter with him?' said Finch, more attentive 
 than before, 'you don't mean to say? go on, Mr. Macleod/ 
 The second mate, however, looked cautious, closed his lips 
 firmly, and twirled his red whiskers, as he glanced with 
 one eye aloft again. 'Hoo P said he carelessly, 'hoo, it 's noth- 
 ing, nothing just, I 'm thinking, sir, what they call dis- 
 gestion ashore all frae the stommach, Mr. Finch. We used 
 just for to lock the stateroom door, an' never let on we 
 heard but at any rate, sir, this is no the thing at all, ye 
 know! Mester Semm,' continued he to the fat midshipman, 
 who came slowly up from the steerage, picking his teeth 
 with a pocket-knife, 'go forrid and get the bo'sun to turn up 
 all hands.' 
 
 " 'Sir,' said I, stepping up to the mate next moment, 
 before the round-house, 'might I use the freedom of asking 
 whereabouts we are at present?' Finch gave me a look 
 of cool indifference, without stirring head or hand; which 
 I saw, however, was put on, as, ever since our boating 
 affair, the man evidently detested me, with all his pretended 
 scorn. 'Oh, certainly, sir !' said he, 'of course ! sorry i 
 have n't the ship's log here to show you but it 's two 
 hundred miles or so below St. Helena, eight hundred miles 
 odd off the south-west African coats, with a light westerly 
 breeze bound for the Cape of Good Hope so after that 
 you can look about you, sir!' 'Are you sure of all that, 
 sir?' asked I, seriously. 'Oh no, of course not!' said he, 
 still standing as before, 'not in the least, sir ! It 's noth- 
 ing but quadrant, sextant, and chronometer work, after all 
 which every young gentleman don't believe in!' Then he 
 muttered aloud, as if to himself, 'Well, if the captain 
 should chance to ask for a green leaf, I know where to find 
 it for him !' 
 
 "I was just on the point of giving him some angry 
 answer or other, and perhaps spoiling all, when I felt a 
 tap on my shoulder, and on turning round saw the Indian 
 Judge, who had found me in the way either of his passage 
 or his prospect, on stepping out of the starboard door. 
 'Eh!' said he, jocularly, as I begged his pardon, 'eh, young 
 sir I've nothing to do with pardons always leave that 
 to the governor-general and councillors! Been doing any- 
 thing wrong, then ? Ah, what 's this still calm, or some 
 of your wind again, Mr. Officer?' 'A fine breeze like to
 
 156 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 hold, Sir Charles,' answered the mate, all bows and polite- 
 ness. 'So!' said Sir Charles, 'but I don't see Captain Wil- 
 liamson at all this morning where is he ?' 'I am sorry to say 
 he is very unwell, Sir Charles,' said Finch. 'Indeed!' ex- 
 claimed the Judge, with whom the captain stood for all the 
 seamanship aboard, and looking round again rather dis- 
 satisfied. 'Don't like that, though. I hope he won't be 
 long unable to attend to things, sir let me know as soon as 
 he is recovered, if you please.' 'Certainly, Sir Charles,' 
 said the chief officer, touching his cap with some appearance 
 of pique, 'but I hope, sir, I understand my duties in com- 
 mand, Sir Charles.' 'Dare say, sir,' said the Judge, 'as officer, 
 probably. Commander absent horrible accidents already,' 
 he muttered crossly, changing his usual high sharp key to a 
 harsh croak, like a saw going through a heavy spar, 'some- 
 thing sure to go wrong wish we 'd done with this deuced 
 tiresome voyage. Ha, young gentleman,' exclaimed he, turn- 
 ing, as he went in, 'd' ye play chess suppose not eh ?' 
 'Why, yes, sir,' said I, 'I do.' 'Well,' continued he, over- 
 hauling me more carefully than he had done before, though 
 latterly I had begun to be somewhat in his good graces 
 when we met by chance, 'after all, you Ve a chess eye, if you 
 know the game at all. Come in, then, for God's sake, and 
 let 's begin. Ever since the poor brigadier went, I Ve had 
 only myself or a girl to play against. 'Gad, sir, there 
 is something, I can't express how horrible to my mind, 
 in being matched against nobody or, what 's worse, against 
 a woman! But recollect, young gentleman, I cannot bear a 
 tyro'; and he glanced at me as we walked into the large 
 poop-cabin as sharply and as cold as a nor'-wester ere it 
 breaks to windward. 
 
 "Now I happened to know the game, and to be particu- 
 larly fond of it; so, restless as I felt otherwise, I gave the old 
 nabob a quiet nod, laid down my griffin-looking straw 
 hat on the sofa, and in two minutes there we were, sitting 
 opposite over a splendid China-made chessboard, with ele- 
 phants, emperors, mandarins, and Chinamen, all square and 
 ataunto, as if they'd been set ready for days. The dark 
 Icitmagar commenced fanning over his master's head with 
 a bright feather punka, the other native servant handed 
 him his twisted hookah and lighted it, after which he 
 folded his arms and stood looking down on the board 
 like a pundit at some campaign of the Great Mogul while 
 the Judge himself waited for mv first move, as if it had 
 been some of our plain English fellows in Hindostan com-
 
 A SEA STORY 15; 
 
 mencing against your whole big India hubbub and finery, 
 to get hold of it all in the end. ior my part 1 sat at 
 first all of a tingle and tremble, thinking how near his 
 lovely daughter might be; and there were the breakfast- 
 cups laid out on a round table at the other side, behind me. 
 
 "However, I made my move, Sir Charles made his, and 
 pitched into the game in a half-impatient, half long-headed 
 sort of way, anxious to get to the thick of it, as it were, 
 once more. Not a word was said, and you only heard the 
 suck of the smoke bubbling through the water-bottle of his 
 pipe, after each move the Judge made; till I set myself 
 to the play in right earnest, and, owing to the old gentle- 
 man's haste at the beginning, or his over-sharpness, I hooked 
 him into a mess with which I used to catch the old hands 
 at chess in the cockpit, just by fancying what they meant to 
 be at. The Judge lifted his head, looked at me, and went 
 on again. 'Your queen is in check, Sir Charles !' said I, 
 next time, by way of a polite hint. ''Check, though, young 
 gentleman !' said he, chuckling, as he dropped one of his 
 outlandish knights, which I was n't yet up to the looks of, 
 close to the windward of my blessed old Turk of a king; 
 so the skirmish was just getting to be a fair set-to, when I 
 chanced to lift my eyes, and saw the door from the after 
 cabin open, with Miss Hyde coming through. 'Now, papa,' 
 exclaimed she on the moment, 'you must come to breakfast' 
 when all of a sudden, at seeing another man in the cabin, 
 she stopped short. Being not so loud and griffin-like in 
 my toggery that morning, and my hat off, the young lady 
 did n't recognize me at first though the next minute, I saw 
 by her color and her astonished look she not only did 
 that, but something else no doubt remembering at last 
 where she had seen me ashore. 'Well, child,' said the Judge, 
 'make haste with it, then ! Recollect where we are, now, 
 young gentleman and come to breakkfast.' She had a 
 pink muslin morning-dress on, with her brown hair done 
 up like the Virgin Mary in a picture, and the sea had 
 taken almost all the paleness off her cheek that it had in 
 the ballroom at Epsom, a month or two ago and, by Jove! 
 when I saw her begin to pour out the tea out of the silve~ 
 teapot, I didn't know where I was! 'Oh, I forgot,' said 
 the Judge, waving his hand from me to her, in a hurry, 'Mr. 
 Robins, Violet! ho, Tcitmagar, curry 1'ao!' 'Oh,' said she, 
 stiffly, with a cold turn of her pretty lip, 'I have met Mr. 
 Mr. ' 'Collins, ma'am,' said I. 'I have met this gen- 
 tleman by accident before.' 'So you have so you have,' said
 
 158 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 her father; 'but you play chess well, Mr. a a what's his 
 name ? ah! Colly. 'Gad, you play well, sir we must have 
 it out!" 
 
 "The young lady glanced at me again with a sort of 
 astonishment; at last she said, no doubt for form's sake, 
 though as indifferently as possible: 'You have xnown your 
 friend the missionary gentleman long, I believe, sir? the 
 Reverend Mr. Thomas i think that is his name?' 'Oh, no, 
 ma'am !' said I, hastily, for the Judge was the last man I 
 wished should join Westwood and me together, 'only since 
 we crossed the Line, or so.' 'Why, I thought he said you 
 were at school together!' said she, in surprise. 'Why hem 
 certainly not, ma'am a a I a a I don't remember 
 the gentleman there,' I blundered out. 'Eh, what ? check to 
 your queen, young gentleman, surely?' asked Sir Charles. 
 'What 's this, though ! Always like to hear a mystery ex- 
 plained, so' and he gave me one of his sharp glances. 
 'Why, why surely, young man, now I think of it in that 
 way, I 've seen you before in some peculiar circumstances 
 or other on land, too. Why, where was it let me see now?' 
 putting his finger to his forehead to think ; while I sat pretty 
 uneasy, like a small pawn that had been trying to get to the 
 head of the board, and turn into a knight or a bishop, when 
 it falls foul of a grand figured-out king and queen. How- 
 ever, the queen is the only piece you need mind at a dis- 
 tance, and blessed hard it is to escape from her, of course. 
 Accordingly, I cared little enough for the old nabob finding 
 out I had gone in chase of them; but there sat his charm- 
 ing little daughter, with her eyes on her teacup ; and whether 
 the turn of her face meant coolness, or malice, or amusement, 
 I didn't know though she seemed a little anxious, too, I 
 thought, lest her father should recollect me. 
 
 " 'It was n't before me, young man ?' asked he, looking up 
 of a sudden; 'no, that must have been in India must have 
 been in England, when I was last there let me see.' And 1 
 could n't help fancying what a man's feelings must be, tried 
 for his life, as I caught a side-view of his temples work- 
 ing, dead in my wake, as it were. The thing was laughable 
 enough, and for a moment I met Lota's eye as he mentioned 
 England 't was too short a glimpse, though, to make out ; 
 and, thought I, 'he '11 be down on Surrey directly, and then 
 Croydon last of all, the back of his garden-wall, I suppose !' 
 ''Check,' it was, and what I was going to say I couldn't 
 exactly conceive, unless I patched up some false place or 
 other, with matters to match, and mentioned it to the old
 
 A SEA STORY 159 
 
 fellow; though small chance of its answering with such a 
 devil of a lawyer when all at once I thought I heard a 
 hail from aloft; then the second mate's voice roared close 
 outside, 'Hullo! aloft there!' The next moment 1 started 
 up, and looked at Miss Hyde, as I heard plainly enough 
 the cry, 'On deck there land O !' I turned round at once, 
 and walked out of the round-house to the quarter-deck, where, 
 two minutes after, the whole of the passengers were crowding 
 from below, the Judge and his daughter already on the 
 poop. Far aloft, upon the fore-to'gallant-yard, in the hot 
 glare of the sun, a sailor was standing with his hand over 
 his eyes, and looking to the horizon, as the Indiaman stood 
 quietly before the light breeze. 'Where-away-ay 'C was the 
 next hail from the deck. 'Broad on our larboard bow, sir,' 
 was the answer. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 "WELL, ma'am," continued the naval man, on again re- 
 suming his narrative, "as I told you, the sudden hail of 
 'Land!' brought us all on deck in a twinkling, in the midst 
 of my ticklish conversation with the Judge. 'Hallo ! you 
 aloft !' shouted the chief officer himself, 'd' ye hear, sirrah ! 
 use your eyes before hailing the deck!' 'Land, sir!' came 
 falling down again out of the sunlight; 'land it is, sir 
 broad away on our larboard bow, sir.' 
 
 "By this time it was about half-past nine, or ten o'clock, 
 of the morning. Heading nearly due south-east, as we now 
 were, the Indiaman's bowsprit ran up into the full white 
 blaze of light, in which her fly ing- jib boom seemed to quiver 
 and writhe far away from her like an eel in water; while 
 the spread of her sails against it loomed twice as large 
 as ordinary, from the sort of hazy double-edged look they 
 had, with a twinkling thread of sun drawing all round 
 them like a frame, as if one saw through a wrong-screwed 
 glass. You 'd have thought by the glance under the fore- 
 course, over the ship's head-gratings, she was travelling off 
 quietly into some no-man's-land or other, where it would be 
 so bright we should have to wear blue spectacles : the light 
 breeze being almost direct from nor'-west, and so fairly in her 
 favor, with the help of her studding-sails she was making 
 wonderful progress for such a mere breath about four
 
 160 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 knots to the hour, as I reckoned. The air aloft appeared 
 in the meantime to be steadying and sucking though the 
 water kept smooth, and her bows scarce made a noise in it: 
 the wide soft swells of the sea just floated up of a pale 
 blue, and lifted her on, till she went seething gently down 
 into it again; only, if you put your head over the starboard 
 side, and listened, you thought you heard a sort of dull 
 poppling ripple coming along the bends from round her 
 counter. As for the line of horizon on one bow or the other, 
 't was hardly to be made out at all, with a streaky white 
 haze overlying it, up in the sky as it were, on both sides, 
 behind the dazzle of light. However, the passengers were 
 fancying all kinds of fine tropical matters lay hidden there- 
 away; and in fact, what with the notion of land after a 
 long voyage, and what with the faint specks of bright cloud 
 that seemed to be melting far off in the glare to anyone 
 last from Gravesend, that had never seen anything stranger 
 than Richmond Hill of a Sunday, the whole thing ahead of 
 the ship would have rather an enchanted sort of a look. At 
 length the third mate was seen to shove his spyglass together 
 in the topgallant cross-trees, and came slowly down the rig- 
 ging. 'Well, Mr. Rickett,' said the chief officer, meeting him, 
 as he landed on deck. 'Well, sir,' said Rickett, 'it is land, 
 after all, Mr. Finch!' The mate rapped out an oath, and 
 took another turn; Macleod screwed his mouth as if he 
 were going to whistle, then pulled his red whiskers in- 
 stead, and looked queer at Rickett; while Rickett stood 
 peering into his spyglass as he would have done into his 
 hat, had he still been a foremast-man. The mate's eye 
 met his, then turned to the passengers leaning over the 
 poop railing; and they all three walked to the capstan, where 
 they began to overhaul the charts, and laid their heads to- 
 gether out of ear-shot. 
 
 "Now, whether this said land just made out on the north- 
 east trended away back to south-east, as the clearer look 
 of the horizon to starboard made one think, it was hard to 
 say though in that way of it, there were seemingly two 
 plans for widening her distance. Either Finch might think 
 it better to keep hold of a fair wind, and just edge her off 
 enough to drop the point on her weather quarter when, of 
 course, if things stood as they were, we should soon set a 
 good stretch of water betwixt us and the coast: or else they 
 might brace direct round on the other tack, and head right 
 south-west'ard, out to sea again; though if we were still in 
 it, the current would set us every bit as much in its own
 
 A SEA STORY 161 
 
 direction as ever. ' Accordingly, I sidled nearer to the cap- 
 stan, and watched anxiously for what the third mate had 
 to propose, after humming and hawing a little, and scratch- 
 ing his head under his cap for half a minute. 'At any rate, 
 Mr. Finch, sir,' said he, 'more especially the captain being 
 off charge, I may say, why, I 'd advise ye, sir, to Here 
 he dropped his voice; but Finch apparently agreed to what 
 he said. 
 
 " 'Ready about ship, there !' said the second mate aloud 
 to the boatswain forward; and in ten minutes afterwards 
 the 'Seringapatam' was fairly round, as I had expected, 
 heading at a right-angle to her former course, with the 
 breeze before her starboard beam, and the sun blazing on 
 the other. I walked forward to the bows, and actually started 
 to hear how loud and clear the ripple had got under them 
 of a sudden ; meeting her with a plash, as if she were making 
 six or seven knots headway, while the canvas seemed to draw 
 so much stiffer aloft, you 'd have supposed the breeze had 
 freshened as soon as the helm was put down. The mates 
 looked over the side and aloft, rubbing their hands and 
 smiling to each other, as much as to say how fast she 
 was hauling off the bad neighborhood she was in, though 
 the heat was as great as ever, and you did n't feel a breath 
 more air below, nor see the water ruffle. To my notion, in 
 fact, it was just the set of the current against her that 
 seemingly freshened her way, the ship being now direct in 
 its teeth; so that, of course, it would keep bearing her up 
 all the time away north-eastward, with her own leeway to 
 help it; and the less could anyone notice the difference 
 betwixt the water going past her side, and her passing the 
 water. This tack of hers, which Rickett, no doubt, thought 
 such a safe plan, might be the very one to put her in a 
 really dangerous way yet: for when they did discover this 
 undertow, how were they to take her out of it, after all? 
 Probably by trying to stand fair across the stream of it to 
 southward, which, without three times the wind we had, 
 would at best take us out many miles nearer the land 
 it set upon, or leave us perhaps becalmed in the midst of it. 
 
 "The truth was, that although I had n't seen what like 
 the land was, and could n't have said, by the chart, where we 
 were, I began to have a faint notion of whereabouts we 
 possibly soon might be, from what I remembered hearing 
 an old quartermaster in the 'Iris' say, a couple of years 
 before, regarding a particular spot on the south-west coast, 
 where the currents at some seasons, as he phrased it, made a
 
 162 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 regular race-course meeting. The old fellow gave me also, 
 at the time, some .bearings of the nearest coast, with the 
 landmarks at the mouth of a river a little farther north 
 which, he said, he would know if you set him down there of 
 a dark night, though he had been in his bed at Gosport 
 the minute before, if there was just a bright streak of sky 
 to the eastward namely, a big black rock like two steps, 
 and a block at the foot of them, somewhat the shape of a 
 chipped holystone, running down on one side out of a high 
 headland, like an admiral's cocked hat, with six mop-headed 
 trees upon the root of the rock, for all the world like hairs 
 on a wart. Here I recollected how my worthy authority 
 pointed modestly for example to a case of the kind on 
 his own nose. The opposite shore of its mouth was flat, with 
 a heavy white surf; but it shut in so far upon the other, 
 he said, that, steering from the south'ard, one would never 
 know there was a river there at all. The Bambar, he called 
 it; but if he meant the Bembarooghe, we could scarcely be 
 near it or that much toward being abreast of St. Helena. 
 For all I saw, indeed, we might have nothing to eastward 
 of us save a hard coast, or else the sandy coast farther 
 down, shoaling out of sight of land. At any rate, I knew we 
 must have got into the tail of the great sea-stream from 
 round the Cape of Good Hope, which would, no doubt, 
 split out at sea on Viana's Bank, and turn partly to north- 
 eastward thereabouts ; so that it was n't a very bad guess 
 to suppose we were getting up somewhere near Cape Frio, 
 the likeliest place in the world to find old Bob Martin's 
 'Maze,' which we used to joke about so in the 'Iris.' 
 
 "What was done, though, required to be done quickly, 
 and I looked about for Tom Westwood, till I saw him on 
 the poop amongst the rest, talking again to Miss Hyde, as 
 they all crowded towards the lee-quarter to watch the land- 
 haze seemingly dropping astern. My heart swelled as it 
 were into my throat, however, at such an appearance of 
 good understanding betwixt the two whereas, there was she, 
 an hour ago that very morning, would scarce favor me 
 with a look or a word! and, for the life of me, I couldn't 
 have spoken to Westwood at the time, much less gone hand 
 in hand; for that matter he didn't seem to be suspecting 
 aught wrong to trouble himself about. What to say or 
 do, either, I couldn't think; since the more he cut me out, 
 and the less friendly I felt to him, the less could I risk 
 the^ chance of showing us both up for what we were 
 which, of course, would bring him in for the worst of it;
 
 A SEA STORY 163 
 
 as if /, by Jove, were going to serve him some low trick 
 lor the sake of shoving him out with the young lady. 
 
 "Meantime I kept fidgeting about, as if the deck were too 
 hot for me, snatching a glance now and then, in spite of 
 myself, at Violet Hyde's fairy-like figure; so different from 
 the rest of them, as she stretched eagerly from below the 
 awning over the ship's quarter-gallery, trying to make out 
 where the land lay now putting her little hand over her 
 eyes to see better, then covering them altogether from the 
 dazzle, as she drew in her head again and shook her bright 
 brown hair in the shadow, answering Westwood confound 
 him! The Indian servant each time carefully poking out 
 the red and yellow punkah-fringe for a cover over her, 
 while the passengers were one and all ready to cry at not 
 seeing the land, and leaving it behind. The Judge him- 
 self was the only man that seemed to have a dim notion of 
 something queer in the whole case; for every few minutes 
 he walked quietly to the break of the poop, where I noticed 
 him cast a doubtful look down upon the 'chief officer'; and 
 when the surgeon came up, he asked anxiously how Captain 
 Williamson was, and if he could n't be seen below. However, 
 the surgeon told him the captain had just fallen for the 
 first time into a good sleep, and there was no admittance, 
 but he was likely to be much better soon. 
 
 "By this time there was no standing out from under the 
 awnings, and the quarter-deck and poop had to be well 
 swabbed to keep them at all cool, the steam of it rising 
 inside with a pitchy, hempen sort of smell you never feel 
 save in the tropics; the 'Seringapatam' still feeling the 
 breeze aloft, and lifting on the water with a ripple forward, 
 although her big courses went lapping fore and aft every 
 time she swung. The long white haze on the horizon be- 
 gan to melt as the sun heightened, clearing from under the 
 wake of the light, till now you could fairly see the sky 
 to eastward. Near noon, in fact, we had almost dropped 
 the haze altogether on the ship's quarter; and at first I 
 was glad to see how much way she had made in the two 
 hours, when, on second thoughts, and by noticing some marks 
 in the loom of it, I had no doubt but though she might be 
 farther off, why it was only while she set more up to north- j 
 eastward, so that we were actually, so to speak, leaving it 
 by getting nearer! However, as the men were at dinner, 
 and most of the passengers gone off the poop, down to 
 'tiffin/ I made up my mind to try what I could do in a
 
 164 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 quiet way, towards making the mate think of it more 
 seriously. 
 
 " 'Ah,' said I, in a would-be brisk and confidential kind 
 of way, 'glad we 're leaving that a you know, that land, 
 Mr. Finch.' 'Indeed, sir,' said he indifferently. 'Oh, you 
 know,' said I, 'it's all very well for the passengers there to 
 talk fine about land land but you and I, Mr. Finch, don't 
 need to be told that it 's always dangerous at sea, you know.' 
 The mate lifted his head and eyed me for a moment or 
 two, between the disgust a sailor feels at seeing a fellow 
 pretend to aught like seamanship, and a particular sort of 
 spite toward me which I 'd noticed growing in him for the 
 last few days though I dare say my breakfasting that 
 morning in Sir Charles' cabin might have brought it to 
 a height. 
 
 " 'Land dangerous, sir !' answered he, carelessly, as he 
 went on wiping his quadrant again; 'who put that into your 
 head ?' 'Oh, well,' returned I, just as carelessly, 'if it 's 
 to leeward of course or with a current taking you towards 
 it only then. But I 've no doubt, Mr. Finch, if this wind 
 were to ah you know, heave more abaft, that 's to say, get 
 stronger, the craft would at least stand still, till you got her.' 
 'What on earth are you talking about, Mr. Ford Collins, I 
 mean ?' asked he, sharply. 'Really, sir, I 've got something 
 more to attend to at present, than such trash about a cur- 
 rent, and the devil knows what else !' 'How, why, Mr. Finch,' 
 said I, seemingly surprised in my turn, 'are we not in a cur- 
 rent, just now, then ?' 'Current !' replied Finch, almost laugh- 
 ing outright, 'what does the man mean ?' 'Why, every one 
 thinks so, in the cuddy,' said I, as if rather taken aback, 
 and venturing what you fair ladies call a 'fib,' 'ever since 
 we picked up the bottle last night.' This, by the bye, 
 had got spread through some of the men to the passengers, 
 though, of course, nobody knew what had been in it yet. 
 'There, I declare now,' continued I, pointing to our lee- 
 bow, where I'd had my eyes fixed during the five minutes 
 we spoke, 'we can try it again. Do you see that bird 
 yonder on the water ?' The mate turned his head impatiently, 
 and 'Look, watch him, sir,' said I. 
 
 "This was a tired man-o'-war bird afloat about twenty 
 fathoms off, with its sharp white wings stretched just clear 
 of the water, and its black eye sparkling in the sunlight, 
 as it came dipping on the long, smooth, hot-blue swell into 
 the lee of the ship's lofty hull, till you saw its very shadow 
 in the glitter below it. The Indiaman seemed to pass him
 
 A SEA STORY 165 
 
 as if he rode there at anchor; only the curious thing was, 
 that the bird apparently iieared her tip from leeward, cross- 
 ing her larboard quarter within a fathom or two, when all 
 of a sudden he got becalmed, as it were, in the wake right 
 astern, and by the time either of us could walk to the ship's 
 'taffrail, she was close over him; as if, whenever her hull was 
 end-on, it took his surface-drift away from him, and, what 
 was more, as if the ship kept hold of it her eighteen feet 
 or so to his little inch of a draught for it could ii't be owing 
 to the wind. 
 
 "However, the man-o'-war bird took offer of the next 
 swell to get air in his wings, and rose off the heave of it 
 with a sharp bit of a scream, away after some black boobies 
 diving for fish, which no doubt he would catch, as they 
 dropped them at sight of him. 
 
 "The mate upon this started and looked round, then 
 aloft. 'Confound it !' said he to himself, 'if this breeze 
 would only freshen ! There is a sort of set on the surface 
 just now,' continued he to me, coolly enough, 'though how 
 you idlers happened to have an idea of it, puzzles me, un- 
 less because you 've nothing else to do but watch the 
 water. Currents are pretty frequent hereabouts, however.' 
 'Dear me !' said I, 'but if we should 'Stuff, sir !' said 
 he quickly, 'the coast here must be steep-to enough, I should 
 think, since if it were n't for the haze, we 'd have sighted it 
 thirty miles off ! What we want is wind wind, to let 's cross 
 it.' 'But then a calm, Mr. Finch,' I said; 'I'm hanged 
 afraid of those calms !' 'Well, well, sir,' said he, not liking 
 just to shake me off at once, after my proving less of a 
 ninny in sea matters than he had supposed, 'these long 
 currents never set right ashore; even if we lose the wind, 
 as we may soon, why, she '11 take off into the eddy seaward, 
 sir, if you must know the dead-water in-shore, and the ebb- 
 tide, always give it a safe turn !' 
 
 "All this, of course, was as much to satisfy himself as 
 me. 'Well, that 's delightful/ said I, as if quite contented, 
 and Mr. Finch walked away hastily down one of the poop- 
 ladders, no doubt glad to get rid of me in a decent manner, 
 though I saw him next minute glancing in at the compass- 
 boxes. 
 
 " 'Keep her up to her course, sirrah ; luff, d 'ye hear,' said 
 he to Jacobs, who was, perhaps, the best helmsman aboard. 
 'She falls off tremendous bad, sir,' answered Jacobs, with 
 another whirl of Ihc spnl;<>s; her want of actual headway 
 making the Indiaman sag dead away to leeward, as she
 
 166 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 shoved into the force of the sea-stream, running more and 
 more direct upon her starboard bow. One minute the courses 
 would sink in with a long sighing fall to the lower-masts, 
 the next her topsails would flutter almost aback, and the heat 
 even in the shadow of her awnings was extreme, yet she 
 still seemed to have a breeze through the white glare aloft. 
 I was determined to bring things to a point somehow or 
 other, so I followed the mate down the steps. 'Oh, by the 
 bye, Mr. Finch!' said I, eagerly, 'suppose one of those 
 dreadful what do you call 'em? ah, tornadoes were to 
 come on! I understand this is just the way, near Africa 
 baffling breeze heat suffocating hazy atmosphere long 
 swell and current rising to the surface!' 
 
 "At this Finch stood up in a perfect fury. 'What the 
 devil d'ye mean, sir,' said he, 'by dodging me about the 
 decks in this fashion, with these infernally foolish ques- 
 tions of yours?' 'Oh, my fine fellow,' thought 1, 'you shall 
 settle with me for that.' 'Tornadoes never blow hereabouts, 
 except off-shore, if you must know, sir!' he rapped out, 
 sticking his hands in his jacket pockets as he said so, and 
 taking a turn on the quarter-deck. 'That 's quite a mis- 
 take, I assure you, sir!' said I, carried away with the 
 spirit of the thing : 'I 've seen the contrary fifty times 
 over, and, from the look of the sky aloft just now, 
 I 'd bet Here I stopped, recollected myself, put the 
 top of my cane in my mouth, and peered under the awn- 
 ing at the sea with my eyes half shut, as sleepily as 
 usual with my messmates the cadets. The chief officer, 
 however, stepped back in surprise, eyed me sharply, and 
 seemed struck with a sudden thought. 'Why, sir,' said he, 
 rather anxiously, 'who may what can you know of the mat- 
 ter?' 'Pooh!' replied I, seeing some of the passengers 
 were coming on deck, 'I 'm only of an inquiring turn of 
 mind! You seafaring persons, Mr. Finch, think we can't 
 get any of that kind of knowledge on land; but if you look 
 into Johnson's Dictionary, why, you '11 find the whole thing 
 under the word Tornado : 't was one of the pieces I 'd to 
 get by heart before they 'd admit me into our yacht club 
 along with Falconer's "Shipwreck," you know!' 'Indeed!' 
 said the mate, slowly, with a curl of his lip, and overhaul- 
 ing me from head to foot and up again; 'ah, indeed! That 
 was the way, was it, sir ?' I saw 't was no use. I dare 
 say he caught the twinkle in my eye; while Jacobs' face 
 behind him, was like the knocker on a door with trying
 
 A SEA STORY 167 
 
 to screw it tight over his quid, and stuffing the knot of his 
 neckerchief in his mouth. 
 
 "'Of course, sir,' answered I, letting my voice fall; 'and 
 the long and the short of it is, Mr. Finch, the sooner you 
 get your ship out of this current the better ! And what 's 
 more, sir, I dare say I could tell you how!' 
 
 "Whether he was waiting for what I'd to say, or think- 
 ing of something just occurred to him, but Finch still 
 gazed steadily at me, without saying a word; so I went on. 
 'You must know I had an old uncle who was long 
 in his Majesty's Koyal Navy, and if there was one point 
 he was crazy upon 't was just this very matter of currents 
 though, for my part, Mr. Finch, I really never understood 
 what he meant till I made a voyage. He used to tell 
 my mother, poor woman who always fancied they had 
 somewhat to do with puddings that he 'd seen no less 
 than half a dozen ships go on shore, owing to currents. 
 Now, Jane, he 'd say, when you 're fairly in a current, 
 never you try to cross out of it, as folks often do, against 
 the run of it, for in that case, unless the wind 's strong 
 enough, why, instead of striking the eddy to take your 
 craft right off-shore, it '11 just set you over and over to 
 the inside. You '11 cross, in the end, no doubt but ten to 
 one it 's exactly where the water begins to shoal ; whereas, 
 the right plan 's as simple as daylight, and that 's why so few 
 know it ! Look ye, he 'd say, always you cross with the stream 
 no matter though your head seems to make landward ; why, 
 the fact is, it '11 just set you outside of itself, clear into 
 its own bight, when you can run off to seaward with the 
 eddy, if ye choose. That's the way to cross a current, my 
 uncle used to say, provided you 've but a light wind for 
 handling her with! Now, Mr. Finch,' added I, coolly, and 
 still mouthing my stick as before for I could n't help 
 wishing to give the conceited fellow a rub, while I lent him 
 a hint 'for my own part, I can't know much of these 
 things, but it does seem to me as if my uncle's notions 
 pretty well suited the case in hand !' 
 
 "Finch was too much of a fair seaman not to catch my 
 drift at once, but in too great a passion to own it at the 
 time. 'D 'ye think, sir,' said he, with a face like fire, 'so 
 much sense as there is in this long rigmarole of yours, that 
 I 'm such a that 's to say, that I did n't know it before, 
 sir? But what I've got to do with you, Mr. Collinson, or 
 whatever your name may be you may have been at sea 
 twenty years, for aught I care but I 'd like to know why
 
 i68 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 you come aboard here, and give yourself out for as raw a 
 greenhorn as ever touched ropes with a kid glove?' 'Well, 
 Mr. Finch,' said I, 'and what's that to you, if I choose to 
 be as green as the North Sea whaling ground ?' 'Why, sir,' 
 said Finch, working himself up, 'you 're devilish cunning, no 
 doubt, but perhaps you 're not aware that a passenger under 
 a false rig in an Indiaman, may be clapped in limbo, if 
 the captain thinks fit? Who and what are you, I ask? 
 some runaway master's mate, I suppose, unless you've 
 got something deeper in hand! Perhaps,' ended he, with 
 a sneer, 'a pickpocket in disguise?' 'Sir,' said I, getting 
 up off the bulwark I'd been leaning upon, 'at present I 
 choose to be a cadet, but, at any rate, you shall make an 
 apology for what you said just now, sir !' 'Apology !' said the 
 mate, turning on his heel, 'I shan't do anything of the 
 sort! You may be thankful, in the meantime, if I don't 
 have you locked up below, that 's all ! Perhaps, by the bye, 
 sir, all you wanted was to show off your seamanship before 
 the young lady in the round-house there?' Here the glance 
 the fellow gave me was enough to show he knew pretty well, 
 all the while, what we were matched against each other for. 
 
 "I could stand this no longer, of course; but, seeing that 
 one or two of the passengers were noticing us from the poop, 
 I looked as polite as possible to do when you 've lost your 
 temper; and, in fact, the whole disappointment of this hare- 
 brained cruise of mine not to speak of a few things one 
 had to stand carried me away at the moment. There was 
 no scheme I would n't rather have been suspected of, by 
 this time, than the real one namely, having gone in chase 
 of Violet Hyde. I took a card out of my pocket, and 
 handed it quietly to Mr. Finch. 'You don't seem able to 
 name me, sir,' said I. 'However, I give you my word, you 
 may trust that bit of pasteboard for it; and as 1 take 
 you to be a gentleman by your place in this ship, why, 
 I shall expect the satisfaction one gentleman should give 
 another, the first time we get ashore, although it should be 
 to-morrow morning ! And, by Jove !' thought I, 'I hope I 'm 
 done with the most foolish trick ever a fellow played him- 
 self! The man that ventures to call me green again, or look 
 at me as if he wanted to cool his eyes, hang me if he shan't 
 answer for it! As for a woman,' thought I, but, oh, those 
 two blue eyes yonder confound it ! as I caught sight of a 
 white muslin skirt in the shade of the poop-awning above. 
 
 "I must say for Finch, he took my last move coolly 
 enough, turning round to give me another look, after glancing
 
 A SEA STORY 169 
 
 at the card. 'Indeed!' said he, as if rather surprised; 'well, 
 sir, I'm your man for that, though it can't be just as soon 
 as to-morrow morning! A Company's officer may meet a 
 lieutenant in the Navy any time ay, and take his ship off 
 the land, too, I hope, sir!' and with that he walked off 
 forward. 'Lieutenant!' said I to myself; 'how did he give 
 me my commission so pat, I wonder?' and I pulled out 
 another card, when I found, to my great annoyance, that in 
 my hurry that morning I had happened to put on a coat 
 of Westwood's by mistake, and instead of plain 'Mr. Col- 
 lins,' they were all 'Lieutenant Westwood, R. N.' 'Here's 
 another confounded mess!' thought I, 'and all will be blown 
 in the end!' However, on second thoughts, the notion 
 struck me, that, by sticking to the name, as I must do now 
 at any rate, why, I should keep Westwood clear of all 
 scrapes, which, in his case, might be disagreeable enough; 
 whereas, at present, he was known only as the Reverend Mr. 
 Thomas and, as for his either shamming the griffin, or giv- 
 ing hints how to work the ship, he was one of those men 
 you 'd scarce know for a sailor, by aught in his manner, 
 at least; and, indeed, Tom Westwood always seemed to 
 need a whole frigates' ways about him, with perhaps some- 
 what of a stir, to show what he really was. 
 
 "Five minutes or so after this, it did n't certainly sur- 
 prise me much to see the Indiaman laid on the opposite tack, 
 with her head actually north-by-east, or within a few points 
 of where the light haze faded into the sky: the mate seem- 
 ing by this time to see the matter clearly, and quietly 
 making his own of it. The ship began to stand over towards 
 the outer set of the current, which could now be seen rip- 
 pling along here and there to the surface, as the breeze 
 fell slowly: you heard nothing save the faint plash of it 
 astern under one counter, the wafting and rustling of her 
 large main-course above the awnings, for she was covered over 
 like a caravan the slight flap of her jibs far ahead on 
 the bowsprit startled you now and then as distinctly as 
 if you got a fillip on your own nose; the stun-sail, high 
 up beside the weather-leech of her fore-topsail, hung slack 
 over the boom, and one felt each useless jolt of the wheel 
 like a foot-slip in loose sand when you want to run 
 all betwixt the lazy, listless voices of the 'passengers, drop- 
 ping and dropping as separate as the last sands in an hour- 
 glass. Still, every minute of air aloft helped her nearer 
 to where you saw the water winding about the horizon in 
 long swathes, as it were, bluer than the rest, and swelling
 
 1 7 o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 brimful, so to speak, out of a line of light; with the long 
 dents and bits of ripple here and there creeping towards 
 it, till the whole round of the surface, as far as you could 
 see, came out into the smooth, like the wrinkles 011 a nutmeg. 
 "'Four bells of the afternoon watch had struck two o'clock 
 that is when Rickett, the third mate, and one or two men, 
 went out to the arm of the spritsail-yard across the bow- 
 sprit, where they lowerd away a heavy pitch-pot with a 
 long strip of yellow bunting made fast to it, and weighted 
 a little at the loose end, to mark the set of the current; 
 and as the pot sank away out on her larboard bow, one 
 could see the bright-colored rag deep down through the clear 
 blue water, streaming almost fairly north. She appeared to 
 be nearing the turn of the eddy, and the chief officer's spirits 
 began to rise. Rickett screwed one eye close, and looked 
 out under his horny palm with the other, doubtful, as he 
 said, that we should 'sight the land off-deck before that. 
 As for this trifle of an air aloft, sir,' said he, 'I'm afraid 
 we won't -' 'Hoot, Mr. Reckett,' put in Macleod, stepping 
 one of his long trouser legs down from over the quarter- 
 deck awning, like an ostrich that had been aloft, 'ye 're 
 aye afraid ; but it 's not easy to see aloft, Mr. Fench, 
 sir.' 'How does the land lie now, Mr. Macleod?' asked the 
 first officer. 'Well, I wouldn't wonder but we soon dropped 
 it, sir that 's to east'ard, I mean,' replied he ; 'though it 's 
 what we call a 'bit mountainous, in Scotland not that un- 
 like the Grampians, Mr. Fench, ye know!' 'Hang your 
 Grampians, man ! what 's ahead of us, eh ?' said the mate 
 hastily. 'Why, sir,' said the Scotchman, 'there is some more 
 of it on the nor'-east, lower a good deal it 's just flush 
 with the water from here, at present, Mr. Fench with a 
 peak or two, trending away too'ard north; but the light 
 yonder on our starboard bow makes them hard for to see, 
 I may say.' 
 
 "In fact, some of the men forward were making it out 
 already on the starboard bow, where you could see the faint 
 ragged shape of a headland coming out, as it were, of the 
 dazzle beyond the water, which lay flickering and heav- 
 ing between, from deep-blue far away into pale ; while almost 
 at the same time, on her starboard quarter, where there 
 was less of the light, another outline was to be seen looming 
 like pretty high land, though still fainter than the first. As 
 for the space betwixt them, for aught one could distinguish 
 as yet, there might be nothing there except air and water 
 over against the ship's side.
 
 A SEA STORY 171 
 
 " 'Well,' said the mate, briskly, after a little, 'we 're pretty 
 sure, now, to have the land-breeze to give us sea-room, be- 
 fore two or three hours are over by which time, I hope 
 we '11 be in the eddy of this infernal current, at any rate !' 
 However, I was scarce sure he did n't begin to doubt the 
 plan I 'd given him ; whereas had he known the whole case 
 in time, and done the thing then, it was certain enough 
 and the best thing he could do, even as it was: but what 
 troubled me now, why, suppose anything happened to the 
 ship, might n't he turn the tables on me after all, and say 
 I had some bad design in it? I loitered about with my 
 arms folded, saying never a word, but watching the whole 
 affair keener than I ever did one of Shakespeare's plays in 
 the theatre after a dull cruise; not a thing in sea, sky, or 
 Indiaman, from the ripples far off on the water to ugly 
 Harry hauling taut the jib-sheet with his chums, but some- 
 how or other they seemed all to sink into me at the time, 
 as if they 'd all got to come out again strong. You hardly 
 knew when the ship lost the last breath of air aloft, till, 
 from stealing through the smooth water, she came apparently 
 to a standstill, everything spread broad out, not even a 
 flap in the canvas almost, it had fallen a dead calm so grad- 
 ually. 
 
 "However, my troubles were n't seemingly over yet, for 
 just then up came the Judge's dark kitmagar to the gang- 
 way where I was, and, from the sly impudence of the fel- 
 low's manner, I at once fancied there was something par- 
 ticular in the wind, as if he 'd been seeking me about- 
 decks. 'S'laam, mistree!' said he, with but a slight duck 
 of his flat brown turban, 'Judge sahib i-send Culley Mistree 
 his chupprass' message, forsooth! 'sah'b inquire the flavor 
 of gentlyman's Ees-Inchee Coompanee, two-three moment!' 
 'The flavor of my East-India Company, you rascal !' said I, 
 laughing, yet inclined to kick him aft again for his im- 
 pertinent look ; 'speak for yourself, if you please !' 
 
 "In fact, the whiff of cocoanut oil, and other dark per- 
 fumes about him, came out in a hot calm at sea, when every- 
 thing sickens one, as to need no inquiry about the matter; 
 however, I walked straight aft to the round-house, and in 
 at the open door, through which Sir Charles was to be seen 
 pacing from one side of his cabin to the other, like a 
 Bengal tiger in a cage. 'Hark ye, young man,' said he 
 sternly, turning as soon as I came in, with my hat in my 
 hand, 'since I had the honor of your company here this 
 morning, I have recollected indeed, I find that one of my
 
 172 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 servants had done the same that you are the person who 
 molested my family by various annoyances beside my gar- 
 den at Croydon, sir!' 'Indeed, Sir Charles!' said I, coolly, 
 for the bitter feeling I had made me cool: 'they must have 
 been unintentional then, sir! But I was certainly at Croy- 
 don, seeing my mother's house happens to be there.' 'You 
 must have had some design in entering this vessel, sir!' 
 continued the Judge, in a passion : ' 'gad, sir, the coinci- 
 dence is too curious ! Tell me what it is at once, or by ' 
 
 'My design was to go to India, sir,' answered i, as quietly 
 as before. 'In what capacity? who are you? what who 
 what do you want there, eh?' rapped out the Judge. T m 
 not aware, sir,' said I, 'what right you 've got to question 
 me ; but I in fact, I '11 tell so much to any man why, 
 I 'm an officer in the Navy.' 
 
 "Sir Charles brought short up in his pacing and stamping, 
 and stared at me. 'An officer in the Navy!' repeated he; 
 'but yes why, now I think, I do remember something in 
 your dress, sir though it was the face that struck me ! In 
 short then, sir, this makes the case worse: you are here 
 on false pretences affecting the very reverse, sir setting 
 yourself up for a model of simplicity, a laughing-stock, in- 
 deed!' 'I had reasons for not wishing my profession to be 
 known, Sir Charles,' said I ; 'most special reasons. They 're 
 now over, however, and I don't care who knows it !' 'May I 
 ask what these were?' said the Judge. 'That I'll never tell 
 to any man breathing!' I said determinedly. 
 
 "The Judge walked two or three times fore and aft; 
 then a thought seemed to strike him he looked but as if 
 at the decks and through below the awnings, then shut 
 the door and came back to me again. 'By the way,' said 
 he, seriously, and changing his tone, 'since this extraordinary 
 acknowledgment of yours, sir, something occurs to me which 
 makes me almost think your presence in the vessel in one 
 sense opportune. I have reason to entertain a high opinion 
 of naval officers as technical men, professionally educated 
 in his Majesty's regular service, and you look rather 
 a young man but have you had much experience, may 
 I ask?' 'I have been nine or ten years at sea, sir,' replied 
 I, a little taken aback, 'in various parts of the world !' '1 
 have some suspicion lately,' he went on, 'that this vessel 
 is not navigated in a in short, that at present, probably, 
 we may be in some danger do you think so, sir?' 'No, Sir 
 Charles,' said I, 'I don't think she is, as matters stand 
 only in a troublesome sort of quarter, which the sooner
 
 A SEA STORY 173 
 
 she 's out of, the better.' 'The commander is, I find, dan- 
 gerously unwell,' continued he, 'and of the young man who 
 seems to have the chief care of the vessel, I have no very 
 high well that, of course I Now, sir,' said he, looking 
 intently at me, 'are you capable of in short of managing this 
 Company's vessel, should any emergency arise? I have seen 
 such, myself and in the circumstances I feel considerable 
 alarm uneasiness, at least! Eh, sir?' 'Depend upon it, Sir 
 Charles,' I said, stepping toward the door, 'in any rnatter 
 of the kind I '11 do my best for this ship ! But none knows 
 so well as a seaman, there are cases enough where your 
 very best can't do much!' 
 
 "The Judge seemed rather startled by my manner for I 
 did feel a little misgiving, from something in the weather 
 on the whole; at any rate I fancied there was a cold-blood- 
 edness in every sharp corner of his face, bilious though 
 his temper was, that would have let him see me go to the 
 bottom a thousand times over, had I even had a chance with 
 his daughter herself, ere he 'd have yielded me the tip of 
 her little finger: accordingly 'twas a satisfaction to me, 
 at the moment, just to make him see he wasn't altogether 
 in his nabob's chair in Bengal yet, on an elephant's back. 
 
 " 'Ah, though !' said he, raising his voice to call me back, 
 'to return for an instant there is one thing I must posi- 
 tively require, sir which you will see, in the circumstances, 
 to be unavoidable. As a mere simple cadet, observe, sir, 
 there was nothing to be objected to in a slight passing 
 acquaintance but, especially in the in short equivocal 
 sir, I must request of you that you will on no account 
 attempt to hold any communication with my daughter, Miss 
 Hyde beyond a mere bow, of course ! 'T will be disagree- 
 able, I assure you. Indeed, I shall 'Sir,' said 1, all 
 the blood in my ^ body going to my face, 'of all things in 
 the world, that is the very thing where your views and 
 mine happen to square !' and I bowed. 
 
 "The man's coolness disgusted me, sticking such a thing 
 in my teeth, after just reckoning on my services with the 
 very same breath and all when it wasn't required, too! 
 And by Heaven ! thought I, had she shown me favor, all the 
 old nabobs in Christendom, and the whole world to boot, 
 should n't hinder me from speaking to her ! What I said 
 apparently puzzled him, but he gave me a grand bow in 
 his turn, and I had my hand on the door, when he said, 'I 
 suppose, sir, as a naval officer, you have no objection to 
 give me your name and rank. I forget what ' Here I
 
 i 7 4 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 remembered my mistake with the mate, and on the whole 
 I saw I must stick by it till I was clear of the whole 
 concern; as for saying my name was Westwood, that 1 
 couldn't have done at the time for worlds, but 1 quietly 
 handed him another card; meaning, of course, to give 
 Westwood the cue as shortly as possible, for his own safety. 
 The Judge started on seeing the card, gave me one of his 
 sharp glances, and made a sudden step towards me. 'Have 
 you any relation in India, Mr. Westwood?' said he, slowly; 
 to which I gave only a nod. 'What is he, if I may in- 
 quire?' asked he again. 'A councillor or something, 1 be- 
 lieve,' said I, carelessly. 'Thomas Westwood?' said Sir 
 Charles. 'Ah,' said I, wearied of the thing, and anxious to 
 go. 'An uncle, probably, from the age?' he still put in. 
 'Exactly, that's it!' I said. 'Why what! why did you 
 not mention this at first?' he broke out suddenly, coming 
 close up ; 'why, Councillor Westwood is my very oldest friend 
 in India, my dear sir! This alters the matter. 1 should 
 have welcomed a nephew of his in my house, to the utmost! 
 Why, how strange, Mr. Westwood, that the fact should 
 emerge in this curious manner!' and with that he held out 
 his hand. 'Of course,' said he, 'no such restriction as 1 men- 
 tioned could for a moment apply to a nephew of Councillor 
 Westwood !' 
 
 "I stared at him for a moment, and then 'Sir,' said 1, 
 coolly, 'it seems the whole matter goes by names; but if my 
 name were the devil or the apostle Paul, 1 don't see how it 
 can make a bit of difference in me : what 's more, sir,' said 1, 
 setting my teeth, 'whatever my name may be, depend upon it, 
 I shall never claim acquaintance either with you or or 
 Miss Hyde!' With that I flung straight out of the cabin, 
 leaving the old gentleman bolt upright on the floor, and as 
 dumb as a stockfish, whether with rage or amazement 1 
 never stopped to think. 
 
 "I went right forward on the Indiaman's forecastle, clear 
 of all the awnings, dropped over her head out of sight of 
 the men, and sat with my legs amongst the open woodwork 
 beneath the bowsprit, looking at the calm nobody in sight 
 but the Hindoo figure, who seemed to be doing the same. 
 Westwood! thought I bitterly; then in a short time, when 
 the mistake 's found out, and he got safe past the Cape, 
 perhaps it '11 be nothing but Westwood ! He '11 have a 
 clear stage, and all favor; but at any rate, however it may 
 be / '11 not be here, by Heaven ! to see it. That cursed 
 councillor of his, I suppose, is another nabob and no doubt
 
 A SEA STORY 175 
 
 he'll marry her, all smooth! Uncles I little thought, by 
 Jove! when I knocked off that yarn to the mate about my 
 uncle but, after all, it 's strange how often a fellow 's paid 
 back in his own coin ! 
 
 "The heat at the time was unbearable heat, indeed! 
 't was n't only heat but a heavy, close, stifling sort of feeling, 
 like in a hothouse, as if you 'd got a weight on your head 
 and every other bit of you: the water one time so dead- 
 blue and glassy between the windings of it, that the sky 
 seemed to vanish, and the ship looked floating up into where 
 it was then again you scarce knew sea from air, except by 
 the wrinkles and eddies running across each other between, 
 toward a sullen blue ring at the horizon like seeing through 
 a big twisted sieve, or into a round looking-glass all over 
 cracks. I heard them clew up everything aloft, except 
 the topsails and they fell slapping back and forward to 
 the masts, every now and then with a thud like a thousand 
 spades clapped down at once over a hollow bit of ground 
 till all seemed as still between as if they 'd buried some- 
 thing. I wished to Heaven it were what I felt at the time, 
 and the thought of Violet Hyde, that I might be as if I 
 never had seen her when on glancing up betwixt the tigure- 
 head and the ship's stern, it struck me to notice how much 
 the land on her starboard bow and beam seemed to have 
 risen, even during the last hour, and that without wind; 
 partly on account of its clearing in that quarter, perhaps; 
 but the nearest points looked here and there almost as if 
 you could see into them, roughening barer out through the 
 hue of the distance, like purple blotches spreading in it. 
 Whereas, far away astern of us, when I crossed over her 
 headworks, there were two or three thin white streaks of 
 haze to be seen just on the horizon, one upon another, above 
 which you made out somewhat like a dim range of peaked 
 land, trending one could n't say how far back all showing 
 how fairly the coast was shutting her in upon the south-east, 
 as she set farther in-shore, even while the run of the cur- 
 rent bade fair to take her well clear of it ahead; which was 
 of course all we need care for at present. Her want of 
 steer age- way, however, let the Indiaman sheer hither and 
 thither, till at times one was apt to get confused, and sup- 
 pose her more in with the land-loom than she really was. 
 Accordingly the mate proved his good judgment by having 
 a couple of boats lowered with a tow-line, to keep her at 
 least stern-on to the current, although the trouble of getting 
 out the launch would have more served his purpose, and the
 
 176 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 deeper loaded the better, since in fact there were two favor- 
 able drifts instead of one, between every stroke of the oars. 
 The men pulled away rather sulkily, their straw hats over 
 their noses, the dip of the hawser scarce tautening at each 
 strain, as they squinted up at the 'Seringapatam's' idle fig- 
 ure-head. For my part I had thought it better to leave him 
 by himself, and go below. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 "WHEN I went into the cuddy, more for reliefs sake than 
 to dine, the passengers were chattering and talking away 
 round the tables, hot and choking though it was, in high 
 glee because the land was in sight from the starboard port- 
 window, and they fancied the officers had changed their 
 minds as to 'touching' there. Every now and then a 
 cadet or two would start up, with their silver forks in 
 their hands, and put their heads out; some asked whether 
 the anchor had been seen getting ready or not; others dis- 
 puted about the color of tropical trees, if they were actually 
 green like English ones, or perhaps all over blossoms and 
 fruit together the whole of them evidently expecting bands 
 of negroes to line the shore as we came in. 
 
 "One young fellow had taken a particular fancy to have 
 an earthworm, with earth enough to feed it all the rest of 
 the voyage, otherwise he couldn't stand it; and little 
 Tommy's mother almost went into hysterics again when 
 she said, if she could just eat a lettuce salad once more, 
 she 'd die contented ; the missionary looking up through his 
 spectacles, in surprise that she was n't mor interested about 
 the slave-trade, whereof he'd been talking to her. As for 
 Westwood, he joined quietly in the fun, with a glanf^ 
 now and then across to me; however, I pretended to be 
 too busy with the salt beef, and was merely looking 
 up again for ^ a moment, when my eye chanced to catch 
 on the ^ swinging barometer that hung in the raised sky- 
 light, right over the midst of our noise. By George ! ma'am, 
 what was my horror when I saw the quicksilver had sunk so 
 far below the mark, probably fixed there that morning, as 
 to be almost shrunk in the ball! Whatever the merchant 
 service might know about the instrument in those dav, 
 the African coast was the place to teach its right use to
 
 A SEA STORY 177 
 
 us in the old 'Iris.' I laid down my knife and fork as 
 carelessly as I could, and went straight on deck. 
 
 "Here I sought out the mate, who was forward, watch- 
 ing the land and at once took him aside to tell him the 
 fact. 'Well, sir,' said he, coolly, 'and what of that? A 
 sign of wind, certainly, before very long; but in the mean- 
 time we 're sure to have it off the land.' 'That 's one of the 
 very reasons,' said I, 'for thinking this will be from seaward 
 since towards evening the land '11 have plenty of air with- 
 out it! But more than that, sir,' said I, *I tell you, Mr. 
 Finch, I know the west coast of Africa pretty well and 
 so far south as this, the glass falling so low as twenty-seven, 
 is always the sign of a nor 5 -westerly blow ! If yon 're a wise 
 man, sir, you'll not only get your upper spars on deck, 
 but you'll see your anchors clear!' Finch had plainly got 
 furious at my meddling again, and said he, 'Instead of that, 
 sir, I shall hold on everything aloft, to stand out when 1 get 
 the breeeze !' 'D' ye really think, then,' said I, pointing to the 
 f arthest-off streak of land, trending away by this time astern 
 of us, faint as it was, 'do you think you could ever weather 
 that point, with anything like a strong nor'-wester, besides a 
 current heading you in, as you got fair hold of it again?' 
 'Perhaps not,' said he, wincing a little as he glanced at it; 
 'but you happen always to suppose what there 's a thousand 
 to one against, sir. Why, sir, you might as well take the com- 
 mand at once. But, sir, if it did come to that, 1 'd rather 
 I 'd rather see the ship lost I 'd rather go to the bottom with 
 all in her, after handling her as well as I know how, than 1 'd 
 see the chance given to you!' The young fellow fairly 
 shouted this last word into my very ear he was in a regular 
 furious passion. 'You 'd better let me alone, that 's all 1 've 
 got to say to you, sir!' growled he as he turned away; so 1 
 thought it no use to say more, and leaned over the bulwarks, 
 resolved to see it out. 
 
 "The fact was, the farther we got off the land now, the 
 worse, seeing that if what I dreaded should prove true, why, 
 \ve were probably in thirty or forty fathoms of water, where 
 no anchor could hold for ten minutes' time if it ever caught 
 ground. My way would have been to get every boat out at 
 once, and tow in tOl you could see the color of some shoal or 
 other from aloft, then take my chance there to ride out what- 
 ever might come, ta the last cable aboard of us. Accordingly 
 I was n't sorry to see that by this time the whole bight of the 
 coast was slowly rising off our beam betwixt the high land far 
 astern and the broad bluffs upon her starboard bow; which
 
 i;8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 last came out already of a sandy reddish tint, and the lower 
 part of a clear blue, as the sun got westward on our other side. 
 What struck me was, that the face of the water, which was all 
 over wrinkles and winding lines, with here and there a quick 
 ripple, when I went below, had got on a sudden quite smooth 
 as far as you could, see, as if they 'd sunk down like so many 
 eels; a long uneasy ground-swell was beginning to heave in 
 from seaward, on which the ship rose ; once or twice I fancied 
 I could observe the color different away towards the land, 
 like the muddy chocolate spreading out near a river-mouth at 
 ebb-tide then again it was green, rather ; and as for the look 
 of the coast, I had no knowledge of it. I thought again, 
 certainly, of the old quartermaster's account in the 'Iris/ but 
 there was neither anything like it to be seen, nor any sign of 
 a break in the coast at all, though high headlands enough. 
 
 "The ship might have been about twelve or fourteen miles 
 from the north-east point upon her starboard bow, a high 
 rocky range of bluffs and rather less from the nearest of 
 what lay away off her beam; but after this you could mark 
 nothing more, except it were that she edged farther from the 
 point, by the way its bearings shifted or got blurred together : 
 either she stood still, or she 'd caught some eddy or under-rif t, 
 and the mate walked about quite lively once more. The 
 matter was how to breathe, or bear your clothes when all of 
 a sudden I heard the second mate sing out from the forecastle 
 'Stand by the braces, there! Look out for the topes'l 
 hawl-yairds !' 
 
 "He came shuffling aft the next moment as fast as his 
 foundered old shanks could carry him, and told Mr. Finch 
 there was a squall coming off the land. The mate sprang up 
 on the bulwarks, and so did I catching a glance from him 
 as much as to say There 's your gale from seaward, you pre- 
 tentious lubber! The lowest streak of coast bore at present 
 before our starboard quarter, betwixt east and south-east'ard, 
 with some pretty high land running away up from it, and a 
 sort of dim blue haze hanging beyond, as 't were. Just as 
 Macleod spoke, I could see a dusky dark vapor thickening 
 and spreading in the haze, till it. rose black along the flat, out 
 of the sky behind it ; whitened and then darkened again, like 
 a heavy smoke floating up into the air. All was confusion on 
 deck for a minute or two off went all the awnings and 
 every hand was ready at his station, fisting the ropes ; when I 
 looked again at the cloud, then at the mates. 'By George!' 
 said I, noticing a pale wreath of it go curling on the pale clear
 
 A SEA STORY 179 
 
 sky over it, as if to a puff of air, 'it is smoke ! Some niggers, 
 as they so often do, burning the bush!' 
 
 "So it was ; and as soon as Finch gave in, all hands quietly 
 coiled up the ropes. It was scarce five minutes after, that 
 Jacobs, who was coiling up a rope beside me, gave me a quiet 
 touch with one finger. 'Mr. Collins, sir,' said he in a low 
 voice, looking almost right up, high over toward the ship's 
 larboard bow, which he couldn't have done before, for the 
 awnings so lately above us, 'look, sir there's an ox-eye!' 1 
 followed his gaze, but it was n't for a few seconds that i found 
 what it pointed to, in the hot far-off-like blue dimness of the 
 sky overhead, compared with the white glare of which to 
 westward our canvas aloft was but dirty gray and yellow. 
 
 " 'T was what none but a seaman would have observed, and 
 many a seaman would n't have done so but a man-o'-war's- 
 man is used to look out at all hours, in all latitudes and to a 
 man that knew its meaning, this would have been no joke, 
 even out of sight of land; as it was, the thing gave me a 
 perfect thrill of dread. High aloft in the heavens northward, 
 where they were freest from the sun now standing over the 
 open horizon amidst a wide bright pool of light you managed 
 to discern a small silvery speck, growing slowly as it were 
 out of the faint blue hollow, like a star in the daytime, till 
 you felt as if it looked at you, from God knows what distance 
 away. One eye after another amongst the mates and crew 
 joined Jacobs' and mine, with the same sort of dumb fellow- 
 ship to be seen when a man in London streets watches the top 
 of a steeple; and however hard to make out at first, ere long 
 none of them could miss seeing it, as it got slowly larger, 
 sinking by degrees till the sky close about it seemed to 
 thicken like a dusky ring round the white, and the sunlight 
 upon our seaward quarter blazed out doubly strong as if it 
 came dazzling off a brass bell, with the bright tongue 
 swinging in it far off to one side, where the hush made you 
 think of a stroke back upon us, with some terrific sound to 
 boot. 
 
 "The glassy water by this time was beginning to rise 
 under the ship with a struggling kind of unequal heave, as if 
 a giant you could n't see kept shoving it down here and there 
 with both hands, and it came swelling up elsewhere. 
 
 "To north-westward or thereabouts, betwixt the sun and 
 this ill-boding token aloft, the far line of open sea still lay 
 shining motionless and smooth ; next time you looked, it had 
 got even brighter than before, seeming to leave the horizon 
 visibly; then the streak of air just above it had grown gray,
 
 i8o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 and a long hedge of hazy vapor was creeping as it were over 
 from beyond the white speck all the while travelling clown 
 towards it slantwise from nor'ard, and spreading its dark ring 
 slowly out into a circle of cloud, till the keen eye of it at last 
 sank in, and below, as well as aloft, the whole north-western 
 quarter got blurred together in one gloomy mass. If there 
 was a question at first whether the wind might n't come from 
 so far nor'ard as to give her a chance of running out to sea 
 before it, there was none now our sole recourse lay either in 
 getting nearer the land meanwhile, to let go our anchors ere 
 it came on, with her head to it or we might make a desperate 
 trial to weather the lee-point now far astern. The fact was, 
 we were going to have a regular tornado, and that of the 
 worst kind, which would n't soon blow itself out ; though near 
 an hour's notice would probably pass ere it was on. 
 
 "The three mates laid their heads gravely together over 
 the capstan for a minute or two, after which Finch seemed to 
 perceive that the first of the two ways was the safest ; though 
 of course the nearer we should get to the land, the less chance 
 there was of clearing it afterwards, should her cables part, or 
 the anchors drag. The two boats still alongside, and two 
 others dropped from the davits, were manned at once and set 
 to towing the Indiaman ahead, in-shore ; while the bower and 
 sheet anchors were got out to the catheads ready for letting 
 go, cables overhauled, ranged, and clinched as quickly as 
 possible, and the deep-sea lead passed along to take soundings 
 every few minutes. 
 
 "On we crept, slow as death, and almost as still, except 
 the jerk of the oars from the heaving water at her bows, and 
 the loud flap of the big topsails now and then, everything 
 aloft save them and the brailed foresail being already close 
 furled ; the clouds all the while rising away along our larboard 
 beam nor'-west and north, over the gray bank on the horizon, 
 till once more you could scarce say which point the wind 
 would come from, unless by the huge purple heap of vapor 
 in the midst. The sun had got low, and he shivered his 
 dazzling spokes of light behind one edge of it, as if 't were a 
 mountain you saw over some coast or other; indeed, you'd 
 have thought the ship almost shut in by land on both sides of 
 her, which was what seemed to terrify the passengers most, 
 as they gathered about the poop-stairs and watched it which 
 was the true land and which the clouds, 't was hard to say 
 and the sea gloomed writhing between them like a huge lake 
 in the mountains. 
 
 "I saw Sir Charles Hyde walk out of the round-house
 
 A SEA STORY 181 
 
 and in again, glancing uneasily about; his daughter was 
 standing with another young iady, gazing at the land; and 
 at sight of her sweet, curious face, I'd have given worlds 
 to be able to do something that might save it from the 
 chance, possibly, of being that very night dashed amongst 
 the breakers on a lee-shore in the dark or at best, sup- 
 pose the Almighty favored any of us so far, perhaps landed 
 in the wilds of Africa. Had there been aught man could 
 do more, why, though I never should get a smile for it, 
 I 'd have compassed it, mate or no mate ; but all was done that 
 could be done, and I had nothing to say. Westwood came 
 near her, too, apparently seeing our bad case at last to some 
 extent, and both trying to break it to her and to assure her 
 mind; so I folded my arms again, and kept my eyes hard 
 fixed upon the bank of cloud, as some new weather-mark stole 
 out in it, and the sea stretched breathless away below, like 
 new melted lead. 
 
 "The air was like to choke you or rather there was none 
 as if water, sky, and everything else wanted life, and one 
 would fain have caught the first rush of the tornado into his 
 mouth the men emptying the dipper on deck from the cask, 
 from sheer loathing. As for the land, it seemed to draw 
 nearer of itself, till every point and wrinkle in the headland 
 off our bow came out in a red coppery gieam one saw the 
 white line of surf round it, and some blue country beyond like 
 indigo ; then back it darkened again, and all aloft was getting 
 livid-like over the bare royal mastheads. 
 
 "Suddenly a faint air was felt to flutter from landward; 
 it half lifted the topsails, and a heavy earthy smell came into 
 your nostrils the first of the land-breeze, at last ; but by this 
 time it was no more than a sort of mockery, while a minute 
 after you might catch a low, sullen, moaning sound far off 
 through the emptiness, from the strong surf the Atlantic 
 sends in upon the West Coast before a squall. If ever lands- 
 men found out what land on the wrong side is, the passengers 
 of the 'Seringapatam' did, that moment; the shudder of the 
 topsails aloft seemed to pass into every one's shoulders, and a 
 few quietly walked below, as if they were safe in their cabins. 
 I saw Violet Hyde look round and round with a startled 
 expression, and from one face to another, till her eye lighted 
 on me, and I fancied for a moment it was like putting some 
 question to me. I could n't bear it ! 't was the first time I 'd 
 felt powerless to offer anything; though the thought ran 
 through me again till I almost felt myself buffeting among 
 the breakers with her in my arms. I looked to the land,
 
 i82 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 where the smoke we had seen three-quarters of an hour ago, 
 rose again with the puff of air, a slight nicker of name in it, 
 as it wreathed off the low ground toward the higher point 
 when all at once I gave a start, for something in the shape of 
 the whole struck me as if I 'd seen it before. 
 
 "Next moment I was thinking of old Bob Martin's par- 
 ticular landmarks at the river-mouth he spoke of, and the 
 notion of its possibly being hereabouts glanced on me like a 
 godsend. In the unsure dusky sight I had of it, certainly, 
 it wore somewhat of that look, and it lay fair to leeward of 
 the weather; while, as for the dead shut-in appearance of it, 
 old Bob had specially said you 'd never think it was a river ; 
 but then again it was more like a desperate fancy owing to 
 our hard case, and to run the ship straight for it would be 
 the trick of a bedlamite. At any rate a quick cry from aft 
 turned me round, and I saw a blue flare of lightning streak 
 out betwixt the bank of gray haze and the cloud that hung 
 over it then another, and the clouds were beginning to rise 
 slowly in the midst, leaving a white glare between, as if you 
 could see through it towards what was coming. The men could 
 pull no longer, but ahead of the ship there was now only about 
 eight or ten fathoms water, with a soft bottom. The boats 
 were hoisted in, and the men had begun to clew up and hand 
 the topsails, which were lowered on the caps, when, just in 
 the midst of the hubbub and confusion, as I stood listening to 
 every order the mate gave, the steward came up hastily from 
 below to tell him that the captain had woke up, and, being 
 much better, wanted to see him immediately. Mr. Finch 
 looked surprised, but he turned at once, and hurried down the 
 hatchway. 
 
 "The sight which all of us who were n't busy gazed upon, 
 over the larboard bulwarks, was terrible to see : 't was half 
 dark, though the sun, dropping behind the haze-bank, made 
 it glimmer and redden. The dark heap of clouds had first 
 lengthened out blacker and blacker, and was rising slowly in 
 the sky like a mighty arch, till you saw the white edges 
 below, and a ghastly white space behind, out of which the 
 mist and scud began to fly. Next minute a long sigh came 
 into her jib and foresail, then the black bow of cloud partly 
 sank again, and a blaze of lightning came out all round her, 
 showing you every face on deck, the inside of the round-house 
 aft, with the Indian Judge standing in it, his hand to his eyes 
 and the land far away, to the very swell rolling in to it. 
 Then the thunder broke overhead in the gloom, in one fearful 
 sudden crack, that you seemed to hear through every corner
 
 A SEA STORY 183 
 
 of cabins and forecastle below and the wet back-fins of 
 twenty sharks or so, that had risen out of the inky surface, 
 vanished as suddenly. 
 
 "The Indiaman had sheered almost broadside on to the 
 clouds, her jib was still up, and I knew the next time the 
 clouds rose we should fairly have it. Flash after flash came, 
 and clap after clap of thunder, such as you hear before a 
 tornado yet the chief officer was n't to be seen, and the 
 others seemed uncertain what to do first; while every one 
 began to wonder and pass along questions where he could be. 
 In fact he had disappeared. For my part, I thought it very 
 strange he stayed so long ; but there was n't a moment to 
 lose. I jumped down off the poop-stairs, walked forward on 
 the quarter-deck, and said coolly to the men nearest me, 
 'Run and haul down that jib yonder set the spanker here, 
 aft. You '11 have her taken slap on her beam : quick, my 
 lads !' The men did so at once. Macleod was calling out 
 anxiously for Mr. Finch. 'Stand by the anchors there!' 1 
 sang out, 'to let go the starboard one, the moment she swings 
 head to wind!' The Scotch mate turned his head; but 
 Rickett's face, by the next flash, showed he saw the good of 
 it, and there was no leisure for arguing, especially as I spoke 
 in a way to be heard. I walked to the wheel, and got hold of 
 Jacobs to take the weather helm. 
 
 "We were all standing ready, at the pitch of expecting it. 
 Westwood, too, having appeared again by this time beside 
 me, I whispered to him to run forward and look after the 
 anchors when some one came hastily up the after-hatchway, 
 with a glazed hat and pilot-coat on, stepped straight to the 
 binnacle, looked in behind me, then at the black bank of 
 cloud, then aloft. Of course I supposed it was the mate 
 again, but did n't trouble myself to glance at him further 
 when 'Hold on with the anchors !' he sang out in a loud 
 voice 'hold on there for your lives!' Heavens! it was the 
 captain himself! 
 
 "At this, of course, I stood aside at once; and he shouted 
 again, 'Hoist the jib and fore-topmast-staysail stand by to 
 set fore-course!' By Jove! this was the way to pay the ship 
 head off, instead of stern off, from the blast when it came 
 and to let her drive before it at no trifle of a rate, wherever 
 that might take her ! 'Down with that spanker, Mr. Macleod, 
 d' ye hear !' roared Captain Williamson again ; and certainly 
 I did wonder what he meant to do with the ship. But his 
 manner was so decided, and 't was so natural for the captain 
 to strain a point to come on deck in the circumstances, that 1
 
 1 84 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 saw he must have some trick of seamanship above me, or some 
 special knowledge of the coast and I waited in a state of the 
 greatest excitement for the first stroke of the tornado. He 
 waved the second and third mates forward to their posts the 
 Indiaman sheering and backing, like a frightened horse, to 
 the long slight swell and the faint flaw of the land-air. The 
 black arch to windward began to rise again, showing a terrible 
 white stare reaching deep in, and a blue dart of lightning 
 actually ran zigzag down before our glaring fore-to'gallant- 
 mast. Suddenly the captain had looked at me, and we 
 faced each other by the gleam; and, quiet, easy-going man 
 as he was commonly, it just flashed across me there was 
 something extraordinarily wild and raised in his pale visage, 
 strange as the air about us made every one appear. He gave 
 
 a stride towards me, shouting, 'Who are ' when the 
 
 thunder-clap took the words out of his tongue, and next 
 moment the tornado burst upon us, fierce as the wind from a 
 cannon's mouth. 
 
 "For one minute the 'Seringapatam' heeled over to her 
 starboard streak, almost broadside on, and her spars towards 
 the land all on her beam was a long, ragged, white gush ofc" 
 light and mist pouring out under the black brow of the clouds, 
 with a trampling eddying roar up into the sky. The swell 
 plunged over her weather-side like the first break of a dam, 
 and as we scrambled up to the bulwarks, to hold on for bare 
 life, you saw a roller fit to swamp us, coming on out of the 
 sheet of foam when crash went mizzen-topmast and main- 
 to'gallant-mast ; the ship payed swiftly off by help of her 
 head-sails, and, with a leap like a harpooned whale, off she 
 drove fair before the tremendous sweep of the blast. 
 
 "The least yaw in her course, and she 'd have never risen, 
 unless every stick went out of her. I laid my shoulder to the 
 wheel with Jacobs, and Captain Williamson screamed through 
 his trumpet into the men's ears, and waved his hands to ride 
 down the fore-sheets as far as they 'd go ; which kept her right 
 before it, though the sail could be but half set, and she rather 
 flew than ran the sea one breadth of white foam back to the 
 gushes of mist, not having power to rise higher yet. Had the 
 foresail been stretched, 't would have blown off like a cloud. 1 
 looked at the captain : he was standing in the lee of the round- 
 house, straight upright, though now and then peering eagerly 
 forward, his lips firm, one hand on a belaying-pin, the other in 
 his breast nothing but determination in his manner : yet 
 once or twice he started, and glanced fiercely to the after- 
 hatchway near, as if something from below might chance to
 
 A SEA STORY 185 
 
 thwart him. I can't express my contrary feelings, betwixt a 
 sort of hope and sheer horror. We were driving right towards 
 the land, at thirteen or fourteen knots to the hour yet could 
 there actually be some harborage hereaway, or that said 
 river the quartermaster of the 'Iris' mentioned, and Captain 
 Williamson know of it ? 
 
 "Something struck me as wonderfully strange in the 
 whole matter, and puzzling to desperation still I trusted to 
 the captain's experience. The coast was scarce to be seen 
 ahead of us, lying black against an uneven streak of glimmer, 
 as she rushed like fury before the deafening howl of wind; 
 and right away before our lee-beam I could see the light blow- 
 ing, as it were, across beyond the headland I had noticed, 
 where the smoke in the bush seemed to be still curling, half- 
 smothered, along the flat in the lee of the hills, as if in green 
 wood, or sheltered as yet from seaward, though once or twice 
 a quick flicker burst up in it. 
 
 "All at once the gust of the tornado was seen to pour on it 
 like a long blast from some huge bellows, and up it flashed 
 the yellow flame blazed into the smoke, spread away behind 
 the point, and the ruddy brown smoke blew whitening over it: 
 when, Almighty power ! what did I see as it lengthened in, 
 but part after part of old Bob's landmarks creep out ink-black 
 before the flare and the streak of sky together first the low 
 line of ground, then the notch in the block, the two rocks like 
 steps, and the sugar-loaf shape of the headland, to the very 
 mop-headed knot of trees on its rise! No doubt Captain 
 Williamson was steering for it ; but it was far too much on our 
 starboard bow and in half an hour at this rate we should 
 drive right into the surf you saw running along to the coast 
 ahead so I signed to Jacobs for God's sake to edge her off as 
 nicely as was possible. 
 
 "Captain Williamson caught my motion. 'Port! port, 
 sirrah !' he sang out sternly ; 'back with the helm, d' ye hear I' 
 and pulling out a pistol, he levelled it at me with one hand, 
 while he held a second in the other. 'Land ! land !' shouted 
 he, and from the lee of the round-house it came more like a 
 shriek than a shout 'I 'II be there though a thousand muti- 
 neers His eye was like a wild beast's. That moment 
 the truth glanced across me this was the green leaf, no doubt, 
 the Scotch mate talked so mysteriously of. The man was 
 mad ! The land-fever was upon him, as I 'd seen it before in 
 men long off the African coast; and he stood eying me with 
 one foot hard stamped before him. 'T was no use trying to 
 be heard, and the desperation of the moment gave me a
 
 i86 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 thought of the sole thing to do. I took off my hat in the 
 light of the binnacle, bowed, and looked him straight in the 
 face with a smile when his eye wavered, he slowly lowered 
 his pistol, then laughed, waving his hand towards the land to 
 leeward, as if, but for the gale, you 'd have heard him cheer. 
 At the instant I sprang behind him with the slack of a rope, 
 and grappled his arms fast, though he 'd got the furious power 
 of a madman, and, during half a minute, 't was wrestle for life 
 with me. But the line was round him, arm and leg, and i 
 made it fast, throwing him heavily on the deck, just as one of 
 the mates, with some of the crew, were struggling aft, by help 
 of the belaying-pins, against the hurricane, having caught a 
 glimpse of the thing by the binnacle-light. They looked from 
 me to the captain. The ugly topman made a sign, as much 
 as to say, Knock the fellow down ; but the whole lot hung back 
 before the couple of pistol-barrels I handled. The Scotch 
 mate seemed awfully puzzled; and others of the men, who 
 knew from Jacobs what I was, came shoving along, evidently 
 aware what a case we were in. 
 
 "A word to Jacobs served to keep him steering her 
 anxiously, so as to head two or three points more south-east in 
 the end, furiously as the wheel jolted. So there we stood, the 
 tornado sweeping sharp as a knife from astern over the poop- 
 deck, with a force that threw anyone back if he let go his 
 hold to get near me, and going up like thunder aloft in the 
 sky. Now and then a weaker flare of lightning glittered 
 across the scud; and, black as it was overhead, the horizon to 
 windward was but one jagged white glare, gushing full of 
 broad shifting streaks through the drift of foam and the spray 
 that strove to rise. Our fore-course still held : and I took the 
 helm from Jacobs, that he might go and manage to get a pull 
 taken on the starboard brace, which would not only slant the 
 sail more to the blasts, but give her the better chance to 
 make the sole point of salvation, by helping her steerage 
 when most needed. Jacobs and Westwood together got this 
 done ; and all the time I was keeping my eyes fixed anxiously, 
 as man can fancy, on the last gleams of the fire ashore, as her 
 head made a fairer line with it; but, by little and little, it 
 went quite out, and all was black though I had taken its 
 bearings by the compass and I kept her to that for bare life, 
 trembling at every shiver in the foresail's edge, lest either it 
 or the mast should go. 
 
 "Suddenly we began to get into a fearful swell the India- 
 man plunged and shook in every spar left her. I could see 
 nothing ahead, from the wheel, and in the dark; we were
 
 A SEA STORY 187 
 
 getting close in with the land, and the time was coming; but 
 still I held south-east-by-east to the mark of her head in the 
 compass-box, as nearly as might and main could do it, for the 
 heaves that made me think once or twice she was to strike 
 next moment. 
 
 "If she went ashore in my hands! why, it was like to 
 drive one mad with fear; and I waited for Jacobs to come 
 back, with a brain ready to turn, almost as if I 'd have left the 
 wheel to the other helmsman, and run forward into the bows 
 to look out. The captain lay raving and shouting behind me, 
 though no one else could either have heard or seen him; and 
 where the chief officer was all this time surprised me, unless 
 the madman had made away with him, or locked him in his 
 own cabin, in return for being shut up himself which in fact 
 proved to be the case, cunning as it was to send for him so 
 quietly. At length Jacobs struggled aft to me again, and 
 charging him, for Heaven's sake, to steer exactly the course I 
 gave, I drove before the full strength of the squall along 
 decks to the bowsprit, where I held on and peered out. Dead 
 ahead of us was the high line of coast in the dark not a mile 
 of swell between the ship and it. By this time the low boom 
 of the surf came under the wind, and you saw the breakers 
 lifting all along not a single opening in them! I had lost 
 sight of my landmarks, and my heart gulped into my mouth 
 what I felt 't would be vain to say till I thought I did 
 make out one short patch of sheer black in the range of foam, 
 scarce so far on our bow as I 'd reckoned the fire to have been ; 
 indeed, instead of that, it was rather on her weather than her 
 lee bow; and the more I watched it, and the nearer we drove 
 in that five minutes, the broader it was. 'By all that 's good !' 
 I thought, 'if a river there is, that must be the mouth of 
 it !' But, by heavens ! on our present course, the ship 
 would run just right upon the point and, to strike the clear 
 water, her foreyard would require to be braced up, able or 
 not, though the force of the tornado would come fearfully on 
 her quarter, then. There was the chance of taking all the 
 masts out of her; but let them stand ten minutes, and the 
 thing was done, when we opened into the lee of the points 
 otherwise all was over. 
 
 "I sprang to the fore-braces and besought the men near 
 me, for God's sake, to drag upon the lee one and that as if 
 their life hung upon it when Westwood caught me by the 
 arm. I merely shouted through my hands into his ear to go 
 aft to Jacobs and tell him to keep her head a single point up, 
 whatever might happen, to the last then I pulled with the
 
 188 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 men at the brace till it was fast, and scrambled up again to 
 the bowsprit heel. Jove! how she surged to it: the little 
 canvas we had strained like to burst; the masts trembled, 
 and the spars aloft bent like whip-shafts, everything below 
 groaning again; while the swell and the blast together made 
 you dizzy, as you watched the white eddies rising and boiling 
 out of the dark her cut-water shearing through it and the 
 foam, as if you were going under it. The sound of the 
 hurricane and the surf seemed to be growing together into 
 one awful roar my very brain began to turn with the pitch I 
 was wrought up to and it appeared next moment we should 
 heave far up into the savage hubbub of breakers. I was 
 wearying for the crash and the wild confusion that would 
 follow when all of a sudden, still catching the fierce rush 
 of the gale athwart her quarter into the fore-course, which 
 steadied her though she shuddered to it all on a sudden the 
 dark mass of the land seemed as it were parting ahead of her, 
 and a gleam of pale sky opened below the dusk into my very 
 face. I no more knew what I was doing, by this time, nor 
 where we were, than the spar before me till again, the light 
 broadened, glimmering low betwixt the high land and a lump 
 of rising level on the other bow. 
 
 "I hurried aft past the confused knots of men holding on 
 to the lee of the bulwarks, and seized a spoke of the wheel. 
 'Tom,' shouted I to Westwood, 'run and let free the spanker 
 on the poop ! Down with the helm down with it, Jacobs, my 
 lad!' I sang out; 'never mind spars or canvas!' Down went 
 the helm the spanker helped to luff her to the strength of 
 the gust and away she went up to port, the heavy swells 
 rolling her in, while the rush into her staysail and fore-course 
 came in one terrible flash of roaring wind tearing first one 
 and then the other clear out of the bolt-ropes, though the 
 loose spanker abaft was in less danger, and the way she had 
 from both was enough to take her careening round the point 
 into its lee. By heavens! there were the streaks of soft haze 
 low over the rising moon, under the broken clouds, beyond a 
 far line of dim fringy woods, she herself just tipping the 
 hollow behind, big and red when right down from over the 
 cloud above us came a spout of rain, then a sheet of it lifting 
 to the blast as it howled across the point. 'Stand by to let 
 go the larboard anchor!' I sang out through the trumpet; 
 and Jacobs put the helm fully down at the moment, till she 
 was coming head to wind, when I made forward to the mates 
 and men. 'Let go!' I shouted; not a look turned against 
 me, arid awaj' thundered the cable through the hawse-hole;
 
 A SEA STORY 189 
 
 she shook to it, sheered astern, and brought up with her 
 anchor fast. By that time the rain was plashing down in 
 a perfect deluge you could n't see a yard from you all was 
 one white pour of it; although it soon began to drive 
 again over the headland, as the tornado gathered new food 
 out of it. Another anchor was let go, cable payed out, and 
 the ship soon began to swing the other way to the tide, 
 pitching all the while on the short swell. 
 
 "The gale still whistled her spars for two or three hours, 
 during which it began by degrees to lull. About eleven 
 o'clock it was clear moonlight to leeward, the air fresh and 
 cool: a delicious watch it was, too. I was walking the poop 
 by myself, two or three men lounging sleepily about the fore- 
 castle, and Rickett below on the quarter-deck, when 1 saw 
 the chief officer himself rush up from below, staring wildly 
 round him, as if he thought we were in some dream or 
 other. I fancied at first the mate would have struck Kickett, 
 from the way he went on, but I kept aft where I was. The 
 eddies ran past the Indiaman's side, and you heard the fast 
 ebb of the tide rushing and rippling sweetly on her taut 
 cables ahead, plashing about the bows and bends. We 
 were in old Bob Martin's river, whatever that might be. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 "WELL," continued the commander, his voice making use 
 of the breeze as he stood aft of the group, "I could not have 
 slept more than three or four hours on a stretch, when 1 
 was woke by a fellow shoving his lantern in my face, and 
 saying it was n't me he wanted ; for which I gave him a 
 hearty objurgation, and turned over a swing of the cot to 
 go asleep again. The sailor grumbled something about the 
 parson being wanted for the captain, and all at once it 
 flashed on my mind where we were, with the whole of last 
 night's ticklish work seeing that, hard rub as it was, it had 
 clean left me for a time. 'Try the aftermost berth, then,' 
 said I, slipping out in the dark to put on my trousers. 
 
 "The fact was, on going below to our stateroom, 1 had 
 found my own cot taken up by some one in the confusion; 
 and as every door stood open at night in that latitude, 1 
 e'en made free with the nearest, which I knew was the 
 missionary's. In a minute or two I heard Westwood meet
 
 i 9 o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the mate, who said he thought the captain would like to 
 see him, and hoped they had n't 'disturbed the other gentle- 
 man.' 'Oh no, I dare say not,' said Westwood, rather 
 nervously, guessing, I dare say, what he was wanted for; 
 while Finch slipped quietly past to listen at the stateroom 
 door, where both he and I might hear the 'other gentleman,' 
 whoever he was, snoring pretty plain. 
 
 "When the first officer shut the door to, however, turned 
 the key, and put it in his pocket, I nearly gave vent to 
 a whistle. 'I see !' thought I ; 'but, my fine fellow, it seemed 
 you never were meant for a good jailer, anyhow!' He was 
 no sooner gone than I walked forward toward the captain's 
 cabin, near the after-hatchway, anxious enough to see how 
 the poor man was, since I had had such a share in bringing 
 him to a point, one way or another. Westwood was standing 
 against the light out of the open door, and I looked in along 
 with him, at the cot slung high to the beams like a lump 
 of shadow, the lamp striking across below it on all the cap- 
 tain's little affairs his glazed hat and his wet coat, the 
 names of two or three old books even hanging in shelves 
 against the bulkhead and into the little stateroom off the 
 cabin, where the surgeon was stooping to mix a draught. 
 
 "The hard-featured Scotch mate stood holding the cap- 
 tain's wrist with one clumsy flipper, as if trying to feel his 
 pulse, fumbling about his own face with the other, and 
 looking more concerned than I'd thought possible for him. 
 'Well, I 've slept a good deal,' said the captain, in a weak 
 voice, putting up his hand slowly to rub his eyes, but seem- 
 ingly quite composed, and knowing nothing of what had 
 happened which rid me of the horrid notion I could scarce 
 help before, that he had known what he was about. His head 
 was close shaved, and the look of a sailor clean gone off 
 his face with the bluff, honest oak-color it commonly had, till 
 you 'd have wished him decently in his bed thousands of 
 miles off, with women slipping out and in; only the blood 
 from his arm hanging down on the sheet, with the sharp 
 point of his nose and the shape of his knees coming up 
 off the shadow, kept it all in one with the wild affair on 
 deck a few hours gone. 
 
 " 'She 's on her course, you say ?' added he, listlessly. 
 'Must be a very light breeze, though, Mr. Macleod.' 'So 
 it is^ sir; so it is, no doubt!' replied the second mate, 
 soothing him; 'did ye say we'll pent the ship, sir?' 'Ay, 
 before we go into port, Mr. Macleod, to be sure,' said Captain 
 Williamson, trying to put a cheerful tone into his voice;
 
 A SEA STORY 191 
 
 'she 's had a good deal of buffeting, but we must n't let 'em 
 see it, you know! Didn't you lose a mizzen-topmast some- 
 how, though, Mr. Macleod ?' ' 'Deed ay, sir,' said Macleod 
 hastily, afraid he was getting upon the scent of what had 
 happened; 'the first officer's watch it was, sir will / tell 
 Mr. Finch ye 're wanting to speak to him about it, Captain 
 Williamson?' and he began to shuffle towards the door. 
 
 " 'Finch ? Finch ?' said the sick man, passing his finger 
 over his eyes again; 'what voyage is this, Mr. Macleod ?' 
 'Why why,' said the Scotchman, starting, and rather puzzled 
 himself. 'Go, it 's just this voyage, ye know, sir ! Mr. Finch, 
 ye mind, sir?' 'No, no; don't let him leave the deck for a 
 moment, Macleod!' said the captain, anxiously: 'hark ye, 
 James, I 'm afraid I 've trusted over-much to the young 
 man all along ! I '11 tell ye, Mr. Macleod, I don't know 
 whether I was asleep or not, but I heard him somewhere 
 wishing he had the command of this ship ! I should n't 
 like him to take her off my hands ! Have you seen the Scilly 
 lights yet, Mr. Macleod?' 
 
 "The mate shook his head; he had contrived to per- 
 suade the poor man we were far homeward bound. 'If 
 you 'd only get the pilot aboard, Mr. Macleod,' the captain 
 went on, 'I 'd die contented ; but mind the charts mind 
 the charts I 've got the charts to mind for another sort 
 of voyage myself, James!' 'Hoot, hoot, captain!' said the 
 Scotchman, 'what sets ye for to talk after that fashion 
 you '11 be up an' about decks directly, sir ! What were ye 
 saying about topem'sts now, sir?' Captain Williamson gave 
 the second mate a glance that looked into him, and he 
 held down his head, for the man evidently believed fully, 
 as none of us could help doing, that there was death on 
 the captain's face. 
 
 " 'James, James !' said the captain, slowly, 'you 've no 
 notion how some things weigh on the mind at a pass of 
 this kind ! Other things one don't remember but there 's 
 one in particular, almost as it were yesterday why, surely 
 you were with me that voyage, Mr. Macleod ! when I let some 
 
 o' the passengers take a boat in a calm, and all Here 
 
 he stopped, seemingly overcome. 'There was one young 
 creature amongst 'em,' he went on, 'the age of my own 
 girl, Macleod my own little Nan, you know and now 
 now I miss her and, and- The poor man gave a 
 great gulp, clutching the mate's arm, and gazing him in 
 the face. 'Was n't it a long time ago ?' said he very anxiously ; 
 'if it was n't I would go mad ! They were all drowned
 
 192 
 
 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 drowned I see that black squall coming down on the swell 
 now, man, and the brig, and all of us looking out to the wind- 
 'ard!' 'I mind something about it,' replied Macleod stoutly, 
 though he looked away : ' 't was none o' your fault, though, 
 Captain Williamson they were just fey, sir ; and more than 
 that, if ye mind, sir, they took the boat again' all orders 
 on the sly, I may say.' 
 
 "Westwood was on the point of starting forward to make 
 known how the case stood, on the strength of our finding 
 the paper in the bottle, when I pressed his arm, and whis- 
 pered that it could only make things worse, and cheat the 
 sick man of a notion more likely to do him good than 
 otherwise. 'It's a heavy charge, Mr. Macleod, a heavy 
 charge!' said he, falling back again; 'and one Mr. Brown 
 need n't envy. 'Mr. Finch, sir, ye mind,' put in the second 
 mate, setting him right ; 'but keep up your heart, sir, for any 
 sake !' 'I feel I '11 last over the time o' next full tide,' said 
 the captain, solemnly. 'I don't want to know how far we 're 
 off, only if there 's any chance at ail, Macleod, you won't spare 
 canvas to carry her in.' 
 
 "The Scotchman rubbed one of his hard cheek-bones after 
 the other, and grumbled something or other in his throat 
 by way of agreement. The whole thing was melancholy to 
 see after last night's stir, with the dim lamp or two twinkling 
 along the gloom of the steerage, the dead quietness of the 
 ship, and the smothered sort of glare under the captain's 
 cot bringing out the mere litter on the floor, to the very 
 cockroaches putting their ugly feelers out of one of his 
 shoes in a corner; he shut his eyes, and lay for a minute or 
 two seemingly asleep, only murmuring something about a 
 breeze, and then asking them to shove out the port, 't was 
 so close. The second mate looked to the surgeon, who signed 
 to him to do it, as if it did n't much matter by this time ; 
 while he gave him the draught of physic he was mixing, 
 however. 
 
 "The Indiaman was beginning to swing slowly before the 
 first of the flood, stern off at her anchors; and whenever the 
 port was opened, 't was so still otherwise that you heard 
 the tide clearly in the cabin, rippling along the timbers to the 
 copper upon her bows plash, plash, and lap, lip, lap, like 
 no other earthly sound that a man can hear and you even 
 began to note it on something else a good bit off, though 
 it seemed to be all quite dark out-board. The captain's eyes 
 opened by degrees, till we saw them looking at us out of 
 the shadow of the cot, and the second mate started as if to
 
 A SEA STORY 193 
 
 mend his mistake ; only 't was plain enough, by that time, 
 the captain knew the sound, half raising himself up and 
 listening. A few early mosquitoes came in. and, after 
 dancing about to refresh themselves in the light and warmth 
 under the cot, began to bite savagely; every one of us had 
 a distant horn sounding in his ear, and each was rubbing 
 it or his nose, except the sick man, but not one of them set- 
 tled on him. As the starboard port slued gradually opposite 
 to the nearest shore, a low, deep hum was carried in over the 
 water, ebbing and flowing, and full of dim, creeping noises, 
 like things stirring in their sleep, as if the little cabin 
 had been an ear to the ship. At times the tree-frogs 
 broke out in a loud clicking chirrup; then, between the 
 fits of it, when all seemed still again for a moment or two, 
 you heard a low, half -smothered, small sound, deeper down, as 
 it were, fill up the break with its throbbing and trill-trilling, 
 as if just one land-cricket or a grasshopper did it, till it 
 came out as clear as though it were a child's rattle close by, 
 and all of a sudden stopped; when back floated the huge 
 whispering hum again, with a damp smell of leaves on 
 a cold breath of the land-air, that died away as quickly 
 as it reached us. The bewilderment on Captain William- 
 son's white face for that minute's time was cruel to wit- 
 ness, and Macleod would certainly have closed the port, but 
 for the captain's seizing his arm again, with a wild, ques- 
 tioning sort of a look into the second mate's eyes. 'Oh, 
 good God!' faltered out the captain, 'it's it's land! where 
 
 where ?' Tor goodsake, sir,' said Macleod, 'don't 
 
 ask me the now take a bit of sleep, sir.' 
 
 "We could hear one another breathing, when ting-tang 
 went four bells on deck. You heard it going across to the 
 shore, as it were; and a few moments after, out of the 
 humming far and wide along the land, back came the sound 
 of another bell, toll upon toll, like some clock striking 
 the hour a long way off. Then a third one followed on it, 
 from a different direction, ringing clearer in the air; while 
 the murmur and the rush seemed to swell up the more all 
 round, and the plashing of the tide made the ship heave 
 at her anchors. The mate shivered, Westwood and I started, 
 but some extraordinary notion or other gleamed over the 
 captain's face as he sat up. He was quite in his senses, 
 too, apparently, though it seemed to be neither more nor 
 less than sheer joy that overcame him, for he let out a 
 long breath, and his eyes were glistening as if the tears stood 
 in them. 'James James Macleod!' said he quickly, with
 
 i 9 4 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 a husky voice, 'you ought n't to 've deceived one you 've 
 sailed so long with; but you meant me a good surprise, 
 and 't was kindly done of you ! I know the very run o' 
 the clocks off Greenwich Keach, man ; d' ye think one could 
 mistake the sound of Lon'on town, fidgeting when it wakes, 
 either ? we 're we 're home already !' 
 
 "And he fell back in the cot, with the drops running 
 down his cheek, smiling happily all the time at Macleod 
 in a way that went to one's heart; while the Scotchman 
 stared helplessly to the surgeon, who slipped to the port 
 and closed it. 'I know by your way, James,' continued 
 the poor man, 'you wanted to send up to Virginia Row for 
 'em all; but don't send for an hour yet; better go up your- 
 self and break it to 'em break it to 'em, be sure of that, 
 James; I shouldn't wonder but I pulled up, after all. Ah 
 that first one we heard was Greenwich Hospital t' other is 
 
 Dicksons' brewery or Redriff ' Here his eyelids began 
 
 to drop, owing to the sleeping-draught he had got, when 
 suddenly they opened wide again. 
 
 " 'Ha !' said he, listening, and putting up a finger, 'but 
 I haven't heard St. Paul's strike six yet; it's seldom so 
 long after; ought to be heard from here of a morning; 
 
 let 's ' By little and little, however, the sick man's eyes 
 
 closed, and you heard him murmuring, as his finger sank 
 down, 'Macleod, say to her say luff, luff, my lad, keep 
 her her course ' till his shrunk face was as quiet on the 
 pillow as if he'd been really at home the first night after 
 a voyage. 
 
 "'Oh man, doctor!' said the second mate, heaving a 
 breath, 'is n't terrible ! Good forgive me for a lee to a dying 
 man! Take an old seaman's word for it, Dr. Small, yon 
 clock ashore was no mortal soond, sir; ye may keep your 
 drogues for them they '11 do good to. 'T was neither more 
 or less than the captain's dregy!' 'Phoo!' answered the 
 Scotch surgeon, who was one of your sceptical chaps, as I 
 heard say, 'some other vessels here, of course, that's all. 
 The sailor gave him only a smile of pity for not being 
 able to distinguish the sounds of a ship's bell. 'There 
 can't be a town hereabouts, Collins?' whispered Westwood. 
 'A town no!' said I; 'it's the best wilderness sign you 
 can have the African bell-bird!'* 'Ah, ah!' said the sur- 
 geon, laughing, 'there now, Macleod of course it can be 
 
 *Sc. The South African and South American campanero, or bell-bird, 
 whose peculiar note may be heard two or three miles off, chiefly in the loneliest 
 parts of the Brazilian or Benguela forest.
 
 A SEA STORY 195 
 
 explained naturally, like other things.' The second mate 
 gave me a doubtful scowl; but seeing Westwood, whom 
 he had always seemed to think rather in the way before, 
 his eye softened. 
 
 " 'You '11 be wanting to see the captain as soon as he 
 wakes up, sir,' said he. 'I 'm terrified to face him but if 
 ye 'd juist slip in when he comes to himself, sir, I 'm 
 thinking, reverend sir, ye might wile him off yon terrible 
 notion o' his.' Westwood shook his head seriously, not know- 
 ing what to say. 'Ay, ay, sir,' continued Macleod, as he 
 half closed the door, 'no doubt a man ought to be upon 
 better things ; but it 's hard for him, when he 's got a wife 
 and weans six thousand miles away, and wants them along- 
 side in a couple of hours uncommon hard, sir ! She 's a 
 douce, careful body, too, Mistress Williamson, like the cap- 
 tain's self; and I heard her fleech sore with the captain 
 before we sailed, for to bide quietly ashore this time, for 
 good. Poor woman ! if she did n't e'en go the length o' 
 partin' in anger the last morning, wae 's me ! till the very 
 moment when (he telt me himself, sir), she out with her 
 arms round his neck, crying like to choke! An' all to 
 but if the captain had a fault, 't was the love o' good 
 forgive me, though, when it was but studying his faim'ly, 
 Mr. Thomas ! If it was only an auld tarry deevil like me, 
 now, with neither kith or kin!' 'Except cousins, Mr. Mac- 
 leod,' said the surgeon, as he wiped his lancet on his coat- 
 tail 'plenty of them in the High ' But he caught West- 
 wood's eye, and was ashamed to finish his heartless joke, 
 though the rough second mate was too full of his feeling 
 to hear it; when Westwood said something about our all 
 thinking too little of these things beforehand, but how 
 the captain was plainly a man that had done his duty 
 carefully, which no doubt would ease his mind. The mate 
 looked up, and eyed him sideways for a moment: 'Eh? 
 what?' said he bluntly; 'it's not so little I mind o' what 
 I used to hear at the kirk langsyne, as not to know that 's 
 not the right doctrine. D 'ye think, sir, that 's what '11 put 
 him over, when he finds out this is not Greenwich Reach '( 
 There 's the Methody minister with the glasses, though !' 
 he broke out, when again a look of despair came over 
 his broad hard-favored countenance. 'They 're always upon 
 works, too, I've heard!' said he, turning and murmuring 
 to himself; 'oh, if I could but hoist out a bit screed o' the 
 truth, myself, to comfort the poor fellow with! Lord, how 
 did n't I think of the Shorter Carritch let 's see how 't
 
 196 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 went _What is the chief end of" no, it's "What is 
 faith in faith in the only rule to direct us" no, no "Bap- 
 tism is a sacrament where whereby" and he was still 
 overhauling some old catechism in this fashion, twisting 
 himself all the time as if he were twisting a stiff rope the 
 wrong way, with a look of misery none of us could have 
 had the heart to laugh at, when a middy's voice came 
 squeaking down the dark after-hatchway : 'Mr. Macleod, sir, 
 the chief officer wants you on deck.' 
 
 "Westwood slipped quietly off, and the young surgeon 
 was beginning to talk easily, to rid his mind of something, 
 perhaps, till I asked if there was n't any chance. 'Oh, the 
 captain, you mean?' said he, 'don't think there is he's 
 a bad subject! If we were out at sea now, Mr. Collins, 
 the calenture would make him think the waves all grass, 
 
 or something as green as as the cawdets used to call ' 1 
 
 looked at the fellow sternly, and he changed his key, 
 though with a surprised air. 
 
 " 'You 're blessed early up, though, you two !' said he. 'I 
 suppose that cursed squall kept you idlers awake; but how 
 they managed without the first mate I can't think. Clever 
 fellow, Finch ! but was n't it a curious trick of the poor 
 skipper to box him up below here ? I fancy he 'd a guess 
 we would all soon be under the mate's command ! It 's a 
 queer thing the brain, is n't it, Mr. Collins ? For exaumple, 
 now, there 's the captain it makes him think something or 
 other a clock near London, with everything accordingly ! 
 Macleod fancies it a soopernatural knell, and twaddles about 
 some Calvinist stuff he learned at school. Then you and 
 me, you know, imaugines it 's a bird now whuch is it, 
 after all? Nothing maybe, eh?' The fellow capped all with 
 a sneer, as much as to say I was a fool, which I had stood 
 from him several times before; though now I coulcl have 
 kicked him, more for his heartless way than aught else. '1 
 tell you, Mr. Small,' said I, 'what I think you you 're neither 
 
 more nor less than a ' but I turned on my heel. 'I 'm off, 
 
 however,' said he, 'to turn in again.' 
 
 "Through the half-closed door one could see the sick 
 man's face sleeping so quiet in the shadow from the lamp, 
 you heard not a breath. I looked up the after-hatchway. It 
 seemed still quite dark; and a patch of the deep dark-blue 
 sky showed high over the square opening, with two or three 
 keen sparks of stars, green ones and blue ones you'd 
 have thought the ladder, short as it was, went up to some- 
 where clean above the world. But the moment I got on
 
 A SEA STORY 197 
 
 deck, I saw it was really lighter the heavy fog creeping 
 slowly astern of the ship on both hands; the white mist 
 rolling faster over it before the sea-breeze against her bows, 
 which had swung seaward by this time from the tide, that 
 rushed like a mill-stream upon both her tight cables; while 
 the muddy river water, bubbling, eddying, and fronting 
 away past, spread far up in the middle, into the dusk astern. 
 Such a jabbering, croaking, hissing, shrieking, and yelling, 
 too, as burst into one's ears out of the dark, as if whole 
 legions of monkeys, bullfrogs, parrots, paroquets, and what 
 not, were coming together full upon us from both sides, 
 one band nearer than the other; till the heavy boom of the 
 surf round the point, and the roar of the tide coming in 
 over the shallows about the river-mouth, pretty well 
 drowned it. 
 
 "The sudden change was a good relief, Babel though it 
 seemed after the closeness below, with what had been going 
 on; and I looked ahead towards the sea, which lay away out 
 off our larboard bow, round the headland, and over the op- 
 posite point; a cold watery streak of light showing it from 
 where the breakers rose plunging and scattering along the 
 sandy bar, to the steady gray line of horizon clipped by 
 one of the two brown chops we had got into. It looked 
 dreary enough as yet, the mouth of it 'being wider than 
 I 'd fancied it from seaward at night; though even with full 
 water over the long spit of sand in the middle, there was 
 no draught at all for the Indiaman except by the chan- 
 nel betwixt it and the bold point to our right; and pretty 
 narrow it appeared from our present berth, heaving as it 
 did with a green swell that set in, while meantime the 
 mist scudding across the face of the headland let us see 
 but the hard lump of bare black rock underneath. 
 
 "In less time than I' ve taken to speak, however, the full 
 space of sky aloft was turning clear, the sea far away sud- 
 denly shone out blue, with the surges tipped white; you 
 saw a sparkling star high over it sink slowly in, and the 
 fog spread off the water near us, till here and there you 
 caught the muffled-up shape of a big tree or two looming 
 through, not half a mile off our starboard quarter; the 
 mist creeping over the headland till the sharp peak of it 
 stood out against its shadow on the shoulder of a hill be- 
 yond, and old Bob Martin's single clump of cocoas on the 
 rise waving in landward from the brisk sea-breeze. 
 
 "One passenger after another came peeping sleepily out 
 of the companion-hatch at the men clearing away the wreck
 
 198 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 of the spars, and swabbing the quarter-deck down; but 
 scarce had Smith, one of the young writers, reached the 
 poop, when he gave a shout that covered both poop-lad- 
 ders in no time, with people scrambling over each other 
 to get up. Next minute you 'd have fancied them a knot of 
 flamingoes with their wings out, as the bright red daybreak 
 brought out the edge of the woods far astern, through a hazy 
 lane in the purple mist, topped so with stray cocoanut 
 trees and cabbage-palms, dabbled like brushes in the color, 
 that they scarce knew them to be woods at all, and not a 
 whole lot of wild savages fresh from other business of 
 the kind, coming down with all sorts of queer tools upon 
 us; more especially when one heard such a chorus of un- 
 accountable cries, whistling and screaming, as seemed to 
 struggle with the sound of the sea ahead of us, and the 
 plash alongside. 
 
 "The huge round sun struck hot crimson along the far 
 turn of the reach, with all manner of twisted blots upon him, 
 as it were, and the very grass and long reeds seemingly 
 rustling into his face, so one did n't for the moment know 
 him either; while the muddy chocolate-colored eddies, sweep- 
 ing and closing beyond the ship's rudder, glittered and 
 frothed up like blood; and every here and there, along the 
 streak of light, the head of a log or a long branch came 
 dipping up terribly plain no wonder the old 'Seringapatam' 
 had apparently turned tail to it all, ready to bolt if she 
 could. 
 
 "Almost as soon as you took your hands off your eyes, 
 though, and could see without a red ball or two before them 
 there was the nearest shore growing out toward our 
 starboard bulwark all along, crowded with wet green woods, 
 up into steaming high ground all to eastward a dazzle of 
 light, with two or three faint mountain-peaks shooting 
 up far off in it, and a woody blue hill or so between; while 
 here and there a broad bright hazy spoke of the sun's 
 great wheel came cutting down into the forest, that brought 
 out a patch full of long big leaves, ten times greener than 
 the rest, and let you look off the deck into the heart of 
 it amongst the stems over the bank. The jabber in the 
 woods had passed off all at once with the dusk, the water 
 deepening over the bar, and the tide running slower, so 
 that every one's confused face turned breathless with de- 
 light as it grew stiller and stiller. 
 
 "The whole breadth of the river shone out by this time, 
 full and smooth, to the opposite shore three times as far
 
 A SEA STORY 199 
 
 away, where the wood and bulrushes seemed to grow out of 
 the water; a long thick range of low, muddy-looking man- 
 groves, with a cover of dark green, rounding from the 
 farthest point one saw, down to some sandy hummocks near 
 the mouth, and a ridge of the same drifted up by the wind oft' 
 the beach. Beyond that side there was nothing, apparently, 
 but a rolling sweep of long, coarse grass, with a few strag- 
 gling cocoanut trees and baobabs, like big swollen logs on 
 end, and taken to sprouting at top: a dun-colored heave of 
 land in the distance, too, that came out, as it got hotter, 
 in a long desert-like, red-brick-dust sort of a glare. The 
 sole living things to be seen as yet were some small birds 
 rising up out of the long grass, and the turkey-buzzards sail- 
 ing high over all across, as if on the lookout. 
 
 "The air was so cool and clear, however, from the tornado 
 overnight not a cloud in the sky, and the strange scent of 
 the land reaching us as the dew rose off it you could see 
 far and wide, with a delicious feeling of it all, that kept 
 every one standing fixed on the spot where he first gained 
 the deck, even the men looking over their shoulders 
 with the ropes in their fists, and the fresh morning breeze 
 lifting one's hair. Surprised as the passengers were, nobody 
 spoke a word, except the three or four children shouting, 
 dancing, and pointing together, without being noticed, till 
 all at once the whole poopful burst into one confusion of 
 questions and exclamations, running hither and thither, 
 shaking hands and jostling each other like distracted people. 
 
 "I had a spyglass at my eye, making out the other shore, 
 when, turning round in the middle of it, the first thing 
 1 saw was Violet Hyde's face, as she stood with one little 
 foot on the stair-head behind me, holding the rail with 
 one hand, her eyes sparkling, and her parted lips mur- 
 muring like one in a dream: 'Oh, Mr. Collins!' exclaimed 
 she, breathless; 'what is this? Where are we is it Fairy- 
 land? A river!' 'Yes, in Africa,' I said; 'but whether it's 
 the Bembarooghe or the 'That fearful, fearful even- 
 ing!' continued she, shuddering: 'I saw the frightful sky, 
 and heard the storm and now! Were we not in some very 
 great danger, sir?' 'Yes, ma' am, we were,' replied I, as stiffly as 
 I could ; 'but, happily, it 's over now !' And I gave my cap 
 a lift to move off, uneasy as I was, every moment, lest Sir 
 Charles should catch me speaking again to his daughter. 
 However, Miss Hyde was gazing eagerly at the land, and 1 
 had to wait. 'What lovely, lovely green!' she half whis- 
 pered : 'oh, if one could only tread upon it ! so un-English
 
 200 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 those strange tall trees look! are they not cocoanut trees 
 
 and and ' Suddenly her voice faltered, and she turned 
 
 round with her bright blue eyes swimming in tears 'How 
 how thankful we should be that we are not like our 
 poor, poor friends, who were lost !' exclaimed she. I thought 
 of the poor captain below in his cot, but next moment I 
 was explaining, to her sheer amazement, how the real truth 
 of the matter stood, though, if possible, it seemed to horrify 
 her still more. 'I can't think what they may be,' I rapped 
 out ; 'but if I had the command of this ship, I 'd up anchor 
 .this very hour, and go out at least as soon as the tide ebbed; 
 'but, at any rate, at the Cape I mean to get hold of some 
 schooner or other, and if it were to China, why, I '11 cruise 
 
 after 'em till I ' 'Then you think,' began she, and an 
 
 arch inquisitive sort of look danced in both her eyes as 
 she turned away to watch the shore again, saying slowly, 
 'You are a a naval gentleman then, Mr. West Mr. Col- 
 lins?' I tried to stammer out something by way of an ex- 
 planation, but it wouldn't do, and I said, 'At any rate, 
 I'm no better, by this time, than an idler aboard here, 
 ma'am !' 
 
 "All at once I caught a side-look from her eyes, that 
 was n't meant for me, as she glanced over the poop-netting. 
 Half provoking and half sweet it was, though, and it made 
 my brain somehow or other seem to spin round, till a little 
 after, before I well knew what I was about, I was holding 
 the long spyglass for her to see the bank of the river 
 her warm breath coming on my ear as I stooped before 
 her, near enough to have kissed the muslin on her shoul- 
 der, while her rosy mouth changed with every new spot that 
 the glass brought near; and she had to hold one taper fore- 
 finger on the ether eyelid to keep it shut, so that I could 
 dwell on her face as if she 'd been asleep. 'There, there !' 
 exclaimed she, 'are actually flowers with such immense 
 leaves! And now an enormous tree, with roots hanging 
 from the branches, and other stems growing up into them. 
 
 Why, yes! is not that a banian-tree, Mr. ?' and she 
 
 looked away at me, when of course the tree was vanished, and 
 instead of that, the rather undeniable expression of a fellow 
 in love, two or three inches off, bent fair upon her. \ r iolet 
 Hyde colored a little, and looked in again. 'And, I think,' con- 
 tinued she, 'I see oh, two such beautiful creatures deer, I 
 think, coming out to drink from the river!' All this time, 
 the ecstasies of the rest kept up the noise and confusion; 
 the young lady's-maid was gaping open-mouthed at the
 
 A SEA STORY 201 
 
 shore, not even noticing her young mistress's straw bonnet 
 fall ofi, and I had just picked it up with one hand, to put 
 it quietly over that matchless nut-brown hair of hers, shin- 
 ing suddenly in the sun, like silk, when the Judge's voice 
 sang out sharp from the other stair, 'Violet, child, you '11 
 have a sunstroke. Kitmagar, you scoundrel, ~beebee sahib 
 punkah lao, sirrah!' I held on to the telescope like grim 
 death, while that eternal punkah was hoisted over us both, 
 the Judge eying me somewhat coolly for the first moment. 
 'Well, well, Mr. Westwood,' said he, however, 'you 've got 
 rid of that proud freak of yours; such behavior as yours 
 yesterday, I assure you, I should n't have endured from 
 anyone else, young man! But, my dear boy,' added he 
 suddenly, 'from what I can gather, indeed saw myself, last 
 night, I am convinced we owe you a very great deal even, 
 I suspect, the safety of the entire vessel!' Miss Hyde had 
 left off using the glass, and, as I stood up, she gave me 
 a quick glance of amazement. 'Mere chance, sir,' I stam- 
 mered. 'Why,' said Sir Charles, 'I saw you at the steerage 
 in the middle of the hurricane, when I believe the actual 
 officers of the ship had left it in dismay. I tell you what, Mr. 
 Westwood, you 're a bold fellow ; and your uncle and I must 
 see in India if we can't reward you in some way, my dear 
 boy!' All this fondling style of thing, and for little more 
 than a piece of luck, would have disgusted me if I had n't 
 been more taken up with watching the side of Violet Hyde's 
 face, as she listened for sounds in the woods ashore. 
 'Strange, wasn't it, Violet, my dear,' continued he to his 
 daughter, 'that my friend the Councillor's nephew should 
 have gone out in the same Indiaman, so fortunately 
 though of course, after all, it was the first this season.' 'Ah !' 
 said she, starting, 'I beg pardon, papa what did you 
 weren't you talking of the river?' 'Don't you hear, child,' 
 said the Judge, 'I said it was a curious coincidence, Mr. 
 Westwood's going in this vessel.' 'Oh, yes, indeed!' an- 
 swered she, and couldn't help looking down a little con- 
 founded. But the lady's-maid was putting on her tiny slip- 
 per, which had come off, while her father mentioned that 
 of course I 'd had practical reasons for not owning my pro- 
 fession hitherto; meaning, I suppose, that I didn't speak 
 for fear of having to work, like the monkeys though the 
 sharp old lawyer must have had a better guess by this 
 time, and queer enough it must have been to see her face, 
 listening to him as he explained it all. I stood biting my 
 lips, meanwhile two or three times on the point of telling
 
 202 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 him it was all nonsense about my being a nephew of any 
 hanged old nabob whatever; when Sir Charles said care- 
 lessly he should leave the 'Seringapatam,' if possible, at the 
 Cape of Good Hope, as he couldn't trust safely to the 
 present officers. 
 
 "Just then up got the merry chant of the men running 
 round with the capstan-bars, to get up anchor; the chief 
 officer wishing, as it was found, to carry her farther into 
 the river with the breeze for the sake of filling our 
 water-casks the easier, according to him, but more likely 
 out of sheer spite at what had been done without him. 
 What with eagerness in the cuddy to get on shore and 
 see the woods, the breakfast below was a rare scene, no one 
 minding what he did, even to rushing slap into a couple 
 of ladies' berths for his boots, or laying a couple of loaded 
 Joe Mantons into somebody's bed, swallowing biscuit and 
 butter on the way. 
 
 "Suddenly we heard the splash of paddles in the water, 
 with a hail in some foreign tongue or other, and hurried 
 on deck in a body; where we found the ship tiding it 
 slowly up, under jibs and fore-topsail, and beginning to open 
 a longer reach where the river seemed to narrow in. A 
 black-eyed, black-bearded fellow, with a tallow, yellow, 
 sweaty sort of complexion, in a dirty jacket, drawers, and 
 short boots, and an immense grass hat, shouting Portuguese 
 louder and louder into the first mate's ear, till he actually 
 put both hands together, and roared through them, pointing 
 ^to himself now and then, as if surprised he was n't known. 
 
 "All at once, evidently quite disgusted, he turned and 
 looked ever the side, saying something to one of the ugliest 
 and most ill-looking mulattoes I ever saw, who sat in the 
 stern of a long rough canoe, hollowed out of some tree, with 
 two naked black rowers, less of the real nigger than him- 
 self, as they leaned grinning up at the bulwarks with their 
 sharp teeth, that appeared as if they'd been filed to a 
 point. The mulatto gloomed, but gave no answer, and as 
 one of the cadets and I knew a little Portuguese, we 
 managed together to get something out of the fellow on deck, 
 though, at noticing him for the first time that morning, 1 
 saw Finch turn red with surprise. 
 
 "We understood the man to ask if we wanted nothing 
 particular in the river, the meaning of which I saw better 
 on bethinking me of the fire along the bush inside the 
 headland, that had let me see the marks of it no doubt 
 a signal to some craft they had taken us for. However,
 
 A SEA STORY 203 
 
 so soon as he heard we needed no more than water and 
 spars, after musing a minute, and speaking again to Rod- 
 riguez, as he called the mulatto, he said he would pilot us to 
 a convenient berth himself, for two or three dollars; not- 
 withstanding his title was, as he said, Don Jose Jeronimo 
 Santa somebody, commandant of the Portuguese fort some- 
 thing else. The river, we found, was the Nouries or the 
 Cuanene, where they had a settlement called Caconda, a 
 good way up; a remarkably bad country, he gave us to 
 know, and not worth staying in, from the number of flies, 
 and the elephants having got into a cursed way of bury- 
 ing their tusks except, he hinted, for the plenty of blacks, 
 all anxious to be sold and to see foreign countries; but 
 the trade was nothing yet absolutely nothing, said he, 
 blowing his nose without a pocket handkerchief, and suiting 
 the act to the word, as he mentioned his notion of throwing 
 it up and going farther north-west. 
 
 "By this time we had stood over to the lowest shore, till 
 you could see the thick coffee-colored mud in among the 
 roots and suckers of the dark green mangroves, with their 
 red pods bursting under their rank-looking leaves and 
 over them, through the tall coarse guinea-grass, to the knots 
 of feathery cocoas behind, swarming with insects; when he 
 gave the sign to go about, one of his blacks heaving a 
 lead, and grunting out the depth of water, as the ship made 
 a long stretch across towards the woody side again, and Don 
 Jose all the time taking it as easy as if the quarter-deck 
 were his own, while he asked for a cigar and lighted it. 
 Joke though he did, yet I couldn't like the fellow at all; 
 however, as soon as she got pretty near the shore, about a 
 quarter of a mile from what seemed a wide creek, glit- 
 tering up between a high fringe of cane and bamboo clumps, 
 he had the sails clewed up, a single anchor let go in four 
 or five fathoms, and our Portuguese friend got his money 
 and bundled over the side, pulling quietly ashore.
 
 204 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 "THE tide by this time was quite still, and the breeze sank 
 almost at once, as we were shut in from the sea, when we 
 were surprised to see the striped Portuguese flag rise off a 
 tall bamboo stick, among the bushes on the open shore, nearly 
 abreast of us, where a low muddy-like wall was to be made out, 
 with something of a thatched roof or two, and a sort of 
 rude wooden jetty running before it into the water. Shortly 
 after, Don Jose came paddling out again, and got on board 
 this time with an old cocked hat on, excusing himself for 
 not having fired a gun which was to save us expense, he 
 remarked, being particular friends seeing that he 'd got to 
 demand twelve dollars of harbor dues and duties, whereas, 
 if he saluted, he must have charged fourteen. The cool im- 
 pudence of this brought the chief officer from the capstan; 
 but the steady face of the fellow, and the glance ha took 
 round the deck when the cadet told him he 'd better be off 
 at once, made me think he had something or other to back 
 him. Mr. Finch, as usual, fumed up into a passion, and told 
 the men to fling him over into his canoe, which they ac- 
 cordingly did, without the least nicety about it; the Portu- 
 guese next minute picking himself up, and standing straight, 
 with the look of a perfect devil, as he shook his fist at the 
 whole ship, while the canoe slid off to the shore. 
 
 "Budge even so much as a single fathom, at present, 
 we could not; and most of us were too much in the spirit 
 of fun and venture to care a fig for having made an 
 enemy _ of Don Jose So-on, as the cadet called him ; in- 
 deed, it seemed rather to set a finer point on people's 
 admiration of the green jungly-looking shore next to us, with 
 its big aloes and agaves growing before the bush, and all 
 sorts of cocoas, palms, monkey-bread, and tall white-flaked 
 cotton-trees, rising in every way out from over the rest. 
 For my part, I thought more of the Portuguese's interest, 
 after all, than his hatred which proved correct, by his 
 soon sending out a sulky message by the mulatto, offering 
 to sell us fowls and a bullock, at no ordinary price. How- 
 ever, all hands from the cabin were mad already to get 
 ashore somewhere, and the cadets bristling with fowling- 
 pieces and rifles, each singing out that he was ready to 
 supply the whole ship with fresh meat; so the mulatto had 
 to sheer off, with a boat nearly lowered over his head.
 
 A SEA STORY 205 
 
 "From where we lay at the time, what with the large 
 creek off one bow, and the broad river ahead of us, spread- 
 ing brimful along to the light, the water had the look of 
 a huge lake, fringed in by a confused hazy bluish outline 
 steeping in the heat, where the distance clipped behind the 
 lumps of keen verdure, showering over a dark mangrove- 
 covered point. Before the two large quarter-boats could 
 be got ready for the ladies and tiie rest of us, in fact, we 
 heard the gigful of writers and cadets beginning to pop 
 away at everything they saw alive, out of sight of the 
 ship, till at last we were afloat, too, pulling slowly into the 
 middle of the stream, and the men eying us lazily as they 
 turned-to about the rigging, to send up new spars in place 
 of those lost. The old Indiaman's big bows stood loom- 
 ing up broad astern of us on the sluggish eddies round 
 her cable, with her tall, steady forespars and furled yards 
 rising white against the low line of marshy shore in the 
 distance, and wavering in her shadow below, till the thick 
 green branches of the next point shut her out, and the 
 glare off the face of the creek shot level over all of us in 
 the two cutters, wild with every kind of feeling that India 
 passengers could have after two months' voyage. 
 
 "For my own part, I should have had rather a sus- 
 picion how absurd it was to go a-pleasuriag in an African 
 river we knew nothing about, especially when I saw that a 
 day or two so long after the rains might suck it up, 
 during ebb, into a pretty narrow mid-channel; all I thought 
 of was, however, that I was steering the boat with Violet 
 Hyde in it, the kitmagar holding his gaudy punkah over 
 her before me, while the Judge, with his gun in his hands, 
 was looking out as eagerly, for the time, as the four 
 griffins were pulling furiously, in spite of the heat that 
 made the sweat run into their eyes. 
 
 "The other party were soon off ahead of us up the main 
 river, under care of the Scotch surgeon, laughing, talk- 
 ing, and hallooing in chase of the cadets who had first left. 
 However, Sir Charles thought there was more likelihood of 
 game along the creek, and the ladies fancied it something 
 new, so I steered right into it; the fat midshipman, Simm, 
 watching me critically as I handled the yokelines which he 
 had given up to me in a patronizing way, and the sailor 
 in the bow regarding the exertions of the griffins with 
 a knowingly serious expression, while he dabbled his flipper 
 at ease in the water. 
 
 "As the tide steadied, this said creek proved to bo a
 
 2o6 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 smaller river, apparently from the hilly country I had 
 noticed beyond the woods, by the clearness of its current, 
 that showed the pale yellow reflection of the close bamboo- 
 brake on one side, deep down into the light the huge, sharp, 
 green notched aloe-leaves and fern showing here and there 
 out of it the close, rank, stifling smell of rotten weeds and 
 funguses giving place to the strange wild scent of the 
 flowers, trailing and twisting in thick snaky coils up the 
 stems on our opposite hand, and across from branch to 
 branch, with showers of crimson and pink blossoms and 
 white stars; still, eager as the ladies were to put foot on 
 land, 'twas no use looking as yet for a spot of room, let 
 alone going farther in. 
 
 "The cadets were not long in being blown, either; when 
 the midshipman, the bowman, and I had to relieve them. 
 However, then I could look straight toward Violet Hyde's 
 face, the shade of the scarlet punkah hanging over it, and 
 her soft little straight nose and forehead catching a flicker- 
 ing burst from the leaves as we sheered at times under 
 cover of the bank; while her eyelids, dropping from the 
 glare, gave her bright eyes a half -sleepy sort of violet look, 
 and it was only her lips that let you see how excited she 
 felt. The griffin who had the tiller steering with the judg- 
 ment of a tailor's 'prentice on a picnic to Twickenham, we 
 came two or three times crash into the twigs of some half- 
 sunk tree; then a blue bird like a heron would rise direct 
 ahead of us, with its tall wet spindle legs and spurs glis- 
 tening like steel behind it into the light, and a young snake 
 in its sharp bill; or a gray crane rustled out of the cane 
 from overhead, its long wings creaking in the air out of 
 sight. Suddenly you heard a long chirruping croak from a 
 tree-frog, and the ground ones gave full chorus from 
 farther in, whining and cackling and peep-peep-peeping 
 in one complete rush that died as suddenly away again, like 
 thousands of young turkeys. Then out in the midst of the 
 quiet would come a loud clear wheetle-wheetling note from 
 some curious fowl in an opening, with another of the same 
 to match, dimmer amongst the thick of the bush. However, 
 everything of the kind seemed to sink down with the heat 
 at noon, the very buzz of flies round every dark feather 
 of the cocoas, and the mosquito-hum along the bank, get- 
 ting fainter; till one heard the heat, as it were, creeping 
 and thrilling down through the woods, with the green light 
 that steeped into both edges of the long creek; every reed, 
 cane, leaf, and twig, seemingly, at last giving it back again
 
 A SEA STORY 207 
 
 with a whispering, hushing crackle, and the broad fans of 
 the palms tingling in it with rays from them, as they 
 trembled before you in the glare, back into the high bun- 
 dles of knotted and jointed bamboo, with their spiky-tufted 
 crowns. 
 
 " 'Can you not almost feel the forest grow !' exclaimed 
 Miss Hyde; while the boat floated quietly to one side, and 
 her charming young face shining out from the punkah, 
 before Master Gopaul's dcucedly ugly one, coolly staring past 
 his snub nose, made one think of a white English rose and a 
 black puff-ball growing together under a toadstool; plenty 
 of which, as red as soldiers' coats, and as big as targets, 
 looked here and there out of the bank. It put new spirit 
 into me to see her, but still we could do little more than 
 shove across from one side to the other till something all 
 at once roused us up in the shape of a long scaly-like log, 
 seemingly lying along in the sun, which tumbled off the 
 edge with a loud splash, and two of the young fellows let 
 drive from their fowlingpieces, just after the alligator had 
 sunk to the bottom. Bather uncomfortable it was to 
 come sheering right over him next moment, and caich a 
 glimpse of his round red eyes and his yellow throat, as the 
 mud and weeds rose over him 
 
 "The other ladies shrieked, but Violet Hyde only caught 
 hold of her father's arm and started back ; though her blue 
 eye and the clear cut of her pretty nostril opened out, too, 
 for the moment her lips closed. Five minutes after, when a 
 couple of large guinea-fowl sprang up, Sir Charles proved 
 himself a better shot than the cadets, by dropping one of 
 them over the water ahead of us, which was laid hold of by 
 the reefer of the Indiaman, and stowed away fluttering into 
 the stern-locker Simm observing coolly that it was a scav- 
 engering carrion sort of bird, but perhaps one of his mess- 
 mates might like to take it home stuffed to his sister. 
 The Judge merely smiled and patted the mid on the shoul- 
 der, remarking in great good-humor that he, Simm, would 
 make a good attorney; and on we held, soaking to our 
 shirts and panting, until the bowman hooked down the stem 
 of a young plantain, with a huge bunch of full ripe 
 yellow bananas under the long flapping leaves at its head, 
 right into the midst of us, out of a whole clump of them, 
 where the smooth face of the cove showed you their scar- 
 let clusters of flowers and green round pods hanging over it, 
 hidden as they were from above. Every man of us made a 
 clutch, and the stem almost lifted Simm out of the boat
 
 208 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 with it, as it sprang back into the brake, rousing out a 
 shower of gaudy-colored butterflies, and a cloud of mosquitoes, 
 and making the paroquets scream inside; while the cadets' 
 mouths were so full they could n't speak, the reefer making 
 a gulp with the juice seeming to come out at his eyes, the 
 sailor spitting out his quid and stuffing in a banana, and the 
 ladies hoping they were safe to eat, as I peeled the soft yellow 
 rind off, and handed one to Violet Hyde, which she tasted at 
 once. But if ever one enters into the heart of things in 
 the tropics, I 'd say 't is when that same delicious taste melts 
 through and through and all over you, after chewing salt- 
 junk for a space. I remember one foremast man, who was 
 always so drunk ashore he used to remember nothing in 
 India but 'scoffing* one juicy benanny,' as he called it; 
 'but hows'ever, Jack,' he 'd say, ' 't was blessed good, ye 
 know, and I 'm on the lookout for a berth again, jist for to go 
 and have another.' One of us looked to the other, and Miss 
 Hyde laughed and colored a bit when I offered her a second, 
 while her father said, full five minutes after, ' 'Gad, Violet, 
 it almost made me think I saw Garden Reach in the Hooghly, 
 and the Baboo's Ghaut !' 
 
 "This whole time we could n't have got more than three- 
 quarters of a mile from where the ship lay, when all at once 
 the close growth on our left hand began to break into low 
 bush, and at length a spot offered where we might get ashore 
 tolerably, with two or three big red ant-hills heaped up out of 
 the close prickly-pear plant, and the black ants streaming 
 over the bank, as well as up the trunk of a large tree. 
 The monkeys were keeping up a chattering stir everywhere 
 about; and two or three bright green little lizards, changing 
 into purple and back again, as they lay gleaming in the sun 
 on the sides of the ant-heaps, darted their long tongues out 
 like silver bodkins at the ants coming past. In we shoved 
 with cheer, and had scarce moored to the tree ere the ladies 
 were being handed out and tripping over the ground-leaves 
 to the ankles, starting on again at every rustle and prick, 
 for fear of snakes; till the bowman in charge was left in 
 the boat by himself, and, there being seven of us with 
 guns over our arms, the next notion of the griffins was to 
 get a sight of some 'natives.' 
 
 "In fact, there was a sort of a half-track leading off near 
 the bank, through among the long coarse grass and the 
 ferny sprouts of young cocoas, and a wide stretch of open 
 country seen beyond it, dotted all over with low clumps 
 
 *Anglice, eating.
 
 A SEA STORY 209 
 
 of trees and bush rounded off in the gush of light, that gave 
 it all a straw-colored tint up to where a bare reddish- 
 looking ridge of hill looked over a long swell of wild forest, 
 off a hot, pale, cloudless sky. Here and there you saw the 
 shadow of one bluff lying purple on the side of another, and a 
 faint blue peak between, letting north'ard into some pass 
 through the hills, but no signs of life save a few dun big- 
 headed buffaloes feeding about a swampy spot not very far 
 off, and rather too shaggy, by all appearance, to make pleas- 
 ant company. Accordingly, we held for a few yards under 
 the shade, where the fat mid, thinking to show off his 
 knowingness by getting cocoanuts for the ladies, began to 
 shy balls of mud from the creek-sides at the monkeys in. 
 the trees. 
 
 "However, he brought us rather more than he bargained 
 for, till the whole blessed jungle seemed to be gathering 
 between us and the boat to pelt us to death with nuts as 
 big as eighteen-pound shot, husks and all; so off we had to 
 hurry into the glare again, Sir Charles half carrying his 
 daughter through the guinea-grass up to the waist when 
 somebody felt the smell of smoke, and next minute we broke 
 out near it, wreathing up white from inside a high bamboo 
 fence, propped up and tied all along with cocoanut husk. 
 'What the devil !' shouted the foremost cadet, as soon as 
 he found the opening, 'they 're cannibals ! roasting a black 
 child, by heaven!' and in he dashed, being no chicken of a 
 fellow ashore, at any rate, the others after him, while the 
 Judge, Simm, and I kept outside with the ladies, who 
 where all of a shudder, of course, what with the thought, 
 and what with the queer scent of roast meat that came to us. 
 'Ha, ha !' laughed the cadet next moment, 'it 's only a 
 monkey, after all ! come in, though, Sir Charles, if you 
 please, sir nobody here, ladies.' 
 
 "There, accordingly, was the little skinned object twirl- 
 ing slowly between two bamboo sticks, over a fire beneath 
 two or three immense green leaves on a frame, with fts knees 
 up not to let its legs burn; about a dozen half -open sheds 
 and huts, like little corn-stacks, thatched close with reeds, 
 and hung with wattled mats of split bamboo, giving the 
 place more the look of a farmyard than a village; as there 
 was a big tree spreading in the middle, a few plantains, 
 yams, and long maize-stalks flowering out of the coarse 
 guinea-grass which the niggers had n't taken the trouble to 
 tread down all round inside of the fence. 
 
 "However, we were n't long of perceiving an old, gray-
 
 210 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 headed black sitting on his hams against the post of a hut, 
 watching us all the time; and a villainously ugly old thief 
 he looked, with a string of Aggry beads about his head, 
 and A greegree charm-bag hung round his shrivelled neck, 
 which was stuck through a hole in some striped piece 
 of stuff that fell over to his knees, as he sat mumbling and 
 croaking to himself, and leering out of the yellows of his 
 eyes, though too helpless to stir. Something out of the way 
 attracted my notice, glittering in front of the hut over his 
 head ; but, on stepping up to it, I was n't a little surprised to 
 find it the stern-board of some small vessel or other, with 
 the tarnished gilt ornament all round, and the name in large 
 white letters 'Martha Cobb' the port, Boston, still to be 
 made cut, smaller, below. This I didn't think so much of 
 in itself, as the craft might have been lost; till, on noticing 
 the old fellow's robe was neither more nor less than a torn 
 American ensign, in spite of his growls and croaks I walked 
 past him into the hut, where there was a whole lot of 
 marline spikes, keys, and such like odds and ends, care- 
 fully stored up in a bag, marked with the same name, be- 
 sides a stewpan with some ostrich feathers stuck in where the 
 handle had been, as if this rascally black sinner wore it 
 on his head on state occasions, being probably the head man 
 and a justice of the peace. 
 
 "What struck me most, though, was a pocketbook with a 
 letter inside it, in a woman's hand, addressed to the master 
 of the brig 'Martha Cobb'; dated a dozen years before, yel- 
 low and fusty, and with tarry finger-marks on it, as if the 
 poor skipper, God knows, had read it over and over in 
 his cabin many a fresh breeze betwixt there and Boston. I 
 put it in my pocket, with a curse to the old black devil, as he 
 croaked out and fell on his face, trying to bite me with 
 his filed teeth when I passed out, to follow the rest out of 
 the bamboo-pen; wondering, of course, where all the negroes 
 could be, unless they were dodging about the river shore to 
 watch the Indiaman little chance as there was of their 
 trying the same joke with the 'Seringapatam' as with the 
 'Martha Cobb.' 
 
 "As for the women, however, I had scarce joined our 
 party going out, when we met a half-naked black hag with a 
 bunch of cocoanuts and husk. The moment she saw us 
 she gave a squeal like an old men, and fell flat, while 
 several younger ones, jogging along with their naked black 
 pickaninnies on their backs, turned tail and were off with 
 a scream. Next minute we were almost as startled as they
 
 A SEA STORY 211 
 
 could be when three plump young jetty damsels dropped 
 down right into the bushes alongside of us, off as many tall 
 cocoas which they 'd been climbing by a band round them, 
 for the nuts. 'Mercy on us !' said the eldest of our lady 
 passengers; and it was rather queer, since they had nothing 
 earthly upon them save a very, very short pet I beg your 
 pardon, ma'am, but I did n't know any other word. However, 
 off they scampered for the woods, Simm and one of the 
 cadets hard after them, and we turning away to smother 
 our laughter, especially as the griffin had forgot his mother 
 being with us. The middy being first started, he was a 
 good way ahead, when all at once the sternmost of the black 
 girls tripped in the band she had over her shoulder, Simm 
 giving a cheer as he made prize of his chase; but scarce 
 before the whole three of the dark beauties had him 
 smothered up amongst them, laughing, yelling, and squalling 
 as they hauled him about; till I saw the dirk Simm sported 
 glitter in one of their hands, and I made towards the spot 
 in the notion of their finishing him in right earnest. 
 
 "The black damsels ran off together as the unlucky reefer 
 picked himself up, coming to us with his hair rubbed up like 
 a brush, his cap out of shape in his hand, and the gold band 
 off it, his red face shining, and all the gilt anchor-buttons off 
 his jacket, besides being minus his dirk. 'Simm, Simm, my 
 fine fellow!' said his friend the cadet, like to die with laugh- 
 ing, 'what what did they do to you? why, your head 
 looks like a chimney-sweep's mop!' Simm knocked his cap 
 against a tree to set it right, without a word, and we fol- 
 lowed the others to the boat, where he swore, however, that 
 he 'd kissed 'em all three, at which Mrs. Atkins fairly took him 
 a slap on the side of the head, saying he was a nasty, 
 improper boy, and she was glad his poor mother could n't 
 see him run after creatures of that kind in African woods. 
 'Natives, indeed!' said she, 'I have heard so often of 
 native modesty, too, in books; but, after all, there's noth- 
 ing like experience, I think, Sir Charles?' 'Certainly not, 
 ma'arn,' replied the Judge, humoring her, as she hadn't 
 often had the chance of speaking to him before ; "t is almost 
 as bad in India, though, you know.' 'Oh, there, Sir Charles/ 
 said the lady, 'I never happened to go out, of course, except 
 in the carriage!' 'Ah,' said the Judge, coolly, 'you should 
 try an elephant sometimes, ma'am.' 
 
 "After this, as Sir Charles was bent on getting a shot at 
 something better, with a glass or two of Madeira to refresh 
 us, we pulled farther still up the small river, passing the
 
 212 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 mouth of a deep marshy inlet, where I noticed a few long 
 canoes belonging to the Congo village we had seen; the 
 close, heavy heat of the woods getting, if possible, worse; 
 and the rank green growth topping up round us as flat 
 as before; when the sound of a loud rush of water up- 
 stream broke upon us through the bush to northward, 
 the surface rippling, and a slight cool breath seeming to 
 flutter across it now and then, the very noise putting fresh 
 soul into you. Suddenly we opened out on a broad bend, 
 where it was hard work to force her round, and next moment 
 a low fall was gleaming before us, where a hill-stream 
 came washing and plashing over one wide rocky step above 
 another in the turn, then sweeping out of a deep pool to 
 both hands, and running away ahead, in between the spread 
 of trees, seemingly to a sort of a lagoon, where you saw 
 the light in the middle glancing bright down upon its face. 
 A broad blue burst of air and light struck down along 
 the hollow the stream rushed out of, off the roots of a regu- 
 lar mountain, leaning back to the sky, with its big tufted 
 knolls and its shady rifts thrown out blue beyond one or 
 two thick scaly-stemmed date-trees, waving their long, feath- 
 ery, fringe-like leaves to the least bit of a breeze, on as many 
 rough points near at hand; the whole shape of the mountain 
 you could n't see for the huge mahogany-trees, teak, and 
 African oak, rising up over one shoulder into a lump of 
 green forest. In five minutes more we were through into the 
 lagoon, which very possibly took round into the main river 
 again, only the opposite end, to our surprise, was all afloat 
 with logs of big timber choking it up, so that there we must 
 stick or go back upon our wake. 
 
 "However, the lagoon itself being broad enough and round 
 enough in all conscience, with a deep hollow opening up out 
 of it on the high ground, the Judge and the cadets thought a 
 better place could n't have been chosen for landing after a 
 little sport, while we left the fair ladies to rest in the cool, 
 and look at the lotus-lilies spread all over one cove of it, 
 floating white on their large leaves. The green edge of scum 
 ran about the black shadow on the rest of it, gathering round 
 where a big branch or two had fallen in, with the hot white 
 sky looking bluer out through the broad leaves coming 
 together aloft, and the showers of little sharp ones in the 
 tamarind twigs, mangoes, ironwood, sumach, and all sorts, 
 while here and there a knot of crimson blossoms looked out 
 from under the boughs in the dark, humming with small flies. 
 Beautiful spot as it was every way, especially after the heat,
 
 A SEA STORY 213 
 
 yet I did n't much like the idea of letting the ladies stay by 
 themselves, except the sailor and the Mtmagar. Nothing 
 particular had turned up to trouble us, certainly, but 1 dare 
 say 't was because there was one of them I never looked at 
 without her soft fairy-like air making me think of something 
 that might happen to her, life-like though she seemed. 
 When I saw a big branch over her head, 1 kept fancying 
 what it would do if it fell and now, the thumping slabs 
 and stones we scrambled over up into the gully toward 
 the mountain, seemed to have come tumbling down off it 
 to the very water's edge, covered with nets of thick creeping 
 plants and trails of flat, fingery-leaved flowers, such as 
 you see in hot-hoxises at home. A few yards higher, too, 
 where the ground broke away into a slanting hollow out 
 of the bush, 't was all trampled and crushed, half -withering 
 together in the heat of the sun, the young trees twisted and 
 broken, and two or three good-sized ones lying out from the 
 roots, which I set to the score of the timberers rolling down 
 their logs, for some craft that evidently got their cargoes 
 hereaway. 
 
 "After all, the thought of a slap at some wild game was 
 tempting enough, the Judge appearing to consider anyone 
 but a sportsman nobody at all; so up we went behind him 
 out of the gully till we were all blowing like so many por- 
 poises on the head of it, Sir Charles raising his finger as we 
 peeped across a grassy slope right under us, where a whole 
 drove of small slender-legged antelopes were feeding. We 
 had just time to rest, getting a breath of air off the heights, 
 when one of the foremost lifted his head, listening the oppo- 
 site way from us; next moment the entire scatter of them 
 came sweeping direct over to leeward in a string we could 
 almost catch their bright black eyes through the grass, when 
 the crack of our seven barrels turned them bolt off at a corner, 
 and they were gone like wind on water. All of us had missed 
 save Sir Charles Hyde, but his rifle-bullet had sent one of the 
 antelopes springing up in the air ten feet or so, rolling over 
 and over into the grass again, where we found it lying with 
 its tongue out, and its large eye glazing amidst the blades 
 and dust a pair of huge turkey buzzards falling, as it were, 
 out of two specks in the sun above us, already, and rising 
 with an ugly flap while we got round the dead creature. 
 
 " 'Hallo !' said the mid suddenly, looking back over 
 toward the hollow we 'd come out of, 'what 's that ?' 
 
 "Fi-om where we stood we could just see through the wild 
 cane to the mouth of the gully, half a mile down or more,
 
 214 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 leading upon the trees by the lagoon. I thought I could hear 
 a dull heavy sound now and then going thump thump down 
 the hollow and along it, the stones rumbling from one spot 
 to another at the root of the hill ; but noticing a light smoke 
 rising farther into the course of the creek, with a faint echo of 
 axes at work somewhere in the woods below, I was n't sorry to 
 find the timberers were still in the river, showing we wore n't 
 the only civilized folks that thought it fit to visit. Perhaps 
 it might have been a quarter of an hour or more, however, 
 and we were all looking out sharp for birds of any kind to 
 pop at, happening to turn my head, I saw the long reeds 
 were moving about the banks below and the trees twisting 
 about furiously, and no sooner had I made a few paces than, 
 good heavens! right in the break of the trees at the 
 landing-place there was a huge brute of some sort coming 
 slowly up out of the water; then another and another, glisten- 
 ing wet in the bright light as the shadow of the branches 
 slipped behind them. A blindness came over my eyes, and 1 
 had scarce time to make out the big block-like heads and 
 moving trunks of five or six black African elephants, ere the 
 whole case flashed upon me, and away I dashed full-speed 
 down the slope. The big beasts were turning quietly off into 
 the hollow, and two or three of their calves trotted after them 
 out of the bushes, munching the young cane-stalks as they 
 lifted their pillars of legs and their tufty little tails, when L 
 passed a fire of sticks blazing under a slab of rock, with 
 the Judge's guinea-fowl plucked and roasting before it from 
 a string, the bowman's tarpaulin and his pipe lying near by 
 a sight that doubled the horror in me, to know he had left 
 the boat at all; and no doubt, as I thought, taken fright 
 and run off, man-o'-war's-man though he was. I made three 
 springs over the stones down to the water, terrified to look 
 in, hearing it, as I did, splash and wash about the sides, up 
 among the leaves of the trees, while a couple of monstrous 
 brutes were to be seen by the light in the midst of it, still 
 wallowing about, and seeming to enjoy sending the whole 
 pool in wide rings and waves as far as it would go, with the 
 noise besides; the one half swimming and the biggest stand- 
 ing aground as he poured the water out of his long trunk 
 all over his back, then broke off a branch and waved it to and 
 fro like a fan round his flapping leathery ears. 
 
 "Such a moment I hope never to know again not the 
 least sign of the boat could I see in the green black blink of 
 the place, after the glare above, and I stood like a madman at 
 the thought of what the herd of monsters had done when
 
 A SEA STORY 215 
 
 they came suddenly down upon it; then I gave a wild cry, 
 and levelled my ship's musket at the big elephant's head as 
 he brought his small cunning eye slowly to bear upon me, 
 dropped the branch, and began to swing his forehead, all 
 the time looking at me, and wading out to the shallow 
 by Jove ! my flesh creeps at it just now though I could n't 
 have stirred for worlds till he was close enough for me to fire 
 into that devilish eye of his. 'T was no more than the 
 matter of half a minute till you may fancy what I felt to 
 catch sight, all at once, of the cutter splashing up and down 
 in the gloom below the branches, the ladies and the Hindoo 
 crouching down terrified together, except Violet Hyde, who 
 stood straight, holding the boat firm in by a bough, her white 
 face fixed through the shadow, and her hair floating out of 
 her straw bonnet each time her head went up among the 
 leaves, with her glittering eyes on the two elephants. 
 
 "Suddenly some heavy black figure dropped almost right 
 over her into the boat, and she let go with a low cry, and sank 
 down with her hands over her eyes; when they went sheering 
 out towards the creek, the foretopman handling his boat-hook 
 in her bow, without his tarpaulin. As for the wild elephants, 
 I had just time to come to myself before the foremost had his 
 feet on the stones below me, getting cautiously out of the 
 pool; these awkward antics of theirs being possibly signs of 
 too much satisfaction in a bathe for them to show aught like 
 fury, if you did n't rouse them ; so I was slipping quietly 
 round the nearest tree when I heard the cadets halloing up the 
 hill. The old bull elephant seemed a dangerous customer to 
 meet, and I was hurrying over the dead grass and branches to 
 give warning, just as Sir Charles Hyde could be seen coming 
 down before the rest, his rifle over his shoulder. 
 
 "However, he brought up the moment I sang out to stop : 
 both the elephants were stalking off lower down into the 
 hollow, and I dropped behind the slab where Tom Wilkes had 
 been roasting his bird, when some fool of a cadet let drive at 
 the bull elephant from above, hitting him fair on the front. 
 You heard the rifle-bullet hit slap against it as if on an anvil: 
 the she elephant made off at a fast trot, but the big bruto him- 
 self turned round on the moment, lifting up his trunk straight 
 aloft with a sharp trumpeting scream through it, and looked 
 round till his small red eye lighted on the Judge, who seemed 
 quite out of breath from his sport. 
 
 " 'The fire ! that fire, for God's sake, Mr. Westwood, else 1 
 am lost!' called out Sir Charles, in a calm distinct key from 
 where he stood with his eye fixed on the elephant, and could
 
 216 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 see me, too a moment or two before the huge round-backed 
 lump of a brute came running round into the track, stumbling 
 heavily up the dead branches of the fallen trees and the dry 
 guinea-grass, with a savage roar between his two white tusks 
 and I. saw what the Judge meant just in time to throw over 
 the whole heap of flaming cocoa-tree husk among the withered 
 grass and stuff a few yards before the monster, as dry as 
 tinder, while the light air coming down the gully of the 
 mountain, drove it spreading across his course up through 
 the twigs, and sweeping in one sudden gust of fire up to the 
 very end of his trunk. I saw it lift over the smoke like a 
 black serpent, then another scream from the brute, and away 
 he was charging into the hollow again, the flame licking up 
 among the grass astern of him, and darting from one bough 
 to another towards the cane-brake below. I had scarce 
 drawn a long breath, and remembered the devil's own thought 
 that had come into my head, when the Judge called to me, ere 
 he slapped me on the shoulder. 
 
 " 'You did nobly there, my dear boy,' said Sir Charles ; 
 'managed it well ! 'Gad, it was a crisis, though, Mr. West- 
 wood !' 'I 'm afraid, however, sir,' said I, eying the crackling 
 bushes, smoking and whitening to a dead smoulder in the 
 sunlight, then flashing farther down as the hill-breeze rustled 
 off, 'I 'm afraid we shall have the woods burning about our 
 ears !' 
 
 "Down we hurried accordingly, and hailed the cutter, 
 where, scarce had we leisure to pass a few quick words and 
 tumble in, before I heard a shout beyond the other turn of the 
 creek, through the end of the lagoon; then something like the 
 cheep of ropes through blocks, with the bustle of men's feet 
 on a deck, and next minute a perfect hubbub of cries, whether 
 Dutch, Portuguese, English, or all together, I could n't say 
 only it was n't likely the last would kick up such a bother for 
 nothing. Four or five Kroomen came leaping round and along 
 the float of logs at the far end, their large straw hats shining 
 in the light over their jet faces, as they peered across into the 
 lagoon. The minute after they vanished we saw the white 
 upper spars of a schooner slide above the farthest of the wood, 
 and her bowsprit shoved past the turn just enougli to show 
 her sharp lead-colored bow, with the mouth of a gun out of 
 a port, and a fellow blowing the red end of his match behind 
 it. All at once the chorus of shouts and cries ceased, and a 
 single voice sang out along the water, clear, stern, and start- 
 ling, in bad Portuguese, 'Queren siete? who are you'f Still 
 we gave no answer, quietly shoving off as fast as we could, the
 
 A SEA STORY 217 
 
 flicker of the fire in the brake behind the trees beginning to 
 show itself through the black shade of the lagoon. 'Queren 
 siete?' sang out the voice, louder than before, in a threatening 
 way, and the logs were knocking and plashing before the 
 schooner as the Kroomen hauled at them to make an opening. 
 'Amigos! Amigos!' hailed we in turn; 'Ingleses, gentle- 
 men!' shouted the cadet who knew Portuguese, calling to 
 them not to fire, for heaven's sake, else they would do us some 
 harm. With this, the hubbub was worse than before; they 
 plainly had some design on us, from the confusion that got 
 up; but by that time we were pulling hard into the narrow 
 of the river, and took the fair current of it as soon as the boat 
 was past the falling stream we had seen before, till we were 
 round into the next reach. 
 
 "In fact, the rate we all bent our backs at this time was 
 pretty different from coming up : the cadets seemed hardly 
 to feel the heat, fierce and close though it was, at thought of 
 those that might be in our wake, and nobody spoke a word at 
 ease till at last, after an hour's hard work, taking it in turns, 
 we came full in sight of the Indiaman at her anchor on the 
 broad current. The ladies blessed the very ropes hanging 
 from her bowsprit, and we got safe aboard, where we found 
 the two other boats had come back long before ; and every one 
 of us turned in directly after sundown, as tired as dogs. 
 
 "Well, I did n't suppose I had slept an hour, dreaming 
 terribly wild sort of dreams about Violet Hyde and elephants, 
 then that I 'd saved her myself, and was stooping to kiss her 
 rosy lips, when a sudden noise on deck startled me. 1 shoved 
 myself into my clothes, and rushed on the quarter-deck. She 
 had gone aground at her stern in swinging in the water 
 the Portuguese rascal gave her, canted a little over to 
 starboard, away from the shore; and till morning flood 
 nothing could be done to haul her off. The fog was rolling 
 down with the land-breeze, and the jabber in the woods again 
 thickened the confusion, when all at once a dim flash off the 
 shore glimmered in the white fog, and a round-shot whistled 
 just astern, pretty well aimed for her bilge, which would have 
 cost us some work if it had hit. After that, however, there 
 was no more of it, the fellow probably having spent either 
 all his powder or his balls. As for his fort, I heard the chief 
 officer swearing he would knock it about his ears next day 
 a thing that could n't have done him much harm, certainly, 
 unless mud were dear. 
 
 "No sooner had the men gone below, leaving the ordinary 
 anchor-watch, than Mr. Finch, to my great surprise, walked
 
 2 i8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 up to me, and gave me a strange, suspicious look, hinting that 
 he began to have a good guess of what I really was, but if any- 
 thing new of the kind turned up, said he, he should know 
 better what to say to me. 'Mr. Finch,' said I, starting, 'this 
 won't do, sir you '11 either speak your mind before cabin and 
 cuddy, or to-morrow morning, by Jove ! you '11 go quietly 
 ashore with me, sir as I think, now you remind me of it, we 
 settled to do, already !' The mate's face whitened, and he eyed 
 me with a glare of malice, as I turned on my heel and began 
 to walk the quarter-deck till he went below. 
 
 "However, the thought of the thing stuck to me, and 1 
 kept walking in the dark to get rid of it: the four or 
 five men of the anchor-watch shuffling lazily about, and 
 all thick save ahead up the river, where the land-breeze 
 blew pretty strong, bringing now and then a faint gleam out 
 of the mist. I was leaning against the fore-chains, listening 
 to the ebb-tide, and thinking, when I saw one of the men 
 creeping in from the bowsprit, which you just saw, where it 
 ran up thick into the dusk, with scarce a glimpse of the jib- 
 boom and flying-jib-boom beyond. 
 
 "The sailor came up, touching his hat to me, and said he 
 thought he saw something queer off the boom-end. 'Well,' 
 said I gruffly, 'go and tell your mate, then.' I did n't know 
 the fellow's voice, though it had a particular twang in it, and 
 he was n't in Jacobs' watch, I knew. 'Why, your honor,' 
 he persisted, 'I knows pretty well what you air asking your 
 pardon, sir but I think you 'd make more out of it nor any 
 of the mates ! It 's some 'at rather skeary, sir,' added he. 
 Accordingly I took hold of the man-ropes and swung myself 
 up the bowsprit, and had my feet on the foot-rope below the 
 jib-boom, when I heard his breath, following behind me. 
 'Never you trouble yourself, my man,' said I; 'one at a 
 time!' and back he went inboard again for something 
 curious in his way struck me; but I wanted to see what he 
 meant. I had just got near the flying-jib, half-stowed in as 
 it was on the boom, and I fancied, with a creep of my blood 
 in me, I made out a man's head -over the sail; but next 
 moment a hand like a vise caught me by the throat, and some 
 one growled out, 'Now ye infernal man-o'-war hound, 1 have 
 ye and down you goes for it !' 
 
 "The instant I felt it, my coolness came back; as for 
 grappling, I couldn't, and the ebb current ran below to her 
 bows at a rate fit to carry one out to sea in half an hour. 
 I saw the whole plot in a twinkling, and never moved; 
 instead of that I gave a sort of laugh, and followed the
 
 A SEA STORY 219 
 
 husky twang of the other man to a tee. 'He won't come, 
 Harry, my lad!' said I, and my ugly friend let go before 
 he had time to think twice. 'He be blowed!' said Harry, 
 scornfully; 'an' why won't he, mate'f He had scarce the 
 words out of his mouth, though, ere I took him a twist 
 that doubled him over the spar, and down he slipped, hang- 
 ing by a clutch of the sail. 'I suppose, my fine fellow,' 
 said I, 'you forgot Fernando Po, and those nigger adventures 
 of yours eh ?' and I went in without more ado. 
 
 "I had n't been ten minutes on deck, however, when I 
 heard both of them swearing something or other to the first 
 mate. A little after Finch came forward to me, with a ship's 
 lantern, and three or four of the men behind. 'Mr. Collins, or 
 whatever's your name, sir,' said he aloud, 'I believe you 've 
 been seen just now at the bowsprit-end, making signals or 
 something to the shore ! You 're in arrest at once, sir, and no 
 more about it !' 'What the deuce !' said I, my blood up, and 
 pulling out a pair of pocket-pistols I had had in the boat, 'let 
 me see the man to ' At the moment a blow of a handspike 
 from near the mast laid me senseless on the deck, and I knew 
 nothing more. But I see 't is too far gone in the night to 
 carry out the yarn, ladies ! 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 "WELL, ma'am," resumed the commander, "I came to myself 
 again at last, but when, how, or where, I really did not know, 
 nor even what had been the matter with me; except that 1 
 lay on my back upon something or other softer than the 
 planks, my head aching like to split, and so stupid, I could n't 
 take the trouble to choose amongst the strange notions that 
 came creeping over me. 'T was pitch-dark, too, and choking 
 hot. The sole wish I had was for a drop of water; but there 
 I stuck in the same helpless plight, more like a nightmare 
 than aught else; and as for time, if it went by what 1 felt, 
 why, I might have lain, then and before, long enough for one 
 of the Seven Sleepers. First one fancy, and then another, 
 came looming up from over my brain, like a sail on the 
 horizon, till my head was full of it. That ugly rascal's story 
 got hold of me, and I thought I was stowed away below in 
 some abominable slaver; then I was the sick captain lying in 
 my cot dreaming, with all as still and dark as death. As my
 
 220 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 wits cleared, however, I began to hear plenty of sounds, as it 
 were, buzzing and rustling and booming in my very ears, 
 then far away again. Confused though 1 was, a horrid idea 
 struck me as I tried to listen that Finch and his under- 
 strappers had put me ashore in the woods, or handed me over 
 to some of those villainous blacks with the filed teeth ; and the 
 'Seringapatam' must be gone, Heaven knew how long ! 
 
 "Suddenly, as if to clinch my notion, I started for a 
 moment at the loud cry of a bell-bird, as I thought at first; 
 but, the next instant, a sort of a thick crust seemed to clear 
 off my hearing, and I knew it was 'two bells' going on deck, 
 so that I was still on board; after which a regular bustle got 
 up of a sudden overhead. I heard people running up the 
 nearest ladder from below; cadets shouting and chattering, 
 apparently with muskets and cutlasses; the creak of the 
 davit-blocks letting down the boats, and the chief officer's 
 voice alongside. What with my broken head, though, and the 
 want of air and water, I felt too sick to give them a thought. 
 It was n't long, either, before the whole Indiaman seemed to 
 be as quiet as a church, except one heavy pair of feet en the 
 quarter-deck above; then that stopped as well, and 1 heard 
 nothing but the dull sound of the tide through her thick 
 outer-timbers, gurgling up and poppling along, like to make 
 me mad for thirst. I put up my hand to my head, and found 
 my hair 011 one side all sticky, and covered with cockroaches ; 
 but though the very touch of their bristly feelers made my 
 blood creep, and the wretches began to dig with their pincers 
 into the wound, I was too weak to keep brushing them away 
 as fast as they swarmed about it. 
 
 "It must have been rather some sort of swoon than a doze 
 that I woke out of again, when I heard a man's voice not far 
 off, through the stillness of the 'tween-decks, reading aloud, 
 which I soon made out to be Mr. Knowles's, the missionary's ; 
 and, from the key of it, it was evidently the Bible he was 
 reading. In a little while he gave up, and another voice 
 came in, that I knew still better. It was Violet Hyde's low 
 enough, but so clear at times, that it seemed to come into the 
 dark where I lay half -senseless, and afterwards 1 could even 
 call back some of the very words; then it came to a stand, 
 and I heard her two or three times apparently answering 
 some one I could n't hear. All at once, tne missionary struck 
 up the first note of a psalm-tune, and her lovely voice slid 
 into it, till -there was nothing in the whole ship, as it were, 
 but fhat singing the old Evening Hymn alone such mu- 
 sic, I thought, never was on sea or land when down from
 
 A SEA STORY 221 
 
 some opening above, out of heaven, you might have fancied, 
 fell a chorus like the sounds of angels and cherubs joining in 
 at the end, once and again; catching up the air out of her 
 sweet tongue, and drowning it in a way to ravish one's soul, 
 till it sank into a hush in which you could hear the mission- 
 ary's voice rise, as he prayed aloud, over the whispers of the 
 ladies and children stealing away from round the skylight 
 with the slight creak of the rudder, now and then, in its case 
 abaft, and the tide bumping and tapping outside, from the 
 deadwood at her counter to the hollow planking amidships. 
 
 "As for me, at first blush I thought it all a part of my queer 
 visions, till somehow or other I began to revive a bit, and felt 
 for the door of the place they had boxed me up into. How- 
 ever, it was fast enough, and as soon as I tried to stand 
 upright, something over my head gave me a shove down again 
 it being evidently one of the steward's store-rooms abaft of 
 the cuddy, full of bags and such like lumber, where the best I 
 could do was to stretch myself on the heap of old canvas 
 again, groaning from sheer weakness and desperation. Just 
 then I heard a light step coming close past the door, out of 
 the large cabin, and I gave another groan. A dress rustled, 
 and the foot started to the other side of the passage. 
 
 "'For God's sake open the door!' said I, in a faint voice. 
 'What who is there?' exclaimed Miss Hyde, anxiously; 
 but my mouth was so dry I could n't answer her. Next 
 moment she was trying the handle, though to no purpose ; for 
 a little after I caught the sound of her footsteps hastening off 
 and once more my senses left me. It could n't have been more 
 than a minute or two, however, for I heard the missionary's 
 voice still praying beside Captain Williamson's cot, when a 
 gush of air suddenly revived me, and I sat up winking at a 
 glare of light, in which Violet Hyde's face seemed to be 
 hovering brighter than the lamp she had in her two hands, as 
 she stood and gazed at me between wonder and dismay ; while 
 the steward held the door only half open behind her, peeping 
 in at me with one eye like a fellow watching a hyena in a cage, 
 'Miss ! miss !' said he, trying to shove the door to again, 
 'take care he 's a pirate, ma'am, he is ! The chief officer '11 
 blow me up for it, your ladyship I' 'Mr. Westwood !' ex- 
 claimed she, pushing it wide in spite of him, 'what what is 
 this! you are all over blood, Mr. Westwood! Oh, are you 
 wounded ? what can be run, run for something,' said she to 
 the steward 'where is the surgeon ?' 'The doctor 's gone 
 with the rest of 'em, miss,' said he. With this I took hold of 
 something to scramble up, bringing down a bag of cabin-
 
 222 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 biscuit over me, and got on my legs in the midst of the dust; 
 but grim enough I must have looked, with my face like a 
 North American Indian's, and the cockroaches sticking in my 
 hair, as I stumbled out of the corner. The little cockney of 
 a steward seemed to think me dangerous, for all 1 saw of him 
 next moment was his striped gingham jacket vanishing round 
 a bulkhead aft. 'Oh,' stammered I, leaning against the door- 
 post, 'it 's it 's nothing, after all only a little water !' The 
 truth was, my brain felt so confused still, that 1 really was 
 not quite sure how the case stood whether I had n't in fact 
 bowsed up my jib too taut that night, and tumbled on my 
 head, or kicked up some row or other so I suppose 1 must 
 have looked rather ashamed, which the young lady appeared 
 to notice, by the expression of her face as she moved towards 
 the cuddy, and slipped quietly through one of the folding- 
 doors. 'Plush !' said she gravely, holding up her finger, as 
 she came out again and closed it, carrying a couple of decan- 
 ters and a glass; 'poor Captain Williamson seems asleep he 
 was removed there this evening for air.' As I drank one 
 tumbler of water after another, I fancied the young lady 
 watched me curiously; however, I had scarce quenched my 
 thirst when my own ideas got clear enough, as well as my 
 tongue, to give an offhand account of what had happened. 
 Violet Hyde started, and her voice faltered, as she said, 
 'Then then you must, have been shut up here all day oh, 
 how cruel of them! so hot, too! Oh, what a wonder you 
 were not actually 'All day!' said I 'what day is it, 
 then, Miss Hyde?' 'It is Sunday evening!' answered she, 
 the tears rushing somehow or other into her eyes. 'Oh, how 
 glad I am that I happened to pass ! But your head what a 
 dreadful wound you must have got, Mr. Westwood F con- 
 tinued she; 'something must be done to it, indeed!' 
 
 "What the sweet young creature hesitated and blushed 
 about for the first time, I never guessed ; but I can't help 
 thinking that anything short of an angel would have laughed 
 at the ridiculous figure I must have cut, with powdered 
 biscuit added to the blood, the hair, and the cockroaches 
 although my worthy friend's handspike from behind the 
 foremast had laid the bone bare, so that the bleeding saved it 
 from a lump. I hardly know how it came about, but, five 
 minutes after, there I was sitting on the planks of the 
 'tween-decks, while the charming girl herself stooped over me 
 with a basin in one hand and a sponge in the other the mus- 
 lin sleeves tucked half up off her two. round white arms, as she 
 began to wash the blood carefully off the place. I could n't
 
 A SEA STORY 223 
 
 stand it a minute, however. To feel her fairy fingers soiling 
 themselves in such dirty work, for such a fellow as me, Ned 
 Collins, made me shiver all over; so bolt upright I started, 
 carrying away the sponge in the neck of my coat, and squeez- 
 ing a teacupful of water down my back at every wriggle 
 while my lovely sick-nurse stood with one pretty little wrist 
 out, betwixt alarm lest she had hurt me, and surprise at my 
 life-like condition. After giving my face a wipe, however, 
 and swallowing a glass or two of wine, with some of the bis- 
 cuit I had knocked down, I felt wonderfully well, except for 
 an ache at the top of my head. The next thing that occurred 
 to me, of course, was to have my friend the mate made aware 
 of his mistake; but as for the curious quietness of the Jndia- 
 man at that hour, even of a Sunday evening, I could n't un- 
 derstand it, and I looked for a cap to go on deck with 
 immediately. The young lady seemed to be looking up the 
 after-hatchway, and listening, I thought, and the lady passen- 
 gers could be heard talking about the poop; but when Violet 
 Hyde turned round, and our eyes met again, I caught an 
 anxious expression in them that puzzled me. 'Do you think 
 it will be long before we shall hear them?' said she, next 
 moment. 'Who? whom?' asked I hastily. 'Oh!' said she, 
 starting, 'you could not have known they had gone, Mr. West- 
 wood. Tell me, Mr. Westwood,' said she, coming nearer to 
 me, putting her hand lightly on my arm, and glancing into my 
 face, 'tell me, did you not know that that vessel was in the 
 river?' 'Vessel, Miss Hyde?' I said, looking at her steadily 
 in turn. 'It 's all one riddle to me what vessel do you mean, 
 madam?' 'The the pirate!' exclaimed she breathlessly; and 
 turning towards the hatchway again, while I stood eying her 
 stupidly, all abroad, so to speak. 'For heaven's sake, tell me 
 what you mean, Miss Hyde !' said I, putting my hand to my 
 head. 'Ah, but you look so white you are not well yet, sir/ 
 said she softly. 'To think how all the passengers were 
 amused, and even papa too, when they heard this morning of 
 your being arrested as a a - But nobody could know you 
 were so hurt, Mr. Westwood. Then when some of the sailors 
 came back, and said they had seen the French ship in 
 disguise -' 'By Jupiter ! the brig they meant ?' i broke out. 
 'Then.good heavens ! they must have painted her lead-color, 
 and turned her back into a schooner! That was she, for a 
 thousand!' 'And, you know, yesterday morning, sir,' con- 
 tinued the young lady /you told me you knew our friends were 
 there, instead of being lost, as we thought!' 
 
 " 'Yes, yes !' said I, 'there must be some bad scheme at
 
 224 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the bottom but by morning we '11 have a slap at them, for 
 certain. For my part I feel 'Why,' said Miss Hyde, 
 turning anxiously to me, 'almost everybody in the ship has 
 gone already. Whenever the truth was discovered, there was 
 such a confusion amongst the gentlemen and the officers that 
 they could not think of anything else ; and, as soon as the sun 
 had s-et, they all crowded into the boats and went away 
 together, to surprise the pirates in the dark.' 'Good God!' 
 exclaimed I, in sheer amazement, and making toward the 
 hatchway. 'Miss Hyde! do you say so! How many were 
 there then, ma'am f I asked. 'Oh,' said she quickly, 'I am 
 so glad there was such a number five boats' quite full, 1 
 believe. Not a single gentleman would stay, except little 
 Tommy's father, who is upstairs and papa was one of the 
 first to get down into a boat with his rifle. But do you not 
 think,' added she, with somewhat of a tremble in her voice 
 'do you not think the people in the French ship will yield, or 
 at least give our friends up ?' 
 
 " 'I hope to goodness they may !' said I, turning away from 
 the eagerness those soft eyes of hers glittered with, as she 
 leaned out before the faint glimmer through the cuddy-door, 
 the light of the lamp in her hand shining bright over her hair 
 and her shoulders; while the gloomy stillness of the whole 
 ship, below, made me think of the voice that had hailed us 
 through the lagoon, and the same man's face as I had no 
 doubt now it was when I saw it aboard the brig at sea, 
 before the thunder-squall came on. I almost fancied I saw 
 Finch and him meeting at the present moment, with the 
 mate's awkward look as the Frenchman's sword flashed 
 across him my fingers gripped together for the handle of a 
 cutlass, to go tumbling up amongst the men over the 
 schooner's bulwarks in the creek when all at once another 
 notion darted into my head, to remind me where we were in 
 the meantime; I ran to the companion and sprang up the 
 stair on to the quarter-deck. 
 
 "It was a hot, still night; but the change from the close- 
 ness below to the deck seemed to make quite a new man 
 of one in an instant. I jumped on the nearest carronade- 
 slide, and looked round to see how the land lay, which at 
 first was difficult enough to do. They had got the Indiaman 
 fair afloat again, I found, a little more off the shore, and 
 farther down the starboard gun 1 stood upon being, as 1 
 guessed by the shape of the trees, about opposite the mud 
 fort, which Finch had probably been peppering at as he 
 threatened, since the port was open, and two or three shot
 
 A SEA STORY 225 
 
 lying in the scuppers beside it. 'T was somewhere nigh- 
 hand eight o'clock of the evening, 1 think, and quite black 
 011 the nearest bank you could n ; t even make out the top of 
 the woods against the sky; but another cable-length would 
 have served to open the lower reach of the river, where it 
 came brimming up full round the point with the night 
 flow, sending a floating sort of a glimmer along in the dusk 
 over against us. One could even pitch upon a line where 
 it ran side by side with the heavy shadow that took in the 
 ship, going across to the swampy-looking shore off our lar- 
 board side, and blackening away up-stream, while the dim 
 bubbles and eddies swept out of the one into the other. 1 
 could just catch the low, deep roar of the sea more than a 
 mile off, muffled by the trees and mangroves on both sides 
 between it and us; and, the tide having come almost to a 
 standstill, you heard the ripple against her bows get gentler 
 and gentler, with a weak plash here and there in the dark 
 among the grass and sedge alongshore, which seemed to 
 wake up a chirping mutter in the bushes and at times 
 you 'd have thought something came wading out from the 
 edge; till in a few minutes both river and forest had 
 sunk, as it were, into a sleep. The quieter they got, how- 
 ever, the more uneasy I began to feel at the state 1 saw 
 things in upon deck; absolutely not a soul to be seen 
 from wheel to bowsprit, except one man walking back and 
 forward by himself on the forecastle, and giving a look now 
 and then carefully enough over at the cable; Mr. Brown 
 being on the poop with his family and the knot of ladies, talk- 
 ing under their breath; while the old Scotch mate could be 
 seen through the cabin skylight, leaning his bald crown 
 over Ms two hands, under the lamp near the captain's cot, 
 to listen to the missionary, as he sat gravely whispering 
 and looking at him through his spectacles. 
 
 "For my part, I had n't a doubt but the ship had been 
 watched from shore all along; and there was no saying at 
 present who might be keeping an eye upon her, even if this 
 affair of the French brig were n't to catch us in some 
 deep trick or other. If it were really she, and lying where 
 we caught a glimpse of her the day before, 't would take 
 three or four hours, at night, even to pull there and back 
 again; but as for her being an ordinary pirate, I had a 
 strong notion she was no such thing, and the stranger 1 
 thought the whole matter throughout. 
 
 "As I peered over the bulwarks into the thick of the tall 
 jungle, the showers of fireflies came here and there flicker-
 
 226 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 ing out from under the big leaves, lighting up the green 
 of them for a moment, and dancing across a black mouth 
 in the bank nearest us, like emerald sparks. By this time, 
 too, the starlight was growing large out over the dusk, till 
 the whole height of the sky had heaved itself above our upper 
 spars, clear as crystal, and sprinkled full of soft silver points, 
 that gathered and got brighter as you looked. One could 
 see the whole breadth of the river floating slowly between, 
 with lazy brown swirls of current twisting and curling round 
 the point, and the eddies rising in the middle, to where the 
 water glistened among the dark wet mangrove stems, or 
 some oily swell near the edge went lipping in with the gleam 
 of a star lengthened upon it. Hot and close though the 
 night still was, while the rank smell of the mud came at times 
 into our nostrils from one side, and of growing leaves 
 from the other, yet it was pleasant enough after being shut 
 up for ever so many hours in a dark hole below. 
 
 "Neither did I think there was any fear of trouble from 
 the natives while this lasted; but the haze that seemed to 
 be oozing out over the mass of woods, with now and then 
 a cool breath of air from up-river, showed what a fog we 
 might expect as soon as the land-wind began to blow strong 
 from inland. Sometimes I fancied I heard cries in the 
 distance among the woods, over the croaking of the frogs 
 which seemed to get up as one listened; then again I could 
 make out the hollow booming of the African tree-drum, 
 with a chorus of horns and savage-like shouts, apparently 
 filling up every break in the hum that rose off the ground 
 far enough away, however, to satisfy me the blacks were 
 only making merry before turning in. 
 
 "As for Tom Westwood, he had plainly gone with the 
 boats, clerical though he was, which did n't go to set my 
 mind greatly at rest, knowing him to be one of your slap- 
 dash fellows when roused ; and, either way, it could n't do 
 much good to a man hailing for a parson to be particularly 
 active on boat-service. But you may easily conceive what 
 a pitch one's anxiety for the upshot rose to, at every whis- 
 per and hush of the woods, and every glimmer of the water 
 far astern, where the upper reach could just be seen brim- 
 ming pale out of the shadow, against a thick fringe of misty 
 cane-clumps, topped with tall palms and cocoas their stems 
 wavering in the thin haze, and their dark crowns seem- 
 ingly floating off above it like heads coming away from 
 the bodies, as the heavy blue land-fog began to gather like 
 smoke away behind.
 
 A SEA STORY 227 
 
 "The flow of tide having of course set the Indiaman's 
 stem up-stream, the ladies 011 the poop could be seen clus- 
 tered across the taffrail, with the careful married gentleman 
 in the middle of them, more dignified than ordinary, as they 
 one and all strained their eyes into the dusk before them; 
 when cne of the men came down the poop-stairs behind me, 
 and, on turning, I saw to my surprise that it was Jacobs, 
 he being still more astonished to see me on deck. I soon 
 found, to my great relief, too, that, what with the anchor- 
 watch and some lads, there were still seven or eight of the 
 crew aboard, whom I advised him to get on deck and make 
 them keep a bright lookout more especially as he was one 
 of the boatswain's mates, and had charge of the watch at 
 the moment; for, to tell the truth, seriously speaking, I 
 had more real fear, all along, of some attack from the 
 negroes and Don Jose, than of the French craft they would 
 fancy a pirate, whatever might be her reason for stowing 
 away Eollock and his companions although I told Jacobs 
 I had no doubt now but it was actually she. 'Ay, ay, sir/ said 
 Jacobs in a low voice, giving his trousers an uneasy hitch up, 
 'not a doubt on it, Mr. Collins. Black Harry and his mates 
 clapped eyes on her this forenoon, when they went up for 
 water so they said, anyway!' 'What, Bob?' said I, start- 
 ing 'was it that scoundrel? Did they not see her, then?' 
 'Well, sir,' replied Jacobs, 'as I gather, 't was rather one 
 of her boats they fell ath'art of. You'll mind Harry was 
 in the cutter that time you boarded the brig at sea, Mr. 
 Collins, a week or two 'gone so, you see, he knowed one 
 or two o' the crew at once; and in course, sir, comin' across 
 one another hereaway, they 'd make shift to have a talk, but 
 none on 'em ever guessed about our passengers bein' 
 aboard of her, till 'Did the fellow himself think they 
 were pirates, then?' asked I, more anxiously than before 
 a shivering dread of I did n't know what beginning to creep 
 on me, as I turned suddenly round, to eye the river gloom- 
 ing away up from the starlight, through into the blue heaps 
 of hazy forest. 
 
 " 'Why, sir,' answered Jacobs, hastily, 'he 's a desperate 
 sort, is that 'ere Foster, if it was only what I've heard 
 him say, swinging sound asleep in 's hammock. I would n't 
 tell as much otherways; but I tell ye what it is, sir, my 
 mind misgived me o' this here overnight boat-business ! It' s 
 my sober notion, Leftenant Collins,' gravely added he, seeing 
 I still looked anxiously to him 'it's my notion, if that 
 craft 's aught of a pirate, Harry Foster and more nor half
 
 228 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 of his watch 'ud think no more o' joining her, on a chance, 
 than one on 'em did o' taking you that clip with a hand- 
 spike this morning, sir! As for this here brig, Master Ned, 
 your honor,' continued he, 'what did she do, but, to my 
 fancy, she's keeped a eye on us ever since we first fell 
 foul of her ?' 
 
 " 'Jacobs ! Jacobs !' I broke out directly, 'get every hand 
 up on the fo'ksle at once, with everything like arms you 
 can find for God's sake look sharp, and then bear a hand 
 here to have the carronades fore and aft run in, and stuffed 
 full of some old iron or other, as we can't have grape!' 
 Hurried as it was, I saw the whole thing a regular deep- 
 laid plot it seemed, too and the first time I had seen light 
 as to what the strange brig could be after. Here had she 
 dodged us, no doubt, for weeks; got hold of our friends by 
 accident, which would give her a clue how to find us any- 
 where during the rest of our voyage, as we were too strong- 
 handed for her then. 'T was very likely they thought we 
 should suspect something, and follow wherever they could 
 manage to lure the Indiaman or else possibly they had 
 run into the river the very same day we did, and perhaps 
 seen us out of the haze which hid the land from us that 
 morning; and now, if they had studied it for years, they 
 could ri't have contrived a cleverer trap than this that Finch 
 and the passengers had run their heads into, with more 
 than a dozen mutinous dogs, at least, in their company. A 
 prize like an East-Indiaman was worth taking some trouble 
 about, of course; while such villains as Foster and his mess- 
 mates, I knew, would fancy a Bengal nabob carried untold 
 treasures with him, and it was plain to me they had some- 
 thing like an understanding with the stranger's crew. 'Ay, 
 ay, sir,' said Jacobs, in answer to me; 'hows-'ever, the first 
 mate left word with Mr. Macleod he 'd send up a rocket and 
 a blue light in case o' a good success, or else come back with 
 the boats.' 'Heaven help them, Jacobs!' said I, taking a 
 hasty turn or two, 'for we can't. But there is something 
 more horrid in the matter than I fancied only all we can 
 do is to look to ourselves and the ship I Hark ye, though, 
 Bob,' added I, following him ; 'bring up the beef -kid, will ye '( 
 I feel terribly sharp-set, notwithstanding.' 
 
 "I came back and looked from the quarter-deck down the 
 skylight, where the second mate still sat with his elbows 
 on the table, apparently listening to the missionary; when 
 the good man suddenly took off his spectacles and peered 
 under Macleod's broad fists, as an undeniable snore broke
 
 A SEA STORY 229 
 
 out between them; then he glanced toward the captain, 
 who seemed dozing in his cot, raised his mild eyes for a 
 moment though the opening up to the blue starry sky swim- 
 ming out abcve, put on his spectacles again, and taking up 
 the Bible, he leaned back in his chair to read, as if there 
 were neither pirates, savages, nor aught a man need dread, in 
 the world. 
 
 "'Strange!' I thought. 'Yet, after all, isn't there a soul 
 below there, ere a few hours, will go higher aloft than the 
 smallest star that twinkles over the maintruck yonder '{ And 
 who knows how many of us may - ' However, I saw 
 Jacobs hurrying aft again, and the rest coming up out of the 
 forepeak; so hard to work we set for the best part of an 
 hour, which it took us to get the guns on deck made 
 serviceable, and to find powder enough. Not a cutlass or 
 pistol was left on board, so we had only two or three axes 
 and pikes, with a rusty musket or two, and handspikes, 
 certainly, to spare. 
 
 "As soon as we had taken breath, 'Now, oacobs, my man/ 
 said I, 'send out the boys to loose the jibs and fore-topsail 
 let 's hoist the yard, too, with the sail clewed up all ready 
 for slipping her cable at five minutes' warning! It can't 
 do any harm and I 've no more doubt,' said I, 'than if I saw 
 it, we shall have that schooner coming down with the ebb upon 
 us !' 'Tide '11 turn in little better nor an hour, sir,' said 
 Jacobs, when we had got this quietly done. 'And by that 
 time the breeze will be blowing with it,' said I, 'bringing 
 down the fog, too, however but keep a bright lookout aloft 
 for the signal, Jacobs! If you see it, or the boats, good and 
 well. But I tell you what it is, Jacobs,' added 1, firmly 
 'should it be the schooner instead, that instant we must cut 
 and run for it! I shall carry the ship out to sea, if 1 can, 
 as I brought her in where we may have a better chance 
 with her in the morning, or get clear off, perhaps !' 
 
 "There being no more we could do, and having instructed 
 Jacobs to go down and rouse Mr. Macleod himself if he 
 saw the signal, I kept stealing back and forward on one side 
 of the quarter-deck alone. The river was still as a mill- 
 pond, except where it trembled in long streaky gleamr- 
 from the sky, else I should at once have slipped cable 
 and begun to go down, leaving the boats to come after us, 
 if they did come, as best they could. There was n't a breath 
 of air yet, either, save what seemed now and then to waft 
 out of the thick woods, and to bring the whole whispering 
 buzz of them stifled together along the face of the water,
 
 230 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 with the heavy scent of the aloes and trailers on the bank, 
 meeting the warm steam that crept across from the man- 
 groves on the opposite shore. A hundred notions ran througli 
 my head, as I walked, of what might happen: whether the 
 boats would miss the schooner altogether, and she drop down 
 upon us in the meantime, either by the creek or the river 
 or whether Foster and his crew of Wapping blackguards 
 would carry out what I 'd no doubt they had at heart. 
 
 "But at any rate, as for a set of passengers and mer- 
 chant sailors catching an armed schooner asleep, with one 
 like that Frenchman in her, I had his fierce dark face too 
 much before me whenever I thought of him to fancy the 
 thing for a moment. That that man was in command of 
 the stranger craft, and had some scheme in hand he would 
 stir heaven and earth to carry out, unless you ground his 
 head to powder, was an idea that came shivering sharp into 
 me as I kept watching the dark mouth of the creek astern, 
 and the glimmering reach beyond looking almost to see the 
 schooner's bowsprit shoot out of one of them, tide or wind 
 though there was none. Frigate to frigate in a breeze, in 
 fact, I should have minded my weather-gage pretty cau- 
 tiously with him, if a seaman he was ; but if he were bent 011 
 having the old 'Seringapatam' at present, by heaven ! what 
 I feared was worse than either plunder or walking the plank 
 seeing 1 there was a prize the Judge had left on board, for 
 which I felt a free-cruising captain would give all the treas- 
 ures that fellows like Foster might think an Indian nabob 
 had in his portmanteau. 
 
 "In fact, I saw Violet Hyde moving restlessly, two or 
 three times, near the break of the poop, as she watched 
 the dim opening astern, while her lady's-maid kept close 
 behind her, afraid to stay below; and waiting, idle as 1 was, 
 I almost began for the time to forget everything else 
 that might be going on, at thought of her being only a 
 few feet off, with no one by but the servant-maid. The touch 
 of her soft hand about my head an hour ago came back 
 on me, and the drowsy, creeping kind of hush of the tropical 
 night seemed to bewilder my senses at every rustle of her dress 
 I shan't even deny that the notion seized me for half a 
 minute, were the schooner to make prisoners of the boats 7 
 crews, how I might carry the Indiaman out to sea, and go 
 Lord knows where with her. Then the idea of defending her, 
 and saving her, made one wild with excitement I felt as if I 
 had the strength of twenty in me, almost longing to see the 
 pirates' faces, especially the dark Frenchman's, and to wait
 
 A SEA STORY 231 
 
 till they came close on, when we could let drive into them, ex- 
 pecting to find us helpless. I made up my mind that Mr. 
 Brown there, and the missionary too, should work at a gun as 
 soon as they were wanted when, trip, trip, I heard her foot- 
 step coming down the poop-stair behind me, and stood trem- 
 bling and tingling to my very finger-ends. 
 
 " 'Mr. Westwood,' said her low, sweet voice, and 1 turned 
 round. 'Yes, madam,' I answered, gulping down my breath. 
 'Have you heard do you see anything?' 'They've scarce 
 had time yet/ said I; 'of course the more cautious they 
 are the better !' 'Oh !' continued she, her hands clasp- 
 ing together, and the shawl falling half off her head to 
 one shoulder 'oh, if there should really be bloodshed at 
 this moment the river looks so fearfully gloomy and silent! 
 How is it possible to bear this suspense any longer, sir? 
 If we could only think they were not pirates, after all!' 
 'Miss Hyde,' replied I seriously, as she seemed to wish me 
 to speak, 'I can't have any doubt in my own mind what they 
 are!' 'How! what? for mercy's sake!' exclaimed she, gazing 
 earnestly at inc. 'You must n't suppose all pirates to be 
 bloody murdering ruffians, Miss Hyde,' said I, hastily. 
 'There 's one man belonging to that craft yonder, I 'm sure, 
 if he saw if he stood where I stand just now, so near an 
 angel The young lady shrank back with a startled 
 look ; but I was n't master of myself longer, and out I broke : 
 'For God's sake, forgive me, but I I 'd serve you like a 
 slave dearest Miss Hyde. I '11 stand up to the last drop 
 of my blood before ' 'Mr. West wood!' was the answer, 
 hanging betwixt surprise and terror. But I burst out with, 
 'Confound that name ! my name is not Westwood, madam, 
 and I 'm no relation at all to the gentleman in India. I 
 never said so, but your father mistook 'Who, then 
 what are you what design have you?' was her broken ques- 
 tion; and she put one hand on the bulwarks as if for sup- 
 port, looking round from me to the woods, the river, and back 
 to the ship and me again, so pale and terrified-like, that I 
 could have cursed myself for my stupidity. 
 
 " 'Good heaven, Miss Hyde !' said I, lowering my voice, 
 I do believe you take me for one of the stranger's crew? 7 
 'No no !' faltered Violet ; 'I I but the suspicions I heard 
 to-day you you frightened me, sir !' 'Surely,' said I, ready 
 to kneel at her feet, 'you must have known the truth of 
 the matter, Miss Hyde. Why, here have I come afloat at a 
 day's warning, bound for the East Indies and all because I 
 saw you that evening at the garden door ! Oh, for kindness 7
 
 23 2 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 sake, Miss Hyde, pardon my boldness but I couldn't let 
 slip the only chance of telling you it took me unawares, in 
 fact! I'm not such a fool as to fancy that such a fellow 
 as I can have the least hope in the world; but but 
 She stood quite still, not uttering a word, with her face 
 turned from me; but I could notice the color was all come 
 back to her cheek, and more and saw the shining falls of 
 her loose hair heaving on the bosom of her white muslin 
 dress, as it rose and fell gently. I leaned over the bul- 
 warks and ventured to look half-round; when, oh heavens! 
 how did my heart quicken in me to see 'the least bit of a 
 smile come over her lips, though her eyes were dropped toward 
 the gun close by. I can't say what I might have been bold 
 enough to do, in the whirl of the moment when suddenly 
 she started, drew the shawl up from her shoulders again, and 
 seemed to recollect the whole case of the boats with a shud- 
 der, as she glanced wildly again up the reach astern of us, 
 bringing me to myself, too, at the same time; and I stood 
 looking with her, intent to mark the first turn of the tide. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 "THE night was warm enough, however, in all conscience; 
 and, if one had been fit to eye it calmly, a glorious scene to 
 see was the sky that rose above our heads, glowing dark 
 as indigo-blue through the rigging aloft, as the ship's tall 
 spars stood up into it, from one rope ladder to another; her 
 maintruck like a white button against the midmost depth, 
 with every line running distinct to its place across knots 
 of stars, and single bright ones piercing sharp through the 
 black squares of the shrouds; while all round from her it 
 widened away, glittering and seething with lights, that 
 brought the woods looming out bigger and blacker along the 
 nearest shore, making the dirty brown river look dirtier and 
 drearier than before, as the steam spread over the close 
 mangrove bank on the other side, and began to creep low 
 out upon the water like fleeces of wool, with the stars here 
 and there sparkling from the far horizon through the strag- 
 gling fringe of cocoas beyond, and the huge bloated baobabs 
 that twisted up out of the tall guinea-grass, as if their 
 roots were in the air. The next glance I caught from Violet 
 Hyde showed nothing but the distress she was in; and I
 
 A SEA STORY 233 
 
 walked forward to hail Jacobs on the fore-to'gallant-yard, 
 asking if he saw the signal yet. 'No, no, sir,' answered he, 
 'not a sign on it up to this time.' 
 
 "So back again I went, gloomy enough myself, but trying 
 to keep up my countenance, and saying I was sure we should 
 see the boats come down with the tide when it turned. 
 
 " 'Have you noticed the stars aloft, Miss Hyde V said I, 
 in a cheerful way, to take off her thoughts till the upshot came; 
 'they never saw these in Europe, nor a night like this!' 
 She locked up, and for a moment or two the soft blue dark 
 of the hollow seemed to sweep round both of us, catching you 
 up into it; the Milky Way falling over to westward, like a 
 track astern of the great star-ship down in the south; and 
 Orion's figure to be made out overhead, with the belt about 
 him, stretching off west out of the Milky Way the Ser- 
 pent streaming far up to his foot; then Magellan's two 
 shining bits of cloud, and the dim one, seaward. There 
 were patches to be seen blacker than ink, too, where you 
 seemed to look through the sky, while every now and then 
 a meteor shot far across it and fell, leaving a trail like 
 a silver thread. 'T was terrible, though, to see up into 
 it, far away as they stood, and as steady as if we weren't 
 there, when heaven only knew what might come down river 
 next half-hour. I felt her shoulder touch me as she leaned 
 back the starlight glistening in her blue eyes, and nothing 
 but it between her lovely young face and the stars; and 
 I don't know how, but it appears to me I thought during 
 that half-minute as I never thought before, and as if 1 
 looked off the other side of the world for the first time 
 yet you could n't expect a fellow's brain to breed such 
 notions in a merchantman's forecastle, or a frigate's steer- 
 age or gunroom, as it did beside an Indiaman's bulwarks, 
 entering for a moment or two into the very feelings of a 
 creature like the Judge's daughter, when her warm breath 
 almost lighted on his cheek ! 
 
 "Next minute I noticed over my shoulder, low down in the 
 deep blue swell of the south, where the five bright stars 
 of the Southern Cross were gleaming nearly upright over 
 the top of a cocoa-clump on the opposite bank, for all the 
 world like some diamond ornament; and I pointed it out 
 to her, though I knew by the bearings of it how far the 
 night was gone toward the middle. Its top and bottom 
 stars flashed out of the pure face of heaven like jewels, 
 each fit to buy the Great Mogul ten times over. The dark 
 fringes of her two eyes showed brown over the light in
 
 234 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 them, while it looked like the hearts in violet flowers, as she 
 turned. 'At sea,' said I, 'we mids used to know by it 
 when eight-bells would come, to let us go below and turn 
 in. Soon after you lose sight of the Pole-star you rise the 
 Southern Cross and the men had a notion it was a brooch 
 the Virgin Mary lost from her breast, in the daylight, 
 when she went up to heaven ! 'T was her Son gave it her, they 
 fancied, but 'twas always to be found in the dark though, 
 meanwhile, 't is a sign to the Flying Dutchman, as he tries to 
 weather the Cape, that he '11 be forgiven at the day of judg- 
 ment so that 's the reason it has the power of showing what 's 
 o'clock until then, and why the Cape is the Cape of Good 
 Hope !' 'Yes, yes !' said she ; 'in Paul and Virginia, I remem- 
 ber, when they were so unwilling to part, it But she 
 
 stopped with a blush, as her eye met mine; and we were both 
 so confused that, before I knew, I found myself beginning to 
 stammer out all manner of tender words, 1 dare say, and 
 to whisper her first name near her ear, she scarce seeming 
 to mark the difference in fact one bewildered sort of look 
 was all she gave me at the moment, as if she were listening 
 more to the hum rising out of the woods than to me. 
 
 "Once or twice the still shine of the lamp up through 
 the open skylight-frame drew my eye to it in spite of me 
 it was the only light burning in the ship, and you saw 
 the gleam of it from the starboard port-window of the 
 cuddy, drawn in as it was for air, thrown on the dusky water, 
 not many fathoms, apparently, off the jungly bank nearest the 
 ship. I can't tell you how, but somehow or other the ap- 
 pearance of it there, like a yellow break in the misty shadow, 
 letting one see the very froth floating over it, and the muddy 
 tint of the river on its edges with the hush below us in 
 the cabin awed me more than aught besides; and whether 
 it was from mixing the thing with what happened afterwards,- 
 or how perhaps the missionary moved inside but when I 
 noticed the gleam on the water quiver and darken for a 
 moment, then shine out again, I felt I knew it was then the 
 captain's spirit passed away. I slipped with a thrill of my 
 blood to the skylight, and saw Macleod still asleep, the mis- 
 sionary settling his spectacles on his nose to read again, 
 as if he had looked up, too, when I did; while the cot 
 and bedclothes were hanging white in the shade as before, 
 except that the knees were drawn up, and the head turned 
 away. He might be dozing, though it came into my head 
 I had heard the captain say he should last till the turn 
 of the tide; and in fact all the sick men I ever knew die,
 
 A SEA STORY 235 
 
 unless there was something uncommon, died as the ebb came 
 on. As I stepped back to the young lady's side, I could 
 mark the Southern Cross by the after-edge of the main- 
 mast, sparkling fairly upright above the cocoanut trees, 
 and Orion high up nor'-westward seemed farther away it 
 was midnight. The thought flashed through me how some- 
 thing in the sky could draw up a man's soul, as the shot 
 at his hammock-foot would sink his body down deep through 
 blue water at sea but the first light plash of the ebb along- 
 side brought me back to the case in hand, and I gave Jacobs 
 a quiet sign to look out sharp aloft. 
 
 " 'Hark !' whispered Violet Hyde, suddenly, glancing side- 
 ways to me with her ear eagerly toward the shore, ani put- 
 ting back her hair with one hand to listen 'what is that?' 
 I thought at first I could see a stir along the thick aloe- 
 bushes, and make out the rustle of leaves; but the land- 
 breeze was sighing in puffs through them already, and the 
 fog beginning to creep out from over the bank, as if to 
 meet the muddy stream from the other side; till next minute 
 I heard what she meant, like wild cries from human creatures 
 half choked, or out of breath, sounding along deep in the 
 woods; then free out it rose in a clear chorus of savage 
 screams and yells, and then seemed smothered up again. 
 'T was only a pack of jackals hunting from thick bush to 
 opening, but Violet pressed closer to me as the devilish noise 
 drew nearer the river; and suddenly my hand met hers 
 to say what I felt, passes me but the very next moment I 
 had it fast clasped in my own, though I had n't time enough to 
 say what the thing was before the entire pack of throats 
 seemed to break out right upon the bank a little higher up 
 than the ship, barking and yelping like the very hounds of 
 Satan. l 'T is only the chase has taken to the water !' con- 
 tinued I, in a low voice, as the. infernal uproar stopped at 
 once. 
 
 "However, then, the sweet girl was trembling like a leaf; 
 and, by Jove! madam, take it as you will, the man who 
 would n't have had one arm round her before that, could have 
 been 110 sailor that 's all. Tor God's sake, dear, dear Miss 
 Hyde/ whispered I 'dearest Violet, let me take you under 
 shelter we may have dangerous work before long!' 
 
 "I started up from the bulwarks, in fact, for the river by 
 this time was all aplash alongshore in the haze, and under 
 the ship's bends, beginning to run past her side seaward, as 
 the branches and loose stuff came floating out with the cur- 
 rent off a point; the sedge and bulrushes opposite us moan-
 
 236 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 ing and clattering, as the breeze rushed through them, bring- 
 ing the fog rolling down stream. The mist was closing over- 
 head from both sides already, though the stars sparkled 
 through the middle yet ; and I knew the moon must be rising, 
 fit to show us anything that came out of the upper reach. 
 <N no!' faltered out Violet, in tears, as she slid herself 
 quickly out of my hold, drawing the shawl over her with 
 a shudder; 'I cannot go inside till we see them come back 
 my dear, dear father, I must see that he is safe!' 'By 
 heaven! though,' exclaimed I, jumping upon the carronade 
 to look out, 'those brutes are swimming after the deer, 
 and the stream is bringing them down on our stern!' The 
 Indiaman was swinging her stern down to the ebb, and 
 through the dusk I fancied I just saw their black heads 
 tipping here and there out of the water, amongst the drift- 
 wood and froth, where the light from the cabin port swung 
 slowly into the mist, with the ship. However, they went past ; 
 and she had n't got her bow fair to the current, when a man 
 from the bow sung out, 'Hurrah ! here 's the boats now !' 
 
 "'Where, where?' said I, springing forward to the fore- 
 chains, while the young lady stood as if her life hung en the 
 next word. 'There, sir, right ahead almost as she swings,' 
 said the sailor; and thick as the blue fog was close to us, 
 the cream-colored haze filling up the reach of the river be- 
 yond was lighting up like white gauze with the moon, in 
 which I saw two or three black objects come dropping out 
 as if from the creek, their oar-blades flashing in it. But 1 
 thought they crowded together awkwardly, like maimed craft, 
 and the weight seemed to keep them down, unless, as I hoped, 
 they were waiting for the others. 'No, no, Mr. Collins!' 
 whispered Jacobs, suddenly sliding down a topmast-back- 
 stay to my side, 'they 're canoes, sir !' 'By the Lord ! so 
 they are/ said I, seeing a flourish of the paddles that be- 
 trayed them. 'They 're hanging on yet, though, to catch us 
 napping keep cool, Bob, my man,' continued I, for my 
 spirits rose, to find my fears mistaken as yet about our 
 boats. 'But the cable the cable!' added I hastily 'by 
 George, they '11 try to cut it, as sure as fate I Ready there 
 don't fire a shot till they 're close nothing but stupid nigger 
 heathens after all, my lads ! Quick, a couple of you,' said 1, 
 'bowse up the jib at once, and down fore-topsail sheets 
 brace the yard sharp up, to cast her head down if they do 
 cut ! If we go aground, Jacobs, we 're gone !' 
 
 ' 'T was vain to think of hindering them, few as we were, 
 and scarce able to see what they did, for the fog; but the land-
 
 A SEA STORY 237 
 
 breeze already blew pretty fresh, and the ebb rushing on her 
 bows made the Indiaman heave to it as her jib rose from 
 the boom. I had no time to stand upon ceremony to think 
 of the pilotage again with the savages, the narrow channel 
 in the dusk, and the breakers together, was quite enough. 
 
 "In the very nick of such a breathless moment, L had 
 just fancied I caught the stroke of their paddles coming 
 on when all at once, out of the open cabin-skylight aft, rose 
 a sound, the like of which I never heard in my life 
 between a yell and a cry; but the mouth of the skylight 
 seemed to send it up higher than the mastheads, loud and 
 long, into the slit of starlight between the fog. For a single 
 second the marrow curdled in my bones, and I lost all thought 
 even of the canoes ahead, 't was so unearthly ; till, catching 
 a glimpse of Violet's white figure crouching in terror to 
 the round-house door, I rushed aft, and looked down at the 
 cuddy. It was all black as midnight below, the stink of the 
 swinging lamp coming out; but by the horrible tumbling, 
 staggering, struggling sound inside, you 'd have thought it 
 full of some awful thing, doing God knows what in the 
 place then a thump and a groan. I scarce believe I could 
 have mustered heart to go down the companion and see 
 till next moment the Scotch mate's bare head and his 
 shoulders came thrusting up out of the stair, wrestling 
 wildly with three or four pitch-black naked figures the 
 narrow booby-hatch hindering them from sticking together 
 to him, except one that leaped out almost on his back, aim- 
 ing a fierce stroke with a club at his skull. Quick as 
 thought, however, my coolness had come back to me, and 
 I just sent the bullet from the ship's musket I had snatched 
 up fair flash through his lungs, the blood spouting out of his 
 mouth almost over us, as he spun round with his club in the 
 air, and fell back while smash after smash I brought the 
 stock of my piece down on the crowns of the others, trying 
 to get on deck too thick together; and Macleod was doing 
 the same like a man, at the skylight, where they were catch- 
 ing at the edge of the frame. The shrieks of the ladies 
 came off the poop above; and as for the men, they were 
 dodging under the forecastle bulwarks as they fired at the 
 canoes ahead, from the spears and arrows that came whistling 
 over, and quivering into the planks near me. What else the 
 fiendish wretches might be doing I did n't know, but I had no 
 sooner managed to shove the scuttle over the booby-hatch, 
 the second mate loading as fast as he could, and blazing away 
 down into the skylight like a perfect devil, lighting up
 
 238 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the black faces and sharp teeth of the savages below at 
 every shot, rushing back, than I felt the Indiaman was broad- 
 side on to the tide and current, sweeping down to open the 
 next reach with her jib and topsail full to the land-breeze. 
 1 sprang back to seize the wheel, near which Violet Hyde 
 stood cowering with her two hands over her eyes, when, 
 in the midst of it all, you may fancy my horror to cntch a 
 glimpse of one hideous black stealing round towards her in 
 the shadow of the round-house, with a hatchet gloaming 
 in one hand, and the other stretched out to clutch her. 
 'T was the work of a second. I made one leap, and barely 
 caught the blow on my gunstock, as he took hold of her 
 dress; then over he and I rolled on the deck, first one up- 
 permost, then the other, till I found his strength was too 
 much for me, breathless as I was. 
 
 "The fellow had his huge hand round my throat, choking 
 me, and ready to spring up with the hatchet in his other 
 fist 't was the mulatto that had been with the Portuguese 
 when I saw Violet Hyde cart forward between me and the 
 stars, throwing her large shawl round his head and arm 
 from behind him, and holding it tight, her face turned 
 away, white as death. The mulatto loosened his grasp and 
 jumped up, throwing her reeling back to the door; but I was 
 on my feet as soon as he, twisting his hatchet from his 
 grip, and sent the edge of it with all my force clean down 
 into his brain, through cashmere and everything. Kre he 
 had time to pull it off, he was stretched, breast and knees 
 up, over the carronade-slide at my feet. 
 
 "The dear girl had fainted. I lifted her, and hurried with 
 her to the sofa in the round-house, my heart swelling toward 
 her in a way no man can tell, though there was not a mo- 
 ment to stay, for when I reached the wheel again, a sight 
 broke upon me that showed the fearful danger we were in. 
 The savages in the cuddy could be heard plunging out of 
 the port to swim ashore; and though the ebb-tide was tak- 
 ing the ship apparently clear round the woody turn, she 
 had no sooner opened the wide reach, where the fog was 
 scattering before the breeze, than we began to see a stretch 
 of the nearest bank, off our starboard bow, glimmering out 
 to a huge fire on the edge, that lighted up the thick white 
 haze like sulphur throwing a bloody red glow on the eddies 
 in-shore, with two or three black canoes dipping up and down 
 in them; a crowd of dark, naked negroes rushing round 
 the fire, bringing logs and branches to throw in, till up it 
 blazed again; the sparks flying into the smoke, the feathery
 
 A SEA STORY 239 
 
 black jungle sinking back behind, and the banian branches 
 shooting out into it, as if they were alive, licking the crim- 
 son gleams with their sharp leaves; while a horrible noise 
 of tree-drums beating, and buffalo-horns blowing floated off 
 to us. 
 
 "The wretches seemed to expect we were coming straight 
 in to them, and they waited for us. And no wonder; for it 
 was n't till Jacobs came running aft, to tell the mate and 
 me, that, to our horror, we found the canoes had got the 
 rest of the cable fastened somehow or other low down to her 
 cut-water, and were coolly towing us in by it. We could 
 neither cut it nor dispose of them, as at every shot there 
 were plenty more to fill places; while the helm was only 
 enough to steer her, had she been free. 
 
 " ' J acobs,' said I, 'for heaven's sake bear a hand with two 
 or three of these heavy shot in a hammock let 's sling it out 
 to the flying-jib boom end, and I '11 stand by to drop it fair 
 over them quick!' Three of us ran out from the bowsprit, 
 with the end of the line, swinging out the weight and haul- 
 ing it up, till we were nearly over their heads in the foggy 
 gleam from the blaze ashore. The cable tautened fair under 
 us as the blacks gave a stroke ahead together with their 
 paddles, and 'Watch!' I sung out above them, in a voice 
 that made them huddle all three canoes in a lump, peering 
 up at us. 'Let go, my lads,' whispered I, and down went 
 the weight of shot full slap upon them, crash through their 
 gunwales, leaving no more than the bits, with the woolly 
 heads bobbing about in the stream. The second mate whirled 
 round the spokes of the wheel, on deck, and her jib and top- 
 sail drawing the breeze right again, she began to stand out 
 toward the middle once more. I watched the glare of the 
 fire sinking back into the blue fog, while the hubbub of 
 wild cries showed that they had taken the alarm, and were 
 pushing off as fast as possible in their canoes from the bank 
 in chase. 
 
 "The next thing I saw, two or three minutes after, was 
 the flash of a large gun away on our starboard quarter, 
 flaring out in the mist round the strange schooner herself, as 
 she came swiftly down astern of us, under her two boom- 
 sails and flying-jib, the froth whitening up from her fore- 
 foot, and she crushing through amongst the canoes, letting 
 drive at them right and left, flash after flash, and roar 
 after roar her deck crowded with men, too, amongst whom 
 I thought I could make out the dark Frenchman's broad- 
 leafed Manilla hat. However, the wreaths of thick smoke
 
 2 4 o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 blew curling from her towards us; and directly after noth- 
 ing was to be heard but the ripple under our bows, as we 
 went surging toward the river's mouth, with the clear plash 
 upon her copper coming nearer. 
 
 "Jacobs and I, as well as the other hand, hung over the 
 boom together for a little to loose the fly ing- jib, then out 
 of pure weariness, till I sent Jacobs to take the wheel and 
 steer by my signals; for the Indiaman had the full force 
 of current and breeze astern of her, carrying her fast 
 toward the bar, as I guessed; while the second mate let her 
 yaw dreadfully, from fear of going wrong. As for the 
 schooner, we could make out her lights through the fog, 
 the wind bringing us the sound of her cut-water though 
 probably they could n't know whereabouts we were ; so 1 
 hoped she might perhaps go past us in the dark, if she were 
 actually in chase of the Indiaman, as I feared. 
 
 "However, the moment the cheep of our fly ing- jib hanks 
 on the stay was heard, as the sail was hoisted, a sharp hail 
 came along the water. 'Hola!' sung out the creaking voice 
 of the little French skipper, who had bamboozled me so at 
 sea. None of us answered, and I ran down the spar to be 
 ready for what might happen, when 'Hola! ou etes-vous?' 
 shouted he again. 'Hullo! the "Seringapatam," ahoy!' 
 roared our chief officer himself; to which no sooner had 
 Macleod replied, than we caught three hearty English cheers, 
 and next minute the schooner's canvas was looming up from 
 the yellow glimmer of her lanterns a few fathoms on our 
 starboard quarter the foam hissing off her sharp bright 
 bows, while she raced up with us. Every one of us started 
 at the jovial sound of the voice of old Rollock, the planter, 
 shouting, 'All 's right, my boys !' as if he had risen from 
 the dead out of the sea the schooner slipping easily by, 
 abreast of our high bulwarks; and the crowd of heads from 
 stem to stern, English, French, and Kroomen, gliding past 
 below, for all the world like a dream to most of us, with 
 the light from the lanterns flaring up red under hats, caps. 
 and tarpaulins, and the black shadow of their figures and 
 small-arms thrown high in two clusters on the broad glare 
 over her fore and main boom-sails. 'Have ye actually taken 
 the blackguards, sir?' hailed the Scotch mate; at which a 
 shout of laughter ran from one end of her to the other; 
 while one of the cadets, seemingly half -drunk, could be seen 
 staggering aft to the stern, as she forged swiftly ahead, 
 just in order to call out, 'Macleod, my old cock, comment 
 vous portez-vous?' The little French master jumped up on
 
 A SEA STORY 241 
 
 the schooner's taffrail, waving his hand politely : 'J' aurai 
 I' honneur pour vous conduire, en debouchant, Messieurs!' 
 shouted he ; 'follow de light een my starn !' 
 
 "In fact, by this time we were already in the suck of 
 the channel, so that longer speaking was out of the question, 
 as the boom of the surf could be heard wide ahead of the 
 ship. Suddenly a broad gleam of light off the sea struck over 
 our starboard bow, beyond the tumbling water upon the bar, 
 and to starboard the rocky headland broke through the fog 
 rolling out with the breeze: the schooner's stern lifted glim- 
 mering before our figure-head, and we lost sight of her again, 
 till we had swept safe round the point. Five minutes more, 
 and both Indiaman and schooner were heaving on the 
 waves from the shadow of the high land, the dark-blue swells 
 cresting up all round against a bank of cloud on the horizon, 
 and the long send of the sea to be felt once more under you 
 the moon rising out of the river, while a fresh breeze blew 
 in the offing, and promised to get a good deal stronger. 
 
 "The schooner soon hove to, and before we could have 
 beaten up to her, being to leeward, we saw one boat after 
 another dropped astern or off the side, till the whole five 
 could be made out pulling for the ship; but the minute after 
 they were alongside, she filled away again, standing almost 
 right before the breeze up to north-westward. 
 
 "Well, you can fancy the confusion on board of us for a 
 short time, what with questions and explainings, and what 
 with seeing worthy old Bollock again, Ford, Winterton, 
 the Brigadier, and Mrs. Brady, after being parted for a 
 number of days in such a way. The meeting of the young 
 lady, Miss Fortescue, with her mother was touching enough to 
 witness, though of course the gentlemen had got it all over 
 before; and in fact they seemed to have made pretty merry 
 aboard the French craft, while we were fighting for fair life 
 with those infernal Congo savages. The dead blacks on deck 
 and below had been thrown overboard already, and the 
 Indiaman crowding sail on her course ; but I saw the Judge 
 for a minute before the round-house door was shut, with 1m 
 daughter sobbing on his neck; and as soon as the rest met 
 below in the cuddy, a scene was to be found there which one 
 does n't easily forget the steward lying in one doorway, dead, 
 with his head smashed by a club; the missionary under the 
 table, still bleeding, though he was alive, and not very much 
 hurt after all. Neither he nor Macleod could tell very well 
 how the thing happened, plain as it was now to me; but the 
 strangest part of it to see, horrid as it seemed at first, was the
 
 242 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 body of Captain Williamson. His cot had been knocked to 
 the deck, some of the devilish wretches had given his fore- 
 head one gash, and his breast another, each fit to kill a man. 
 There was little or no blood, however ; his face had a peaceful 
 look on it, almost smiling, you 'd have said, by comparison ' 
 with the poor steward's ; and as soon as his eyelids were down, 
 the old seaman appeared to be sleeping yet. For my part, 1 
 felt as sure as if I'd seen it, that when the savages struck 
 that body, they might as well have struck at the stars we had 
 seen over the deck. 
 
 "Still, when all was cleared away, and the passengers gone 
 tired out to their berths, I could n't turn in without a walk on 
 the poop beside the planter, to hear something from him the 
 ship all the time rising on the brisk seas, every stitch of 
 canvas spread, the African coast beginning to drop in the 
 moonshine, and the schooner a dim speck to north-west 
 through the long gleam on the horizon. I found, to my great 
 surprise, there was no reason he could think of for the French 
 craft's detaining them, except that the Brigadier had sworn at 
 Bonaparte in the brig's cabin, or else Mrs. Brady's having 
 said she would give the world to see him just now at 
 St. Helena ; in fact she would go through fire and water only 
 to kiss the hand of such a great hero such an enemy to all 
 Saxons and tyrants, she vowed. But in fact they had been 
 sitting below at the time our boat came aboard, and knew 
 nothing about it ; the French master swore to Rolloek, and to 
 the chief officer afterwards, he had mistaken my meaning 
 because I spoke bad French, no doubt; after which the gale 
 came on, and they never saw the Indiaman again till to-night. 
 As for their going into the river, and changing her rig, the 
 little Frenchman said he found a brig's rig did n't suit a 
 schooner's hull. For my part, however, I did n't see how 
 their course for the Isle of France could be north-west. 'By 
 the bye, though,' added Rollock, 'Mrs. Brady made some mys- 
 tery about the whole affair. She seemed to have a few 
 private discourses with that strange dark-faced passenger of: 
 theirs, who, I suspect, had more to do with the vessel than 
 he pretended. But I dare say, Collins, my boy/ said he 
 laughing, 'she wanted to make us think the foreigner had 
 taken a fancy to her.' 
 
 "As we were both going below, I said, 'By the way, where 
 is Mr. Daniel Snout? I haven't seen him yet.' 'Ah,' said 
 the planter, turning round, 'where is Daniel, after all I 7 
 have n't seen him either, since we left the schooner's deck 
 no, by Jove ! sir, he really has n't come on board, now I think
 
 A SEA STORY 243 
 
 of it ! I recollect we were the last boat, and he was n't in 
 it, although he was behind me just before I got down.' 
 'What can the man mean?' said I; and we both stood at the 
 top of the hatchway ladder, looking toward the horizon, 
 at the speck of a schooner. 'By jingo, Collins!' exclaimed 
 the planter, chuckling, 'the Yankee is gone to be a pirate !' 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 "MoRE than once that night," resumed Captain Collins, "L 
 woke up with a start, at thought of our late adventures in 
 the river Nouries fancying I was still waiting for the turn 
 of tide to bring down the boats or the schooner, and had 
 gone to sleep, when that horrible sound through the cabin 
 skylight seemed full in my ears again. However, the wel- 
 tering wash of the water under the ship's timbers below one's 
 head was proof enough we were well to sea; and, being 
 dog-tired, I turned over each time with a new gusto not to 
 speak of the happy sort of feeling that ran all through me, 
 I scarce knew why ; though no doubt one might have dreamed 
 plenty of delightful dreams without remembering them, more 
 especially after such a perfect seventh heaven as I had 
 found myself in for a- moment or two, when Violet Hyde's 
 hand first touched mine, and when I carried her in after she 
 had actually saved my life. 
 
 "The broad daylight through our quarter-gallery window 
 roused me at last altogether; and on starting up I saw Tom 
 Westwood, half -dressed, shaving himself by an inch or two 
 of broken looking-glass in regular nautical style that 's to 
 say, watching for the rise of the ship as she had the wind 
 evidently on her opposite beam, and there appeared to be 
 pretty much of a long swell afloat, with a breeze brisk enough 
 to make her heel to it; while the clear horizon, seen shining 
 through the port to north-westward, over the dark-blue 
 heave of water, showed it was far on in the morning. 'Well, 
 Ned,' said Westwood, turning round, 'you seemed to be en- 
 joying it, in spite of the warm work you must have had last 
 night on board here! W T hy, I thought you had been with 
 us in the boats, after all, till I found, by the good joke the 
 cadets made of it, that that puppy of a mate had left you 
 still locked up on account of some fancy he had got into his 
 head of your being in partnership with the schooner! .For
 
 244 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 heaven's sake, though, my dear fellow, wash your face and 
 shave you look fearfully suspicious just now!' 
 
 " 'No wonder !' said I : and I gave him an account of the 
 matter, leaving out most of what regarded the young lady; 
 Westwood telling me, in his turn, so much about their boat 
 expedition as I did n't know before from the planter. Every- 
 thing went to certify what I believed all along, till this sud- 
 den affair in the river. The schooner's people had plainly 
 some cue in keeping hold of our passengers, but had n't ex- 
 pected to see us so soon again, or perhaps at all as was shown 
 by their hailing the boats at once in a pretended friendly 
 way, whenever they came in sight up the creek; while Ford 
 and the rest shouted with delight, off her bulwarks, at 
 sound of the mate's voice. 
 
 " 'I tell you what, Collins,' continued Westwood, 'this may 
 be all very well for you, who are continually getting into 
 scrapes and out of them, and don't seem to care much 
 whether you ship on board an Indiaman or a corn-brig 
 you can always find something to do but to me the service 
 is everything!' 'Well, well,' said I, hastily, 'I'm much mis- 
 taken if we don't find something to do in India, Tom only 
 wait, and that uncle of yours will make us all right; for 
 all we know, there may be news from Europe to meet us, 
 and I must say I don't like the notion of being born too 
 late for turning out an admiral. I 'm sure, for my part, 
 I wish old Nap well out of that stone cage of his!' 'No, 
 no, Ned/ said Westwood, 'I ought to clear myself at home 
 first; and sorry I am that I gave in to you by leaving 
 England, when I should have faced the consequences, what- 
 ever they were. Running only made matters worse, Collins !' 
 'No doubt/ I said; 'and as it was my fault, why, deuce take 
 me, Tom, if I don't manage to carry you out scot-free ! De- 
 pend on it, Captain Duncombe's friends would have you 
 strung up like a dog, with the interest he had and sharp 
 as discipline is just now/ Westwood shuddered at the 
 thought. 'I fear it would go hard with me, Ned/ said he, 
 'and I shan't deny that these few weeks have brought me 
 back a taste for life. But, in spite of all, I'd deliver my- 
 self up to the first king's ship we speak, or go home in some 
 Indiaman from the Cape but for one thing, Collins!' 'Ah!' 
 said T, 'what's that?' Westwood gave me a curious half- 
 look, and said, 'One person I mean, Ned and I shouldn't 
 
 like her to hear of me being ' 'Yes, yes/ said I stiffly, 'I 
 
 know/ 'It must have been by guess, then!' answered he. 
 'Often as we 've talked of her during the voyage, I thought
 
 A SEA STORY 245 
 
 you didn't know we had met frequently in London before 
 you came home, and and the fact is, 1 was n't sure you 
 would like me to 'Westwood,' said I, quickly, 'Tom 
 Westwood what I have to ask is do you love her ?' 'If ever 
 a man loved a woman, Ned,' was his answer, 'I do her; but if 
 you 'Have you any chance, then?' I broke out. 'Ay, 
 true true enough, you have the best of chances your way 
 is as clear as could be, Westwood, if you knew it! Only I 
 
 must know if she is willing does she ' 'I got leave to 
 
 write to her in London,' answered Westwood, 'and I did so 
 pretty often, you may be sure; but I only had one short 
 little note in answer to the last, I think it was which 1 
 had in my breast that morning on Southsea beach, when 1 
 expected the bullet would come through it !' 
 
 "Here Westwood stooped down to his trunk, and took out 
 a rose-colored note, wrapped in a bit of paper; 1 standing 
 the while fixed to the deck, not able to speak, till he was 
 handing it to me. 'No, no!' said I, turning from him 
 angrily, and like to choke; 'that's too much, Mr. Westwood 
 pray keep your own love-letters for your own reading !' 
 'There's nothing particular in it, Ned,' answered he, flush- 
 ing a little, 'only there's a few words in it I'd like you 
 to see don't look at it just now, but tell me afterwards 
 what you think. You ought to see it, as the matter seems 
 to depend on you, Ned; and if you object, you may be 
 sure, so far as I 'm concerned, 't is all over!' 
 
 "Somehow or other, the look of the little folded piece of 
 paper, with the touch and the scent of it, as Westwood 
 slipped it into my hand, made it stick to me. 1 caught 
 one glance of the address on the back, written as if fairy 
 fingers had done it, and I suppose I slipped it into my coat 
 as I went out of the berth, meaning to go aloft in the foretop 
 and sicken over the thought at my leisure, of Violet Hyde's 
 having ever favored another man so far, and that man Tom 
 Westwood. The strangeness of the whole affair, as I took it, 
 never once struck me; all that I minded was the wretched 
 feeling I had in me, as I wished I could put the Atlantic 
 betwixt me and them all; in fact a hundred things before 
 we sailed, and during the passage, seemed all at once to 
 agree with what I'd just heard; and I'd have given thou- 
 sands that moment it had been some one else than West- 
 wood, just that I might wait the voyage out coolly, for the 
 satisfaction of meeting him at twelve paces the first morn- 
 ing ashore. 
 
 "On the larboard side of the berth-gangway, opposite our
 
 246 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 door, I saw the old planter's standing half open, and Mr. 
 Kollock himself with his shirt and trousers on, taking in 
 his boots. 'Hallo, Collins, my boy,' he sang out, eagerly, 
 'come here a moment, I 've got something to show you ! 
 Look,' said he, standing on tiptoe to see better through the 
 half -port, 'there's something new been put in my picture- 
 frame here overnight, I think ha ! ha !' 
 
 "The first thing that caught my eye, accordingly, was the 
 gleam of a sail rising from over the swell to windward, far 
 away off our larboard quarter, seemingly rolling before the 
 south-easter; while the Indiaman hove her big side steadily 
 out of water, with her head across the other's course, and 
 gave us a sight of the strange sail swinging to the fair wind, 
 every time we rose on the surge. 'What is it, eh?' said the 
 planter, turning to me, 'back or face, Collins? for, bless me, 
 if I can distinguish tub from bucket, with all this bobbing 
 about great deal of capital indigo wasted hereabouts, my 
 dear fellow!' 'Why, you may make out the two breasts of 
 her royals,' said I 'a brig, I think, sir.' 'Not that abomin- 
 able schooner in her first shape again, I hope !' exclaimed he ; 
 'perhaps bringing back the Yankee.' 'Too square-shouldered 
 for that, Mr. Rollock,' I said ; 'in fact she seems to be signal- 
 ling us; yes, by Jove! there's the long pennant at her fore- 
 royal masthead she's a brig of war. They 're surely asleep 
 on deck, and we shall have a shot directly, if they don't 
 look sharp !' 'You 'd better say nothing about the Yankee's 
 absence, Collins,' put in the planter, 'till we 're fairly away. 
 For my part, I really have no notion of waiting for any- 
 one particularly a fellow who must have some go-ahead 
 scheme in his noddle, which we Indians don't want. Quietly 
 speaking, my dear fellow, I shall be glad if we 're rid of him !' 
 
 "On my mentioning what sort of 'notions' were found in 
 Mr. Snout's berth, and the drowning of his heathen images, 
 the worthy planter went into perfect convulsions, till I 
 thought I should have to slap him on the back to give him 
 breath. 'What the deuce !' said he at last ; 'Daniel must really 
 have something worth his while to expect before he 'd fail to 
 look after such a treasure !' 'Ah,' said I, not attending to him, 
 as I heard a stir on deck, 'there we go at last, clewing up 
 the topsails, I suppose.' 'Seriously, now,' continued Mr. 
 Rollock, 'I can not fathom that vessel and her designs; but I 
 bless my stars at getting clear off from the company of that 
 tall Frenchman with his moustache can't bear a moustache, 
 Collins always reminds me of those cursed Mahrattas that 
 burned my factory once. Could n't the man shave like a
 
 NEXT MINUTE THE FIRE OUT OF ONE OF HER BOW-CHASERS FLASHED 
 OUT BEHIND THE BLUE BACK OF A SWELL.
 
 A SEA STORY 247 
 
 Christian, I wonder? I defy you to enjoy mullagatawny soup 
 and not make a beast of yourself, with ever so much hair over 
 your mouth. By the way, Collins,' added he, eying me, 'since 
 I saw you last, you 've let your whiskers grow, and look more 
 like one of your nauticals than Ford himself! should scarce 
 have known you ! Any of it owing to the fair one up yonder, 
 eh ?' And the jolly old chap, whose own huge white whiskers 
 gave him the cut of a royal Bengal tiger, pointed with his 
 thumb over his shoulder towards the round-house above, with 
 a wink of his funny round eye, that looked at you like a 
 bird's. 'What do you suppose the Frenchman to be then, 
 sir?' asked I, gloomily. 'Oh, either a madman, a spy, or 
 something worse! Just guess what he asked me suddenly 
 one morning why, if I were n't a distinguished savant, and 
 would n't like to study the botany of some island ! "No, 
 Monsieur, not at all," replied I, in fearfully bad French. 
 "The geology, then?" persisted he, with a curious gleam in 
 his fierce black eyes "does the research of Monsieur lie in 
 that direction?" "Why, no," I answered carelessly, "I don't 
 care a sacre about stones, or anything of the kind, indeed; 
 indigo is my particular line, which may be called botany, in a 
 way I 'm perhaps prejudiced in favor of it, Monsieur !" 
 The Frenchman leaned his tufted chin on his hand,' con- 
 tinued Mr. Rollock, 'meditated a bit, then glanced at me 
 again, as if he did n't care though I were studying seaweed in 
 the depth of the ocean rolling round us, and stalked down- 
 stairs. Then he took to Mrs. Brady again, and lastly to the 
 Yankee, whose conversations with him, I fancy, had a twang of 
 both commerce and politics.' 'What do you think of it all, Mr. 
 Bollock ?' inquired I, rather listlessly. 'It did n't strike me 
 at the time,' said the planter, 'but now I just ask you, Col- 
 lins, if there ain't a certain great personage studying geology 
 at present in a certain island, not very far away, 1 suppose, 
 where there 's plenty of it, and deuced little botany, too, 1 
 imagine?' To this question of the old gentleman's I gave 
 nothing but a half-stupid sort of stare, thinking as I was 
 at the same time of something else I cared more about. 
 
 "By Jupiter! though,' cried I on a sudden, 'instead of 
 lit Diving the ship to, I do believe we've set topmast stun-sails, 
 judging from the way she pitches into the water; there's the 
 brig nearing the wind a point or two in chase, too; why, the 
 fellow that has charge of the deck must be mad, sir!' Next 
 minute the fire out of one of her bow-chasers flashed out 
 behind the blue back of a swell, and the sudden thud of 
 it canie rolling down to leeward over the space betwixt us,
 
 248 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 angrily, so to speak; as the brig's fore-course mounted with 
 a wave, the sun shining clear on the seams and reef-points, 
 till you caught sight of the anchor hanging from one bow, 
 and the men running in her lee stun-sail booms upon the 
 yardarms. The planter and I went on deck at once, where 
 we found a fine breeze blowing, far out of sight of land, the 
 Indiaman rushing ahead stately enough; while our young 
 fourth officer appeared to have just woke up, and the watch 
 were still rubbing their eyes, as if every man had been 
 'caulking it,' after last night's work. Even Mr. Finch, when 
 he came hastily up, seemed rather doubtful what to do, till 
 the salt old third-mate assured him the brig was a British 
 sloop-of-war, as anyone accustomed to reckoning sticks and 
 canvas at sea could tell by this time; upon which our top- 
 sails were clewed up, stun-sails boom-ended, and the ship hove 
 into the wind to wait for the brig. 
 
 "When the brig's mainyard swung aback within fifty 
 fathoms of our weather-quarter, hailing us as she brought 
 to, I had plenty to think of, for my part. There she was, as 
 square-countered and flat-breasted a ten-gun model as ever 
 ran her nose under salt water, or turned the turtle in a 
 Bahama squall; though pleasant enough she looked, dipping 
 as we rose, and prancing up opposite us again with a curtesy, 
 the brine dripping from her bright copper sheathing, the 
 epaulets and gold bands glancing above her black bulwarks, 
 topped by the white hammock-cloth ; marines in her waist, the 
 men clustering forward to see us, and squinting sharp up at 
 our top-hamper. It made one ashamed, to take in the 
 taunt, lightsome set her spars had, tall and white, with a 
 rake in them, and every rope running clean to its place; 
 not a spot about her, hull or rig, but all English and ship- 
 shape, to the very gather of her courses and topgallant-sails 
 in the lines, and the snowy hollow her two broad topsails 
 made for the wind, as they brought it in betwixt them to 
 keep her steady on the spot. 
 
 "'His Britannic Majesty's sloop "Podargus"!' came back 
 in exchange for our mate's answer ; and though 't was cu- 
 rious to me to think of meeting the uniform again in five 
 minutes, I saw plainly this was one of the nice points that 
 Westwood and I might have to weather. Your brig-cruisers 
 are the very sharpest fellows alive, so far as regards board- 
 ing a merchant craft; if they find the least smell of a 
 rat, they '11 overhaul your hold to the very dunnage about the 
 keelson ; and I knew that, if they made out Westwood, they 'd 
 be sure to have me, too; so you may fancy that, during
 
 A SEA STORY 249 
 
 the short time her boat took to drop and pull under our 
 quarter, I was making up my mind as to the course. In 
 fact, I was almost resolved to leave the ship at any rate, 
 feeling as I did after what I'd heard; but while most of 
 the passengers were running about and calling below for 
 their shoes and what not, the Judge and his daughter came 
 out of the round-house, and I caught a single glance from 
 her for a moment, as she turned to look at the brig, that 
 held me at the instant like an anchor in a strong tideway. 
 
 "I kept my breath as the lieutenant's hand laid hold of 
 the manrope at the head of the side-ladder, expecting his first 
 question; while ho swung himself actively on deck, look- 
 ing round for a second, and followed by another; the wide- 
 awake looking young middy in the boat folding his arms, 
 and squinting up sideways at the ladies with an air as 
 knowing as if he'd lived fifty years in the world, instead 
 of perhaps thirteen. 
 
 "The younger of the lieutenants took off his cap most 
 politely, eying the fair passengers with as much respect as 
 he gave cool indifference to the cadets; the other, who was a 
 careful-like working first-luff, said directly to Mr. Finch, 
 'Well, sir, you seemed inclined to lead us a bit of a chase; 
 but I don't think,' added he, smiling from the Indiaman to 
 the brig, 'you 'd have cost us much trouble after all !' Here 
 Finch hurried out his explanation, in a half -sulky way, when 
 the naval man cut him short by saying that 'Captain Wullis 
 desired to know' if we had touched at St. Helena. 'May I 
 ask, sir,' went on the officer, finding we had preferred the 
 Cape, 'if you command this vessel or is the master not on 
 deck Captain Captain Wilson, I think you said?' The 
 mate said something in a lower voice, and the lieutenant 
 bared his head more respectfully than before, seeing the 
 Company's ensign, which had been lowered half -apeak while 
 the boat was under our side; after which Finch drew him to 
 the capstan, telling him, as I guessed, the whole affair of the 
 schooner, by way of a great exploit, with hints of her being a 
 pirate or such-like. 
 
 "The brig's officer, however, was evidently too busy a 
 man, and seemingly in too great a hurry to get back, for 
 listening much to such a rigmarole, as he no doubt thought 
 it; they had been at the Cape, and were bound for St. Helena 
 again, where she was one of the cruisers on guard; so that 
 what with Finch's story, and what with the crowd round 
 the second lieutenant, all anxious to get the news, I saw it
 
 250 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 would n't cost Westwood and me great pains to keep clear 
 of notice. 
 
 "There were some riots in London, and three men hanged 
 for a horrid murder, the Duke of Northumberland's death, not 
 to speak of a child born with two heads, or something all 
 since we left England. Then there was Lord Exmouth come 
 home from Algiers; and Fort Hattrass, I think it was, taken 
 in India, which made every cadet prick up his ears; Admiral 
 Plampin was arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, too, in the 
 Conqueror,' seventy-four, and on his way steering for St. 
 Helena, to take Sir Pulteney Malcolm's place. All of a sud- 
 den, I heard the young luff begin to mention a captain of a 
 frigate''s having been shot two mouths ago, by his own first 
 lieutenant, on Southsea Beach, and the lieutenant being sup- 
 posed to have gone off in some outward-bound ship. 'By the 
 bye,' said the officer to Mr. Rollock, 'you must have left about 
 that time did you touch at Portsmouth?' 'Why, yes,' ans- 
 wered the planter, 'we did. What were the parties' names?' 
 I edged over to Westwood near the head of the companion, 
 and whispered to him to go below to our berth, in case of their 
 happening to attend to us more particularly ; and the farther 
 apart we two kept the better, I thought. The officer at once 
 gave Captain Duncombe's name, but did n't remember the 
 other; on which he turned to his first lieutenant with, 'I say, 
 Mr. Aldridge, d' you recollect the man's name that shot the 
 captain of the "JSPOreste," as they called her?' 'What, that 
 bad business ?' said the other ; 'no, Mr. Moore, I really don't 
 I hope he's far enough off by this time!' My breath came 
 again at this, for it had just come into my mind that Finch, 
 who was close by, had got hold of the name, although he fan- 
 cied it mine. 
 
 "I was sauntering down the stair, thinking how much may 
 hang ..t times on a man's good memory, when I heard the first 
 lieutenant say, 'By the bye, though, now I recollect, was n't 
 it Westwood?' 'Yes, yes, Westwood it was!' said the other. 
 Then came an exclamation from Finch, and shortly after he 
 and the first lieutenant stepped down together, talking 
 privately of the matter, I suppose, to the cuddy, where I had 
 gone myself. The lieutenant looked up at me seriously once 
 or twice, then went on deck, and a few minutes afterwards 
 the brig's boat was pulling towards her again, while the 
 passengers flocked below to breakfast. I saw the thing was 
 settled; the mate could scarcely keep in his triumph, as he 
 eyed me betwixt surprise and dislike, though rather more 
 respectfully than before. As for Westwood, he sat down with
 
 A SEA STORY 251 
 
 the rest, quite ignorant of what had turned up; notwith- 
 standing he threw an uneasy look or two through the cuddy 
 port at the brig, still curvetting to windward of us, with her 
 mainyard aback; for my part, I made up my mind, in the 
 meanwhile, to bear the brunt of it. 
 
 " 'T was no matter to me now where I went ; whereas, with 
 Westwood, it was but a toss-up betwixt a rope and a prison, if 
 they sent him back to England. No fear of my being tried 
 in his place, of course; but if there had been, why, to get 
 away both from him and her, I 'd have to run the chance ! 
 There was a bitter sort of pleasure, even, in the thought of 
 taking one's self out of the way to some purpose, too, if I 
 saved a fellow like my old schoolmate from a court-martial 
 sentence, and a man far worthier to win the heart of such a 
 creature than myself : while the worst of it was, I was afraid 
 I 'd have come to hate Tom Westwood if we had stayed near 
 each other much longer. 
 
 "Accordingly, I no sooner heard the dip of the gig's oars 
 coming alongside lagain, than one of the stewards brought me 
 u quiet message from Mr. Finch, that he wanted to see me on 
 deck; upon which I rose off my chair just as quietly, and 
 walked up the companion. The fact was as the fellow could 
 scarce have ventured to look his passengers in the face again 
 after a low piece of work like this 't was his cue to keep all 
 underhand, and probably lay it to the score of my actions 
 aboard, or something ; however, he could n't throw any dust 
 of the kind in the second lieutenant's eyes, who gave him a 
 cold glance as he stepped on deck, and, picking me out at 
 once where I stood, inquired if I were the person. The first 
 mate nodded, whereupon the brig's officer walked towards me, 
 with a gentlemanly enough bow, and, 'I regret to have to 
 state, sir,' said he, 'that Captain Wallis desires to see you, 
 particularly, aboard the brig.' 'Indeed, sir,' answered I, 
 showing very little surprise, I dare say, gloomy as I felt; 
 'then the sooner the better, I suppose.' 'Why, yes,' said the 
 lieutenant, seemingly confused lest he should meet my eye, 
 'we 're anxious to make use of this breeze, you you know, sir.' 
 'Hadn't Mr. Collins this gentleman better take his traps 
 with him, Lieutenant Moore ?' said Finch, free and easy wise. 
 'No, sir,' said the young officer, sternly, 'we can spare time_to 
 send for them, if necessary; of course you will keep the India- 
 man in the wind, sir, till the brig squares her mainyard.' I 
 gave Finch a single look of sheer contempt, and swung myself 
 down by the manropes from the gangway into the boat ; 
 the lieutenant followed me, and next minute we were pulling
 
 252 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 for the brig's quarter. The moment I found myself out of the 
 'Seringapatam,' however, my heart nigh-hand failed me, more 
 especially at sight of the quarter-gallery window I had seen 
 the light from, on the smooth of the swell, that first night we 
 got to sea. I even began to think if there were n't some way 
 of passing myself clear off, without hauling in Westwood; 
 but it would n't do. Before I well knew, we were on board, 
 and the lieutenant showing me down the after-hatchway to 
 the captain's cabin. 
 
 - - 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 "THE captain was sitting with one foot upon the carronade 
 in his outer-cabin, looking through the port at the heavy 
 Indiaman, as she slued about and plunged jn the blue surge, 
 with all sorts of ugly ropes hanging from her bows, dirty 
 pairs of trousers towing clear of the water when she lifted, 
 and rusty stains at her hawse-holes. A stout-built, hard- 
 featured man he was, with bushy black eyebrows, and griz- 
 zled black hair and whiskers, not to speak of a queer, anxious, 
 uneasy look in the keen of his eyes when he turned to me. 
 However, he got half up' on my coming in, and I saw he was 
 lame a little of one foot, while he overhauled me all over with 
 his eye. 'I 'm sorry to have to send for you in this way, sir/ 
 said he, rather surprised at my rig, apparently 'very sorry, 
 sir, and no more about it ; but I can't help it, confound me 
 must do my duty.' 'Certainly, sir,' I said. 'In fact,' said 
 Captain Wallis, 'the Admiral ordered us to see after you 
 him, that's to say at the Cape, you know.' 'Ay, ay, sir,' 
 said I, watching the Indiaman's poop-nettings through the 
 port over his head, as he sat down. 'Pooh, pooh,' continued 
 he, *you can't be the man just say you don't belong to the 
 service confound it,. I'll pass you!' 'Why, sir,' said T, 'I 
 can't exactly say that.' 'I hear you're Westwood of the 
 "Orestes," though,' said he ; 'now I don't ask you to say no, sir 
 but everybody knew the "Orestes," and I don't like the 
 thing, I must say so perhaps you 're able to swear he is not 
 aboard the Indiaman just now, you know, sir just now, eh ?' 
 
 "This tack of his rather dumfoundered me, seeing the 
 captain of the brig meant it well; but deuced unlucky kind- 
 ness it was, since I could n't swear to the very thing he fan- 
 cied so safe, and his glance was as quick as lightning, so ho
 
 A SEA STORY 253 
 
 caught the sense of my blank look in a moment as I fancied, 
 at least. 'The fact is, sir/ added he, 'the surgeon told me just 
 now he knows Lieutenant West-wood well enough by sight, so 
 they locked him up ! You see we could have made you out at 
 any rate, sir however, we 'il let the doctor stay till we 're 
 clear of the Indiaman, I think.' 'Then you take me for the 
 gentleman you speak of, Captain Wallis ?' asked I faintly ; for 
 at the same moment I could see a light-colored dress and a 
 white ribbon fluttering on the 'SeringapatamV poop, the look 
 of which sent the blood about my heart. 'T was hard to settle 
 betwixt a feeling of the kind, and fear for Westwood; it 
 struck me Captain Wallis was n't very cagar in the affair, and 
 't was on my lips to assure him I was n't the man. 'Hark'ee/ 
 broke in he, with almost a wink, and a smile ready to 
 break cut on his mouth, 'the short and the long of it is, I'll 
 take you! We must hn*. ^ somebody to show in the case; 
 though now I remember, ihero was some one else said to 've 
 gone off with you Liri '. - won't trouble him! If we've 
 brought axray the wrong man, why, hang it, so much the 
 better ! If you 're Westwood, I can tell you, they '11 run ye up 
 to a yardarm, sir ! Much more comfortable than ten years or 
 so in a jail, too, as as no one knows better than / do myself.' 
 
 "Here the captain's face darkened, his eye gleamed, and 
 he rose with a limp 1 ~> ring a hand-bell on the table. 'White,' 
 said he to the marine that put his head in at the door, with 
 his hand up to it, 'desire the first lieutenant, from me, to send 
 a boat aboard ic ; this gentleman's things.' 'I 'm afraid, sir/ 
 continued he gravely to me, 'you '11 have to reckon yourself 
 under arrest but you '11 find the gentlemen in the gun-room 
 good company, I hope, for a day or two, till we make St. 
 Helena/ I saw the captain's mind was made up, and for the 
 life of me I did n't know what to say against it ; but speak 1 
 could not, so with a stiff bow and a sick sort of a smile 1 
 turned- out of the t.~or, and walked along to the gun-room, 
 which was empty. I could see the boat soon after under the 
 ship's side, dipping and rising as they handed down my 
 couple of portmanteaus to the man-o'-war's men; the young 
 reefer came down again as nimble as a monkey, with some 
 letters in his hand, took off his cap to some ladies above, 
 and sang out to give way; five or six flashing feathers of the 
 oars in the sunlight, and they were coming round the brig's 
 stern. 
 
 "The brig was just squaring away her mainyard at the 
 whistle from the boatswain's mates, when the whole run of 
 the Indiaman's bulwarks was crowded with the passengers'
 
 254 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 and men's faces, watching the brig gather way to pass 
 ahead; I could hear the officers on deck hail the India 
 mates, wishing them a good voyage, the ladies bowing and 
 waving their handkerchiefs to the British Union-Jack. Some 
 sort of confusion seemed to get up, however, about the ship's 
 taffrail, where Rollock, Ford, and some others were standing 
 together; the planter jumped up all at once on the quarter- 
 mouldings nearest the brig, then jumped down again, and 
 his straw hat could be seen hurrying towards the quarter- 
 deck. 
 
 "Next I caught a bright glimpse of Violet Hyde's face, as 
 the sun shot on it free of the awnings her eyes wandering 
 with the brig's motion, I fancied, along the deck above me, 
 till suddenly she seemed to start, and Westwood appeared 
 behind her. The next thing I saw was the black-faced figure- 
 head of the 'Seringapatam' rising below her bowsprit, about 
 sixty yards from the gun-room port where I was, and down 
 she went again with a heavy plash, as Tom Westwood himself 
 leaped up between the knight-heads at the bow, hailing the 
 brig's deck with a voice like a trumpet. 'Ahoy ! the "Podar- 
 gus" ahoy! For mercy's sake, heave to again, sir!' he sung 
 out. 'I 'm the man you want !' 'The Indiaman ahoy !' I heard 
 Captain Wallis himself hail back. 'What d' ye say ?' The 
 creak of our yards, with the flap of the jib, and the men's feet, 
 drowned Westwood's second hail, as it came sharp up to 
 windward; the sailors in the Indiaman's bows were grinning 
 at him behind, while the first lieutenant of the brig shouted 
 gruffly ihat she had no time to wait for more letters; and I 
 heard the gun-room steward say to the marine, on going out 
 with the dirty breakfast-cloth, he wondered if 'that parson 
 cove thought the "Pedarkis" wanted a chapling,' or was only 
 'vun of these fellers that 's so troublesome to see the French 
 llemperor.' 
 
 " 'Well,' said the marine, ' 't was pretty queer if he took 
 the "Pedarkis" for the ship to carry him there. I don't think 
 the captain would let a rat into the island if he could help 
 it' 'Not he,' said the steward; 'plenty on 'em in already, Vite, 
 my man I do think they used to swim off on board here, by 
 the way our cheese vent.' All this time I never stirred from 
 the port, watching with my chin on the muzzle of the gun till 
 the Indiaman was half a mile to windward of us, her big hull 
 still rising and falling on the same swells, topped with clusters 
 of heads; her topsails lowered in honor of the flag, the 
 ensign blowing out half-mast high for the death of Captain 
 Williamson; a long wash of the water ran outside the brig's
 
 A SEA STORY 255 
 
 timbers, surge after surge, and the plunge at her bows showed 
 how fast she began to run nor'-westward before the wind. 
 You may well fancy my state, after all I 'd done for weeks ; 
 in fact, one scarce knew the extent of what he 'd felt, what 
 he 'd looked forward to, till he found himself fairly adrift 
 from it ; 't would even have been nothing, after all, could I 
 just have thought of Violet Hyde as I 'd done two hours ago. 
 on waking, with last night in the river on my mind. 
 
 "As it was, 't would have taken little to make me jump out 
 of the port into the sweep of blue water swelling toward the 
 brig's counter; the 'Seriiigapatam' being by this time astern. 
 I could u't even see her, or aught save the horizon, to wind- 
 ward ; but at this moment the young second lieutenant came 
 below* and, seeing me, he began in a polite enough way, with 
 a kindly manner about it, trying to raise my spirits. 'I sup- 
 pose, sir/ said I, rather sulkily I dare say, 'I can have a 
 berth just now?' 'Oh, certainly,' said he, 'the steward has 
 orders to see to it at once. Will you come on deck a minute 
 or two in the meantime, sir ?' 
 
 "I looked back from the ship astern to the brig-of-war's 
 clean white decks, flush fore and aft, with the men all forward 
 at their stations, neatly dressed in regular man-o'-war style, 
 every one alike a sight that would have done me good at 
 another time, small as she was by comparison; but the very 
 thought of the Indiaman's lumbering poop and galleries was 
 too much for me 't was as if you 'd knocked out those two 
 round-house door of hers, and let in a gush of bare sky 
 instead. The ship-shape man-o'-war cut of things was noth- 
 ing, I fancied, to the snug spot under those topgallant bul- 
 warks of hers, and the breezy poop all a-flutter with muslin of 
 an evening, where you found books and little basket affairs 
 stuck into the coils of rope. I thought the old 'Seringapatam' 
 never looked so well, as she commenced trimming sail on a 
 wind, beginning to go drive ahead, with a white foam at her 
 bows, and her whole length broadside-on to us. All at once we 
 saw her clew up courses and to'gallant-sails, till she was 
 standing slowly off under the three topsails and jib; the two 
 lieutenants could n't understand what she was about, and the 
 captain put the glass to his eye, after which he said something 
 to the second lieutenant, who went forward directly. 
 
 "The next thing I saw was the Indiaman coming up in 
 the wind again for about a minute; she had her stern nearly 
 to us, when the moment after, as she rose upon a long sea, 
 you saw something flash white off her lee gangway in the 
 sunlight, that dropped against it into the hollow of a wave.
 
 256 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 The next minute she fell off again with her topsails full, and 
 the first shower of spray was rising across her forefoot, when 
 the flash of a gun broke out of her side, and the sound came 
 down to us; then a second and a third. The brig gave her 
 the same number in answer, and as soon as the smoke 
 betwixt us had cleared away, the ship could be seen under 
 full sail to the south-westward by west. 'That 's her poor 
 skipper's hammock dropped alongside, gentlemen,' said Cap- 
 tain Wallis to his officers; 'God be with him.' 'Amen,' 
 said the first lieutenant, and we put our caps on again. 'Set 
 stun-sails, Mr. Aldridge,' said the captain, limping down the 
 hatchway; as for me, 1 leaned I don't know how long over the 
 brig's taflrail, watching the ship's canvas grow in one, through 
 the width of air betwixt us; my heart full, as may be sup- 
 posed, not to say what notions came into my head of what 
 might happen to her under Finch's charge, ere she reached 
 Bombay. No one belonging to the brig spoke to me, out of 
 kindness, no doubt; and the ship was hull-down on the 
 horizon, to my fancy, with somewhat of a figure like hers, 
 when she stood with the cashmere shawl over her head in the 
 dusk. Then I went gloomily down to my berth, where I kept 
 close by myself till I fell asleep, though the gun-room steward 
 was sent to me more than once to join the officers. 
 
 "It was n't till the next day, in fact, when I went on the 
 quarter-deck at noon, wearied for a fresher gulp of air, that 1 
 saw any of them; and the breeze having fallen lighter that 
 morning, they were too busy trimming sail and humoring 
 her to give me much notice. I must say I had seldom scon a 
 commander seem more impatient about the sailing of his 
 craft, in time of peace, than the captain of the 'Podarcrus' 
 appeared to be; walking the starboard side as fast as the halt 
 in his gait would let him, and the anxious turn of his eyes 
 plainer than before, while he looked from the brig's spread of 
 stun-sails to the horizon, through the glass, which, I may say, 
 he never once laid down. From where the brig spoke the 
 Indiaman, to St. Helena, would be about two or three days' 
 sail with a fair wind, at the ordinary strength of the south- 
 east trade; though, at this rate, it might cost us twice the 
 time. I noticed the men on the forecastle look to each other 
 now and then knowingly, at some fresh sign of the captain's 
 impatience ; and the second lieutenant told me in a low voice, 
 with his head over the side near mine, Captain Wallis had 
 been out of sorts ever since they lost sight of the island. 
 'You M suppose, sir,' said he, laughing, 'that old Nap was his 
 sweetheart, by the way he watches over him; and now, I
 
 A SEA STORY 257 
 
 fancy, he 's afraid St. Helena may be sunk in blue water while 
 we were away! In fact, Mr. Westwood,' added he, 'it looks 
 devilish like as if it had come up from Davy Jones, all 
 standing ; so I don't see why it should n't go down to him 
 again some day; I can tell you it 's tiresome work cruising to 
 windward there, though, and we are n't idle at all !' 
 
 " 'Did you ever see the French Emperor yourself, sir ?' 
 asked I for I must say the thought of nearing the prison 
 such a man was in made me a little curious. 'Never, sir, 
 except at a mile's distance,' said the second lieutenant; 'in- 
 deed, it's hard to get a pass, unless you know the governor. 
 But I 've a notion,' continued he, 'the governor's carefulness 
 is nothing to our skipper's ! Indeed, they tell a queer story of 
 how Sir Hudson Lowe was gulled for months together, when 
 he was governor of Capri island, in the Mediterranean. As 
 for the captain, again, you 'd seek a long time ere you found a 
 better seaman he 's as wide awake, too, as Nelson himself 
 while the curious thing is, I believe, he never once clapped 
 eyes on Bonaparte in his life! But good cause he has to 
 hate him, you know, Mr. Westwood !' 'Indeed,' said I, taking 
 a moment's interest in the thing; and I was just going to ask 
 the reason, when the first lieutenant came over to say, Captain 
 Wallis would be glad if I would dine with him in the cabin. 
 
 "At dinner-time, accordingly, I put on a coat, for the first 
 time, less like those the cadets in the'Seringapatam' wore, and 
 went aft, where I found the first lieutenant and a midshipman 
 with the captain. He did his best to soften my case, as I saw 
 by his whole manner during dinner; after which, no sooner 
 had the reefer had his one glass of wine, than he was sent 
 on deck to look out to windward. 'Well, sir,' said Captain 
 Wallis thereupon, turning from his first luff to me, 'I 'm sorry 
 for this disagreeable business! I believe you deny being the 
 person at all, though?' 'Why, sir,' said I, 'I am certainly no 
 more the first lieutenant of the "Orestes" than yourself, Cap- 
 tain Wallis! 'T was all owing to a mistake of that India mate, 
 who owed me a grudge.' 'Oh, oh, I see !' replied he, beginning 
 to smile, 'the whole matter 's as plain as a handspike, Mr. 
 Aldridgc ! But I could n't do less, on the information.' '.How- 
 ever, sir,' put in the first lieutenant, 'there 's no doubt the real 
 man must have been in the ship, or the mistake could not 
 have happened, sir!' 'Well you look at things too square, 
 Aldridge,' said the captain. 'All you've got to do, I hope, 
 sir, is just to prove you 're not Westwood ; and if you want 
 still to go out to the East Indies, why, I dare say you won't 
 be long of finding some outward-bound sihip or other off
 
 258 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 James Town. Only,, I 'd advise you, sir, to have your case 
 over with Sir Pulteney, before Admiral Plampin comes in 
 as I fear he would send you to England.' 'It matters little 
 to me, sir/ I answered; 'seeing the reason I had for going 
 out happens to be done with.' Here I could n't help the blood 
 rising in my face; while Captain Wallis's steady eye turned 
 off me, and I heard him say in a lower key to the lieutenant, 
 he did n't think it was a matter for a court-martial at all. 
 'Pooh, Aldridge!' said he, 'some pretty girl amongst the 
 passengers in the case, I wager!' 'Why,' returned Aldridge, 
 carelessly, 'I heard Mr. Moore say some of the ladies were 
 pretty enough, especially one some India judge or other's 
 young daughter I believe he was in raptures about, sir.' 
 This sort of thing, as you may suppose, was like touching 
 one on the raw with a marline spike ; when the captain asked 
 me partly to smooth it over, maybe 'By the bye, sir, 
 Mr. Aldridge tells me there was something about a pirate 
 schooner or slaver, or some craft of the kind, that frightened 
 your mates that 's all stuff, I dare say but what I want to 
 know is, in what quarter you lost sight of her, if you recollect ?' 
 'About nor'-west by north from where we were at the time, sir.' 
 said I. 'A fast-looking craft was she ?' asked he. 'A thorough- 
 built smooth-going clipper, if ever there was one,' I said. 
 At this the captain mused for a little, till at last he said to his 
 lieutenant : 'They dare n't risk it ; I don't think there 's the 
 Frenchman born, man enough to try such a thing by water, 
 Aldridge?' 'Help him out, you mean, sir?' said the luff; 
 "why, if he ever got as far as the water's edge, I 'd believe in 
 witchcraft, sir!' 'Give a man time, Mr. Aldridge,' answered 
 the captain, 'and he'll get out of anything where soldiers 
 are concerned every year he 's boxed up sharpens him till 
 his very mind turns like a knife, man! It makes one mad 
 on every point besides, I tell you, sir whereas after he 's 
 free, perhaps, it's just on that only his brain has a twist 
 in it!' 'No doubt, Captain Wallis,' said Aldridge, glancing 
 over to me* as his commander got up and began walking 
 about the cabin, spite of his halt. 'D' ye know,' continued 
 he, 'I 've thought at times what I should like best would 
 be to have him ahead of the brig, in some craft or other, 
 and we hard in chase I 'd go after that man to the North 
 Pole, sir, and bring him back! Without once going aboard 
 to know he was there, I 'd send word it was Jack Wallis 
 Lad him in tow!' 'What is Bonaparte like, then, after all, 
 sir?' I asked, just to fill tip the break. 'I never saw him, nor 
 he me,' replied Captain Wallis, stopping in his walk; 'but
 
 A SEA STORY 259 
 
 every day he may have a sight of the brig cruising to 
 windward; and as for the island, we see plenty of it, I 
 think, Aldridge?' 'Ay, ay, sir,' said Aldridge, 'that we do! 
 For my part, I can't get the ugly stone steeples of it out 
 of my head !' 'Well,' continued the captain, 'at times, when 
 we 're beating round St. Helena of a night, I '11 be hanged 
 if I have n't thought it began to loom as if the French 
 Emperor stood on the top of it, like a shadow looking out 
 to sea the other way and I Ve gone below, lest he 'd turn 
 round till I saw his face. I 've a notion, Mr. Aldridge, if 
 I once saw his face, I 'd lose what I feel against him, just 
 as I used always to fancy, the first five years in the Temple, 
 if he were only to see me, he would let me out! But they 
 say he 's got a wonderful way of coming over every one, 
 if he likes !' After this, Captain Wallis sat down and passed 
 the decanters, the first lieutenant observing, he supposed 
 Bonaparte was a great man in his way, but nothing to 
 Nelson. 'Don't tack them together, Aldridge !' said his com- 
 mander, quickly ; 'Nelson was a man all over, he 'd got the 
 feelings of a man and his faults but I call him, yonder, a 
 perfect demon let loose upon the world ! To my mind all 
 the blood those republicans shed, with their murdered king's 
 at bottom of it, got somehow into him, till he thought no more 
 of human beings, or aught concerning 'em, than I do of 
 to many cockroaches ! But the terrible thing was, sir, his in- 
 fernal schemes and cunning why, he 'd twist you one coun- 
 try against another, 'and get hold of both, like a man bend- 
 ing stun-sail halyards there were men grew up round him. 
 quick as mushrooms, fit to carry out everything he wanted; 
 so one could n't wonder at him enough, Mr. Aldridge, if it 
 was only natural ! I can't tell you anything like what I 
 felt,' he went on, 'when I was in Sir Sidney Smith's ship, 
 cruising down Channel, and we used to see the gunboats and 
 flat-bottoms he got together for crossing the straits or one 
 night with poor Captain Wright, that we stood in near 
 enough to get a shot sent at us off the heights the whole 
 shore about Boulogne was one twinkle of lights and camp- 
 fires, and you heard the sound of the hammers on planks 
 and iron, with the carts and gun-carriages creaking not 
 to speak of a hum from, soldiers enough, you 'd have thought, 
 to eat Old England up! And where are they now?' 'I 
 don't know, siir, indeed/ said the first lieutenant, gravely, 
 supposing by the captain's look, no doubt, that it was a 
 question. 'What, Captain Wallis!' exclaimed I, 'were you 
 with Captain Wright, then, sir?' Of course, like every
 
 260 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 one in the service, I had heard Captain Wright's story 
 often, with ever so many versions; there was a mystery 
 about his sad fate that made me curious to hear more of 
 what gave the whole navy, I may say, a hatred to Bona- 
 parte not at all the same you regard a fair enemy with. 
 .."'With him, say you, sir?' repeated the captain of the 
 'Podargus/ 'ay, was I! I was his first lieutenant, and good 
 cause I had to feel for the end he came to, as I '11 let 
 you hear. One night Captain Wright went ashore, as he 'd 
 often done, into the town of Beville, dressed like a smug- 
 gler; for the fact was- the French winked at smuggling, 
 only I must say we used to land men instead of goods. I 
 did n't like the thing that night, and advised him not to 
 go, as they'd begun to suspect something of late! How- 
 ever, the captain by that time was foolhardy, owing to 
 having run so many risks, and he was bent on going in 
 before we left the coast; though, after all, I believe it was 
 only to get a letter than any fisherman could have brought 
 off. The boat was lying off and on behind a rocky point, and 
 we waited and waited, hearing nothing but the sound of 
 the tide making about the big weedy stones, in the shadow 
 from the lights of the town; when at last the French land- 
 lord of the little tavern he put up at came down upon the 
 shingle and whistled to us. He gave me a message from 
 Captain Wright, with the private word we had between 
 us, saying he wanted me to come up to the town on a 
 particular business. Accordingly I told the men to shove 
 out again, and away I went with the fellow. 
 
 " *No sooner did I open the door of the room, however, 
 than three or four gendarmes had hold of me, and I was a 
 prisoner: as for Captain Wright, I never saw him more. 
 The morning broke as they brought me up on horseback 
 in the middle of them, along the road to Paris, from whence 
 I could make out the cutter heeling to the breeze a mile 
 or two off the land, with two or three gunboats hard in chase. 
 
 " 'Well, sir, at Paris they clapped me into a long gloomy- 
 like piece of masonwork called the Temple, close alongside 
 of the river, where plenty of our countrymen were; Captain 
 Wright and Sir Sidney Smith himself among the rest, as I 
 found out afterwards. The treatment was n't sio bad at 
 first, but when you climbed up to the windows, there was 
 nothing to be seen but the top of a wall and roofs of 
 houses all round, save where you'd a glimpse of the dirty 
 river and some pig-trough of a boat. One day I got a 
 letter from Captain Wright how they let me have it I
 
 A SEA STORY 261 
 
 don't well know saying he was allowed a good deal of 
 comfort in the meantime, but he suspected some devilish 
 scheme in it, to make him betray the British Government, 
 or something of the kind ; that he 'd heard one of the 
 French royalist generals had choked himself in his prison, 
 but never to believe he 'd do the same thing, though every 
 night he woke up, thinking he heard the key turn in 
 the door. The next thing I heard of was that Captain 
 Wright had made away with himself, sir !' 
 
 "Here Captain Wallis got up again, walking across the 
 cabin, seemingly much moved. 'Well, after that I slept 
 with the dinner-knife in my breast, till the jailer took it 
 away; for I thought at the time that poor Wright had 
 been murdered, though I found cause to change my mind 
 when I knew what loneliness does with a man, not to speak 
 of the notion being put before him to take his own life. 
 For awhile, too, Captain Shaw was in the same cell; by 
 which time we had such bad food,, and so little of it, that 
 one day when a pigeon lighted en the window, which 
 used to come there for a crumb or two every afternoon, 
 right along with the gold gleam of the sun as it shot over 
 the dark houses to that window, I jumped up and caught it. 
 Shaw and I actually tore it in bits, and ate it raw on the spot ; 
 though 'twere long ere I could get rid of the notion of 
 the poor bird fluttering and cooing against the bars, and 
 looking at me with its round little soft eye as it pecked 
 off the slab. But what was that to the thought of my old 
 father that had hurt himself to keep me in the navy, and 
 me able now to make his last days comfortable? or the 
 innocent young girl I had married the moment I got my 
 commission of first lieutenant, expecting to be flush of prize- 
 money ? It even came into my head often, when I sat by 
 myself in the cell they afterwards put me into, alone, how 
 that little blue pigeon might have carried a letter to Eng- 
 land for me; at any rate it was the only thing like a 
 chance, or a friend, I ever saw the whole time I was there; 
 and foolish as the notion may look, why the window was 
 too high in a smooth wall for me once to reach it. 
 
 " 'I heard all Paris humming round the thick of the stone 
 every day, and sometimes the sound of thousands of soldiers 
 tramping past below, over the next bridge, with music and 
 such like no doubt when the First Consul, as they called 
 him, went off to some campaign or other: then I'd dream 
 J felt the deck under me in a fresh breeze at night, till the 
 soul sickened in me to wake up and find the stones as
 
 262 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 still as before, and now and then hear the sentries chal- 
 lenging on their rounds. 
 
 " 'Well, one day, a fellow in a cloak, with a slouch hat 
 over his forehead, was let in to try, as I thought, if there 
 was anything to be got out of me, as they tried two or 
 three times at first; some spy he was, belonging to that police 
 devil Fouche. What did he offer me, d 7 ye think, after 
 beating about the bush for half an hour, but the command 
 of a French seventy-four under the Emperor, as he was 
 by that time, and, if I would take it, I was free ! On this 
 I pretended to be thinking of it, when the police fellow 
 sidled near me, to show a commission signed with the 
 Emperor's name at the foot. 
 
 " 'In place of taking hold of it, however, I jumped up 
 and seized the villain's nose and chin before he saw my 
 purpose, stuffed the parchment into his mouth by way of a 
 gag, and made him dance round the cell, with his cloak over 
 his head and his sword dangling alongside of him, to keep 
 his stern clear of my foot ; till the turnkey heard the noise, 
 and he made bolt out as soon as the door was opened. You 'd 
 wonder how long that small matter served me to laugh over, 
 for my spirit was n't broken yet, you see ; but even then, 
 in the very midst of it, I would all of a sudden turn sick 
 at heart, and sit wondering when the exchange of prisoners 
 would be made that 1 looked for. The worst of it was, 
 at times a horrid notion would come into my head of the 
 French seventy-four being at sea at the moment, and me 
 almost wishing they 'd give me the offer over again I 
 fancied I felt the very creak of her straining in the trough 
 of a sea, and saw the canvas of her topsails over me, stand- 
 ing on her poop with a glass in my hand, till she rose on 
 a crest, and there were the "Agamemnon's" lighted ports 
 bearing down to leeward upon us, till I heard Nelson's 
 terrible v.oice sing out, "Give it to 'em, my lads !" when 
 the flash of her broadside showed me his white face under 
 the cocked hat, and it came whizzing over like a thirty-two 
 pound shot right into my breast, as I sunk to the bottom, 
 and found myself awake in the prison. 
 
 " 'I don't know how long it was after, but they moved me 
 to another berth, where a man had shot himself through the 
 head, for we actually met his body being carried along the 
 passage ; and more than that, sir, they had n't taken the 
 trouble to wash his brains off the wall they were scattered 
 on. There I sat one day after another, watching the spot 
 marked by them turn dry, guessing at everything that had
 
 A SEA STORY 263 
 
 gone through them as long as he was alive in the place, till 
 my own got perfectly stupid; I was as helpless as a child, 
 and used to cry at other times when the jailer didn't bring 
 me my food in time. I fancied they'd forget all about me 
 in England; and as for time, I never counted it, except by 
 the notion I had been two or three years in. 
 
 " 'At last the turnkey got so used to me, thinking me no 
 doubt such a harmless sort of a poor man, that he would 
 sit by and talk to me, giving accounts of the Emperor's 
 battles and victories, and such matters. I must say I began 
 to feel as if he was some sort of a god upon earth there 
 was no use to strive against, just as the turnkey seemed to 
 do, more especially when I heard of Nelson's death; so when 
 he told me one time it would n't do for Fouche or the 
 Emperor to let me out yet, I said nothing more. "Will the 
 Emperor not let me out now?" asked I, a long time after. 
 "Diable!" said the man, "do you think His Majesty has time 
 to think of such a poor fellow as you, among such great 
 matters? No, no, pauvr' homme!" continued he; "you're 
 comfortable here, and would n't know what to do if you were 
 out! No fear of your doing as your Capitaine Ourite did, 
 since you 've lived here so long, monsieur." "How long is it 
 now, good Pierre?" asked I, with a sigh, as he was going 
 out at the door; and the turnkey counted on his fingers. 
 "Ulm Austerlitz Jena," said he slowly; "oui, oui I 
 scarcely thought it so much it wants only six or seven, 
 months of ten years!" and he shut to the door. I sprang 
 up off the bed I was sitting on, wild at the thought I may 
 say, for a day or two I was mad ten years ! ten years ! 
 and all this time where was my poor innocent Mary, and 
 the child she expected to bear when I left Exeter where 
 was my old father ? But I could n't bear to dwell on it. 
 Yes, Aldridge, by the God above, they had kept me actually 
 ten years there, in that cursed Temple, while he was going 
 on all the time with his victories, and his shows, and his 
 high-flown bulletins! Yet he wasn't too high, it seems, to 
 stoop to give out, through his tools, how Wright and I had 
 both killed ourselves for fear of bringing in the British 
 government not to offer me a seventy-four in a dungeon 
 me, a man used to wind and water, that loved a breeze at 
 sea like life. 'T was the very devil's temptation, sir; but 
 I'll tell you what, both Captain Wright and myself had 
 been with Sir Sydney Smith at Acre, when he was baffled 
 for the first time in his days that was the thing, I believe 
 from my soul, that he hated us for. / had a right to be
 
 264 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 exchanged ten times over, though he might have called 
 Wright a spy; but what was my poor wife and her new- 
 born baby, or my old father's gray hairs, to him, and his 
 great ambition to make everything his own and when the 
 very thought of me in my hole at the Temple would strike 
 him in the midst of his victories, where he had n't time, 
 forsooth, to trouble himself about a poor man like me! The 
 fact was, I could tell how he offered a British seaman, that 
 had had a finger in nettling him, the command of one of his 
 seventy-fours, which he had nobody fit to manage and that 
 in a prison where I 'd be glad even of fresh air. 
 
 " l 'T was then, in fact, the purpose rose firmer and firmer 
 in me, out of the fury that was like to drive me mad, how 
 1 'd get out of his clutches, and spend my life against the 
 very pitch of his power I knew so well about. Till that 
 time I xised to look through the bars of the window at the 
 Seine, without ever fancying escape, low down as it was, 
 compared with my last cell. There was a mark in the stone 
 floor with my walking back and forward since they put me 
 in; and by this time I had the cunning of a beast, let 
 alone its strength, in regard of anything I took into my 
 head; often I used to think I saw the end of my finger, 
 or the corner of a stone, more like the way a fly sees them, 
 than a man. The turnkey, Pierre, would never let me have 
 a knife to eat my food with, lest I should do as he said all 
 we English were apt to do kill myself which, by the way, 
 is a lie; and I think that fiend of an Emperor yonder must 
 have taught them to blame us with their own crime. How- 
 ever, latterly he let me have a fork for half an hour at din- 
 ner; and for a quarter of an hour every day, except those 
 when he stayed to talk to me as I ate it, did I climb up 
 and work with that fork at the top and bottom of one of 
 the window bars, taking care not to break the fork, and 
 jumping down always in time to finish the meal. It took 
 me four whole months, sir, to loosen them! Such deadly 
 fear as I was in, too, lest he 'd find it out, or lest they 
 moved me to another cell you 'd have thought I was fond 
 of the walls round the place, where hundreds of men be- 
 fore me Tiad scrawled their last words; and the one that 
 shot himself had written, "Liberie aneanlissement !" Lib- 
 erty annihilation! just over where the spatter of his brains 
 had stuck when he laid his head to the spot! If Pierre 
 had noticed what I 'd been about, my mind was made up 
 to kill him, and then make the trial before they missed
 
 A SEA STORY 265 
 
 him; but that I had a horror of, after all, seeing the man 
 had taken a sort of liking to me, and I knew he had a wife. 
 
 " ' Well, at last, one day, I had the thing finished ; when 
 midnight came I trembled like a leaf, till I began to fear 
 I could n't carry it through. I tore my shirt and the blanket 
 in strips, to twist into a line, got out the bar by main force, 
 squeezed through, and let myself down. The line was just 
 long enough to let me swing against the cold wall, over a 
 sentry's head going round the parapet below; as soon as 
 he was past, I dropped on the edge of the wall, and 
 fell along it, my fingers scraping the smooth stone to 
 no purpose, till I was sliding off into the dark, with the river 
 I did n't know how far below me, thoug*h 1 heard it lapping 
 against some boats at the other side. 
 
 " 'For a few moments I was quite senseless from the fall 
 into the water. The splash roused the sentinels, and three 
 or four bullets whizzed into it about me, as I struck out for 
 the shore. Still the night was thick enough to help me 
 clear off among the dark lanes in the city; and the upshot 
 of it was that I found out some royalists, who supplied me 
 with a pedler's dress; till, in the end, after I can't tell you 
 Low many ticklish chances, where my luck hung upon a 
 hair, I reached the coast, and was taken off to a British 
 frigate. At home, sir at home, I found I 'd been given up 
 long ago for a dead man in Bonaparte's prisons, and and 
 the old man had been buried seven years, Aldridge but 
 not so long as my wife. The news of my taking my own life 
 in the Temple saved her the rest 't was too much for her 
 at the time. Aldridge both she and her little one had 
 lain in the mould nine years, when I stood looking at the 
 grass under Exeter Cathedral. I was a young man almost, 
 still; but my hair was as grizzled when I got out of the 
 Temple in 1813, as you see it now, and I '11 never walk 
 the deck fairly again. Aldridge/ added the captain of the 
 'Podargus,' turning round and standing still, with a low 
 sort of a deep whisper, ' 't is a strange thing, the Almighty's 
 way of working but I never thought in the Temple yon- 
 der, longing for a heave of the water under me : I little 
 thought John Wallis would ever come to keep guard over his 
 Majesty, the Emperor Napoleon !' 
 
 "When Captain Wallis stopped, the long send of the sea 
 lifting the brig below us, with a wild, yearning kind of 
 ripple from her bows back to her counter, and weltering away 
 astern one felt it, I may say, somewhat like an answer to 
 him, for the breeze had begun to freshen: it had got all of
 
 266 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 a sudden nearly quite dark, too, as is the case inside the 
 tropics, without the moon. 'Let 's go on deck, gentlemen, ' 
 said the captain, coming to himself ; 'now clap on those other 
 topmost stun-sails, Mr. Aldridge, and make her walk, sir! 
 No saying,' I heard him mutter, as he let us go up before 
 him 'no saying what the want of the "Podargus" might 
 do, off the island, these dark nights with water alongside, 
 one can't be sure. I warrant me if that man's dreams came 
 true, as mine did, he would be at the head of his thousands 
 again, ruining the whole world, with men rotting out of 
 sight in dungeons while the wind blows ! Ay, dreams, young 
 gentlemen !' said he to me as we stood on deck ; 'I '11 never 
 get rid of that prison, in my head, nor the way that dead 
 man's brain seemed to come into mine, off the wall ! But for 
 my part, off St. Helena, 't is Napoleon Bonaparte's dreams 
 that enter into my head. If you '11 believe it, sir, I 've heard 
 them, as it were, creeping and tingling round the black 
 heights of the island at dead of night, like men in millions 
 ready to break out in war-music, as I used to hear them 
 go over the bridge near the Temple or in shrieks and 
 groans; we all the time forging slowly ahead, and the surf 
 breaking in at the foot of the rocks. I know then ivho 's 
 asleep at the time up in Longwood !' 
 
 "The brig-of-war was taking long sweeps and plunges be- 
 fore the wind; the Southern Cross right away on her lar- 
 board quarter, and the very same stars spread all out nloft, 
 that I watched a couple of nights before, close by Violet 
 Hyde. The whole of what I 'd just heard was nothing to 
 me in a single minute, matched with the notion of never 
 seeing her more. Everything I 'd thought of since we left 
 England was gone, even one's heart for the service; and 
 what to do now, I did n't know. I scarce noticed it commence 
 to rain till a bit of a squall had com on, and they were 
 hauling down stun-sails: the dark swells only to be seen 
 rising with the foam on them, and a heavier cover of dull 
 cloud risen off the brig's beam, as well as ahead; so that 
 you merely saw her canvas lift before you against the thick 
 of the sky, and dive into it again. 'T was just cleared pretty 
 bright off the stars astern of us, however, wind rather lighter 
 than before the squall, when the captain thought he made 
 out a sail near about the starboard beam, where the clouds 
 came on the water-line; a minute or two after she was 
 plain enough in the clear, though looming nearly end-on, so 
 that one could n't well know her rig. Thinking at first sight 
 it might be the schooner, Captain Wallis was for bracing up,
 
 A SEA STORY 26; 
 
 to stand in chase and overhaul her; but shortly after she 
 seemed either to yaw a little, or fall off again before the 
 wind like ourselves, at any rate showing three sticks on the 
 horizon, with square canvas spread, and evidently a small 
 ship. 
 
 " 'Some homeward-bound craft meaning to touch at the 
 island,' said Captain Wallis, telling the first lieutenant to 
 keep all fast; by which time she was lost in the dusk again, 
 and I was n't long of going below. A fancy had got hold of 
 me for the moment, I can't deny, of its being the 'Seringa- 
 patam' after us on Westwood's owning himself; whereupon 1 
 persuaded myself Captain Wallis might perhaps take the risk 
 on him of letting us both go. For my part, I felt by 
 this time as if I 'd rather be in the same ship with her, 
 hopeless though it was, than steer this way for the other 
 side of the Line; and I went down with a chill at my heart 
 like the air about an iceberg. 
 
 "Not being asleep, however, a sudden stir on deck, an 
 hour or two after that, brought me out of my cot, to look 
 through the scuttle in the side. The brig had hauled her 
 wind from aft on to her starboard quarter, making less way 
 than before it, of course ; I heard the captain's voice near the 
 after-hatchway, too; so accordingly I slipped on my clothes, 
 and went quietly up. The 'Podargus' was running through 
 the long broad swells usual thereabouts, with her head 
 somewhere toward north-east; the officers all up, the whole 
 of the crew in both watches clustered beyond the brig's 
 fore-course, and the captain evidently roused, as well as im- 
 patient ; though I could n't at first make out the reason of 
 her being off her course. As soon as she fell off a little, 
 however, to my great horror I could see a light far ahead of 
 us, right in the gloom of the clouds, which for a moment 
 you 'd have supposed was the moon rising red and bloody, till 
 the heave of the sea betwixt us and it showed how both of us 
 were dipping: and now and then it gave a flaring glimmer 
 fair out irom the breast of the fog bank, while the breeze was 
 sending a brown puff of smoke from it now and then to lee- 
 ward against the clouds; through which you made a spar or 
 two licking up the flame, and a rag of canvas fluttering across 
 on the yard. 
 
 " 'T was neither more nor less than a ship on fire no 
 doubt the vessel seen abeam of us that evening a sight at 
 which Captain Wallis seemingly forgot his hurry to make 
 St. Helena, in the eagerness shown by all aboard to save 
 the poor fellows. Suddenly there was another wild gleam
 
 268 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 from the burning craft, and we thought it was over alto- 
 gether, when up shot a wreath of fire and smoke again, then 
 a fierce flash with a blue burst of flame, full of sparks and 
 all sorts of black spots and broken things, as if she had 
 blown up while she heaved the last time on the swell. Every- 
 thing was pitch dark next minute in her place, as if a big 
 blot of ink had come instead; the brig-of-war herself roll- 
 ing with a flap of her headsails up against the long heavy 
 bank of cloud that blocked the horizon. 'Keep her away, 
 sirrah!' shouted Captain Wallis, and the 'Podargus' surged 
 ahead as before, all of us standing too breathless to speak, 
 but counting the heads of the waves as they flickered past 
 her weather-beam. 'God's sakel' exclaimed the captain, at 
 last, 'this is terrible, Aldridge. If I had only overhauled 
 her, as I meant at first, we might have helped them in 
 time; for no doubt the fire must have been commenced when 
 we noticed her yawing yonder a couple of hours ago, sir.' 
 'I think not, sir,' said his lieutenant; l we were against the 
 clear ; and if they 'd been in danger then, she 'd have fired a 
 distress-gun. There could n't have been much powder aboard, 
 sir more likely rum, I think!' 
 
 " 'For heaven's sake !' continued the captain, 'let 's look 
 about she must surely have had boats out, or something, Mr. 
 Aldridge? The best thing we can do is to fire a few times 
 as we bear down see that bow-gun cleared away, Mr. Moore, 
 and do it!' 
 
 "We might have been about a mile, as was guessed, from 
 where she was last seen, when the brig fired a gun to wind- 
 ward, still standing on under everything. At the second 
 flash that lighted up the belly of the clouds, with the black 
 glitter of the swells below them, I fancied I caught a 
 moment's glimpse of something two or three miles away. It 
 was too short to say, however; and soon after the twinkle 
 of a light, seemingly hoisted on a spar, was seen little more 
 than half a mile upon the brig's lee-bow, dipping and going 
 cut of sight at times, but plain enough when it rose. Down 
 went the 'Podargus' for the spot, sending the foam off her 
 cut-water; and it was no long time before a wild hail from 
 several voices could be made out almost close aboard. Ten 
 minutes after she was brought to the wind, heaving a rope 
 to the men on a loose raft of casks and spars, as it pitched 
 alongside of her, with the sail hauled down on a spar they 
 had stuck up, and a lantern at the head of it; after which the 
 raft was cast off, and the poor fellows were safe on board. 
 
 "Two of them seemed to be half drowned, the one wrapped
 
 A SEA STORY 269 
 
 up in a wot pilot-coat, his face looking white ana frightened 
 enough by the glimmer of the lanterns: the other darker 
 a good deal, so far as I could make him out for the crowd 
 about him, and he didn't seem able to speak ; accordingly both 
 of them were taken at once below to the surgeon. The rest 
 were four half -naked blacks, and a little chap with earrings 
 and a seaman's dress, who was the spokesman on the quar- 
 ter-deck to the captain's questions plainly American by his 
 snuffling sort of 4 ra wl. 
 
 " 'Are there no more of you afloat ?' was the first thing 
 asked, to which the Yankee sailor shook his head. She was 
 an American bark, he said, from a voyage of discovery 
 round the two Capes; he was mate himself, and the skip- 
 per, being addicted to his cups, had set a cask of rum 
 on fire ; so finding they could n't get it under, besides being 
 wearied at the pumps, on account of an old leak, the men 
 broke into the spirit-room, and got dead drunk. He and the 
 blacks had patched up a raft in a hurry for bare life, barely 
 saving the passenger and his servant who had jumped over- 
 board; the passenger was a learned sort of a man, and his 
 servant was a Mexican. Most of this I found next day, from 
 the gun-room officers; however, I heard the mate of the 
 burned bark inquire of the captain whereabouts they were, as 
 the skipper was the only man who could use a chronometer or 
 quadrant, and the last gale had driven them out of their 
 reckonings a long way. 'Somehow south of the Line, I guess?' 
 said he; but, on being told, the fellow gave a bewildered 
 glance round him, seemingly, and a cunning kind of squint 
 after it, as I fancied. 'Well,' said he, 'I guess we 're con- 
 siderable unlucky; but I consider to turn in, if agreeable!' 
 The man had a way, in fact, half free-and-easy, half awk- 
 ward, that struck me; especially when he said, as he went 
 below, he supposed 'this was a war-brig,' and hoped there 
 'wasn't war between the States and the old country T 'No, 
 my man/ said the captain, 'you may set your mind at ease 
 on that point ; but I 'm afraid, nevertheless, we '11 have to 
 land you at St. Helena !' 
 
 " 'What, mister ?' said the American, starting, 'that 's where 
 you've got Boneyparty locked up? Well, now, if you give 
 me a good berth for a few, mister, I guess I '11 rayther ship 
 aboard you, till I get a better ! What 's your wage just now, 
 if I may ask, captain ?' 'Well, well,' said the captain, laugh- 
 ing, 'we '11 see to-morrow, my man !' and the American went 
 below. 'Set stun-sails again, Mr. Aldridge,' continued Cap- 
 tain Wallis, 'and square yards. Why, rather than have such
 
 270 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 a fellow in the ship's company, Aldridge, I 'd land him with- 
 out Sir Hudson's leave!' 
 
 "For my own part, next day, I should have given more 
 notice to our new shipmates, while the brig steered fair be- 
 fore the wind the blacks and the mate leaning about her 
 forecastle, and the other two being expected by the surgeon 
 to come pretty well round before night, though the captain 
 had gone to see them below but a thing turned up all at 
 once that threw me once more full into the.thought of Violet 
 Hyde, till I was perfectly beside myself with the helpless 
 case I was in. The note Tom Westwood had shown me 
 was still in the pocket of my griffin's coat, though I had n't 
 observed it till now; and what did I feel at finding out, that, 
 instead of one from her to Westwood, it was a few words 
 from my own sister, little Jane, saying in a pretty, bashful 
 sort of a way, that her brother Ned must come home be- 
 fore she could engage to anything! You may fancy how I 
 cursed myself for being so blind ; but a fellow never thinks 
 his own sister charming at all and what else could I 
 have done, at any rate? All I hoped for, was to get aboard 
 some Indiaman at St. Helena, and there was nothing else 
 1 wearied to see the island again for. I may say I walked 
 the brig's lee quarter-deck till daybreak; but anyhow the 
 lookout from the foreyard had scarce sung out 'St. Helena 
 on the weather-bow !' when I was up, making out the round 
 blue cloud in the midst of the horizon, with a white streak 
 across it, like a bird afloat in the hazy blue, with the clear 
 gleam from eastward off our starboard quarter running round 
 to it.
 
 A SEA STORY 271 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 "As soon as you near St. Helena by a few miles, the 
 trade wind falls light, and making the rock, as you do from 
 I he South Atlantic, a good deal to leeward of the harbor, 
 7 t would be pretty slow work beating round to north-east, but 
 for the breeze always coming off the height, with the help of 
 which one can coast easy enough along. Captain Wallis 
 said no more than to bid the first lieutenant make the 
 brig's number at her masthead, while she still bore in direct 
 upon the breast of the land, as much out of soundings as 
 the day before; the smooth, heavy swell seeming to float 
 the island up in one huge lump ahead of us, till you saw 
 it rolling into the very foot, with a line of surf, as if it all 
 rose sheer out of the bottom of the sea; as grim and hard 
 as a block of iron, too, and a good deal the same color. 
 By noon it hung fairly, as it were, over our mastheads, the 
 brig looking by comparison as tiny and as ticklish as a 
 craft made of glass, she coasting away round* with yards 
 braced first one way then another, and opening point after 
 point from three hundred to two thousand feet high ; while 
 at times she would go stealing in with a faint ripple at 
 her bows, near enough to hear the deep sound of the sea 
 plunging slowly to the face of the rock, where the surf 
 rose white against it without a break. 
 
 "There was n't so much as a weed to be seen, the rocks 
 getting redder and more coppery, sending out the light like 
 metal, till you 'd have thought they tingled all over with the 
 heat. Then as you opened another bulge in the line, the 
 sharp sugarloaf hills, far away up, with the ragged cliffs 
 and crags, shot over against the bare white sky in all sort of 
 shapes; and after a good long spell of the sea, there was little 
 fancy needed to give one the notion that they were changing 
 into these, as we passed ahead, to mock you. There was one 
 peak for all the world like the top of St. Paul's, and no 
 end of church spires and steeples, all lengths and ways; 
 then big bells and trumpets, mixed with wild beasts' heads, 
 grinning at each other across some split in the blue beyond, 
 and soldiers' helmets not to speak of one huge block, like a 
 nigger's face with a cowl behind it, hanging far out over 
 the water. Save for the color of it all, in fact, St. Helena 
 reminds one more of a tremendous iceberg than an island, 
 and not the less that it looks ready in some parts to topple
 
 272 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 over and show a new face; while the sea working round it, 
 surging into the hollows below water-mark, and making the 
 air groan inside of them, keeps up a noise the like of which 
 you would n't wish to cruise alongside of every day. The 
 strangest thing about it, however, was that now and then, as 
 you came abreast of some deep gully running up inland, a 
 sudden blast of wind would rush out of it, sufficient to make 
 the 'Podargus' reel with a savage, thundering roar, too, like 
 the howl out of a lion's mouth; while you looked far up a 
 narrow, bare, black glen, closing into a hubbub of red rocks, 
 or losing itself up a gray hillside in a white thread of a 
 water-course; then the rough shell of the island shut in 
 again, as still as before, save the light breeze and the deep 
 hum of the surf along its foot. Curiously enough in a 
 latitude like St. Helena's, the island seems, as it were, a 
 perfect bag of air. What with the heat of the rock, its 
 hollow inside, the high peaks of it catching the clouds, 
 and the narrow outlets it has, 't is always brewing wind, 
 you may say, to ventilate that part of the tropics just as 
 one may keep up cold draughts through and through a wet 
 heap of loose stones, no matter how hot the weather is, as 
 long as he pleases. As for a landing-place, though, there 
 was n't one of the gullies that did n't yawn over without 
 falling to the sea; and, not to mention the surf underneath, 
 where the dark swell came in unbroken from deep water 
 without a shoal to soften it, why, watching it from the 
 brig's side, I should n't have said a cat could scramble up 
 or down the steep slopes and the wreck of stones, from 
 the water's edge to the jaws of the easiest gully you saw. 
 
 "Once or twice, standing farther off, we caught sight of 
 Diana's Peak over the shoulder of a hill, with the light 
 haze melting about it; at last you noticed a large gun 
 mounted against the sky on a lofty peak, where it looked like 
 a huge telescope ; and on clearing another headland, a beauti- 
 ful frigate came in between us and the burst of light to 
 seaward, cruising to windward under easy sail. She bore 
 up and stood towards the brig-of-war, just as the line 
 of wall was to be seen winding round the middle of Sugar- 
 loaf Point, where the sentry's bayonet glittered near his 
 watch-box, and the soldiers' red coats could be seen moving 
 through the covered passage to the batteries. Five minutes 
 after, the 'Podargus' swept round the breast of Rupert's Hill 
 into the bay, in sight of James Town and the ships lying 
 off the harbor; clewing up her sails and ready to drop 
 anchor, as the frigate hove to not far astern.
 
 A SEA STORY 273 
 
 "You can fancy land heaving in sight after thrice as many 
 weeks as you 'vo been at sea, ladies ; or the view of a ship 
 to a man that 's been long laid up in bed ashore ; or a gulp of 
 fresh water in a sandy desert but I question if any of them 
 matches your first glimpse of James Town from the road- 
 stead, like a bright piece of fairy-work in the mouth of the 
 narrow brown valley, after seeing desolation enough to make 
 you wish for a clear horizon again. More especially this 
 time, when all the while one could n't help bringing to mind 
 one's notion of the French Emperor, how, not long ago, 
 the sight of the French coast, or a strange frigate over the 
 Channel swell, used to make us think of him far ashore, 
 with half the earth for his own and millions of soldiers. 
 We reefers down in the cockpit would save our grog to drink 
 confusion to Napoleon, and in a rough night near a lee- 
 shore, it was look alive aloft, or choose betwixt cold brine 
 and the clutch of a gendarme hauling you to land. L do 
 believe we looked upon him as a sort of god, as Captain 
 Wallis did in the Temple; every ship or gunboat we saw 
 taken, or had a hand in the mauling of, why, 't was for 
 the sheer sake of the thing, and scarce by way of harm to 
 Boney; while nothing like danger, from breakers on the lee- 
 bow to a November gale, but had seemingly a taste of him. 
 None of us any more thought of bringing him to this, than 
 we did of his marching into London, or of a French frigate 
 being able to rake our old 'Pandora' in a set-to on green 
 water or blue, with us to handle her. 
 
 "But there was the neat little cluster of houses, white, 
 yellow, and green, spreading down close together in the bot- 
 tom of the valley, and out along the sea's edge; the rough 
 brown cliffs sloping up on each side, with the ladder-like 
 way to the fort on the right, mounting, as it were, out of 
 the very street, to the flagstaff on the top, and dotted with 
 red-coats going up and down; a bright line of a pier and a 
 wall before the whole, the Government House dazzling 
 through a row of spreading trees, and a little square church- 
 tower to be seen beyond. 'T was more like a scene in a 
 play, than aught else ; what with the suddenness of it all, the 
 tiny look of it betwixt the huge rocks, the greenness of 
 the trees and bushes, and patches of garden struggling up as 
 far as they could go into the stone, and the gay little toys of 
 cottages, with scarce flat enough to stand upon; save for the 
 blue swell of the sea plunging lazily in through the bit of 
 a bay, and the streak of air behind, that let you in high 
 over the head of the hollow, up above one height and an-
 
 274 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 other, to a flat-headed blue rise in the distance, where Long- 
 wood could be seen from the main-cross-trees I had gone 
 to as the sails were furled. 
 
 "The sunlight, striking from both the red sides of the 
 ravine, made the little village of a place, trees and all, glitter 
 in a lump together, out of it, like no spot in the rest of 
 the world ; while elsewhere there was n't so much as a weed to 
 be seen hanging from the rock, nor the sign of another 
 human habitation, saving the bare batteries on each 
 hand, with a few sheds and warehouses over the beach along 
 the landing-place. Once or twice the same sudden gust as 
 before would come slap down through the valley into the 
 brig's bare rigging, hot as the air was, with a howling kind 
 of a sigh you took some time to get accustomed to, lest 
 there was a hurricane to follow ; in fact, one did n't well 
 know whether it was the wild look of it outside, or the 
 lovely spot in its grim mouth of a landing-place, but the 
 whole island gave you the notion of a thing you could n't 
 be long sure of, without fancying it would give a shake 
 some day or other again; or else spout fire, as no doubt it 
 had done before, if there was n't more fear of Napoleon 
 getting back somehow to France, and wreaking bloody ven- 
 geance on the kings that shut him up in St. Helena. 
 
 "There was apparently a busy scene ashore, however, both 
 in the little town, which has scarce more than a single 
 street, and along the quay, full of residents, as well as 
 passengers from two Indiamen lying in-shore of us, while 
 the Government esplanade seemed to be crowded with 
 ladies, listening to the regimental band under the trees. The 
 'Newcastle' frigate, with Sir Dudley Aldcombe's flag hoisted 
 at her mizzen, was at anchor out abreast at Ladder Hill ; and 
 our first lieutenant had scarce pulled aboard of the 'Hebe,' 
 which was hove to off the brig's quarter, before 1 noticed 
 the Admiral's barge lying alongside the 'Hebe.' 
 
 "Seeing Mr. Aldridge on his way back shortly after, 1 
 came down the rigging, more anxious than ever to have my 
 own matter settled; indeed, Captain Wallis no sooner caught 
 sight of my face, uncomfortable as I dare say it looked, than 
 he told me he was going to wait on the Admiral aboard the 
 'Hebe,' and would take me with him at once, if I chose. For 
 my part, I needed nothing but the leave, and in ten minutes' 
 time I found myself, no small mark of curiosity, betwixt the 
 waist and the quarter-deck of the 'Hebe,' where the officers 
 eyed me with as little appearance of rudeness as they could 
 help, and I overhauled the spars and rigging aloft as coolly
 
 A SEA STORY 
 
 275 
 
 as I could, waiting to be sent for below. The 'Hebe,' in 
 fact, was the very beauty of a twenty-eight; taking the 
 shine, and the wind, too, clean out of everything even at 
 Plymouth, where I had seen her once a year or two before; 
 our poor dear old 'Iris' herself had scarce such a pattern 
 of a hull, falling in, as it did, from the round swell of her 
 bilge, to just under the plank-sheer, and spreading out again 
 with her bright black top-sides, till where the figure-head shot 
 over the cut-water, and out of her full pair of bows, like a 
 swan's neck out of its breast. As for the 'Iris,' our boat- 
 swain himself one day privately confessed to me, almost 
 with tears in his eyes, that she tumbled home a thought too 
 much just in front of the fore-chains, and he 'd tried to get 
 it softened off with dead planking and paint, but it would n't 
 do; everybody saw through them. The truth was, to feel this 
 fine ship under one, with her loose topsails hanging high 
 against the gloom of the red gully towards Longwood, and 
 the gay little town peeping just over her larboard bow, a 
 mile away, it somehow or other cleared one's mind of a load. 
 
 "I was thinking already how, if one had the command of 
 such a craft, to do something with her at sea hang it! 
 but surely that old Judge could n't be too proud to give 
 him a fair hearing. By Jove! thought I had one only wild 
 enough weather, off the Cape, say if I wouldn't undertake 
 to bother even a seventy-four for a whole voyage through, 
 till she struck her flag; in which case a fellow might really 
 venture to hold his head up and speak his mind, lovely as 
 Violet Hyde would be in Calcutta. But then, again, there 
 was St. Helena towering red and rough over the ships, with 
 the grand French Emperor hidden in it hard and fast, and 
 all the work he used to give us at an end ! 
 
 "Just at the moment, happening to catch sight of the 
 American mate's sallow black visage over the brig-of -war's 
 hammock-cloths, peering as he did from the cliffs to the lofty 
 spars of the frigate, while his negro shipmates were to be 
 made out nearer the bows somehow or other the whole 
 affair of their being burned out and picked up started into 
 my mind again, along with our late queer adventures in 
 the Indiamaii. Not to mention Captain Wallis's story, it 
 flashed upon me all at once, for the first time, that the 
 strange schooner was after some scheme as regarded the 
 island; and a man more likely to try something uncommon 
 than the Frenchman I never had seen yet. The truth was, 
 but for my thoughts being otherwise taken up, I 'd have 
 wondered at my own confounded stupidity in not fathoming
 
 276 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the thing sooner; whereas now I'm not going to deny it, I 
 half began actually to wish him good success, or else a 
 close miss of it, where either way one could n't well fail 
 having a share in the squall. 
 
 "At any rate, I saw it was cunningly enough gone about; 
 this same burned barque of the Yankee's, I perceived in a 
 moment, was part of the plot; though as for meddling in 
 it till I saw more, 't was likely to spoil the whole ; let alone 
 making an ass of one's self in case of mistake. 1 was 
 eying the shipwrecked mate, indeed, when one of the lieu- 
 tenants told me politely the Admiral wanted to see me 
 in the cabin below. 
 
 "Not being much accustomed to admirals' society, as a 
 little white-haired fellow-reefer of mine once said at a te^ 
 party ashore, I came in at the door with rather an awkward 
 bow, no doubt; for Sir Dudley, who was sitting on the sofa 
 with his cocked hat and sword beside him, talking to Cap- 
 tain Wallis, turned his head at the captain's word, as if he 
 were trying to keep in a smile. A tall, fine-looking man he 
 was, and few seamen equal to him for handling a large 
 fleet, as I knew, though his manners were finished enough 
 to have made him easy in a king's court. As for the captain 
 of the 'Hebe,' he was leaning out of an open stern window, 
 seemingly a young man ; but who he might be I did n't 
 know at the moment. The Admiral had only a question or 
 two to put, before he looked back to Captain Wallis again, 
 remarking it was clear he had brought away the wrong man. 
 'I did n't think you were so dull in the "Podargus," ' said he, 
 smiling, 'as to let an Indiaman play off such a trick on you 
 eh, Captain Wallis !' 
 
 "Captain Wallis glanced round the cabin, and then side- 
 ways down at Sir Dudley's cocked hat, in a funny enough 
 way, as much as to say he took all the blame on himself ; and 
 it struck me more than ever what a kind heart the man had 
 in him if you only set aside his hatred to Bonaparte, 
 which in fact was nothing else but a twisted sort of proof 
 of the same thing. 'Pooh, pooh, Wallis,' continued Sir 
 Dudley, 'we can't do anything in the matter; though, if the 
 service were better than it really is at present, I should cer- 
 tainly incline to question a smart young fellow like this, 
 that has held his Majesty's commission, for idling in an 
 Indiaman after the lady passengers! I am afraid, sir,' said 
 he to me, 'you 've lost your passage, though unless the 
 captain of the "Hebe" will give you his second berth here, to 
 make amends. You need not be afraid, Lord Frederick!'
 
 A SEA STORY 277 
 
 added he, looking toward the captain of the frigate, and rais- 
 ing his voice; 'you do not know him, after all, I suppose!' 
 The captain drew in his head, saying he had been doubtful 
 about one of the pivots of the rudder, then turned full 
 round and looked uneasily at me, on which his face bright- 
 ened immediately, and he said, 'No, Sir Dudley, I do not!' 
 1 was still in ignorance for a moment or so, myself, who 
 this titled young post-captain might be, though I had cer- 
 tainly seen him before; till all at once I recollected him, 
 with a start as pleasant to me as his seemed to him at not 
 knowing me. Both Westwood and I had been midshipmen 
 together for a while in the 'Orion,' fifty-gun ship, where he 
 was second lieutenant, several years before. As for me, I 
 was too fond of a frigate to stay longer in her than I could 
 help; but I remembered my being a pest to the second 
 lieutenant, and Tom's being a favorite of his, so that he 
 stayed behind me, and got master's-mate as soon as he was 
 ''passed.' 
 
 "The Honorable Frederick Bury he was then, and the 
 handsomest young fellow in the squadron, as well as the 
 best-natured aboard; I don't believe he knew how to splice 
 in a dead-eye, and any of the master's-mates could take 
 charge of the ship better in a rough night, I dare say; but 
 for a gallant affair in the way of hard knocks, with man- 
 agement to boot, there was n't his match. He never was 
 known to fail when he took a thing in hand; lost fewer 
 men, too, than anyone else did; and whenever there turned 
 up anything ticklish for the boats, it was always 'Mr. Bury 
 will lead.' 'The Honorable Bury,' we used to call him, and 
 'Fighting Free-the-Deck.' Westwood was one of his school, 
 whereas / had learned from Jacobs in a merchantman's fore- 
 castle; and many a time did we play off such tricks on 
 the second lieutenant as coming gravely aft to him during 
 the watch, three or four of us together, me carrying a bit of 
 rope where a 'Turk's-head' or a 'mouse' was to be worked, 
 while I asked him innocently to show us the way. Or else 
 it was some dispute we contrived beforehand, as to the 
 best plan of sending up new topmasts at sea, or running 
 out of a 'round' gale in the Indian Ocean, on which the 
 men forward would be all ready to break out laughing; 
 and the second lieutenant, after thinking a moment, would 
 quietly pitch upon me to go aloft, and study the point 
 for two hours at the masthead. 
 
 "'What is your name then, young man?' inquired Sir 
 Dudley Aldcombe of me. The instant I told him, Lord
 
 278 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 Frederick Bury gave me another look, then a smile. 'What ?' 
 said he, 'Collins that was in the "Orion" 'C 'Yes, Lord 
 Frederick,' said I, 'the same; I was third in the "Iris" off 
 the West African coast since then.' 'Why,' said he, 'I recol- 
 lect you quite well, Mr. Collins, although you have grown 
 a foot, I think, sir but your eye reminds me of sundry 
 pranks you used to play on board! What nickname was it 
 your messmates called you, by the bye?' 'Something foolish 
 enough, I suppose, my lord,' replied I, biting my lip; 'but I 
 remember clearly having the honor to steer the second cutter 
 in-shore one dark night near Dunkirk, when your lordship 
 carried the Dutch brig and the two French chasse-marees 
 
 " 'Faith/ broke in the captain of the 'Hebe,' 'you 've a 
 better memory than I have I do not recollect any chasse^ 
 marees at all that time, Mr. Collins!' 'Why,' said I, 'I got 
 a knock on the head from a fellow in a red shirt that always 
 kept me in mind.' 'Oh,' remarked the Admiral to Captain 
 Wallis, laughing, 'Lord Frederick Bury must have had so 
 many little parties of the kind that his memory can't be 
 expected to be very nice ! However, I shall go ashore at pres- 
 ent, gentlemen, leaving the "Hebe" and you to dispose of 
 this runaway lieutenant in some way or other. Only you 'd 
 better settle it before Admiral Plampin arrives!' 'Have you 
 seen the the Longwood lately, Sir Dudley ?' asked the cap- 
 tain of the 'Podargus,' carelessly. 'Yes, not many days ago 
 3 had an interview,' said the Admiral,- gravely; 'proud as 
 ever, and evidently resolved not to flinch from his condition. 
 'T is wonderful the command that man has over himself, 
 Wallis he speaks of the whole world and its affairs like one 
 that sees into them, and had them still nearly under his foot ! 
 All saving those miserable squabbles with Plantation House, 
 which but, next time I shall take my leave, and wash my 
 hands of the whole concern, I am glad to think !' 
 
 "Lord Frederick was talking to me meanwhile at the 
 other end of the cabin, but I was listening in spite of myself 
 to Sir Dudley Aldcombe, and noticed that Captain Wallis 
 made no answer. 'By the way, Wallis,' continued the Ad- 
 miral, ' 't is curious that he seemed anxious more than 
 once to know what you think of him I believe ho would like 
 to see you!' 'To see me!' said the commander of the 'Podar- 
 gus,' suddenly. 'At last, does he! No, Sir Dudley, he and 
 I never will meet; he ought to havfe thought of it twelve years 
 sooner! God knows,' he went on, 'the commander of a ten- 
 gun brig is too small a man to see the Emperor Napoleon a 
 prisoner but in ten years of war, Sir Dudley, what might n't
 
 A SEA STORY 279 
 
 one have been, instead of being remembered after as only 
 plain John Wallis, whom Bonaparte kept all that time in 
 prison, and who was sent in course of time, to cruise off St. 
 Helena?' Here the Admiral said something about a British 
 sailor not keeping malice, and Captain Wallis looked up 
 at him gravely. 'No,' replied he ; 'no, Sir Dudley, I should n't 
 have chosen the thing ; but in the meantime I 'm only doing 
 my duty. There 's a gloomy turn in my mind by this time, 
 no doubt; but you've no idea, Sir Dudley, how the thought 
 of other people comes into one's head when he 's years 
 shut up so / may stand for many a one Bonaparte will 
 never see more than myself, that '11 ring him round surer 
 than those rocks there, though they 're dead and in their 
 graves, Sir Dudley!' The Admiral shook his head, ob- 
 serving that Napoleon was no common man, and ought n't 
 to be judged as such. 'Too many victories in that eye 
 of his, I suspect, Captain Wallis,' said he, 'for either Plan- 
 tation House or his own conscience to break his spirit!' 
 
 " 'Ay, ay, sir,' answered the captain respectfully, 'excuse 
 me, Sir Dudley, but there it is so long as he 's got his 
 victories to fall back upon, he can't see how, if he 'd re- 
 garded common men more, with all belonging to them, he 
 would n't have been here ! Why did Providence shut him 
 up in a dead volcano, with blue water round it, Sir Dudley, 
 if it was n't to learn somehow or other he was a man 
 after all ?' Sir Dudley Aldcombe shrugged his shoulders and 
 looked to Lord Frederick, upon which he rose, and the two 
 captains followed him out of the cabin; in five minutes I 
 heard the side piped for the Admiral's leaving, and soon after 
 the captain of the 'Hebe' came below again. 
 
 " 'This is a disagreeable affair of your old messmate's, 
 Mr. Collins,' said he seriously. 'You are, perhaps, not awaro 
 that Captain Duncombe was a relative of my own, and 
 the fact of his property having fallen by will to myself, 
 rendered my position the more peculiarly disagreeable, had I 
 been obliged not only to recognize Lieutenant Westwood here, 
 but afterwards to urge proceedings against him, even if he 
 were let off by court-martial. I cannot tell you how the 
 sight of a stranger, as I thought, relieved me, sir!' 'Indeed, 
 Lord Frederick!' replied I, too much confused in the cir- 
 cumstances to say more. However, his lordship's manner 
 soon set me at my ease, the old good-humored smile coming 
 ever his fine features again, while he went on to offer me the 
 place of his second lieutenant, who was going home very ill 
 by one of the homeward-bound Indiamen; adding, that Sir
 
 2 8o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 Dudley would confirm the appointment; indeed, he could 
 scarce help himself, he said, as there was nobody else he could 
 get at present. 
 
 " 'You must be a thorough good sailor by this time, Col- 
 lins,' continued he, 'if you have gone on at the rate you 
 used to do. I remember how fond you were of having 
 charge for a minute or two of the old "Orion," or when I 
 let you put her about in my watch. Why they called you 
 "Young Green" I never could understand, unless it was ut 
 lucus a non lucendo, as we used to say at Eaton, you know. 
 Well, what do you say?' Now, as you may suppose, the idea of 
 boxing about St. Helena, for Heaven knew how long, did n't 
 at all suit my liking with the thought of the 'Seringapatam' 
 steering away for Bombay the whole time, and a hundred 
 notions of Violet Hyde in India 't would have driven me 
 madder than the Temple did Captain Wallis : but it was only 
 the first part of my mind I gave Lord Frederick. 'What !' ex- 
 claimed he, with a flush over his face, and drawing up his tall 
 figure, 'you did n't suppose, / should remain here ? Why, 
 the "Hebe" is on her way for Calcutta and Canton, and 
 will sail as soon as the "Conqueror" arrives at James 
 Town with Admiral Plampin.' 'Your lordship is very kind,' 
 said I, looking clown to cover my delight; 'and if I am not 
 worthy of the post it shan't be my fault, Lord Frederick/ 
 'Ah, very good!' said he, smiling; "t is an opportunity you 
 ought n't to let slip, Collins, let me tell you ! For my own 
 part, I should just as soon cut out a pirate in the Straits of 
 Malacca as a French brig in the Channel; and there are 
 plenty of them, I hear, there. As for a chase, sir, I natter 
 myself you won't easily see a finer thing than the "Hebe" 
 spreading her cloth after one of those fast proas will be 
 I think you are just the fellow to make her walk, too, Mr. 
 Collins pah ! to compare a day on the Derby turf with 
 that, would be a sin! You have no idea, sir, how one longs 
 for a fair horizon again, and brisk breezes, when so ineffably 
 tired out of all those ballrooms, and such things as you 
 see about town just now only I fear I shall wish to be sec- 
 ond lieutenant again, eh?' 
 
 "The noble captain of the 'Hebe' turned to look out through 
 the stern window to seaward, his face losing the weary sort 
 of half-melancholy cast it had shown for the last minute, 
 while his eye glistened; and it struck me how well matched 
 the 'Hebe' and her commander were ; you 'd have said both 
 had good blood in them, both being models to look at of 
 their kind, and the frigate lifting under you at the moment,
 
 A SEA STORY 281 
 
 from the keel upward, with a check aloft in her main-topsail, 
 that lifted her stem to the surge. A small telescope rolled 
 off the sofa on to the cabin deck, and as I picked it up^ 
 another gust could be heard coming down St. James Valley 
 from inside the island; through the gun-port one saw the 
 trees wave over the hot white houses in the bright-colored 
 little town, while the ship's canvas gave another nutter 
 above-decks. Lord Frederick laughed, and said, 'Then I sup- 
 pose we need say no more about it, Mr. Collins, except re- 
 ferring once for all to Sir Dudley ?' I bowed, and the upshot 
 was, that, an hour or two after, I had my acting commission 
 sent me from the Admiral, the same boat having called at 
 the 'Podargus' for my things; upon which Lord Frederick 
 introduced me to the first lieutenant, and I found myself 
 once more doing duty in the service the 'Hebe' standing out 
 to leeward with the last light, just as the 'Podargus' was 
 tripping anchor to beat round again the other way. As for 
 our friends from the burned vessel, I must say I had forgot 
 them already, for the time at least. 
 
 "Every block, crag, and knot in the huge crust of the rock 
 shone terribly bright for a minute or two, aloft from over the 
 yard-ends, as she stood suddenly out into the fiery gleam of 
 the sun going down many a mile away in the Atlantic. Then 
 up leaped the light keener and keener to the very topmost 
 peak, till you 'd have thought it went in like a living thing 
 behind a telegraph, that stood out against a black cleft 
 betwixt two cliffs. We saw the evening gun off Ladder Hill 
 flash upon the deep blue of the sky, seemingly throwing up 
 the peak and flagstaff a dozen feet higher; and the boom of 
 the gun sounding in among the wild hills and hollows within 
 the island, as if one heard it going up to Longwood door. 
 Scarce was it lost, ere a star or two were to be seen in the 
 shadow on the other side, and you listened almost, in the hush 
 following upon the gunfire, for an echo to it, or something 
 stranger; in place of which the 'Hebe' was already forging 
 ahead in the dark to get well clear of the land, every wave 
 bringing its own blackness with it up toward her fore-chains, 
 then sparkling back to her waist in the seeth of foam as she 
 felt the breeze; while St. Helena lay towering along to 
 larboard, with its ragged top blotting against the deep dark 
 blue of the sky, all filling as it was with the stars. 
 
 "I had the middle watch that night, the ship being under 
 short canvas, and slowly edging down to make the most 
 leewardly point of the island, from which she was to beat 
 up again at her leisure by the morning. All we had to do
 
 282 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 was to keep a good lookout, on the one hand, into the streak 
 of starlight to seaward, and 011 the other along the foot of the 
 rocks, as well as holding her well in hand, in case of some 
 sudden squall through the valleys from inside. 
 
 "However, I shan't easily forget the thoughts that ran 
 in my mind, walking the quarter-deck with the frigate under 
 charge, the first time I noticed Orion and the Serpent begin 
 to wheel glittering away from over Diana's Peak the others 
 stealing quietly into sight after them, past the leech of our 
 main-topsail : scarce an English star to be seen for the height 
 of the island off our quarter; some of the men on one side of 
 the booms humming a song about Napoleon's dream, which 
 you '11 hear to this day in ships' forecastles ; another yarning 
 solemnly, on the other side, about some old sweetheart of his 
 but all of them ready to jump at my own least word. In 
 the morning, however, there we were, stretching back by 
 degrees to go round the lee side of the island again, the 
 haze melting off Diana's Peak as before, and the sea rolling 
 in swells as blue as indigo, to the huge red lumps of bare 
 crag ; while the bright surges leaped out of them all along the 
 frigate's side, and the spray rose at times to her figure-head. 
 
 "During the day we cruised farther out, and the 'Hebe' had 
 enough to do in seeing off one Indiaman for home, and speak- 
 ing another outward-bound craft, that passed forty miles off 
 or so, without touching; the Governor's telegraphs were eter- 
 nally at work on the heights, bothering her for the least trifle, 
 and making out a sail sixty miles off, it was said. For my 
 part, I was pretty well tired of it already, sincerely wishing 
 for the 'Conqueror/ with Admiral Plampin, to heave in sight ; 
 but glad enough all aboard the 'Hebe' were, when, after an 
 entire week of the thing, it came to her turn, with the 'New- 
 castle' and 'Podargus,' to lie at anchor off James Town, where 
 half the ship's company at a time had their liberty ashore. 
 
 "For my part, I had to see after the frigate's water-tanks, 
 and a gang at the rigging, till the afternoon, when Lord 
 Frederick took the first lieutenant and myself ashore with 
 him in his gig; and no joke it was landing even tliere, where 
 the swell of the surf nigh hand hove her right up on the quay, 
 while you had to look sharp, in case the next wave washed 
 you back again off your feet. The whole place was hot as 
 could be from the sun's rays off the rocks, slanting bare red 
 to the cloudless sky, on both sides of the neat little gaudy 
 houses crowded in the mouth of the valley, which narrowed 
 away beyond the rise of the street, till you did n't see how 
 you 'd get farther. But for the air of the sea, indeed, with
 
 A SEA STORY 283 
 
 now and then a breath down out of the hills, 't was for all the 
 world like a half -kindled oven; except under the broad trees 
 along the Government esplanade, where one couldn't have 
 stood for people. What with blacks, lascars, Chinamen, and 
 native 'Yamstocks,' together with liberty-men from the 
 men-of-war and Indiaman, as well as reefers trotting about 
 on ponies and donkeys, the very soldiers could scarce get 
 down the foot of the road up Ladder Hill; as for the little 
 town holding one half of them, it was out of the question, 
 but the noise and kick-up were beyond aught else of the kind, 
 save in a Calcutta bazaar. Accordingly, it was pleasant 
 enough at last to come within a shady walk of thick green fig- 
 trees, growing almost out of the rock near the main battery, 
 above the small sound of the water far below; the very sea 
 looking bluer through the leaves, while some birds no bigger 
 than wrens hopped, chirruping, about the branches. 
 
 "Here we met Sir Dudley Aldcombe coming down from 
 the batteries along with some Company's officers from India, 
 and he stopped to speak to Lord Frederick, giving the first 
 lieutenant and me a bow in return, as we lifted our hats and 
 waited behind. The Admiral proposed to get Lord Frederick 
 a pass to visit Napoleon along with himself next day, as the 
 'Conqueror' would probably arrive very soon. 'You will oblige 
 me greatly, Sir Dudley,' said the captain of the 'Hebe.' 'He 
 seems as fond of seeing a true sailor,' said the Admiral, 'as 
 if we 'd never done him harm. Things will be worse after 1 
 go. By the way,' added he suddenly, ' 't is curious enough, 
 but there 's one person in the island at present has made 
 wonderful progress in Sir Hudson's good graces, for the short 
 time that American botanist, or whatever he calls himself 
 that Captain Wallis took off the burned vessel on his way 
 here. Your new lieutenant was aboard at the time, you 
 know, Lord Frederick.' 'You saw him, sir, of course?' said 
 the Admiral, looking to me. 'Only for a minute that night, 
 Sir Dudley,' said 1; 'and afterwards both he and his servant 
 were under the surgeon's charge below.' 'Well,' continued 
 Sir Dudley to the captain, 'they seem quite recovered now; 
 for I saw them to-day up at Plantation House, where the 
 philosopher was in close discourse with the Governor about 
 plants and such things; while her ladyship was as much 
 engaged with the assistant, who can only speak Spanish. A 
 remarkable-looking man the latter is, too; a Mexican, I 
 understand, with Indian blood in him, apparently whereas 
 his principal has a strong Yankee twang; and queer enough 
 it was to hear him snuffling away as solemnly as possible
 
 284 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 about ~buttany and such things besides his hinting at some 
 great discovery likely to be made in the island, which Sir 
 Hudson seemed rather anxious to keep quiet from me/ 
 
 "What Sir Dudley said made me prick up my ears, as 
 you may fancy. I could scarce believe the thing ; 't was so 
 thoroughly rich and so confoundedly cool at once, to risk 
 striking at the very heart of things this way with the Gover- 
 nor himself ; but the whole scheme, so far, flashed upon me in 
 a moment, evidently carried on, as it had been all along, by 
 some one bold enough for anything earthly, and with no small 
 cunning besides. All that he needed, no doubt, was somebody 
 else with the devil's own impudence and plenty of talk; nor, 
 if I 'd thought for a day together, could one have pitched 
 easily upon a customer as plausible as our friend Daniel, who 
 had n't a spark of fear in him, I knew, just owing to his want 
 of respect for aught in the entire creation. Still I could n't, 
 for the life of me, see what the end of their plan was to be, 
 unless the strange Frenchman might have been some general 
 or other under Bonaparte, and just wanted to see his old com- 
 mander once more ; which, thought I, I '11 be hanged if I don't 
 think fair enough, much pains as he had put himself to for 
 the thing. 
 
 " 'How !' asked Lord Frederick, 'a discovery did you 
 say, Sir Dudley?' 'Oh, nothing of the kind we should care 
 about, after all,' said the Admiral ; 'from what I could gather, 
 't was only scientific, though the American called it a pretty 
 important fact. This Mr. Mathewson Brown, I believe, was 
 sent by the States' Government as botanist in an expedi- 
 tion to southward, and has leave from Sir Hudson to use 
 his opportunity before the next Indiaman sails, for examin- 
 ing part of the island, and to-day he thought he found the 
 same plants in St. Helena as he did in Gough's Island and 
 Tristan d'Acunha, twelve hundred miles off, near the Cape, 
 showing, as he said, how once on a time there must have been 
 land between them, perhaps as far as Ascension !' 'Why,' put 
 in Lord Frederick, 'that would have made a pretty good em- 
 pire, even for Napoleon!' 'So it would, my lord,' said Sir 
 Dudley, 'much better than Elba; but the strangest part of it 
 is, this Mr. Brown was just telling his Excellency, as I en- 
 tered the room, that some of the ancient philosophers wrote 
 about this said country existing in the Atlantic before the 
 Flood how rich it was, with the kings it had, and the wars 
 carried on there; till, on account of their doings, no doubt, 
 what with an earthquake, a volcano, and the ocean together, 
 they all sunk to the bottom except the tops of the mountains I
 
 A SEA STORY 285 
 
 Now, I must say,' continued the Admiral, 'all this learning 
 seemed to one to come rather too much by rote out of this 
 gentleman's mouth, and the American style of his talk made 
 it somewhat ludicrous, though he evidently believed in what 
 may be all very true particularly in mentioning the trea- 
 sures that must lie under water for leagues round, or even 
 in nooks about the St. Helena rocks ; I thought his very teeth 
 watered. As for Sir Hudson, lie had caught at the idea 
 altogether, but rather in view of an historical work on the 
 island, from the earliest times till now and I believe he 
 means to accompany the two botanists himself over toward 
 Longwood to-morrow, where we may very likely get sight of 
 them.' 
 
 " 'O h !' thought I, and Lord Frederick Bury smiled. 
 'Rather a novelty, indeed!' said he; and the first lieutenant 
 looked significantly enough to me, as we leaned over the 
 battery-wall, watching the hot horizon through the spars of 
 the ships before James Town. 'What amused me/ Sir Dudley 
 said again, 'was the American botanist's utter indifference, 
 when I asked if he had seen anything of "The General" in 
 the distance. The Governor started, glancing sharp at Mr. 
 Brown, and I noticed his dark companion give a sudden side- 
 look from the midst of his talk with her ladyship ; whereupon 
 the botanist merely pointed with his thumb to the floor, ask- 
 ing coolly "what it was to science ?" At this,' added Sir Dud- 
 ley to the captain, 'his Excellency seemed much relieved ; and 
 after having got leave for myself and your lordship to-mor- 
 row, I left them still in the spirit of it. It certainly struck 
 me that, in the United States themselves, educated men in 
 general could n't have such a vulgar manner about them in 
 fact, I thought the Mexican attendant more the gentleman of 
 the two his face was turned half from me most of the time, 
 but still it struck me as remarkably intelligent.' 'Ah,' said 
 Lord Frederick, carelessly, 'all the Spaniards h?ve naturally 
 a noble sort of air T you know, Sir Dudley they'll never 
 make republicans!' 'And I must say,' added the Admiral, 
 as they strolled out of the shade up the battery steps, 'little as 
 I know of Latin, what this Mr. Brown used did seem to ma 
 fearfully bad !' 
 
 " 'And no wonder !' thought I, from a Yankee schoolmaster 
 as I had found my late shipmate was, before he thought of 
 travelling; but the valuable Daniel turning his hand to help 
 out some communication or other, no doubt, with Napoleon 
 Bonaparte in St. Helena, took me at first as so queer an 
 affair, that I did n't know whether to laugh at him or admire^
 
 286 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 his Yankee coolness, when he ran such risks. As for the 
 feasibleness of actually getting the prisoner clear out of 
 the island, our cruising on guard was enough to show me it 
 would be little short of a miracle ; yet I could n't help think- 
 ing they meant to try it; and in case of a dark night, which 
 the south-easter was very likely to bring, if it shifted or 
 freshened a little, why, I knew you need n't call anything im- 
 possible that a cool head and a bold heart had to do with, pro- 
 vided only they could get their plans laid inside and out so as 
 to tally. The more eager I got for next day, when it would 
 be easy enough for any of us to go up inland after Lord 
 Frederick, as far as Hut's Gate at least. Meantime the first 
 lieutenant and I walked up together to where the little town 
 broke into a sort of suburb of fancy cottages, with verandas 
 and green Venetians in bungalow style, scattered to both sides 
 of the rock amongst little grass plots and garden patches 
 every foot of ground made use of. And a perfect gush of 
 flowers and leaves it was, clustering over the tiles of the low 
 roofs, while you saw through a thicket of poplars and plan- 
 tains right into the back of the gully, with a ridge of black 
 rock closing it fair up, and Side Path, as they call the road 
 to windward, winding overhead along the crag behind the 
 houses, out of sight round a mass of cliffs. Every here and 
 there, a runlet of water came trickling down from above the 
 trees to water their roots; you saw the mice in hundreds 
 scampering in and out of holes in the dry stone, with now 
 and then a big ugly rat that turned round to face you, being 
 no doubt fine game to the St. Helena people, ill off as they all 
 seemed for something to do except the Chinese with their 
 huge hats, hoeing away under almost every tree one saw, and 
 Yamstoek fishermen to be seen bobbing for mullet outside the 
 ships, in a blaze of light sufficient to bake any heads but their 
 own. Every cottage had seven or eight parrots in it, appar- 
 ently; a cockatoo on a stand by the door, or a monkey up in 
 a box not to speak of canaries in the window, and white 
 goats feeding about with bells round their necks: so you may 
 suppose what a jabbering, screaming, whistling, and tinkling 
 there was up the whole hollow, added to no end of children 
 and young ladies making the most of the shade as it got near 
 nightfall and all that were out of doors came flocking down 
 Side Path. 
 
 "Both of us having leave ashore that night, for a ball in 
 one of these same little bungalows near the head of the 
 valley, 't was no use to think of a bed, and as little to expect 
 getting off to the ship, which none could do after gunfire. For
 
 A SEA STORY 287 
 
 that matter, I dare say there might bo twenty such parties, 
 full of young reefers and homeward-bound old East Indians, 
 keeping it up as long as might be, because they had nowhere 
 to sleep. The young lady of the house we were in was one of 
 the St. Helena beauties, called 'The Rosebud,' from her color. 
 A lovely creature she was, certainly, as it was plain our 
 'Hebe's' first lieutenant thought, with several more to boot: 
 every sight of her figure gliding about through the rest, the 
 white muslin floating round her like haze, different as her 
 face was, made one think of the 'SeringapatamV deck at sea, 
 with the men walking the forecastle in the middle watch, and 
 the poop quiet over the Judge's cabins. 
 
 "Two or three times I had fancied for a moment that, if 
 one had somewhat stirring to busy himself with, why, he 
 might so far forget what was no doubt likely to interfere 
 pretty much with a profession like my own ; and so it might 
 have been, perhaps, had I only seen her ashore ; whereas now, 
 whether it was ashore or afloat, by Jove! everything called 
 her somehow to mind. The truth is, I defy you to get rid 
 very easily of the thought about one you 've sailed in the 
 same ship with, be it girl or woman : the same bottom betwixt 
 you and the water, the same breeze blowing your pilot-coat in 
 the watch on deck that ripples past her ear below, and 
 the self-same dangers to strive against ! At a break in the 
 dance I went out of the dancing-room into the veranda, 
 where the cool of the air among the honeysuckle-flowers and 
 creepers was delightful to feel; though it was quite dark in 
 the valley, and you could n't make out anything but the 
 solemn black-blue sky full of stars above you, between 
 the two cliffs; or right out, where the stretch of sea, 
 widening to the horizon, looked almost white through the 
 mouth of the valley over the house roofs below ; one heard the 
 small surf plashing low and slow into the little bay, with the 
 boats dipping at their moorings, but I never saw sea look so 
 lonely. Then up at the head of the gully one could mark 
 the steep black crag that shut it up, glooming quiet and large 
 against a gleam from one of the clusters of stars; the sight 
 of it was awful, I did n't know well why, unless by compari- 
 son with the lively scene inside, not to say with one's own 
 whole life afloat, as well as the wishes one had at heart. 
 'T was pretty late, but I heard the music strike up again in 
 the room, and was going back again, when all of a sudden I 
 thought the strangest sound that ever came to one's ears 
 went sweeping round and round far above the island, more 
 like the flutter of a sail miles wide than aught else I can
 
 288 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 fancy; then a rush of something like those same blasts of 
 wind I was pretty well used to by this time but wind it was 
 not growing in half a minute to a rumbling clatter, and 
 then to a smothered roar, as if something more than mortal 
 shot from inland down through the valley, and passed out by 
 its mouth into the open sea at once. I scarce felt the ground 
 heave under me, though I thought I saw the black head of 
 the ravine lift against the stars one terrible plunge of the 
 sea down at the quays and batteries, then everything was still 
 again ; but the whole dancing-party came rushing out in con- 
 fusion at my back, the ladies shrieking, the men looking up 
 into the sky, or at the cliffs on both sides; the British flag, 
 over the fort on Ladder Hill, blowing out steadily to a stiff 
 breeze aloft. It was n't for some time, in fact, that they 
 picked up courage again to say it had been an earthquake. 
 However, the ball was over, and, as soon as matters could be 
 set to rights, it was nothing but questions whether it had 
 aught to do with him up at Longwood, or had n't been an 
 attempt to blow up the island some of the officers being so 
 much taken aback at first, that they fancied the French had 
 come. 
 
 "At last, however, we, who had nothing else for it, got 
 stowed away on sofas or otherwise about the dancing-room; 
 for my part, I woke up just early enough to see the high 
 head of the valley coming out as clearly as before against the 
 morning light, and the water glancing blue out miles away 
 beyond the knot of ships in the opening. The news was only 
 that Napoleon was safe, having been in his bed at the time, 
 where he lay thinking one of the frigates had blown up, they 
 said. Not a word of his that got wind but the people in 
 James Town made it their day's text in the want of which 
 they 'd even gossip about the coat he wore that morning -till 
 you 'd have said the whole nest of them, soldiers and all, lay 
 under his shadow as the town did at the foot of the cliffs, just 
 ready to vanish as soon as he went down. The Longwood 
 doctor had told some one in the Jew Solomon's toy-shop, by 
 the forenoon, that Bonaparte could n't sleep that night for 
 making some calculations about a great battle he had fought, 
 when he counted three separate shocks of the thing, and 
 noticed it was luckily right up and down, or else James 
 Town would have been buried under tons of rock. The 
 doctor had mentioned besides that there was twice an earth- 
 quake before in the island, in former times ; but it did n't 
 need some of the townspeople's looks to tell you they 'd be 
 afraid many a night after, lest the French Emperor should
 
 A SEA STORY 289 
 
 wake up thinking of his battles ; while, as for myself, I must 
 say the notion stuck to me some time, along with my own 
 ideas at that exact moment ; at any rate, not for worlds would 
 I have lived long ashore in. St, Helena, 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 "MR. NEWLAND (the first lieutenant) and I set out early in 
 the day, accordingly, with a couple of the 'Hebe's' midship- 
 men, mounted on as many of the little island ponies, to go up 
 inland for a cruise about the hills. You take Side Path along 
 the crags, with a wall betwixt the hard track and the gulf 
 below, till you lose sight of James Town like a cluster of 
 children's toy -houses under you, and turn up above a sloping 
 hollow full of green trees and tropical-like flowering shrubs, 
 round a pretty cottage called The Briars where one begins 
 to have a notion, however, of the bare blocks, the red bluffs, 
 and the sharp peaks standing up higher and higher round the 
 shell of the island. Then you had another rise of it to climb, 
 on which you caught sight of James Town and the harbor 
 again, even smaller than before, and saw nothing before your 
 beast's head but a desert of stony ground, running hither 
 and thither into wild staring clefts, grim ravines, and 
 rocks of every size tumbled over each other like figures of 
 ogres and giants in hard fight. After two or three miles of 
 all this, we came in view of Longwood Hill, lying green on a 
 level to north and east, and clipping to windward against 
 the sea beyond; all round it elsewhere was the thick red 
 crust of the island, rising in ragged points and sharp spires 
 the greenish sugarloaf of Diana's Peak shooting in the 
 middle over the high ridge that hid the Plantation House 
 side of St. Helena to leeward. 
 
 "Between the spot where we were and Longwood is a huge 
 fearful-looking black hollow, called the Devil's Punch-bowl, 
 as round and deep as a pitch-pot for caulking all the ships in 
 the world except on a slope into one corner of it, where you 
 saw a couple of yellow cottages with gardens about them; 
 while every here and there a patch of grass began to appear, 
 a clump of wild weeds and flowers hanging off the fronts of 
 the rocks, or the head of some valley widening away out of 
 sight, with the glimpse of a house amongst trees, where some 
 stream of water came leaping down off the heights and
 
 290 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 vanished in the boggy piece of green below. From here over 
 the brow of the track it was all like seeing into an immense 
 stone basin half-hewn out, with all the lumps and wrinkles 
 left rising in it and twisting every way about the black 
 Devil's Punch-bowl for a hole in the middle, where some 
 infernal liquor or other had run through ; the soft bottoms of 
 the valleys just bringing the whole of it up distincter to the 
 green over Longwood Hill; while the ragged heights ran 
 round on every side like a rim with notches in it, and Diana's 
 Peak for a sort of a handle that the clouds could take hold 
 of. All this time we had strained ourselves to get as fast up 
 as possible, except once near the Alarm House, where there 
 was a telegraph signal-post, with a little guard-hut for the 
 soldiers; but there each turned round in his saddle, letting 
 out a long breath the next thing to a cry, and hcaving-to 
 directly, at sight of the prospect behind. The Atlantic lay 
 wide away round to the horizon from the roads, glittering 
 faint over the ragged edge of the crags we had mounted 
 near at hand; only the high back of the island shut out the 
 other side save here and there through a deep-notched gully 
 or two and accordingly you saw the sea blotched out in that 
 quarter to the two sharp bright ends, clasping the dark- 
 colored lump between -them, like a mighty pair of arms 
 lifting it high to carry it off. Soon after, however, the two 
 mids took it into their wise heads the best thing was to go 
 and climb Diana's Peak, where they meant to cut their names 
 at the very top; on which the first lieutenant, who was a 
 careful middle-aged man, thought needful to go with them, 
 lest they got into mischief; for my part I preferred the 
 chance of coming across the mysterious Yankee and his com- 
 rade, as I fancied not unlikely, or, what was less to be looked 
 for, a sight of Bonaparte himself. 
 
 "Accordingly, we had parted company, and I was hold- 
 ing single-handed round one side of the Devil's Punch-bowl, 
 when I heard a clatter of horse-hoofs on the road, and saw 
 the Admiral and Lord Frederick riding quickly past on 
 the opposite side, on their way to Longwood which, curi- 
 ously enough, was half-covered with mist at the time, driving 
 down from the higher hills, apparently before a regular gale, 
 or rather some kind of a whirlwind. In fact, I learned after, 
 that such was often the case, the climate up there being quite 
 different from below, where they never feel a gale from one 
 year's end to the other. In the next hollow I got into, it was 
 hot and still as it would have been in India, the blackberry- 
 trailers and wild aloes growing quite thick, mixed with
 
 A SEA STORY 
 
 291 
 
 prickly-pear bushes, willows, gumwood, and an African 
 palm or two; though from the look of the sea, I could notice 
 the south-east trade had freshened below, promising to blow a 
 good deal stronger that night than ordinary, and to shift a 
 little round. 
 
 "Suddenly the fog began to clear by degrees from over 
 Ixmgwood, till it was fairly before me, nearer than I thought ; 
 and just as I rode up a rising ground, out came the roof of a 
 house on the slope amongst some trees, glittering wet as if 
 the sun laid a finger on it; with a low bluish-colored stretch 
 of wood farther off, bringing out the white tents of the 
 soldiers' camp pitched about the edge of it. Nearly to wind- 
 ward there was one sail in sight on the horizon, over an 
 opening in the rocks beyond Longwood House, that seemingly 
 let down toward the coast; however I just glanced back to 
 notice the telegraph on the signal-post at work, signalling to 
 the 'Podargus' in the offing, and next minute Hut's Gate was 
 right ahead of me, not a quarter of a mile off a long-shaped 
 bungalow of a cottage, inside of a wall with a gate in it, 
 where I knew I needn't try farther, unless I wanted the 
 sentries to take me under arrest. Betwixt me and it, however, 
 in the low ground, was a party of man-o'-war's-men under 
 charge of a midshipman, carrying some timber and house- 
 furniture for Longwood, as I remembered, from seeing them 
 come ashore from the 'Podargus' that morning; so I stood 
 over, to give my late shipmates a hail. But the moment I 
 got up with them, it struck me not a little, as things stood, to 
 find three of the four blacks we had taken aboard from that 
 said burned barque of the American mate's, trudging pa- 
 tiently enough under the heaviest loads of the gang. Jetty- 
 black, savage-looking fellows they were, as strong as horses, 
 and reminded me more of our wild friends in the Nouries 
 River, than of States niggers; still, what caught my notice 
 most was n't so much their being there at all, as the want of 
 the fourth one, and where he might be. I don't know yet 
 how this trifling bit of a puzzle got hold on me, but it was the 
 sole thing that kept me from what might have turned a 
 scrape to myself namelypassing myself in as anofficerof the 
 party ; which was easy enough at the time, and the tars would 
 have entered into the frolic as boon as I started it. On 
 second thoughts, nevertheless, I bade them good-day, steering 
 my animal away round the slant of the ground, to see after a 
 good perch as near as possible; and I dare say I was getting 
 within the bounds before I knew it when another sentry sung 
 out to me off the heights to keep lower down, first bringing
 
 292 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 his musket to salute for my uniform's sake, then letting it 
 fall level with a ringing slap of his palm, as much as to say it 
 was all the distinction I 'd get over plain clothes. 
 
 "At this, of course, I gave it up, with a blessing to all 
 lobster-backs, and made sail down to leeward again as far as 
 the next rise, from which there was a full view of the sea, at 
 any rate, though the face of a rough crag over behind me shut 
 out Longwood House altogether. Here I had to get fairly off 
 the saddle rather sore, I must say, with riding up St. 
 Helena roads after so many weeks at sea and flung myself 
 down on the grass, with little enough fear of the hungry little 
 beast getting far adrift. This said crag, by the way, drew my 
 eye to it by the queer colors it showed, white, blue, gray, and 
 bright red in the hot sunlight ; and being too far off to make 
 out clearly, I slung off the ship's glass I had across my back, 
 just to overhaul it better. The hue of it was to be seen 
 running all down the deep rift between, that seemingly 
 wound away into some glen toward the coast ; while the lot of 
 plants and trailers half covering the steep front of it, would 
 no doubt, I thought, have delighted my old friend the 
 Yankee, if he was the botanizing gentleman in question. 
 
 "By this time it was a lovely afternoon far and wide to 
 Diana's Peak, the sky glowing clearer deep-blue at that height 
 than you 'd have thought sky could do, even in the tropics 
 the very peaks of bare red rock being softened into a purple 
 tint, far off round you. One saw into the rough bottom of the 
 huge Devil's Punch-bowl, and far through without a shadow 
 down the green patches in the little valleys, and over Dead- 
 wood Camp there was nothing, as it were, between the grass, 
 the ground, the stones, and leaves, and the empty hollow of 
 the air; while the sea spread far round underneath, of a 
 softer blue than the sky over you. You 'd have thought all 
 the world was shrunk into St. Helena, with the Atlantic lying 
 three quarters round it in one's sight, like the horns of the 
 bright new moon round the dim old one; which St. Helena 
 pretty much resembled, if what the star-gazers say of its 
 surface be true, all peaks and dry hollows if, indeed, you 
 were n't lifting up out of the world, so to speak, when one 
 looked through his fingers right into the keen blue overhead ! 
 
 "If I lived a thousand years, I could n't tell half what I 
 felt lying there; but, as you may imagine, it had somewhat 
 in it of the late European war by land and sea. Not that 
 I could have said so at the time, but rather a sort of half- 
 doze, such as I 've known one to have when a schoolboy, 
 lying on the green grass the same way, with one's face
 
 A SEA STORY 293 
 
 turned up into the hot summer heavens: half of it flying 
 glimpses, as it were, of the French Revolution, the battles we 
 used to hear of when we were children then the fears about 
 the invasion, with the Channel full of British fleets, and 
 Dover Cliffs Trafalgar and Nelson's death, and the battle of 
 Waterloo, just after we heard he had got out of Elba. In the 
 terrible flash of the thing altogether, one almost fancied them 
 all gone like smoke; and fora moment I thought I was falling 
 away off, down into the wide sky, so up I started to sit. From, 
 that, suddenly I took to guessing and puzzling closely again 
 how I should go to work myself, if I were the strange French- 
 man I saw in the brig at sea, and wanted to manage Napo- 
 leon's escape out of St. Helena. And first, there was how to 
 get into the island and put him up to the scheme why, sure 
 enough, I could n't have laid it down better than they seemed 
 to have done all along: what could one do but just dodge 
 about that latitude under all sorts of false rig, then catch 
 hold of somebody fit to cover one's landing ? No Englishman 
 would do it, and no foreigner but would set Sir Hudson Lowe 
 on his guard in a moment. Next we should have to get put on 
 the island and really a neat enough plan it was to dog one of 
 the very cruisers themselves, knock up a mess of planks and 
 spars in the night-time, set them all ablaze with tar, and 
 pretend we were fresh from a craft on fire; when even Cap- 
 tain Wallis of the 'Podargus,' as it happened, was too much 
 of a British seaman not to carry us straight to St. Helena! 
 Again, I must say it was a touch beyond me but to hit 
 the Governor's notion of a hobby, and go picking up plants 
 round Longwood, was a likely enough way to get speech of 
 the prisoner,, or at least let him see one was there ! 
 
 "How should I set about carrying him off to the coast, 
 though? That was the prime matter. Seeing that even if 
 the schooner which was no doubt hovering out of sight 
 were to make a bold dash for the land with the trade-wind, 
 in a night eleven hours long there were sentries close 
 round Longwood from sunset, the starlight shining mostly 
 always in the want of a moon; and at any rate there was 
 rock and gully enough, betwixt here and the coast, to try 
 the surest foot aboard tho 'Hebe,' let alone an Emperor. 
 With plenty of woods for a cover, one might steal up close to 
 Longwood, but the bare rocks showed you off to be made a 
 mark of. Whew! but why were those same blacks on the 
 island? I thought; just strip them stark-naked, and let them 
 lie in the Devil's Punch-bowl, or somewhere, beyond military 
 hours, when I warrant me they might slip up, gully by gully,
 
 294 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 to the very sentries' backs ! Their color would n't show 
 them, and savages as they seemed, could n't they settle as 
 many sentries as they needed, creep into the very bedcham- 
 ber where Bonaparte slept, and manhandle him bodily away 
 down through some of the nearest hollows, before anyone 
 was the wiser? The point that still bothered me was, why 
 the fourth of the blacks was wanting at present, unless he 
 had his part to play elsewhere. If it was chance, then the 
 whole might be a notion of mine, which I knew I was apt 
 to have sometimes. If I could only make out the fourth 
 black, so as to tally with the scheme, on the other hand, 
 then I thought it was all sure; but of course this quite 
 pawled me, and I gave it up, to work out my fancy case 
 by providing signals betwixt us plotters inside and the 
 schooner out of sight from the telegraphs. 
 
 "There was no use for her to run in and take the risk, 
 without good luck having turned up on the island; yet any 
 sign she could profit by must be both sufficient to reach 
 sixty miles or so, and hidden enough not to alarm the tele- 
 graphs or the cruisers. Here was a worse puzzle than all, 
 and I only guessed at it for my own satisfaction as a 
 fellow can't help doing when he hears a question he can't 
 answer till my eye lighted on Diana's Peak, near three 
 thousand feet above the sea. There it was, by Jove ! 'T was 
 quite clear at the time; but by nightfall there was alv/ays 
 more or less cloud near the top; and if you set a fire on 
 the very peak, 't would only be seen leagues off : a notion 
 that brought to mind a similar thing which I told you saved 
 the Indiaman from a lee-shore one night on the African 
 coast and again, by George! I saw that must have been 
 meant at first by the negroes as a smoke to help the French 
 brig easier in ! Putting that and that together, why it struck 
 me at once what the fourth black's errand might be 
 namely, to watch for the schooner, and kindle his signal as 
 soon as he could n't see the island for mist, I was sure of 
 it; and as for a dark night coming on at sea, the freshening 
 of the breeze there promised nothing more likely ; a bright 
 white haze was softening out the horizon already, and here 
 and there the egg of a cloud could be seen to break off the 
 sky to windward, all of which would be better known afloat 
 than here. 
 
 "The truth was, I was on the point of tripping my anchor 
 to hurry down and get aboard again, but, on standing up, 
 the head of a peak fell below the sail I had noticed in the 
 distance, and, seeing she loomed large on the stretch of
 
 A SEA STORY 295. 
 
 water, I pretty soon found she must be a ship of the line. 
 The telegraph over the Alarm House was hard at work again, 
 so I e'en took down my glass and cleaned it to have a 
 better view, during which I caught sight, for a minute, of 
 some soldier-officer or other on horseback, with a mounted 
 red-coat behind him, riding hastily up the gully a good bit 
 from my back, till they were round the red piece of crag, 
 turning at times as if to watch the vessel. Though I 
 couldn't have a better spy at him for want of my glass, I 
 had no doubt he was the Governor himself, for the sentries 
 in the distance took no note of him. 
 
 "There was nobody else visible at the time, and the said 
 cliff stood fair up like a lookout place, so as to shut them 
 out as they went higher. Once or twice after, I fancied I 
 made out a man's head or two lower down the gully than 
 the cliff was, which, it occurred to me, might possibly be 
 the botanists, as they called themselves, busy finding out 
 how long St. Helena had been an island; however, I soon 
 turned the glass before me upon the ship, by this time right 
 opposite the ragged opening of Prosperous Bay, and heading 
 well up about fourteen miles or so off the coast, as I 
 reckoned, to make James Town harbor. The moment I had 
 the sight of the glass right for her though you 'd have' 
 thought she stood still on the smooth soft blue water I could 
 see her whole beam rise off the swells before me, from the 
 dark side and white band, checkered with a double row of 
 ports, to the hamper of her lofty spars, and the sails braced 
 slant to the breeze, the foam gleaming under her high bows, 
 and her wake running aft in the heave of the sea. She 
 was evidently a seventy-four: I fancied I could make out 
 her men's faces peering over the yards toward the island, 
 as they thought of 'Boneypart'; a white rear-admiral's flag 
 was at the mizzen-royal-masthead, leaving no doubt she 
 was the 'Conqueror' at last, with Admiral Plampin, and, in 
 a day or two at farthest, the 'Hebe' would be bound for India. 
 
 "I had just looked over my shoulder toward Longwood, 
 letting the 'Conqueror' sink back again into a thing no bigger 
 than a model on a mantlepiece, when, all at once, I saw 
 some one standing near the brow of the cliff I mentioned, 
 apparently watching the vessel, with a long glass at his eye, 
 like myself. 'T was farther than I could see to make out 
 anything, save so much; and, ere I had screwed the glass for 
 such a near sight, there were seven or eight figures more ap- 
 pearing half over the slope behind; while my hand shook 
 so much with holding the glass so long, that at first I
 
 296 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 brought it to bear full on the cracks and blocks in the front of 
 the crag, with the large green leaves and trailers on it flicker- 
 ing idly with the sunlight against rny eyes, till I could have 
 seen the spiders inside, I dare say. Next I held it too high, 
 where the Admiral and Lord Frederick were standing by 
 their horses, a good way back; the Governor, as I supposed, 
 sitting on his, and two or three others along the rise. At 
 length, what with kneeling down to rest it on one knee, I had 
 the glass steadily fixed on the brow of the rocks, where I 
 plainly saw a tall, dark-whiskered man, in a rich French 
 uniform, gazing to seaward I knew him I sought too well 
 by pictures, however, not to be sadly galled. 
 
 "Suddenly a figure came slowly down from before the 
 rest, with his hands behind his back, and his head a little 
 drooped. The officer at once lowered the telescope and held 
 it to him, stepping upward, as if to leave him alone what 
 dress he had on I scarce noticed; but there he was stand- 
 ing, single, in the round bright field of the glass I had 
 hold of like a vise his head raised, his hands hiding his 
 face, as he kept the telescope fixed fair in front of me only 
 I saw the smooth, broad round of his chin. I knew, as if 
 I 'd seen him in the Tuileries at Paris, or known him by 
 sight since I was a boy I knew it was Napoleon! 
 
 "During that minute the rest of them were out of sight, 
 so far as the glass went you 'd have supposed there was 
 no one there but himself, as still as a figure in iron, watch- 
 ing the same thing, no doubt, as I 'd done myself five 
 minutes before, where the noble seventy-four was beating 
 slowly to windward. When I did glance to the knot of 
 officers twenty yards back, 't was as if one saw a ring of 
 his generals waiting respectfully while he eyed some- field 
 of battle or other, with his army at the back of the hill; 
 but next moment the telescope fell in his hands, and his 
 face, as pale as death, with his lip firm under it, seemed 
 near enough for me to touch it his eyes shot stern into me 
 from below his wide white forehead, and I started, dropping 
 my glass in turn. That instant the whole wild lump of 
 St. Helena, with its ragged brim, the clear blue sky and the 
 sea, swung round about the dwindled figures above the crag, 
 till they were nothing but so many people together against 
 the slope beyond. 
 
 " 'T was a strange scene to witness, let me tell you ; never 
 can I forget the sightless, thinking sort of gaze from that 
 head of his, after the telescope sank from his eye, when the
 
 A SEA STORY 297 
 
 'Conqueror' must have shot back with all her stately ham- 
 per into the floor of the Atlantic again! 
 
 "Once more I brought my spyglass to bear on the place 
 where he had been, and was almost on the point of calling out 
 to warn him off the edge of the cliff, forgetting the dis- 
 tance I was away. Napoleon had stepped, with one foot 
 before him, on the very brink,, his two hands hanging loose 
 by his side, with the glass in one of them, till the shadow of 
 his small black cocked hat covered the hollows of his eyes, 
 and he stood, as it were, looking down past the face of the 
 precipice. What he thought of, no mortal tongue can say, 
 whether he was master at the time over a wilder battle 
 than any he 'd ever fought but just then, what was the sur- 
 prise it gave me to see the head of a man, with a red tas- 
 selled cap on it, raised through amongst the ivy from below, 
 while he seemed to have his feet on the cracks and juts 
 of the rock, hoisting himself by one hand round the tangled 
 roots, till no doubt he must have looked right aloft into the 
 French Emperor's face; and perhaps he whispered something 
 though, for my part, it was all dumb show to me, where 
 I knelt peering into the glass. I saw even him start at the 
 suddenness of the thing he raised his head upright, still 
 glancing down over the front of the crag, with the spread 
 hand lifted, and the side of his face half turned toward 
 the party within ear-shot behind, where the Governor and 
 the rest apparently kept together out of respect, no doubt 
 watching both Napoleon's back and the ship of war far 
 beyond. The keen sunlight on the spot brought out every 
 motion of the two in front the one so full in my view, 
 that I could mark his look settle again on the other below, 
 his firm lips parting and his hand out before him, like 
 a man seeing a spirit he knew; while a bunch of leaves 
 on the end of a wand came stealing up from the stranger's 
 post to Napoleon's very fingers. 
 
 "The head of the man on the cliff turned round seaward 
 for one moment, ticklish as his footing must have been; 
 then he looked back, pointing with his loose hand to the 
 horizon there was one minute between them without a 
 motion, seemingly the captive Emperor's chin was sunk 
 on his breast, though you'd have said his eyes glanced up 
 out of the shadow on his forehead; and the stranger's red 
 cap hung like a bit of bright-colored cliff, under his two 
 hands holding amongst the leaves. Then I saw Napoleon 
 lift his hand calmly, he gave a sign with it it might have 
 been refusing, it might have been agreeing, or it might be
 
 298 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 farewell, I never expect to know; but he folded his arms 
 across his breast, with the bunch of leaves in his fingers, 
 and stepped slowly back from the brink towards the officers. 
 1 was watching the stranger below it, as he swung there 
 for a second or two, in a way like to let him go dash to 
 the bottom; his face sluing wildly seaward again. Short 
 though the glance I had of him was his features set hard 
 in some bitter feeling or other, his dress different, too, 
 besides the moustache being off, and his complexion no doubt 
 purposely darkened it served to prove what I 'd suspected : 
 he was no other than the Frenchman I had seen in the 
 brig, and, mad or sensible, the very look I caught was 
 more like that he faced the thunder-squall with than aught 
 besides. Directly after, he was letting himself carefully 
 down with his back to my glass; the party above was mov- 
 ing off over the brow of the crags, and the Governor riding 
 round apparently to come once more down the hollow be- 
 tween us. 
 
 "In fact, the seventy-four had stood by this time so far 
 in that the peaks in the distance shut her out; but I ran 
 the glass carefully along the whole horizon in my view, for 
 signs of the schooner. The haze was too bright, however, to 
 make sure either way; though, dead to windward, there v/ere 
 some streaks of cloud risen with the breeze, where I once or 
 twice fancied I could catch the gleam of a speck in it. 
 The 'Podargus' was to be seen through a notch in the rocks, 
 too, beating out in a different direction, as if the telegraph 
 Lad signalled her elsewhere; after which you heard the dull 
 rumble of the forts saluting the 'Conqueror' down at James 
 Town as she came in; and being late in the afternoon, it 
 was high time for me to crowd sail downward, to fall in with 
 my shipmates. 
 
 "I was just getting near the turn into Side Path, ac- 
 cordingly, after a couple of mortal hours' hard riding, and 
 once more in sight of the harbor beneath, when the three of 
 them overtook me, having managed to reach the top of Diana's 
 Peak, as they meant. The first lieutenant was full of 
 the grand views on the way, with the prospect of the peak, 
 where one saw the sea all round St. Helena, like a ring, 
 and the sky over you as blue as blue water. 'But what do 
 you think we saw on the top, Mr. Collins?' asked one of the 
 urchins of me a mischievous imp he was himself, too, 
 pock-marked, with hair like a brush, and squinted like a 
 ship's two hawse-holes. 'Why, Mister Snelling,' said I, 
 gruffly for I knew him pretty well already, and he was
 
 A SEA STORY 
 
 299 
 
 rather a favorite with me for his sharpness, though you 
 may suppose I was thinking of no trifles at the moment 
 'why, the devil, perhaps.' 'I must say I thought at first 
 it was him, sir/ said the reefer, grinning; "t was a black 
 nigger, though, sir, sitting right on the very truck of it, 
 with his hands on his two knees, and we 'd got to shove him 
 off before we could dig our knives into it!' 'By the Lord 
 
 Harry !' I rapped out, 'the very thing that ' ' 'T was really 
 
 the case, though, Mr. Collins,' said the first lieutenant; 
 'and I thought it curious; but there are so many negroes in 
 the island.' 'If you please, sir,' put in the least of the mids, 
 'perhaps they have n't all of 'em room to meditate, sir !' 'Or 
 sent to the masthead, eh, Roscoe?' said Snelling. 'Which 
 you'll be, sirrah,' broke in the first lieutenant, 'the moment 
 I get aboard, if you don't keep a small helm.' We were 
 clattering down over James Town by this time, the sun 
 blazing red off the horizon, into it and the doors of the 
 houses, and the huge hull and spars of the 'Conqueror' al- 
 most blocking up the harbor, as she lay anchored outside the 
 Jndiaman. The evening gun fired as we pulled aboard the 
 'Hebe,' which immediately got under way by order, al- 
 though Lord Frederick was not come down yet; but it 
 fell to her turn that night to supply a guard-boat to wind- 
 ward, and she stood up under full sail round Sugarloaf 
 Point, just as the dusk fell like a shadow over the island. 
 
 "The 'Newcastle's' boat was on the leeward coast that 
 night, and one of our cutters was getting ready to lower, 
 nearly off Prosperous Bay, to windward, while the frigate 
 herself would hold farther out to sea. One of the master's 
 mates should have taken the cutter; but after giving the 
 first lieutenant a few hints as far as I liked to go, I 
 proposed to go in charge of her that time, myself which 
 was laid to the score of my freshness on the station; 
 and the mate being happy to get rid of a tiresome duty, 
 I got leave at once. 
 
 "The sharp midshipman, Snelling, took it into his ugly 
 head to keep me company, and away we pulled into hearing 
 of the surf. The moment things took the shape of fair 
 work, in fact, I lost all thoughts of a late kind. In place 
 of seeing the ragged heights against the sky, and musing 
 all sorts of notions about the French Emperor, there was 
 nothing but the broad bulk of the island high over us, the 
 swell below, and the sea glimmering wide from our gunwale 
 to the stars; so no sooner did we lose sight of the 'Hebe' 
 slowly melting into the gloom, than I lit a cheroot, gave the
 
 300 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 tiller to the mid, and sat stirring to the heart at the thought 
 of something to come, I scarce knew what. As for Bonaparte, 
 with all that belonged to him, 't was little to me in that 
 mood, in spite of what I 'd seen during the day, compared 
 with a snatch of old Channel times; the truth was, next 
 morning I 'd feel for him again. 
 
 "The night for a good while was pretty tolerably starlight, 
 and in a sort of way you could make out a good distance. 
 One time we pulled right round betwixt the two points, 
 though slowly enough; then again the men lay on their 
 oars, letting her float in with the long swells, till the surf 
 could be heard too loud for a safe berth. Farther on in 
 the night, however, it got to be dark below at least the 
 breeze holding steady, and bringing it thicker and thicker; 
 at last it was so black all round that on one side you just 
 knew the rocks over you, with the help of a faint twinkle 
 of stars right aloft. On the other side there was only, at times, 
 the two lights swinging at the masthead of the 'Podargus' 
 and 'Hebe,' far apart, and one farther to sea than the 
 other; or now and then their stern window and a port, 
 when the heave of the water lifted them, or the ships yawed 
 a little. One hour after another, it was wearisome enough 
 waiting for nothing at all, especially in the key one was in 
 at the time, and with a long tropical night before you. 
 
 "All of a sudden, fairly between the brig and the frigate, 
 I fancied I caught a glimpse for one moment of another 
 twinkle; then it was out again, and I had given it up, 
 when I was certain I saw it plainly once more, as well as a 
 third time, for as short a space as before. We were off 
 a cove in the coast, inside Prosperous Bay, where a bight in 
 the rocks softened the force of the surf, not far from the 
 steep break where one of these same narrow gullies came 
 cut a good deal short of the shore, indeed; but I knew by 
 this time it led up somewhere toward the Longwood side. 
 Accordingly the idea struck me of a plan to set agoing, 
 whether I hit upon the right place or not; if it was the 
 schooner, she would be coming down right from wind- 
 ward, on the lookout for a signal, as well as for the spot to 
 aim at; the thing was to lure her boat ashore there before 
 their time, seize her crew, and take the schooner herself 
 by surprise, as if we were coming back all right; since 
 signal the ships we could n't, and the schooner would be 
 wary as a dolphin. 
 
 "No sooner said than done. I steered cautiously for the 
 cove, fearfully though the swell bore in, breaking over the
 
 THE FRENCHMAN S RED CAP AND HIS DARK, FIERCE FACE GLARED ON 
 ME BY THE LIGHT OF THE LANTERN.
 
 A SEA STORY 301 
 
 rocks outside of it; and the reefer and I had to spring 
 one after the other for our lives, just as the bowman prized 
 her off into the back-wash. 
 
 "As for the cutter, it would spoil all to keep her off there- 
 abouts; and I knew, if a boat did come in of the kind J. 
 guessed, why she would n't lay herself out for strength of 
 crew. Snelling and I were well armed enough to manage 
 half a dozen, if they fancied us friends; so I ordered the 
 men to pull clear off for an hour, at least leaving fair water. 
 In fact there were sentries about the heights, I was aware, if 
 they could have heard or seen us; but the din of the surf, 
 the dark, and the expectation of the thing, set us both upon 
 our mettle; while I showed the boat's lantern every now and 
 then, like the light I had noticed, such as the Channel 
 smugglers use every thick night on our own coast. 1 sup- 
 pose we might have waited five or ten minutes when the 
 same twinkle was to be caught, dipping dark down into 
 the swell again, about opposite the cove; next we had half 
 an hour more, every now and then giving them a flash of the 
 lantern, when suddenly the reefer said he saw oars glisten 
 over a swell, which he knew were n't man-o'-war's strokes, 
 or else the fellows ought to have their grog stopped. 1 
 had the lantern in my hand, slipping the shade once more, 
 and the other to feel for my cutlass-hilt, when the mid 
 gave a cry behind me, and I turned just in time to see the 
 dark figure of a black spring off the stones at our backs. 
 One after another three or four more came leaping past 
 me out of the gloom the Frenchman's red cap and his dark 
 fierce face glared on me by the light of the lantern; and 
 next moment it was down, with him and me in a deadly 
 struggle over it in the thick black of the night. Suddenly 
 I felt myself lose hold of him in the heave of the swell, 
 washing away back off the rock; then something else trying 
 to clutch me, when down I swept with the sea bubbling into 
 my mouth and ears. 
 
 "I came up above water again by the sheer lorce of the 
 swell, as it seemed to me, plunging into the shore; with the 
 choice, I thought, of either being drowned in the dark, or 
 knocked to a jelly on the rocks; but out I struck, naturally 
 enough, rising on the huge scud of the sea, and trying to 
 breast it, though I felt it sweep me backwards at every stroke, 
 and just saw the wide glimmer of it heave far and wide 
 for a moment against the gloom of the cliffs behind. All 
 at once, in the trough, I heard the panting of some one's 
 breath near alongside of me, and directly after I was caught
 
 302 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 hold of by the hair of the head, somebody else grabbing at 
 the same time for my shoulder. We were n't half a dozen 
 fathoms from the stranger's boat, the blacks who had fallen 
 foul of me swimming manfully together, and the boat 
 lifting bow-on to the run of the sea, as her crew looked about 
 for us by the light of their lantern. I had just got my 
 senses enough about me to notice so much, when they were 
 hauling me aboard; all four of the negroes holding 011 with 
 one hand by the boat's gunnel, and helping their way with 
 the other; while the oars began to make for the light, wnich 
 v/as still to be caught by fits, right betwixt those of the 
 two cruisers, as the space widened slowly in the midst of 
 them, standing out to sea. Scarce had I time to feel some 
 one beside me as wet as myself, whether the reefer or 
 the Frenchman I did n't know, when crash came another 
 boat with her bows fairly down upon our gunwale, out of 
 the dark. 
 
 "The spray splashed up betwixt us, i saw the glitter of 
 the oar blades, and heard Snelling's shrill voice singing out 
 to 'sink the villains, my lads down with 'em remember 
 the second lieutenant!' The lantern in the French boat 
 flared, floating out for a single instant amongst a wreck 
 of staves and heads, bobbing wildly together on the side 
 of a wave. One of my own men from the cutter pulled me 
 by the scuff of the neck off the crest of it with his boat- 
 hook, as it rose swelling away past, till I had fast grip of her 
 quarter; the blacks could be seen struggling in the hollow, 
 to keep up their master's body, with his hands spread help- 
 lessly hither and thither above water. The poor devils' wet 
 black faces turned so wistfully, in their desperation, towards 
 the cutter, that I gasped out to save him. They kept 
 making towards us, in fact, and the bowman managed to 
 hook him at last, though not a moment too soon, for tho 
 next heave broke the unlucky wretches apart,' and we lost 
 sight of them; the cutter hanging on her oars till they had 
 both him and me stowed into the stern-sheets, where the 
 Frenchman lay seemingly dead or senseless, and I spitting 
 out the salt water like a cockney after a bathe. 
 
 "Why, Mr. Snelling,' said I, as soon as I came fully to 
 myself, 'I can't at all understand how I got into the water!' 
 'Nor I either, sir,' said he ; '1 11 be hanged, sir, if I did n't 
 think it was a whirlwind of niggers off the top of Diana's 
 Peak, seeing I made out the very one we found there this 
 afternoon the four of them took you and this other gen- 
 tleman up in their arms in a lump, as you were flounder-
 
 A SEA STORY 303 
 
 ing about together, and took to the water like so many seals, 
 sir!' I looked down into the Frenchman's face, where he 
 lay stretched with his head back and his hair dripping. 'Is he 
 gone ?' said I. 'Well, sir,' said the mid, who had con- 
 trived to light the lantern again, 'I 'm afraid he 's pretty 
 near it. Is he a friend of yours, sir? I thought as much, 
 by the way you caught him the moment you clapped eyes 
 on each other, sir.' 'Silence, sirrah !' said I. 'D' ye see 
 anything of the light to seaward?' 
 
 "For a minute or two we peered over the swells into 
 the dark, to catch the twinkle of the signal again, but to no 
 purpose; and I began to think the bird was flown. All of 
 a sudden, however, there it was once more, dipping as before 
 beyond the heave of the sea, and between the backs of it, 
 sliding across the open space, with the blind side to the 
 cruisers. 'Hallo, my lads!' said I, quickly, and giving my- 
 self another shake as I seized the tiller, 'give way seaward 
 stretch your backs for ten minutes, and we have her!' We 
 were pulling right for the spot, when the light vanished, 
 but a show of our lantern brought it gleaming fairly out 
 again, till I could even catch a glimpse by it of some craft 
 or other's hull, and the iron of one boom-end, rising over 
 the swells. 'Bow-oar, there!' whispered 1. 'Stand by, my 
 lad, and look sharp!' 'Hola!' came a short, sharp hail 
 over the swells, 'd'ou venez-vous?' 'Oui, oui!' I sang out 
 boldly, through my hand, to cover the difference as much 
 as possible; then a thought occurred to me, recollecting the 
 French surgeon's words on board this very craft the first 
 time we saw her 'De la cage de YAiglef 1 hailed; 'bonne 
 fortune, mes amis!' 'C'est possible! c'est possible, mon rnpi- 
 taine !' shouted several of the schooner's crew, jumping upon 
 her bulwarks, 'que vous apportez lui-meme?' 
 
 "We were pulling for her side as lubberly as possible, all 
 the time a man ran up on her quarter with a coil of line 
 ready to heave but still the main boom of the schooner was 
 already jibbing, her helm up, and she under way; they 
 seemed half doubtful of us, and another moment might 'urn 
 the scales. 'Vite, vitc !' roared I, choosing my French at hap- 
 hazard. 'Oui, oui, jettez votre corde venez au lof, mes 
 amis!' luff, that was to say. I heard somebody aboard say 
 it was the American the schooner came up in the wind, 
 the line whizzing off her quarter into our bows, and we 
 came sheering down close by her lee-quarter, grinding 
 against her bends in the surge, twenty eager faces peering 
 over at us in the confusion; when I sung out hoarsely to run
 
 304 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 for brandy and hot blankets, as he was half-drowned. 
 'Promptement promptement, mes amis!' shouted I, and as 
 quickly there was a rush from her bulwarks to bring what 
 was wanted, while Snelling and I made dash up her side, fol- 
 lowed by the men, cutlass in hand. Three minutes of hub- 
 bub, and as many strokes betwixt us, when we had driven 
 the few that stood in our way pell-mell down the nearest 
 hatchway. The schooner was completely our own. 
 
 "We hoisted up the cutter, with the French captain still 
 stretched in the stern-sheets hauled aft the schooner's head- 
 sheets, let her large mainsail swing full again, and were soon 
 standing swiftly out toward the light at the frigate's mast- 
 head. 
 
 "When the 'Hebe' first caught sight of us, or rather heard 
 the sound of the schooner's sharp bows rushing through the 
 water, she naturally enough did n't know what to make of 
 us. I noticed our first luff's sudden order to clear away the 
 foremost weather-gun, with the rush of the men for it; but 
 my hail set all to rights. We hove-to off her weather quar- 
 ter, and I was directly after on board, explaining, as simply 
 as possible, how we had come to get hold of a French craft 
 thereabouts in such a strange fashion. 
 
 "Accordingly, you may fancy the surprise at James Town 
 in the morning, to sec the 'Hebe' standing in with her 
 prize, let alone the Governor's perfect astonishment at sus- 
 pecting some scheme to carry off Napoleon, apparently, so 
 far brought to a head. The upshot of it was, to cut this 
 bit of my story short, he and the military folks would have 
 it, at last, that there was nothing of the kind, but only 
 some slaver from the African coast wanting to land a cargo, 
 especially as there were so many blacks aboard of her, and 
 the Frenchman at once took the cue, the little Monsieur of 
 a mate swearing he had been employed by several of the 
 islanders some months before to bring them slaves. For 
 my own part, all things considered, I had nothing to say, 
 and after some likelihood of a shine being kicked up about 
 it at first, the matter was hushed up. However, the schooner 
 was of course condemned in the meantime, as the 'Hebe's' 
 fair prize, till such time as the Admiralty Court at the 
 Cape should settle it on our outward-bound voyage. 
 
 "As the 'Hebe,' was to sail at once for India, the Governor 
 took the opportunity to send two cr three supernumeraries 
 out in the vessel along with us to the Cape of Good Hope, 
 amongst whom was the Yankee botanist; and though being
 
 A SEA STORY 305 
 
 in the frigate I did n't see him, I made as sure as if 1 
 had, it was my old shipmate Daniel. 
 
 "Well, the morning came, when we weighed anchor from 
 >St. James's Bay for sea, in company with the prize. It 
 wasn't more than ten or eleven days since we had arrived 
 in the 'Podargus,' but I was as weary with the sight of St. 
 Helena as if I'd lived there a year. The frigate's lovely 
 hull, and her taunt spars, spreading the square stretch of 
 her white canvas sideways to the Trade, put new life into 
 me. Slowly as we dropped the peaks of the island on our 
 lee-quarter, 't was something to feel yourself travelling the 
 same road as the Indiaman once more, with the odds of a 
 mail coach, too, to a French diligence. What chance might 
 turn up to bring us together, I certainly did n't see ; but that 
 night, when we and the schooner were the only things in the 
 horizon, both fast plunging, close-hauled, on a fresh breeze, 
 at the distance of a mile, I set my mind,, for the first time, 
 more at ease. 'Luck and the anchors stowed!' thought 1, 
 'and hang all fore-thoughts !' I walked the weather quarter- 
 deck in my watch as pleasantly as might be, with now and 
 then a glance forward at Snelling, as he yarned at the fife- 
 rail beside a groggy old mate, and at times a glimmer of the 
 schooner's hull on our lee-beam, rising wet out of the dusk, 
 under charge of our third lieutenant. 
 
 "It was about a week afterwards, and we began to have 
 rough touches of Cape weather, pitching away on cross seas, 
 and handing our gallant-sails oftener of a night, that Lord 
 Frederick said to me one evening, before going down to 
 his cabin, 'Mr. Collins, I really hope we shall not find your 
 Indiaman at Cape Town, after all!' 'Indeed, Lord Fred- 
 erick!' said I respectfully enough; but it was the very 
 thing I hoped myself. 'Yes, sir/ continued he; 'as I 
 received strict injunctions by Admiral Plampin to arrest 
 Lieutenant Westwood if we fell in with her there, and 
 otherwise, to send the schooner in her track, even if it were 
 to Bombay.' 'The deuce!' I thought, 'are we never to be 
 done with this infernal affair?' "T is excessively disagree- 
 able,' continued the captain, swinging his gold eyeglass 
 round his finger by the chain, as waa his custom when both- 
 ered, and looking with one eye all the while at the schooner. 
 A beautiful craft, by the way, Mr. Collins!' said he, 'even 
 within sight of the "Hebe."' 'She is so, my lord,' said 
 I ; 'if she had tmly had a sensible boatswain, even, to put the 
 sticks aloft in her.' 'I say, Mr. Collins,' went on his lord-
 
 306 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 ship, musingly, 'I think I havo it, though the way to get 
 rid of this scrape!' 
 
 "I waited and waited, however, for Lord Frederick to 
 mention this; and to no purpose, apparently, as he went 
 below without saying a word more about it. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 "WELL, ma'am," continued our narrator, addressing him- 
 self, as usual, to his matronly relative in the chair, and with 
 the accustomed catch-word, which was like the knotting to- 
 gether of his interrupted yarn : "well it was between a 
 fortnight and three weeks after losing sight of St. Helena, 
 that, being at last fairly in the latitude of the Cape, the 
 frigate and schooner tacked in company, and stood close- 
 hauled on a wind to the eastward. By the middle watch that 
 night, when the moon set, we could make out the long flat 
 top of Table Mountain heaving in sight off the horizon 
 over against her. ^ext day, in fact, we were both of us 
 quietly at anchor outside of the shipping in Table Bay; 
 Cape Town glittering along on the green flat amongst the 
 trees to southward, with the hills on each side of it like 
 some big African lion lying on guard close by; while Table 
 Mountain hove up, square-shouldered, blue to the left, four 
 thousand feet high, as bare and steep as a wall, with the 
 rocks and trees creeping up from the foot, and the wreaths 
 of light cloud resting half way, like nothing else but the 
 very breakwater of the world's end. The sea stretched broad 
 off to north and west, and a whole fleet of craft lay be- 
 twixt us and the land half of them Indiamen amongst 
 which, you may be sure, I kept a pretty sharp lookout with 
 the glass, to see if the 'Seringapatam' were there still. 
 
 a l was soon saved further pains on this head, however, 
 when shortly afterwards the frigate was beset by a whole 
 squadron of bumboats, shoving against each other and 
 squabbling in. all sorts of nigger tongues, who should be 
 first : the chief of them being in evident command of a fat 
 old Dutch vrouw, with an immense blue umbrella over her, 
 two greasy-looking Hottentot rowers in blankets, and a 
 round-faced Dutch boy, the picture of herself, steering the 
 boat; as the old lady made a clear berth for herself, 
 by laying about her with her blue umbrella, till she was close 
 under our quarter, sitting all tho while with the broad round
 
 A SEA STORY 30; 
 
 stern of her bright-colored gown spread over a couple of 
 beer-barrels, like a peacock's train. In, two minutes more 
 the little fellow was up the side, nourishing a bundle of 
 papers under the first lieutenant's very nose, and asking the 
 ship's custom, even whilst the sentries were ordering them 
 all off. A midshipman took this youth by the scuff of the 
 neck, and was handing him rather roughly along to the 
 care of the purser's steward, when I stepped betwixt them; 
 and a bumboat being the best directory on the point, of 
 course, I soon found the old lady had had dealings with 
 the 'Seringapatam,' which her bluff-built little progeny de- 
 scribed as a very good ship indeed, all having paid their 
 bills, except one young officer, who had left a balance stand- 
 ing, for which he had given a letter to his brother in a 
 ship that was to come after. As for the Indiaman her- 
 self, the Dutch boy said she had sailed about a week be- 
 fore our arrival, along with two others; and he was anxious 
 to know if we were the vessel in question. I accordingly 
 unfolded the open letter, which was addressed: 'Thomas 
 Spoonbill Simm, Esquire, of His Britannic Majesty's ship 
 "Nincompoop" (or otherwise)'; and it ran somehow thus: 
 rBon. East India Company's ship "Seringapatam," Table 
 Bay, September 1, 1816. My dear Brother, This ig to 
 certify that I have eaten four dozen and a half of eggs, 
 supplied by the worthy vrouw Dulcken, the bearer of this, 
 whom I can recommend as an old screw, and am due her 
 for the same the sum of nine shilling and sixpence sterling, 
 which you will kindly pay her, taking her receipt or mark, 
 unless you are willing to forfeit our family watch, herewith 
 deposited by me in the hands of said Mother Dulcken. 1 
 may add that, in justice to the worthy vrouw, three of the 
 above-mentioned eggs ought to be charged as fowls, which, 
 by the way, I did not consume; and, with love to all at 
 home, remain your affectionate brother, JOHN SIMM, 
 H.E.I.C.S. P.8. The watch I have discovered to be pinch- 
 beck, and it does not go; so that a sad trick must have 
 been originally played upon our venerated Uncle, from 
 whom it descended. J. S.' 
 
 "This precious epistle was, without doubt, a joke of the 
 fat mid Simm, who used to come such rigs over Ford the 
 cadet, and that jumped overboard one night by mistake out 
 of the Indiaman's quarter-boat, during the voyage. As for 
 the existence of his brother Thomas, or the chance of his 
 touching at that port, I set them down with the coming 
 home of Vandcrdecken ; though the thought of this young
 
 308 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 scamp of a sea-lawyer breakfasting for a fortnight so com- 
 fortably, only a few feet distant from my charmer's state- 
 room, sent me all abroad again, and right into the India- 
 man's decks, by this time far out of sight of land. Piece 
 of impudent roguery though it was, I was actually loath to 
 part with the scrawl, which the reefer had fisted, no doubt, 
 on the lid of his chest probably with a pipe in his mouth 
 at the time, it smelt so of tobacco only seven days before: 
 I could even see the grin on his fat face as he wrote it below 
 in the steerage, with his chin up, and his eyes looking down 
 past his pipe; while the little Dutch boy's round flat frontis- 
 piece glistened as he peered up at me, in the evident notion 
 of my being the brother expected. 
 
 "In fact, ma'am, I was so soft as to intend paying the 
 nine-and-sixpence myself, and keeping the letter, when I 
 was startled to see the old lady herself had contrived to be 
 hoisted on board amongst her cabbages; and having got 
 wind of the thing, seemingly, she came waddling towards me 
 to hand over Simm's watch to boot. In another half -minute 
 the letter was being read aloud in the midst of the whole 
 gunroom officers, amongst roars of laughter; 'the honest 
 old Dutchwoman holding aloft the precious article, and 
 floundering through to find out the rightful owner, as 
 every one claimed it and offered the nine-and-sixpence; while 
 for my part I tried first to get down one hatchway, then 
 another, and Lord Frederick himself came up on the star- 
 board side of the quarter-deck in the height of the scene. 
 Indeed, I believe it was a joke for months after in the 
 'Hebe/ of a night, to say it was 'the second lieutenant's 
 watch'; the sole revenge I had being to leave Mother 
 Dulcken and her boy to expect the 'ship that was coming 
 after.' 
 
 "A Government boat came aboard in the afternoon and as 
 soon as it left us, Lord Frederick took his gig, and steered 
 for a frigate lying some distance off, which had the harbor- 
 flag hoisted at her main, being the only man-o'-war be- 
 sides ourselves, and commanded by a senior captain. 
 
 "Till it got dark I could see the crews of the nearest 
 merchantmen looking over their bulwarks at us and our 
 prize, apparently comparing the schooner with the frigate, 
 and speculating on her character, as she lay a few fathoms 
 off the 'Hebe's' quarter, both of us rising and falling in 
 turn on the long heave of the Cape swell from seaward. 
 'T was hard to say, in fact, so far as their hulls went, which 
 was the most beautiful sample of its kind; though the
 
 A SEA STORY 309 
 
 schooner's French-fashioned sticks and offhand sort of rig- 
 ging showed rather like jury-gear beside the tall, regular 
 sticks aloft of the 'Hebe's' decks, with all her hamper 
 perfect to a tee. The 'Hebe's' men very naturally consid- 
 ered their own ship a model for everything that floated 
 a sort of a Solomon's temple, in short; and to hear ths 
 merciless way they ran down the Indiamen all round, 
 would have raised the whole homeward-bound fleet against 
 us; whereas the schooner was our own, at any rate, and she 
 was spoken of much in the manner one mentions an un- 
 fortunate orphan, as good as already christened by the 
 name of the 'Young Hebe.' 
 
 "This our learned chaplain said was quite improper, and 
 he gave another name in place of it the 'Aniceta' which 
 meant, as he observed, the 'Hebe's' youngest daughter; so 
 the 'Aniceta' she was called, happening to be a title that 
 went, according to the boatswain, full as sweetly through 
 the sheave-hole. 
 
 "Next day the schooner had landed not only her pas- 
 sengers from St. Helena, but the prisoners also, as we still 
 understood the French and their Kroomen to be. Not long 
 after that Lord Frederick came back from Cape Town, look- 
 ing grave, and went straight down to his cabin, or 'cabins, 7 
 as his lordship preferred to have it said. The first lieuten- 
 ant dined that day with the captain; but they could scarcely 
 have finished when the 'young gentlemen,' who had been 
 as usual from the reefers' mess, came up with a message 
 from the captain, that his lordship would be glad if I would 
 join the first lieutenant and himself in a glass of wine. 
 I found them sitting at the side of the table nearest the 
 open port, with the decanters between them, and the broad 
 bright bay in full sight to the shore and the foot of Table 
 Mountain, which rose up blocking the port with the top 
 of it beyond view; the sounds of the merchantmen clicking 
 at their heavy windlasses, and hoisting in water-casks, floated 
 slowly in from every side, while the schooner had hauled on 
 her cable more abreast of the frigate, leaving the sight clear 
 over the eddy round her low counter. 
 
 " 'A. lovely piece of workmanship, certainly !' observed 
 Lord Frederick thoughtfully, as he leaned back swinging 
 his eyeglass round his finger, with the other hand in the 
 breast of his waistcoat, and looking out at what was seen 
 of the schooner. 'And how one might have improved her 
 spars, too!' said Mr. Hall, wistfully. 'I should have recom- 
 mended longer lower-masts altogether, Lord Frederick, and
 
 310 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 a thorough overhaul, I may say, from the combings upwards !' 
 'I would not have her hull touched for the world, Mr. Hall!' 
 
 said the captain ; "t is too excessively provoking, at least ! 
 
 But pass the bottles to Mr. Collins, if you please.' I had 
 taken a chair, and quietly filled my glass, wondering what 
 could be the matter, when his lordship turned to me and 
 said, 'Do you know, Mr. Collins, this schooner of ours is 
 likely to be laid up in Chancery, heaven knows how long? 
 The Admiralty Court ashore are doubtful of condemning 
 her, apparently, and she must either be sent home or to 
 Monte Video, or somewhere, where the master of her claims 
 to belong!' 'Indeed, my lord,' said 1, setting down my glass, 
 'that is curious.' 'Curious, indeed, sir!' replied he, biting 
 his lips, 'though, after all, we really can scarce say what she 
 is to be condemned for only in the meantime I sail to- 
 morrow for India.' 'She 's French to the backbone, that 
 I' 11 swear, Lord Frederick !' I said ; 'and what 's more, she 
 
 was ' 'Ah,' broke in the captain, 'I know, I know ; but 
 
 the less we say of that, in present circumstances, the better! 
 Once get her entangled with politics, and we may give her 
 up altogether.' Lord Frederick twisted his eyeglass round 
 his forefinger faster than before, still watching the schooner; 
 the first lieutenant held up his claret betwixt himself and 
 the light, and I sipped mine. 'I tell you what, gentlemen,' 
 exclaimed his lordship, suddenly, 'I must have that schooner 
 at any cost! What is to be done, Mr. Hall?' 'She'd be of 
 great service in the China seas, my lord, certainly,' said the 
 first lieutenant, looking thoughtfully into his empty glass; 
 ' a perfect treasure for light service, especially if new sparred 
 
 and ' I noticed Lord Frederick glancing sideways at 
 
 me, as I thought, with a slight gleam in his eye; and ac- 
 cordingly I suggested that he might buy her from the 
 Frenchman himself; a very poor idea, no doubt, as both 
 the captain and first luff seemed to think, and we all three 
 kept eying her doubtfully through the port, without a word. 
 "At this time the schooner's counter had been slowly sheer- 
 ing toward the frigate's beam, owing to the ebb-tide, and 
 her holding only by a single cable, till her stern began to 
 show right opposite the cabin, I should say not twenty feet 
 off. Lord Frederick put his glass to his eye, and was peer- 
 ing through it, when he remarked that they had brought 
 up rather too near, leaving scarce room for the schooner to 
 swing as she did, earlier than we, so that she would be 
 in danger of getting foul of the frigate's cables. 'The worst 
 of it is, Lord Frederick,' said I, 'that in case of a gale
 
 A SEA STORY 31; 
 
 from seaward here, she might have to slip and run upon 
 very short warning, whereas, the "Hebe" has plenty of 
 ground-tackle to let her ride it out. Considering it was 
 Table Bay, at this season, he ought to have kept her a 
 clearer berth for herself, or else have gone well outside!' 
 'Ah !' said Lord Frederick quickly, meeting my eye for half 
 a minute, till the gleam came into his again; and somehow 
 or other mine must have caught it, though I must say the 
 notion that struck me then all at once was n't in my head 
 before. 'Do you know, that 's well thought of, Collins !' said 
 his lordship. 'You 've weathered the Cape before, by the bye V 
 'A dozen times, Lord Frederick,' said I; when a regularly 
 jovial roar of laughter broke fair through the port into the 
 cabin from the schooner's taffrail,as she sheered end-on to the 
 frigate's quarter, and Lord Frederick leaned forward with the 
 glass screwed into his right eye to see along their decks, 
 which were covered aft with an awning like the open gable 
 of a tent at a fair. 'Singular!' said he; 'by the Lord Harry, 
 who or what can that be Mr. Hammond has got there?' 
 Dangling over the French schooner's taffrail were to be seen 
 the soles of two immense boots, with calves and knees to 
 match, and a pair of tightish striped trousers worked up more 
 than halfway, till you saw the tops of the stockings; just 
 beyond the knees was the face leaning back in the shade of 
 the awning and a straw hat together, out of which a huge 
 green cabbage-leaf hung like a flap over one eye, while the 
 other kept gazing in a half -closed sleepy sort of way at the 
 sky, and the red end of a cigar winked and glowed in the 
 midst of the puff of smoke lower down. The first lieutenant 
 started up shocked at the sight, the noble captain of the 'Hebe' 
 sat with his eyeglass fixed, between amusement and wonder; 
 for my own part, when the voice of this same prodigy 
 broke all of a sudden on us out of the awning, in a mixture of 
 stuttering, hiccuping, Yankee drawling, and puffs at the 
 cigar, 't was all I could do to hold on, with the knowledge of 
 where I was. 'Wall now, general,' said the American, as if 
 he were talking to some one aloft or in the sky, 'ye-you'ro 
 qui-quite wrong I ki-kick-calc'late I've fit a deal more be- 
 be-battles than you have I re-respect you, Ge-Ge-General 
 Washington; but I ho-ho-hope you know who hie who L 
 am !' Here Mr. Daniel Snout, who was in a state of beastly 
 intoxication, swayed himself up bodily into the schooner's 
 taffrail, and sat with his arms folded, his long legs swinging 
 over the stern, and his head trying to keep steady, as he 
 scbwled solemnly aloft over tlifc frigate's mizzen-royal-mast-
 
 312 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 head; while the third lieutenant, Mr. Hammond, and the 
 master's mate he had aboard with him, could be heard laugh- 
 ing at his back, as if they had gone mad Hammond being a 
 wild sprig of an Irishman, who would go any length for a 
 piece of fun. 
 
 "Just then the American's one eye lighted on the side of 
 the frigate, till it settled lazily on the port of the captain's 
 cabin: first he seemed to notice Lord Frederick Bury, and 
 then myself, the first lieutenant having just recovered him- 
 self enough to rush toward the door to get on deck. Daniel 
 himself surveyed me scornfully for a moment, then with a 
 sort of doubtful frown, and a gravity that passes me to de- 
 scribe, unless by the look of an old cock a-drinking evidently 
 trying to recollect me. 'Halloo, mister !' shouted he, suddenly, 
 'you have n't touched those notions of mine, I hope.' With 
 that he made a spring off where he sat, as if to come towards 
 us no doubt thinking of the 'Seringapatam,' and the valu- 
 ables he had left aboard, without seeing the water between; 
 and a pretty deep dive Mr. Snout would have made of it, into 
 an ebb-tide that would have swept him under the frigate's 
 bottom, if Mr. Hammond and the midshipman had n't both 
 sprung forward in time to catch him by the neck of the coat. 
 There, accordingly, was the Yankee hanging like a spread 
 eagle over the schooner's taffrail, yelling and turning round 
 at the same time like a fowl on a spit the third lieutenant's 
 and the mate's faces two pictures of dismay, as they held on, 
 at finding for the first time where the schooner had shied 
 them round to, with their two pairs of eyes fair in front of 
 the captain's eyeglass while Mr. Hall was singing out like 
 thunder from the deck above us, 'The schooner ahoy ! d' ye 
 see where you 've got to, sir ? Haul ahead on that cable, d' ye 
 hear, you lubbers, and keep clear of the ship !' 
 
 " 'Mr. Collins,' said his lordship quietly to me, as soon he 
 could keep his countenance, and looking the sterner for the 
 trouble he was put to in doing it, 'you will get your things 
 and go aboard the schooner directly take her in charge, sir, 
 and send Mr. Hammond back here.' 'Very well, my lord,' 
 said I, waiting in the doorway for something more, which 
 from something in Lord Frederick's look, I had reason to 
 expect, knowing it of old. 'I can only spare you a dozen of 
 the men she has,' added he; 'but if you choose, you can send 
 ashore at once to pick up a few makeshifts, or anything you 
 find!' 'Ay, ay, my lord,' said I; 'the best hand for that 
 would be Mr. Snelling, if I may take him, Lord Frederick ?' 
 'Oh, certainly,' was the answer; 'and hark ye, Collins, you
 
 A SEA STORY 313 
 
 had better shift your berth a few cable-lengths farther off, or 
 more, if you please,' 'One thing, my lord,' said I, stooping 
 down to see through the port, 'I don't much like the heavy 
 ground-swell that begins to meet the ebb, and I fancy it won't 
 be long ere Table Mountain spreads its supper-cloth in 
 which case I 'd consider it necessary to slip cable and run out 
 at once, though I might n't get in again so easily. Am I to 
 find the frigate here again, Lord Frederick?' 
 
 'Deuce take it, man no !' said his lordship. He turned 
 his back to hide the evident twinkle of his eye. 'Should we 
 part company, of course you make for the Bay of Bengal! 
 You can't be sure of the "Hebe," short of the Sandheads 
 and if not there, then opposite Fort William, at Culcutta.' 
 'Very good, my lord,' said I, and had made my bow to go on 
 deck, when Lord Frederick called me back. 'By the bye,' said 
 he hastily, 'about that Indiaman of yours, Collins she is 
 here no doubt?' 'No, Lord Frederick,' answered I, '1 
 believe she sailed a week ago.' 'Dear me, the deuce!' ex- 
 claimed he; 'why, I meant to have sent to-morrow to have 
 your friend Westwood arrested and brought aboard!' 1 
 started at this, on which his lordship explained that if West- 
 wood got to Bombay, whither the 'Seringapatam' was bound, 
 the authorities there would have the news of the thing by this 
 time, and could send him overland at once to England, which 
 would be far worse for him than being carried to Calcutta, 
 where his uncle the Councillor's interests might do something 
 for him. 'The best thing you can do, Collins,' added Lord 
 Frederick, 'if you are obliged to run out to sea, is to look 
 after that Indiaman! With such a neat thing of a sea-boat 
 under you, you might do anything you please; so cruise to 
 windward or leeward in chase, find her out, and take out 
 Westwood bodily lose him afterwards in the Hoogly, it you 
 like carry away those old spars of hers, and send up new 
 ones only don't lose the schooner, I beg; so good-by to you, 
 my dear fellow, lest we should not meet on this side the line 
 again!' 'Good-by, my lord!' said I cheerfully, and hurried 
 on deck, understanding all he wanted as well as if I'd been 
 ordered to set her jib that moment and heave up anchor. In 
 ten minutes I was over the frigate's side, and in ten more 
 Hammond was back in her, with the men who were to leave; 
 while I sent my baggage below, set the hands to work shifting 
 the schooner's berth, and by sundown we were lying beyond 
 hail of the ship, opposite the custom-house, and a long line pf 
 a main street in Cape Town, where we could see^the people, 
 the carriages, and the Dutch bullock-carts passing up and
 
 3 i4 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 down; while Table Mountain hove away up off the steep 
 Devil's Hill and the Lion's Rump, to the long level line a-top 
 as blue and bare as an iron monument, and throwing a 
 shadow to the right over the peaks near at hand. 
 
 "Our friend from the United States being by this time in 
 quite an oblivious condition, the first thing I did was to have 
 him put quietly into the boat with which Mr. Snelling was to 
 go ashore for fresh hands, and I instructed the reefer to get 
 clear of him anyhow he liked, if it was only above tide-mark. 
 When they were gone I walked the schooner's little quarter- 
 deck in the dusk by myself, till the half-moon rose with a 
 ghostly copper-like glare over the hollow in the Lion's Rump, 
 streaking across the high face of Table Mountain, and bring- 
 ing out all its rifts and wrinkles again. The land-breeze be- 
 gan to blow steadily with a long sighing sweep from the 
 north-east, meeting the heavy swell that set into the broad 
 bay; and the schooner, being a light crank little craft, got 
 rather uneasy ; whereas you could see the lights of the frigate 
 heaving and settling leisurely, less than half a mile off. I had 
 only six or seven good hands aboard altogether at the time, 
 which, with those the midshipman had, were barely sufficient 
 to work her in such seas; so with all I had to do, with the 
 difficulty of getting men in the circumstances, a long voyage 
 before us, and things that might turn up, as I hoped, to re- 
 quire a touch of the regular service, why, the very pleasure 
 of having a command made me a good deal anxious. Even of 
 that I did n't feel sure; and I kept watching Table Mountain, 
 eager for the least bit of haze to come across the top of it, as 
 well as sorry I had sent Snelling ashore. 'I 'd give a hundred 
 pounds at this moment,' thought I, 'to have had Bob Jacobs 
 here !' 
 
 "As the moon got higher, I could see the swell washing 
 up between the different merchantmen in sight, into their 
 shadows, and heavy enough some of them seemed to roll 
 round their cables, betwixt a breeze and a swell running the 
 contrary ways; first one let go a second anchor, and then 
 another, to help their heads shoreward; but still there was 
 no danger, as things went. It was n't long before I made out 
 two boats coming from toward the town, round the stern of 
 one of the ships, the frigate lying betwixt her and us, so that 
 they took her by the way, and a good deal of hailing seemed 
 to pass between them. I could even see epaulets glisten 
 over the 'Hebe's' quarter, as if there was a stir made aboard ; 
 after which the boats were plainly pulling for the schooner. 
 What all this might mean I could n't very well conceive, un-
 
 A SEA STORY 315 
 
 less it wei'e either Snelling come back already, or else some 
 hands Lord Frederick himself had provided before this, as I 
 saw both boats were full of people. 'Forward there!' 1 sung 
 out, 'hail those boats.' 'Ay, ay, the schooner ahoy!' was the 
 answer in a sharp voice from the headmost of them, 'from the 
 shore all right! Stand by to heave us a line, will yef 
 Next came a hail from Snelling, in our own gig ; so I at once 
 gave orders to heave them a rope and have both boats brought 
 under the gangway, naturally supposing the sharp little 
 fellow had come some marvellous good speed in shipping 
 hands. As soon as he jumped on deck, I accordingly inquired 
 how many men he had brought, when to my great surprise he 
 informed me there was only one, 'a scuffy sort of a swab,' as 
 he expressed it, 'who would do for cook !' 'The devil he will ! 
 you young rascal/ I broke out. 
 
 " 'Hush, sir, for heaven's sake,' said he, making some 
 extraordinary sign, which I didn't understand; 'it'll all be 
 right in the end, Mr. Collins. Now then, sir,' to some one in 
 the boat alongside, as he carefully handed him the accom- 
 modation-ropes, 'here you are hold on, sir so-o !' This 
 was a rather youngish fellow in a huge pilot-coat and a 
 glazed cap, with some kind of uniform inside, and a large 
 breastpin in his shirt, who handed me a paper the moment he 
 stood firm on deck, without speaking a word; though, by the 
 light of the deck-lantern, I did n't much like the look of" his 
 foxy sort of face, with the whiskers on it coming forward 
 from both cheeks to his mouth, nor the glance he gave round 
 the schooner with his pair of quick sharp little eyes. 'Much 
 more like a custom-house officer than a cook !' thought I, 'un- 
 less we mean to have a French one' ; but what was my aston- 
 ishment, on opening the paper, to find him called 'Gilbert 
 Webb, harbor-master's assistant, hereby authorized by the 
 Admiralty Court, sitting in Cape Town, to take charge of 
 the doubtful vessel described in her papers as the "Ludovico," 
 belonging to Monte Video from the officer commanding the 
 prize crew of his Britannic Majesty's ship "Hebe." ' My first 
 thought was to have Mr. Gilbert Webb pitched over into his 
 boat again, when Lord Frederick's own signature met my eye 
 at the bottom of the paper, addressed below to 'Lieutenant 
 Collins, of his Majesty's schooner "Aniceia" at sea. 
 
 "A wonderfully mysterious squint from Snelling, behind 
 the officer, was sufficient to clinch the matter in my own 
 mind, showing that the reefer was sharp as a needle; and 
 I handed back the document to the harbor gentleman, with 
 a 'Very well, sir, that will do.' 'I suppose I'd better have
 
 316 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 my men up, Lieutenant Collins?' said he, with a quick, pert 
 kind of accent, which made me set him down at once for a 
 Londoner, while at the same time he seemed impatient, as I 
 thought, to get the management. 'Why, sir,' said I, 'I 
 suppose you had.' 
 
 "Hereupon up mounted four or five decent enough looking 
 stevedores* one or two of whom had rather the air of sailors, 
 the rest being broad-beamed, short-legged Dutchmen, with 
 trousers like pillow-slips followed by a whole string of 
 fourteen or fifteen Indian Lascars, their bundles in their 
 hands, and an ugly old serang at their head; while a lame, 
 broken-down, debauched-like fellow of a man-o'-war's-man, 
 that Snelling had found sitting on a timberhead ashore, got 
 aboard with our own boat's crew. Our gangway was choke- 
 f ul, to my fresh dismay, for to get rid of such a tagrag-and- 
 bobtail, in case of running to sea, was impossible; even if 
 they were n't odds against us, here was it likely to get a thick 
 night, the swell growing under the schooner till she began 
 to jerk at her anchor, head to wind, like a young filly at 
 a manger; so that dropping them back into their boat 
 when needful, as I intended at first, was out of the ques- 
 tion for the present. I found from the harbor officer 
 that the number of hands would all be required with the 
 morning tide, when his orders were to have the schooner 
 towed in opposite the Battery Dock, especially as there was 
 much chance of the wind blowing strong from seaward next 
 day. The swell on the water, he said, was such that, after 
 putting off, he thought of going back again till the tide began 
 to turn ; if he had not been encouraged to stick to it and keep 
 on by the midshipman, whom he fell in with near the quay. 
 This piece of news was the finish to the rage I felt brewing in 
 me, vexed as I naturally was to give up the notion of a free 
 cruise, in command of a craft like the schooner ; and, as soon 
 as Mr. Webb was comfortable in the cabin, over a tumbler of 
 stiff grog and some cold beef, I sent for Snelling to my own 
 cupboai'd of a stateroom. 
 
 " *You cursed unlucky little imp, you !' I burst out, the 
 moment he made his appearance, 'what 's the meaning of this, 
 sirrah, eh?' 'What is it, if you please, sir?' said Snelling, 
 pretending to hold down his shock-head like a frightened 
 schoolboy, and looking up all the time both at me and the 
 lamp at once, while he swayed with the uneasy heave of the 
 deck in such a way as made me grip him by the arm in a 
 perfect fury, fancying he had got drunk ashore. 'You young 
 
 Men employed in the stowing Of ships' cargoes.
 
 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 blackguard, you!' said I, shaking him, 'didn't I tell you to 
 get hands did n't you know 1 meant to to 'Oh yes, 
 Mr. Collins,' gasped the reefer, 'I did indeed you meant to 
 cut and run I saw it by your eye, sir, and don't shake me 
 any more, sir, or you '11 spoil my hair and I don't deserve it 
 it 's all right !' And on my letting him go, the ugly little 
 scamp sunk down on a chair with his eyes starting from his 
 head, and a leer like a perfect demon incarnate: but so per- 
 fectly laughable it was, not to mention the air of complete 
 confidence between us that he threw into it, that I sat down 
 myself, ready to grin at my bad luck. 'Well, Mister Snelling,' 
 said I quietly, 'you are a touch beyond me ! Let 's have the 
 joke, at least out with it, man, else another shake may 
 be ' 
 
 "The reefer pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to 
 the cabin, shoved his chin forward, and whispered, 'Why, sir, 
 I 'm only doubtful whether you could make him third officer 
 but at any rate, he '11 always be useful at a rope, Mr. Col- 
 lins won't he, sir ?' I gave Snelling one look, meant to be as 
 grave as an Old Bailey chaplain's, but it would n't do my 
 conscience would n't stand it in fact the very self -same 
 notion seemed to me to have been creeping into my mind. 
 'You young rascal!' was all I could manage to say, before 
 making bolt to go on deck. 'By the bye, Mister Snelling,' 
 said I, turning and looking down from the hatchway, 'you 
 must want a glass of grog tell the boy to let you have some 
 and go and keep the officer company, sir.' 
 
 "By this time it was raining hard, the half-moon coming 
 out at moments and shining through it with a sudden sharp 
 gleam, in some gust of the wind off the land showing the 
 swell in as far as the wet white custom-house and the bare 
 quays, the ships with their hazy lights all hither and thither, 
 while Table Mountain was to be seen now and then peering 
 half over the mist, first one corner and then another, of a 
 color like dead ashes. One time I looked down toward the 
 dusky little cabin, where the midshipman, quite in his ele- 
 ment, was sitting with the harbor officer, the lamp jerking 
 and making wild swings betwixt them, while Snelling evi- 
 dently egged on his companion to drink ; then I gave a glance 
 seaward, where there was nothing but a glimmer of rain and 
 spray along the dark hollows of the water. 
 
 "I could n't make up my mind, all I could do^ it was too 
 barefaced a thing to slip from the roadstead with a breeze 
 blowing off-shore ; but the worst of it was, that I did n't feel 
 easy at the idea of parting with an anchor in the circum-
 
 3i8 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 stances, not to say carrying off the Government people, unless 
 forced to it. I accordingly went below to mix myself a 
 stiffener, and found the officer a cool head, for, in spite of all 
 Snelling could do, the reefer himself had got provoked, 
 whereas the sharp Mr. Webb was only a little brisker than 
 before. 'A rough sort of night,' said I, nodding to him, as i 
 knocked the water out of my cap. 'Well, it seems,' said he, 
 free and easy. 'S'pose I go on deck then, gentlemen I 've 
 refreshed, I assure you, so you need n't trouble about this 'ere 
 schooner no farther glad to get quit of it and turn in, I 
 desay, lieutenant?' 'No trouble in the world, Mr. Webb,' 
 said I, going on with my mixture, 'far from it ; but sit down 
 a minute, pray sir Mr. Snelling here will take charge of the 
 deck for us in the meantime' ; and Snelling vanished at once, 
 Mr. Webb apparently nattered at my wishing his company. 
 'Will that cable of yours hold, think ye, Lieutenant Collins ?' 
 asked he, filling up another glass. 'Why,' said I, almost 
 laughing, 'to tell you the truth, I begin to feel rather doubtful 
 of it.' 'What !' broke out the harbor officer, starting up, 
 'then I must 'ave another put down immediately: why, 
 what 's the effect, sir we '11 be carried out to sea!' 'You said 
 it exactly, Mr. Webb,' I said : ' 't would have been much 
 worse, I suppose, if we were driven ashore, though ! Now look 
 you, if I were to let go a second anchor at present, I could n't 
 light upon a better plan either to break her back or lose both 
 anchors in the end, from the difference of strain on the two 
 cables with this ground-swell. The fact is, my good fellow, 
 you 're evidently not fit to take charge at present.' 
 
 u 'What, lieutenant !' said he, looking fierce and foolish at 
 the same time, 'here 's strange lang'age to a Gov'ment officer, 
 sir ; I hask the meanin' of it at once, mister !' 'But I depend 
 a good deal on your knowledge of Table Bay weather,' I con- 
 tinued, leaning back with my weather eye screwed to bear 
 upon him. 'D' ye think this wind likely to moderate soon, 
 sir ? come now.' 'No,' replied he sulkily, 'I 'm sure it won't ; 
 and to-morrow it 's certain to blow back ten times worse.' 
 'Then, Mr. Webb,' said I, rising, 'you ought n't to have come 
 aboard to-night; as the short and the long of it is, I shall get 
 the schooner an offing the first possible moment !' The officer 
 stared at me in a bewildered manner ; and as for the schooner, 
 she seemed to be bolting and pitching in a way worse than 
 before, with now and then a plunge of the swell on her broad- 
 side, as if she had been under way. Suddenly Snelling 
 lifted the skylight-frame and screamed down into the cabin:
 
 A SEA STORY 319 
 
 'Mr. Collins, Mr. Collins ! she 's been dragging her anchor for 
 the last ten minutes, sir!' 
 
 "I sprang on deck at two bounds; the schooner had some- 
 how or other got her anchor out of hold at the time, with the 
 cable as taut as a fiddle-string. It was quite dark aloft, and 
 not a vestige of Table Mountain to be seen, though the 
 moonshine, low down to westward, brought out two or 
 three tracks of light along the stretch of water, and you saw 
 the lights in the ships slowly sweeping past. Where we hap- 
 pened to be, it blew two ways at once, as is often the case in 
 Table Bay, round the bluffs of the mountain, and as soon 
 as she brought up again with a surge at the windlass, the 
 heave of a long swell took her right on the quarter, lifting 
 her iu to her anchor again with a slack of the hawser, at 
 which every second man sung out to 'hold on!' Over she 
 went to port, a sea washing up the starboard side, and 
 throwing a few dozen bucketfuls at once fair into the com- 
 panion, where our friend the harbor officer was sticking at 
 the time; so down plumped Mr. Webb along with it, and the 
 booby hatch was shoved close after him, while the poor devils 
 of Lascars were huddled together as wet as swabs in the lee 
 of the caboose forward. 'A hand to the wheel!' shouted I, 
 as soon as I recovered myself; when to my great surprise 1 
 saw Snelling's new hand, poor creature as I 'd thought him, 
 standing with a spoke in each fist, as cool and steady as pos- 
 sible, and his eye fixed on me in the true knowing way which 
 I felt could be trusted to. 'Jib there!' I sung out, 'see all 
 clear to run up a few hanks of the jib stand by to cut the 
 cable at the bitts!' 'Ay, ay, sir/ answered Snelling, who 
 was working away with the harbor men, his bare head 
 soaked, and altogether more like an imp than a young gentle- 
 man of the navy 'all 's clear, sir.' 
 
 "Five minutes I dare say we stood, every one in the same 
 position, while I waited for a good moment in the run of tho 
 swell looking into the binnacle; till she hung slack, as it 
 were, in a wide seething trough of the sea, when I signed to 
 the man behind me to put the helm gradually to starboard. 
 I glanced at the fellow again, caught his sharp weatherly eye 
 once more then putting both hands to my mouth I sung out 
 to bowse on the jib-halyards. 'Now cut the cable !' shouted 
 I, springing forward in my anxiety. 
 
 "The schooner rose away from her anchor on the heavy roll 
 of the sea; I saw two quick strokes of the axe on the instant, 
 and she was spinning head off from the wind, heeling over 
 betwixt the force of it and the ground-swell together, while
 
 3 2o THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the mass of black water was washing bodily away with us; 
 the new helmsman showing down below me as he leaned to 
 the wheel, like somebody at the foot of a slide. If he had n't 
 helped her at the moment with a back turn of the spokes to 
 port, ' twould have been all up with us. As it was, the 
 schooner fell off gallantly in his hands, with a sliding surge 
 into the lee of the next swell, that buried her sharp bows in 
 the green sea till it foamed about our very shoulders as we 
 hung on like grim death to the weather bulwark. She was 
 just shaking herself free, and rising like a buoy over the 
 broad tops of the waves, when Snelling, myself, and two or 
 three of the men staggered down to her mainmast to swing up 
 the throat-halyards, letting her feel a little of the boom main- 
 sail; and we had scarce belayed, as the last glimpse of the 
 frigate's lights was caught astern of us, heaving and setting, 
 as she rode with her two bower anchors down ; we had driven 
 past close enough to have heard the creak of her hamper 
 aloft. After that I had the fore-staysail set on her, then the 
 reefed mainsail, and the lively schooner yielded to the long 
 rolling seas so well, as very soon to make her own weather of 
 it, especially since clear of the high land about Table Bay 
 it was blowing only a strong breeze; and the more I began to 
 feel master of her, the more inclined I was to let her show her 
 good qualities. 
 
 "Such a craft I never had had the full management of 
 before in my life; and you may easily fancy how I felt at 
 dividing the hands into the two watches, giving little Snelling 
 command of one, as first mate, and picking out our men in 
 turn. I looked round amongst mine, rather at a loss for one 
 to make second mate for the cruise, though there were three 
 prime enough man-o'-war's-men, and I had chosen one of the 
 Government officer's gang for his activity. As for the Lascars, 
 we slumped in half the number to each of us, for make- 
 weights when Snelling's fresh hand, who had fallen to my 
 share, caught my eye again as he stood at the wheel. Every 
 half -spoke he gave the schooner told; she was topping the 
 heavy seas as they rose, and taking them just where they 
 melted one to the other, with a long floating cleave that 
 carried her counter fairly free of the after-run, though nearly 
 right before the wind: the main-boom had been guyed over 
 to the lee-quarter, till a third of the sail hung clear of her 
 hull, and the breeze swept into the hollow of it, thick with 
 spray. The light from the little binnacle shone up distinctly 
 on the man's face, and with all the desperate, used-up, mar- 
 bled sort of look of it, like one getting the better of a long
 
 A SEA STORY 321 
 
 spree ashore, I thought there was something uncommonly 
 promising about him, not to say greatly above the run of fore- 
 mast men. The wet, the wind, and the work he was at took 
 off the seediness of his clothes ; even the old rag of a handker- 
 chief round his hairy neck had got a gloss to it, and he stood 
 handling the wheel with a strange mixture of recklessness 
 and care, as he glanced from the compass to the gaff of the 
 mainsail against the scud, and down again. 
 
 "The very contrast between the man's manner and his out- 
 ward rig was sufficient to strike one, though plenty of seamen 
 are to be found in the like state ashore : but what fixed me to 
 him above all was the expression in those two keen, searching, 
 living eyes of his, when they once or twice met mine on their 
 way from aloft to the campass-boxes. 'T was as if they 'd woke 
 up since he came aboard out of a sleepy, maudlin condition, 
 with the 'blue-devils,' or scarce fully out of 'em; like a sick 
 man's in the lull of a fever, suddenly seen watching you out 
 of the dusk of the bed, when one happens to glance up from 
 the nurse's seat. 
 
 " 'What 's your name, my man ?' asked I, stepping aft to 
 the binnacle. 'My name is Jones, sir,' said he readily. 'And 
 your first name?' I said. 'Jack,' was the answer in an off- 
 hand way, with a hitch of one shoulder, and a weather- 
 spoke to the wheel; spoken in an accent you'd have ex- 
 pected more in a West-End drawing-room than from a 
 common sailor. 'Ah,' said I, sharply. 'Jack Jones? 1 
 wonder how many Jack Joneses there are afloat! An able 
 seaman, I think, Jones?' 'Why, sir,' replied the man, '1 
 never rate myself, sir 'tis all one to me, able, ordinary, 
 landsman, or boy I carry no papers, and leave my betters 
 to rate me.' 'Where were you last, my man?' I asked; 
 whereupon I met such a cool, steady, deep look out of the 
 fellow's strange light-colored eyes, bloodshot as they were 
 with drinking, that I felt almost our very two souls jostle 
 in it; as much as to say: To all eternity fathom me if 
 ye can! 'Well, I forget where, sir,' said he, lowering his 
 look to the compass-box again; 'always the way with me 
 after a trip, a cruise, a voyage, or whatever it may be. 
 I've got ha!' and he yielded his body coolly to a jerk of the 
 schooner's wheel. 'A sweet craft this, sir, but a little tick- 
 lish !' 'You 've got what ?' said I, not unwilling to wear out 
 the time. 'I 've got no memory !' 
 
 "Still there was somewhat so gloomy and mournful in 
 the next glance aloft, I don't know how it was, but I felt 
 inclined to offer him a mate's place on trial, and so I hinted, 
 if he knew half as well how to handle a craft as he did
 
 322 THE GREEN. HAND 
 
 of steering her. To my own surprise, Jones's wonder 
 did n't seem to be roused at the notion, except that he 
 gave me another quick glance from head to foot, with a 
 queer smile that struck me as if I were being questioned, 
 instead of him;ihcn he looked down over his own outfit,judg- 
 ing by which you 'd have said he 'd been shipwrecked. 'Well,' 
 said I, 'I dare say you 've been hard put to it, somehow, Jones 
 so as soon as you leave the wheel, you can go below to the 
 steward, and get a sea-going suit of my own, till we see Cal- 
 cutta, when your mate's wages will set you all right again/ 
 The man touched his battered old straw hat; but I noticed 
 his eyes gleam for a moment by the binnacle light, and a 
 strange twitch run round his mouth at the mention of tho 
 mate's wages, the only way I could account for it at the 
 time being his late hard-up condition; and nothing to my 
 mind was more deucedly pitiable than to see the thought 
 of a few paltry additional rupees light up a head like that, 
 with the glistening sort of expression of a miser as I fancied. 
 
 "The man had a head on him, in fact, when you eyed 
 him, fit for a gentleman's shoulders, or more his hair and 
 his whiskers curly and dark, draggled though they were 
 with the rain, not to say Cape Town mud while the wear- 
 ing away of the hair about the temples, and the red grog- 
 streaks in the veins of his face, made him, no doubt, a 
 dozen years older to appearance than he was. For my part 
 I was quite convinced already, this same Jack Jones had n't 
 been sent out a cabin boy; there was not only a touch of 
 high blood in him at bottom, but I 'd have sworn he had 
 been some time or other in the place of a gent 1 email, 
 afloat or ashore, though plainly now 'going to the devil.' 
 
 "Meanwhile the breaking look of the clouds away on our 
 larboard bow showed it was n't far off dawn ; so, sending 
 another hand to the wheel, and finding a snug spot under 
 a stern-grating for a snooze on deck, I told Jones to begin 
 with taking charge of the deck for me. 'One thing, sir,' 
 said he, touching his hat again, as I lay down, 'I 've only 
 shipped for the outward voyage, and leave at the first port.' 
 'Why, what!' said I, lifting my head; 'what do you mean to 
 do there, eh ?' 'I I want to go ashore,' answered he, eagerly ; 
 'ay, if we 're years on the cruise, so much the better, sir, but 
 so soon as she drops anchor off Calcutta, I 'm my own 
 master?' 'Have your own way, then,' said I; 'at any rate 
 I '11 try you in the meantime so Mister Jones, let 's see how 
 you mind the schooner till eight bells !' Whereupon I turned 
 myself over to sleep, and it was as broad daylight as we had 
 any likelihood of about the Cape, when I woke.
 
 A SEA STORY 323 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 "!T still blew a stiff breeze, but the waves rose with a length 
 and a breadth in them you find in no other sea; deep-blue 
 sparkling hills of water, with green gleams about the crests, 
 of which every single wave had a hundred or so; and a 
 long, seething, simmering, glassy hollow of a still valley be- 
 tween, where the flecks of foam slid away glittering out of 
 the shadow. But, oh! it was glorious to feel the schooner 
 rising quietly in the trough, with the mount of a wave, 
 to the very ridge of it; then with a creak of all her timbers 
 and bulkheads below, a slight shake to windward, and a 
 jerk at her bows, lean over to leeward again, and go hissing 
 through the breast of a huge sea, till you thought she'd go 
 down into it; while there she was, however, lifting head 
 up, with a swift flash of her cut-water, on the cross half- 
 wave that joined every first and third one 'billow' and 
 'sea/ as you may say. The breeze having drawn more 
 easterly toward morning, Jones had braced her more upon 
 a wind, with a reefed main and fore sails and fore-staysail 
 set, which brought out the 'AnicetaV weatherly qualities 
 to a marvel, as, notwithstanding almost a head-wind and 
 a swelling sea, she went nearly as fast as the frigate would 
 have done before the breeze, and not a sign of the land 
 was to be seen from her cross-trees. 
 
 "It was not till the afternoon, when the midshipman and 
 I had both been busy together seeing various things done 
 about the rigging, as well as having preventer-braces and 
 guys clapped on the booms and gaffs, that we had time to 
 look about us; the schooner still driving along with the 
 breeze strong abeam, and a floating plunge from one wide 
 dark-blue sea to another, as if they handed her onward. 
 
 "Jones had got himself made decent below, as I told him, 
 till what with different clothes, and a shave together, be- 
 sides refreshment from sea weather, he was quite a different 
 man to look at. Even Snelling owned to his sailor-like 
 appearance, though rather surprised at my notion of making 
 him a mate ; while as . for the men, they did n't know but 
 he had come aboard as such, and, to tell the truth, he was 
 having the main-staysail got up and ready to bend at the 
 time, like one accustomed to give orders. By this time 1 
 remembered the harbor officer, Webb, whom we 'd carried off 
 so unceremoniously, and found he was still in his 'bunk 7
 
 324 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 below, half-sulky and half-sick, consoling himself with 
 brandy and water till we should get into Table Bay again, as 
 he said. 'Only put him into my watch, Mr. Collins,' said 
 Snelling, gravely, 'and I'll work him up, sir.' The reefer 
 himself, in fact, had all of a sudden turned out in a 
 laughably dignified style, to meet his new post in full 
 midshipman's rig, dirk and all, with his cocked hat, which 
 I sent him down immediately to change; but he had brushed 
 up his mop of hair, and begun to cultivate the down on 
 his upper lip; while being a deep-shouldered, square-built, 
 short-armed little fellow, as muscular as a monkey, you 'd 
 have thought from the back of his coat he was a man cut 
 shorter, and for his face, he had contrived to put such a 
 sour effect into it meant for great experience, no doubt 
 that it was only by his eyes one saw he was a boy of six- 
 teen or so; and they were brimful of wild glee, as he jumped 
 about wherever he was needed, doing the work of a couple 
 of ordinary men, and actually delighted when a spray 
 came over the weather bulwarks on top of him, seeing that, 
 instead of the frigate, she was 'our schooner' that did it. 
 
 " 'I think she walks, Mr. Collins !' observed Snelling, 
 holding up his head stiffly, and looking aloft as we went aft, 
 after shaking ourselves from one of these same sprays. 'No 
 denying that, Mr. Snelling,' said I, as gravely; 'I only wish 
 your fond parents could see you just now, first mate of 
 such a smart craft, Mr. Snelling!' His father was a coun- 
 try baronet, who had sent him off to sea with an allow- 
 ance I dare say because his looks were no ornament, and 
 there were plenty more coming, though Snelling always 
 pretended his worthy progenitor was an old man. 'Fond, 
 be blowed!' said he, starting; 'I just see him at this mo- 
 ment at the foot of that blessed old mahogany, proposing 
 
 my health before the ladies go, and ' here the schooner 
 
 rose on a sharp, short wave, making a plunge through it 
 that sent the helmsman swinging to the lee-side of the 
 wheel, while a sea washed up over her forecastle, and 
 away aft with the tubs, buckets, and spars, knocking every- 
 body right and left. Snelling and 1 held on by the weather 
 main-rigging with our feet in a bath, till she lifted bodily 
 through it, careering to her lee-gun'ale. 
 
 "'By George, though!' broke out the reefer, smacking his 
 lips as we drew breath, 'I wish he did see me would n't it 
 cheer his declining years, when I 'd got to hand the gov- 
 ernor carefully below ! And such a rough night as we 're 
 going to have cf it, too, sir!' 'You unfilial young dog,'
 
 A SEA STORY 325 
 
 said I; 'but so I'm afraid we shall and no joke, either!' 
 Jones was standing near us, watching the looks of the 
 weather, with evident uneasiness, and I asked him what he 
 thought of it. 'In my opinion, sir,' said he, 'you '11 have 
 some pretty sudden shift of wind ere long, of a kind I have 
 seen more than once off the Cape before and that as furious 
 as a south-easter ordinarily is hereabouts. Look away yon- 
 der,, sir !' 
 
 "It had got to a clear, dry north-easterly gale that shook 
 our canvas every time she lifted, singing through the ropes, 
 and bitter cold. Long and heavy as the roll of the sea was, 
 the sky was as keen and clear as glass all round about and 
 aloft, save the mist kicked up by the spray off a wave here 
 and there. If a rag of white cloud appeared, it was blown 
 away, and you saw the black, wrinkled side of one wave at 
 a time, a mile wide, you 'd have said, freckled all over with 
 spots of foam, and its ridge heaving against the eye of 
 the blast. The waves had begun to break shorter. The 
 schooner, buoyant as she was, and sharp as a dolphin, 
 pitched and rolled at times like mad, and the men for- 
 ward were standing by to let go the fore-halyards, throat 
 and peak, to ease her a little; when Jones pointed out the 
 bank of gray cloud ahead of us, scarce to be seen through 
 the troughs of the water, except when she lifted well upon a 
 swell of sea. The sun going down in a wild red glare to 
 leeward of us, threw a terrible glitter across the huge 
 slant of one single wave, that rose stretching away far and 
 wide from her very bow, then brought out the sulky wrin- 
 kled blue in it; the hissing green crests curled over to the 
 very sunset, as it were, while we sunk slowly into the 
 long dark lulling trough, and saw the broken shaft of a 
 rainbow stand glimmering for a moment or two into a 
 black hollow right ahead, when the gale drove it back 
 upon us like an arrow, as the schooner surged through tho 
 breast of the next wave. I looked from Snelling to the new 
 mate, who still held on by a belaying-pin and watched 
 the clouds, giving me back a glance that showed he thought 
 the matter more serious than ordinary. 'The sooner wo 
 strip her to the storm-staysails,' said I, quickly, as^ we fell 
 into the trough again, 'the better, I think. If it blows 
 harder, we must lie-to with her at once.' My eye was 
 anxiously fixed on Jones, for large as the schooner was, be- 
 tween two and three hundred tons, yet no craft in the world 
 is so nice to bring to the wind in a gale with a heavy 
 sea running. Scudding before it might have done for the
 
 326 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 frigate, with her full bows, and spars high enough to keep 
 her main-topsail full in spite of the troughs; but even that 
 would have taken us out of our course after the Indiaman. 
 Besides that, to tell the truth, I didn't sufficiently under- 
 stand fore-and-aft rigged craft in all weathers yet, to be 
 quite sure of what I did at a pinch like the present. 'Yes, 
 yes, sir,' answered he; 'but if you'll take an older man's 
 advice, before that you '11 wear her round on the other 
 tack to it. We 've the worst to come, or else I 'm mistaken, 
 sir.' 'You're accustomed to schooners f asked 1, firmly, 
 and gazing him in the face. 
 
 "I saw his lips open in the sweep of the wind tnrough 
 our after-rigging, and he made a sign with his hand, while 
 a gnawing sort of spasm, as it were, shot through the muscles 
 of his jaw, and for a moment he gave me a fierce, keen 
 glance, almost a glare, from under his strong, straight eye- 
 brows then turned away. 'Take the trumpet then, Mr. 
 Jones/ said I, singing out into his ear; 'I'll leave her to 
 you, sir. Mr. Snelling, let's sea the hatches all fast!' 
 And we scrambled along by the belaying-pins. 
 
 " 'Are you all ready fore and aft ?' came Jones's voice, like 
 thunder in the next dip she made, and he leaped up bare- 
 headed on the breech of one of the small carronades aft, 
 holding on with one hand by the weather mainshrouds, and 
 watching the run of the waves as they glimmered off our 
 lee-beam into the dusk, for full five minutes. I had hold of 
 a rope near him, and his eye was as steady as if he were 
 picking out hills in a view. I had full confidence in the 
 man; but I must say it was a nervous moment to me, when 
 I saw him lift the trumpet to his mouth and furiously as 
 the wind shook the schooner, you heard his hoarse cry, 
 'Put your helm up slack off the mainsheet brail up the 
 mainsail ease down the weather boom-guy main-staysail 
 sheet.' And the rest was lost in the wild shriek of the 
 north-east gale. We were hard at it, however, staggering as 
 we hauled and held on, even to the poor half -drowned, terri- 
 fied Lascars, whom the midshipman had roused out of the 
 caboose and long-boat, shoving the ropes into their leathery 
 hands. But I knew little else till I saw the schooner had 
 payed off before the wind, shearing with a hiss like red- 
 hot iron right through the ridge, betwixt two tremendous 
 combing waves. It swelled green over her larboard bul- 
 wark as she heeled over, and she gave a heavy dead lurch 
 with it, as if she would let the next sea break aboard. 
 "'Now! now!' shouted Jones a at a pitch of voice like no
 
 A SEA STORY 327 
 
 earthly sound; 'aft the mainsheet, for your lives!' He 
 jumped to the wheel himself, at a single bound. We were 
 in two floundering heaps, as we dragged at the main-boom 
 aft, and the head-sheets on the forecastle, while she came 
 trembling up in the long bight of the sea, and took the 
 gale steadily before her other beam. It was blowing harder 
 than ever; and the awful 'scud' of the sea rolled her bodily 
 away, as she met it with her weather-bow, washing white over 
 the headrail, with spray from cat-head to bowsprit; the gale 
 heaving her down on the lee-beam till she plunged to the 
 brim on that side, at every forward pitch, so that all hands 
 on deck had to keep crowded together aft. Still it was 
 keen starlight overhead, the gale dry, though it was bitter 
 cold, and the seas long and pretty regular. The schooner 
 behaved wonderfully, being as tight as a bottle; and at the 
 same time we were not only lying our course either for 
 the Mozambique or Indian Ocean, but instead of running 
 farther into the gale, as before, and getting more into the 
 wild Cape latitudes, why, at present she tended to clear 
 out of them. I accordingly agreed with Jones to hold on 
 with everything as long as possible, in spite of the way she 
 was sometimes flung off with the crest of a wave, as it 
 were, making a clear dive with her nose under water 
 through a white seething sea that seemed to swell round the 
 whole horizon; the black bank of cloud off our weather- 
 beam towered like icebergs against the cold green sky to 
 south-east, the stars glittering and twinkling over it, with 
 little hazy rings round them, after a fashion that one of 
 us liked no more than the other. 
 
 "About midnight, we had got everything off her to the 
 two small storm-staysails, main and fore, the wind blowing 
 great guns, and the half-moon shining right over the long 
 bank, as if the back of it were dead white; while betwixt 
 it and the washing glimmer of moonlight halfway you 'd 
 have thought the black heave of the ridges vanished into a 
 bulk of shadow ten times blacker, save for the heads of 
 spray tossing dimly over it here and there. All at once, 
 in the very height of the gale, as the black floating clouds 
 from the bank began to cross over the gray scud flying 
 fast aloft, a blue flash of lightning shot zigzag into the 
 very comb of a wave ahead of us, then came the clap of 
 thunder, loud enough to be heard above the wind, and in 
 half a minute there was a sudden lull. You saw the fleecy 
 rags of scud actually settling together under the dark 
 vapor moving above them, and heard nothing but the vast 
 washing welter of the billows rising and seething for miles
 
 328 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 round, as if the world were water, while the schooner rolled 
 helplessly away, with her storm-staysails napping, into the 
 trough. The midshipman almost gasped as he looked to 
 me not from fear, but as much as to say, 'What next?' 
 Our strange mate stood against the fife-rail of the mainmast, 
 apparently too intent on the sky and sea for speaking. 
 For my own part, I let go my belaying-pin, and half-tum- 
 bled to the wheel, almost knocking the sailor down in my 
 haste to put 'the helm hard up for I saw how the blast was 
 to come, fairly before the beam, upon us. 'Hard a-star- 
 board with it !' shouted I ; 'haul down the main-staysail there 
 let her fall as she rises.' 
 
 "The last words were never heard, for next moment there 
 was another flash of lightning, this time a blaze all round 
 into the troughs of the sea; I saw a body of mist coming 
 down upon us from south-east, through which the gale 
 struck her on the starboard beam, having suddenly shifted 
 eight points or so. The heavy rolling swell from north- 
 east was close aboard, and as soon as I knew what I was 
 about, here she was leaning over to the full tremendous force 
 of the storm, without power to surge ahead, though strug- 
 gling to rise like a cart-horse down on his knees with a 
 load uphill of him. 'T was by instinct, as they say, I 
 found myself scrambling along to her weather main-chan- 
 nels, where I managed to get out on the side, slippery as 
 it was, and drenched with the blinding showers of spray. 
 I had got my knife at work, cutting the lanyards of the 
 shrouds to let the mainmast go, when I saw Snelling creep 
 after me, like a fearless little fellow as he was, dirk in hand; 
 although what was come of Jones I could n't see, unless he 
 had lost heart and skulked. All at once, to my great joy, 
 the main-staysail blew inway to leeward out of the bolt- 
 ropes, like a scrap of paper, the main-topmast crashed at the 
 cap and went alongside, when the schooner righted to her 
 keel, with a wild bolt forward through the whole width 
 of an immense wave one of the 'third waves' it was, com- 
 monly the last and the hugest in a single roll of the sea 
 off the Cape, before you sink into a long gliding valley, 
 with a sort of a lull in it. The scene was so terrible at 
 the moment, though we bore up for full half a minute to 
 the fair steady stroke of the awful gale, nothing but a 
 yeast of mist, scud, and darkness ahead, the spray torn off 
 the ridge of the wave and flying with us, while the triple 
 run of the heavy seas astern was in danger of sweeping
 
 A SEA STORY 329 
 
 her decks from over the poop that I felt we must try 
 lying-to with her at once. 
 
 "Indeed, Snelling and I hardly knew whether we were 
 holding on or not, as we were half washed inboard and half 
 crawled round the rigging; but Jones had already seized 
 the exact point when she sank in the hollow to have tho 
 helm eased down to leeward. Meanwhile he had got the 
 reefed foresail balanced and set, with the sheet hauled aft 
 beforehand a tackle hooked on to the clew and bowsed 
 amidships everything else was off her; and with this sail 
 she came slowly up close to the wind on the slant of tho 
 next wave, lying-to nearly head toward the force of the 
 sea, as her helm was kept fast two or three points to lee- 
 ward. I never had seen a craft of the kind hove-to in 
 a gale before, and a very nice matter it is, too. We drew 
 breath, scarce able to credit our eyes, while the schooner 
 rode apparently safe en a sea rolling mountain-high; rising 
 and falling off from the breast to the sides of the waves, 
 so far as leeway went, and forging ahead a little at the 
 same time through the fierce spray that showered out of 
 the dark over her weather-bow. 
 
 "Cape weather as bad I had seen before, but always in 
 good-sized ships; and I owned to Snelling I would rather 
 have handled any one of them, even with a lee-shore near, 
 ten times over, than this schooner of ours in the present 
 case. However, none of us were in any mood for speak- 
 ing at the time, let alone the waste of breath it was. The 
 best thing we had to do, after getting somewhat satisfied 
 of her weathering it this way, was to have the grog served 
 out to the men, swig off a stiff pannikin one's self, and 
 make one's self as comfortable as possible with his pea- 
 coat in the lee of something. 
 
 "The sight of the sea ridging up with a dim glimmer 
 against the dark, kept your eye fixed to it ; first you thought 
 it would burst right aboard, crash down upon the docks; 
 then she lifted with it, swelling broad under her, while 
 the long steady sweep of the gale drove just over the bul- 
 warks with a deep moan; for half a minute, perhan 1 ?, a 
 shivering lull, when you heard the bulkheads and timbers 
 creak and strain below from stem to stern, and the bilge- - 
 water yearning, as it were, to the water outside. Then, 
 again, it was a howl and a shriek, a wide plunge of sea 
 bore up her weather-bow, and the moment ere she came 
 fairly to, one felt as if the schooner were going to pitch 
 God knows where. Her whole bulwarks shook and shivered,
 
 330 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the wind found out every chink in them, whistling round 
 every different rope it split upon, while all the time the 
 loose, wet, dreary spars behind the long-boat kept slatting 
 and clattering against each other in the lashings, like planks 
 in a woodyard of a November night. This was the way 
 we stuck till the morning watch showed it all in a drizzling, 
 struggling sort of half-light, blowing as hard as ever, the 
 Cape seas rolling and heaving mountain-high, of a pale 
 yeasty hue, far and wide to the scud; the spray drifting 
 from the crests, and washing over her bare forecastle, with 
 now and then the white wings of a huge albatross to be 
 seen aslant to windward, riding on the breast of a long 
 wave down into the trough. 
 
 "Well, the whole blessed day did this sort of thing con- 
 tinue, only varied by now and then a huger sea than or- 
 dinary lifting close aboard of us, and we being hove up 
 to get a glimpse of the long glaring streak of horizon 
 through the troughs of the waves; sometimes an unluckier 
 splash than usual over the bow and through the fore-chains, 
 that made us look sharp lest the canvas of the foresail 
 should go, or the schooner broach end-on to the sea. Other- 
 wise, all we had to do was to watch the binnacle, hold 
 on with one hand to a rope, and with the other to our 
 caps; or turn out and in with each other down the booby- 
 hatch for a snatch of sleep, and a bit of biscuit and cold 
 beef, with a glass of grog. Mr. Webb, the harbor officer, 
 was to be seen below in his berth all this time, lying 
 as peaceable as a child; whether he was dead sick or only 
 confoundedly afraid I did n't know ; but I must say 1 felt 
 for the poor fellow when I heard him ask Snelling in a 
 weak voice, if he would get somebody to stand off the bull's- 
 eye in the deck over his berth, as it always made him think 
 there was a new hurricane coming on. 'You low, skulking 
 hound !' said the reefer, who had wonderfully little pity in 
 his make, 'it can't be worse what d'ye want light for, ehf 
 'Only to see the opposite wall,' said Webb, meekly; 'do, sir 
 oh now!' 'Oh, you lubber, ye!' said Snelling, 'don't you 
 know a bulkhead from a wall yet? If you'd come on deck 
 to bear a hand like others, you would n't need light ; and / 
 thought you might do for a mate aboard, too pah, you 
 scum !' 
 
 "'Mr. Snelling,' said I sharply, as he came through the 
 cabin, 'a worm will turn when it 's trod upon, and so you 
 may find yet, sir!' 'Well, Mr. Collins/ said he, as con-
 
 A SEA STORY 331 
 
 fidently as if I had n't meant to give him a set-down, 'I 
 don't like the fellow's eye. I '11 look after him, sir !' 
 
 "Not to mention the young rogue's power of face, which 
 was beyond brass, he had a way of seeing you in two 
 places at once with that upward squint of his, as if his eyes 
 were the points of a pair of compasses, that made the officers 
 of the 'Hebe' always send him to the masthead directly, 
 for fear it should take the frown out of them. In fact, 
 when Snelling's twinkling weather-eye lighted on one's neck, 
 without the other, you almost felt it tickle you, and as 
 usual I turned away with a 'pshaw!' 
 
 "On the second morning, the gale at last began to break, 
 shifting southward; on which, as soon as the sea ran a little 
 easier, I had the helm cautiously put up at a favorable 
 moment, the reefed mainsail, fore-topmast-staysail, and 
 square fore-topsail set as she got before the wind, and away 
 the schooner went; rising on the wide deep-blue swells 
 with a long roll in them, then shearing ahead through their 
 breasts, wrinkled and seething pale-green, till she sank with 
 the fall of the wave the stump of her aftermast stand- 
 ing, and the fore one shortened by the to'gallant-mast. You 
 may easily believe there was no one aboard more eager to 
 get clear of this weather than myself; as in ordinary cir- 
 cumstances, with a craft like this, in two or three days 
 more we might have been in a high enough latitude to 
 begin looking out for the Indiaman. For my part, I can't 
 deny that the wish for having Tom West wood safe out 
 of harm's way, and with me in the schooner, strong as it 
 was, played second to the notion of seeing sweet Violet 
 Hyde in any way again, if it was only the last time be- 
 fore she went outof reach altogether; for her getting amongst 
 East India ways of doing, high-flying civilians and soldiers, 
 shows, and sights, either in Calcutta or up-country, was 
 equal to anything else, in my mind. Still, we had six or 
 seven days longer of the heavy seas and hard gales, before 
 north-easting enough could be made to take us beyond the 
 Cape winter, just then coming on, and which the 'Seringa- 
 patam' had very likely escaped by two or three days, so 
 that she would have a considerable start of us. 
 
 "By this time we were standing well up for the Mozam- 
 bique Channel, which I had heard the Indiaman intended to 
 take in company; a piece of information that made me the 
 more anxious to overtake the 'Seringapatam,' at latest, by 
 the time they reached open water again, where, being the 
 only ship for Bombay, she would no doubt part from her
 
 332 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 consorts. We had a cruiser that year, as I knew, in the 
 Mozambique, where there were some rumors of pirates after 
 the war, so that in case of her happening to speak the 
 'Seringapatam' close, and having got any word of West- 
 wood's affair, he ran a chance of being picked off. How- 
 ever, that was n't by any means the thing that troubled 
 me most; somehow or other, whenever the picture of Violet's 
 face brought the Indiaman's decks clear into my mind, with 
 all about her, I could n't get rid of the notion that some 
 ill-luck would come across that ship before she got into 
 port. If any pirate craft were to dodge the whole bevy 
 of Indiamen up the head of the channel, as was pretty 
 sure to be the case, he would probably wait for some signs 
 of separating, and be down upon a single one not long 
 after she cleared the Seychelles Islands, where a lonely 
 enough stretch of the Indian Ocean spreads in. The more 
 I entered upon the thought of it, the more unsufferable 
 it got; especially one day in the mouth of the Mozambique, 
 when it fell a dead calm with a heavy up-and-down swell, 
 fit to roll the sticks out of her; the high blue land of Mada- 
 gascar being in sight, sometimes to starboard, sometimes 
 to port, then astern, and the clear horizon lying away 
 north-west, dark with a breeze from round the coast. As 
 the hot sun blazed out above us, and the blue water came 
 plunge up over the rail, blazing and flashing, first one side 
 dipped, then the other, I could fancy the passengers on 
 the Indiaman's poop in a light breeze with a suspicious 
 lateen-rigged sail creeping up on her quarter. I thought I 
 saw Violet Hyde's eyes sparkle against the glare of light, 
 and her lips parting to speak till I actually stamped on the 
 deck, my fists clinched, and I made three strides to the 
 very taffrail of the schooner. All at once I met my second 
 mate's eye coolly fixed on me, which brought me to my 
 senses in a moment, the more so as there was something 
 about this man Jones I could n't make out, and I had 
 made up my mind to keep a sharp eye on him; though 
 the fact was, it annoyed me most to feel him seeing into 
 me, as it were, without troubling himself. 'We shall have 
 the breeze before long, sir, round Cape Mary yonder,' said 
 he, stepping forward. 'So I expect, myself, Mr. Jones,' said 
 I, 'though you evidently know the coast better than I do.' 
 With that I gave him a careless side-look, but to all ap- 
 pearance there was nothing particular in his, as he told 
 me he had seen it two or three times before.
 
 A SEA STORY 333 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 "WITH the evening we were once more running sharp on 
 a wind up channel; and when she did get her own way in 
 a good breeze, the schooner's qualities came out. 'T was a 
 perfect luxury to look over the side and see the bubbles 
 pass, her sharp bows sliding through it like a knife, she eat- 
 ing into the wind all the time, in a way none but a fore- 
 and-aft clipper could hope to do, with a glassy blue ripple 
 sent back from her weather-bow as far as the fore-chains; 
 then to wake of a morning and feel her bounding under .you 
 with a roll up to windward, while the water gushed through 
 and through below the keel, and ran yearning and toppling 
 away back along the outer timbers into her boiling wake, 
 working with the moving rudder. And our man-o'-war's- 
 men were quite delighted with the 'Young Hebe,' as they 
 still called her. Snelling was in his element while we were 
 having the new spars sent up aloft a set of longer sticks 
 than before till she had twice the air, as well as a know- 
 ing rake aft. Next thing was to get the long brass nine- 
 pounder amidships from under the boat, where the French- 
 men had kept it, besides which we found another in her 
 hold; so that, added to six small carronades already on deck, 
 we made a pretty show. Meanwhile, for my own part, I 
 kept cracking on with every stitch of canvas that could 
 be clapped upon the spars, including studding-sails. Jones 
 himself did n't know better than I did by this time how 
 to handle the craft, schooner though she was, in the way 
 of making her use what weather we had to the best pur- 
 pose. Variable as it proved, too, I was aware the Indiaman 
 would have pretty much the same now as we had; so that, 
 on going aloft with the glass, as I did every watch in the 
 day, I soon began each time expecting one or other of 
 them to heave in sight. 
 
 "As for the five hands from Cape Town, they seemed to 
 have fallen in cheerfully enough with our own, and as soon 
 as the fine weather came, the gang of Lascars were set to 
 duty like the rest. Snelling would have them even trained 
 to work the guns, although, if it blew at all hard, not one 
 could be got to go aloft, except their old serang and the 
 tindal, his mate. What surprised me most was the harbor 
 officer himself at last asking, as Mr. Snelling told me, to
 
 334 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 be put in a watch; but as the midshipman said there was 
 no doubt Webb had made a voyage or two before, some- 
 where or other, I agreed to it at once. 'I 'm not sure, sir,' 
 added the midshipman, with one of his doubtful double looks, 
 'but the gentleman may have seen blue water the first time at 
 Government expense, and not in the service either he 
 don't look fore and aft enough, Mr. Collins, harbor officer 
 though he be ; but, never mind, sir, I '11 see after him !' 
 'Pooh,' said I, laughing; 'if he does turn to, Mr. Snelling, 
 it shan't be in the watch you have to do with! Hand him 
 over to Mr. Jones.' By this time I had changed the mid 
 into my own watch, and given Jones charge of the other 
 so to him the harbor officer went. 
 
 "The main character aboard of us, to me at any rate, 
 was this Jones himself. The fact was, at first I had my 
 doubts of him altogether, partly owing to the queer way 
 we got hold of him, partly on account of his getting the 
 upper hand so much through chance, in the tremendous 
 weather we had at the outset, till I was n't sure but it 
 might come into the fellow's head of itself, to be upon 
 some drift or other that might cost me trouble, as things 
 stood. However, I no sooner felt where I was, and got 
 the craft under my own spoke, than I came to set him 
 down for nothing but one of those strange hands you fall 
 in with at sea sometimes, always sailing with a 'purser's 
 name,' a regular wonder of a shipmate, and serving to 
 quote every voyage after, by way of a clincher on all hard 
 points, not to say an oracle one can't get beyond, and can't 
 blow sky-high enough. To tell the truth, though, Jones 
 was as thorough a seaman as ever I met with never at a 
 loss, never wanting on any hand; whether it was the little 
 niceties we stood in need of for setting the schooner's rig- 
 ging all right again, which none but a blue-water long- 
 voyage sailor can touch, or, what comes to be still better 
 in tropical latitudes, a cool head and a quick hold, with 
 full experience for all sorts of weather, 't was much the 
 same to him. He was all over like iron, too, never seem- 
 ing to stand in need of sleep, and seeing like a hawk. 
 At any hour I came on deck in his watch, there was Jones, 
 all awake and ready, till hearing him walk the planks 
 over my head of a fine night made me at times keep my 
 eyes open, listening to it and the wash of the water to- 
 gether. I fancied there was something restless in it, like 
 the sea, with now and then an uneven sort of a start; 
 and at last it would come to full stop, that gave me the
 
 A SEA STORY 335 
 
 notion of how he was standing quiet in the same spot; 
 whether he was looking aloft, or thinking, or leaning over 
 the side, or what he was going to do, troubled me won- 
 derfully. The only want in his seamanship I noticed, he 
 evidently was n't used to handle a large ship ; but craft 
 of some kind I was pretty sure he had commanded in the 
 course of his life. As for taking observations, he could do 
 it better than I could then, while the knowledge he had 
 on different heads, that came out by chance, made you 
 think more of a Cambridge graduate than a common sailor, 
 such as he had shipped for with us. The strangest part 
 of all about him, though, was what I couldn't well name, 
 not to this day ; 't was more grained in with his manner, 
 and the ring of his voice at particular moments, as well 
 as his walk, though these were the smart seaman's no less; 
 but one could n't help thinking of a man that had known 
 the world ashore some time or other, in a different enough 
 station from now ay, and in a way to bring out softer 
 lines in his face than reefing topsails or seeing the main- 
 tack ridden down would do. The nearest I could come to 
 calling it, far apart as the two men stood, was to fancy he 
 reminded me of Lord Frederick Bury himself; especially 
 when he looked all of a sudden to the horizon in that 
 wide, vacant kind of fashion, as if he expected it farther 
 off than it was; only Jones's face was twice the age, like 
 a man's that had had double the passions in it at the 
 outset, and given them full swing since then; with a sleep- 
 ing devil in his eye yef, besides, as I thought, which 
 only wanted somewhat to rouse it. Only for that, I had 
 a sort of leaning to Jones myself; but, as it was, I caught 
 myself wishing, over and over, for something to make us 
 fall regularly foul of each other, and get rid of this con- 
 founded doubtful state. One hitch of a word to take hold 
 of, and, by Jove! I felt all the blood in my body would boil 
 out in me to find how we stood, and show it; but nothing 
 of the kind did Jones let pass and as close as the sea itself 
 he was in regard to his past life. As for the men from 
 the frigate, at least, they seemingly looked on him with 
 no great fondness, and a good deal of respect, in spite 
 of themselves, for his seamanship; whereas, if he had 
 been left in the forepeak in place of the cabin, I've no 
 doubt in a short time it would have been no man but 
 Jones. You light now and then upon a man afloat, indeed, 
 that his shipmates hold off from, as healthy dogs dp from 
 a mad one; and you saw they had some sort of an inkling
 
 336 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 of the gloomy close nature Jones had in him by the way 
 they obeyed his orders. Webb's three Cape Dutchmen 
 seemed to have a notion he was some being with mys- 
 terious powers, while the Lascars ran crouching at his very 
 word some of them being, as I found, Malays, and the rest 
 Mussulmans from Chittagong; but Jones could send them 
 about in their own language, Dutchmen and all a part of 
 the matter which did not tend to keep me less careful over 
 him. Still I observed, since his coming aboard, that Jones 
 never once touched liquor, which had plainly enough been 
 his ruin ashore; whether on account of meaning to pull 
 up once for all and mend, or only to have a wider bout 
 at next port, or else to keep himself steady for aught that 
 might turn up, I could n't settle in my own mind. Though 
 deucedly doubtful of its being the first, the very idea of 
 it made one feel for the man; and, in case of his doing 
 well, I had no small hopes of something in the upshot 
 to save a real sailor like him from going to the devil 
 altogether, as he seemed doing. 
 
 "Now, after our getting clear of the rough Cape weather, 
 and the deadlights being taken out of the stern windows, I 
 had given a look, for the first time, into the schooner's after- 
 cabins, which were pretty much as the people she belonged 
 to before had left them, except for the rough work the 
 gale had played. There were two of them, one opening 
 into the other; and I must say it was a melancholy sight 
 to meet the bright sunlight streaming into them from off 
 the water astern, with all the little matters either just as if 
 the owners were still inside, or else tumbled about at sixes 
 and sevens. One drawer, in particular,, had come out of a 
 table, scattering what was in it on the deck: there was a 
 half-open letter, in a woman's hand, all French, and show- 
 ing a lock of hair, with a broken diamond cross of the 
 French Legion of Honor, besides a sort of paper-book full 
 of writing and two printed ones bound in morocco. I picked 
 up the letter and the cross, put them in again, and shoved 
 the drawer back to its place, though I brought the books 
 away with me to have a glance over. What struck me 
 most, though, was a plaster figure of the French Emperor 
 himself, standing fastened on a shelf, with one hand in 
 the breast of his great coat, and looking calmly out of 
 the white sightless eyes; while right opposite hung a sort 
 of curtain which you 'd have thought they were fixed upon. 
 When I hauled it aside, I stared there, on a shelf to match 
 the other, was a beautiful smiling child's head to the shoul-
 
 A SEA STORY 
 
 337 
 
 ders, of pure white marble, as if it leaned off the bulkhead 
 like a cherub out of the clouds. 
 
 "Spite of all, however, the touch of likeness it had to 
 the head I got such a glimpse of at Longwood, even when 
 the hot sunlight showed it in my spyglass so pale and 
 terrible, was sufficient to tell me what this was Napoleon's 
 own little son, in fact, who was made king of Rome, as 
 I remembered hearing at the time. The thought of the 
 schooner's strange French captain and his desperate scheme 
 came back on me so strong, joined to what I saw he had 
 an eye to in fitting out his cabins, that, for my own part, 
 I had n't the heart to use them myself, and at first sight 
 ordered the deadlights to be shipped again, and the door 
 locked. 
 
 " 'T was a good many days after this, of course, and we 
 had made a pretty fast run up the Mozambique, in spite of 
 the sharp navigation required, sighting nothing larger than 
 the native and Arab craft to be seen thereabouts; we were 
 beginning to clear out from amongst the cluster of islands 
 and shoals at the channel-head, when two large sail were 
 made in open water to nor' -eastward. Next morning by day- 
 break we were to windward of the weathermost a fine 
 large Indiaman she was, crowding a perfect tower of canvas. 
 Shortly after, however, the schooner was within hail, slip- 
 ping easily down upon her quarter, which seemed to give 
 them a little uneasiness, plenty of troops as she seemed 
 to have on board, and looming like a frigate. After some 
 showing of keeping on, and apparently putting faith in the 
 man-of-war pennant I hoisted, she hove into the wind, when 
 we found she was the Company's ship 'Warringford,' and 
 the other the something 'Castle,' I forget which, both for 
 Calcutta. The next thing, as soon as they found we were 
 tender to his Majesty's frigate 'Hebe,' was to ask after 
 the 'Seringapatam'; on which I was told she was three 
 or four days' sail ahead with the 'Mandarin,' bound to 
 China, neither of them having put in at Johanna Island 
 to refresh. 
 
 "I was just ready to put our helm up again and 
 bid good-by, when the tiffin-gong could be heard sounding- 
 on the Tndiaman's quarter-deck, and the old white-haired 
 captain politely asked me if I would n't come aboard with 
 one or two of my officers to lunch. Mr. Snelling gave me 
 a wistful glance there were a dozen pretty faces admiring 
 our schooner out of the long white awnings: but even if 
 the notion of bringing up Snelling himself as my first offi-
 
 338 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 cer had n't been too much for me, not to speak of either 
 Jones or Webb, why the very thoughts that everything I 
 saw recalled to me, made me the more eager to get in 
 sight of the 'Seringapatam.' 'Thank you, sir,' answered I. 
 'No I must be off after the Bombay ship.' 'Ah,' hailed the 
 old captain, 'some of your Admiral's post-bags, I suppose. 
 Well, keep as much northing as you can, sir, and I dare say 
 you '11 find her parted company. She's got a jury fore-top- 
 mast up, for one she lost a week ago; so you can't mistake 
 her for the "Mandarin," with a good glass.' 'Have you 
 noticed any suspicious craft lately, sir?' asked I. 'Why, to 
 tell you the truth, lieutenant,' sang out he, looking down off 
 the high bulwarks at our long nine-pounders and the knot 
 of Lascars, 'none more so than we thought you, at first, sir!' 
 The cadets on the poop roared with laughter, and an old 
 lady with two daughters seemed to eye Snelling doubtfully, 
 through an opera-glass, as the reefer ogled both of them at 
 once. 
 
 " 'By the bye,' sang out the captain of the Indiaman to 
 me again, 'I fancy the passengers in that ship must have 
 got somehow uncomfortable one of our Bengal grandees 
 aboard of her wanted a berth to Calcutta with us, t' other 
 day in the Mozambique; but we're too full already!' 'In- 
 deed, sir?' said I; but the schooner's main-boom was jibbing 
 over, and with two or three more hails, wishing them a 
 good voyage, and so on, away we slipped past their weather- 
 bow. The 'Warringford' got under way at her leisure, and 
 in an hour or two her topsails were down to leeward of us. 
 On I cracked with square and studding-sails to the quarter- 
 ing breeze, till the schooner's light hull jumped to it, and 
 aloft she was all hung out of a side, like a diaryman's 
 daughter carrying milk; with the pace she went at, I 
 could almost say to an hour when we should overhaul the 
 chase. 
 
 "Still, after two or three days of the trade-wind, well out 
 in the Indian Ocean, and not a spot to be seen, we had 
 got so far up the Line as to make me sure we had overrun 
 her. Accordingly the schooner was hauled sharp on a wind 
 to cruise slowly down across what must be the Indiaman's 
 track, judging as we could to a nicety, with a knowledge of 
 the weather we had had. For my part, I was so certain of 
 sighting her soon, that I ordered the after-cabins to be set 
 to rights, seeing a notion had taken hold of rne of actually 
 offering them to Sir Charles Hyde for the voyage to Cal- 
 cutta fancy the thought! 'T was too good to be likely;
 
 A SEA STORY 339 
 
 but Violet herself actually being in that little after-cabin 
 and sleeping in it the lively schooner heading away alone 
 for India, and they and Westwood the sole passengers aboard 
 why, the very idea of it was fit to drive me crazy with 
 impatience. 
 
 "Well, one fine night, after being on deck all day, and 
 the whole night before, almost, I had turned into my cot 
 to sleep. .From where I lay I could see the moonshine off 
 the water through the stern-light in that after-cabin, by the 
 half-open door. I felt the schooner going easily through 
 the water, with a rise and fall from the heave of the long 
 Line-swell ; so close my eyes I could n't, especially as the 
 midshipman could be heard snoring on the other side like 
 the very deuce. Accordingly I turned out into the after- 
 cabin, and got hold of one of the Frenchman's volumes to 
 read, when, lo and behold ! I found it was neither more nor 
 less than Greek, all I knew being the sight of it. Next I 
 commenced overhauling the bundle of handwriting, which 
 I took at first for a French log of the schooner's voyage, 
 and sat down on the locker to have a spell at it. So 
 much as I could make out, in spite of the queer outland- 
 ish turn the letters had, and the quirks of the unnatural 
 sort of language, it was curious enough a regular story, 
 in fact, about his own life, the war, and Bonaparte himself. 
 
 "At another time I 'd have given a good deal to go 
 through with it at odd hours and a strange affair I found 
 it was some time afterwards; but meanwhile I had only 
 seen at the beginning that his name was Le Comte Victor 
 I'Allemand, Capitaine de la Marine Francais, and made out 
 at the end how there was some scheme of his beyond what I 
 knew before to be carried out in India, when it struck me 
 there was no one on the quarter-deck above. I listened Tor a 
 minute through the stern-window, and thought I heard some 
 one speaking, over the schooner's lee-quarter, as she surged 
 along; so slipping on jacket and cap, I went on deck at once. 
 
 "It was middle-watch at the time; but as soon as I 
 came up I saw all was quiet Webb near the gangway 
 talking to the old Lascar serang, and breaking the English 
 wonderfully betwixt them; while the Lascars of the watch 
 were sitting like tailors in a ring on the forecastle planks, 
 ei?ch waiting for his turn of one cocoanut hookah, that kept 
 hubble-bubbling away gravely under the smoker's nose, as 
 he took a long suck at it, while the red cinder in the 
 bowl lighted up his leathery Hindoo face and moustache 
 like a firefly in the root of a banian, till he handed it, without
 
 340 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 even a wipe, to his neighbor. These fellows had begun to 
 get much livelier as we made the tropics; and this same 
 serang of theirs had put out his horns once or twice to 
 Snelling lately, though he drew them in again the moment 
 he saw me a sulky old knotty-faced, yellow-eyed devil 1 
 thought him at any rate, while his dish-cloth of a turban, 
 his long blue gown and red trousers, reminded you at sea 
 in a gale of a dancing dervish. The day we spoke the 
 Indiaman, in fact, I noticed there was something in the 
 wind for a minute or two with him and his gang, which put 
 in my head at first to offer them to the captain for a 
 couple of good English hands; and as I passed him and 
 Webb this time the serang stopped his talk and sidled off. 
 
 "However, a beautiful night it was, as ever eye looked 
 upon even in the blue Indian Ocean: the heavens cloudless, 
 the full round moon shining high off our weather-beam 
 again, the stars drawn up into her bright light, as it were, 
 trembling through the films of it like dewdrops in gossamer 
 of a summer morning: you saw the sea meet the sky on 
 every hand, without a speck on the clear line of horizon, 
 through the squares of our ratlines and betwixt the schooner's 
 two long fore-and-aft booms. A pretty strongish breeze we 
 had, too, blowing from east to west, with a sweep through 
 the emptiness aloft, and a wrinkling ripple over the long 
 gentle swells, as deep in the hue as if fresh dye came from 
 the bottom, and crisping into a small sparkle of foam 
 wherever they caught it full. Something pleasant, one 
 could not say what, was in the air; and every sheet being 
 hauled taut to hold wind, the slant gush of it before her 
 beam drove her slipping ahead toward the quarter it came 
 from, with a dip down and a saucy lift of her jibs again, 
 as if she were half balanced amidships, but little noise about 
 it. I took a squint aloft and an overhaul all round, and 
 nothing was to be seen. The size of the sky through the 
 moonlight looked awful, as it were, and the strength of" the 
 breeze seemed to send a heavenly blue deep into the western 
 quarter, till you saw a star in it. The night was so lovely, 
 in fact, it somehow made one thinic of one's mother, and 
 old times, when you used to say your prayers. Still 1 
 could n't see the mate of the watch on the weather quarter- 
 deck, which surprised me the more in Jones's case, since 
 he was always ready for me when I came up; and, to tell 
 the truth, I should n't have been sorry to catch him napping 
 for once, only to show he was like men in common. 1 
 walked aft by the weather-side of the large mainsail, ac-
 
 A SEA STORY 341 
 
 cordingly, till I saw him leaning with his head over the 
 lee-bulwark, and heard him again, as I thought, apparently 
 speaking to some one down the schooner's side; upon which 
 I stepped across. 
 
 "Jones's back was to me as I looked over, too; but owing 
 to what he was busy with, I suppose, and the wash of the 
 water, which was louder there than inboard, while you heard 
 the plash from her bows every time she forged he evidently 
 did n't hear me. You may fancy my wonder to find he 
 was reading aloud to himself from the other of the French- 
 man's volumes, which I had no doubt left in the dining-cabin 
 the book open in both hands, he giving it forth in long 
 staves, with a break between and regular Greek it was, 
 too. You 'd have thought he timed them to the plash along- 
 side; and I must say, as every string of long-tailed words 
 flowed together like one in Jones's deep voice, and the 
 swell rose once or twice with its foam-bells near his very 
 hands, I almost fancied I made a meaning of them each 
 like a wave, as it were, sweeping to a crest, and breaking. 
 The gusto the man showed in it you can't conceive, and, 
 what was more, I had no doubt he understood the sense 
 of it, for all of a sudden, after twenty staves or so of 
 the kind, he stopped. 'There!' said he, 'there, old Homer 
 women, wine, and adventure what could the devil ask 
 more, blind old prater, with a sound in you like the sea? 
 Ay, wash, wash, wash away, lying old blue-water, you can't 
 wash it out and wine no, not the strongest rum in Cape 
 Town can wash you out!' With that Jones laid his head 
 on his arms, with the book still in one hand, muttering to 
 himself, and I listened in spite of me. 'Still it rouses 'the 
 old times in me!' said he. 'Here comes this book across 
 me, too. Ay, ay, and the rector fancied, sitting teaching me 
 Greek out of old wild Homer all week day and and his girl 
 slipping out and in 't would do to don the cassock of a 
 Sunday and preach out of the pulpit against the world, the 
 devil, and the flesh then warn me against the sea ha !' 
 
 "The laugh that came from him at that moment was 
 more like a dog than a human being; but on he went mut- 
 tering, 'Women, wine, and adventures, said ye, old Greek, 
 and a goddess, too; still he was a good old man, the rector 
 no guile nor evil in him, with his books in the cases 
 yonder, and the church spire seen through the window over 
 the garden, and his wife with ah, the less of that the 
 better. 'T was in me, though, and all our blood and in her 
 dark eyes, too, Mary though she was!' He broke out again,
 
 342 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 after a bit, as if he 'd been arguing it with something under 
 the side: 'I didn't take her the first time 1 came home 
 nor the second but but ay, I came back! Oh that part- 
 ing-stile in sight of the sea and that packet-ship but oh 
 God ! that night that night with the schooner forging ahead 
 
 through the blue blue And he stopped with a groan 
 
 that shook him as he leaned over. 'Hellish!' he said, sud- 
 denly standing upright and looking straight aloft with his 
 bare head and face to the wide empty sky, and the moon- 
 light tipping the hair on his forehead, from over the high 
 shadow on the lee side of the mainsail, where it glistened 
 along the gaff. 'She was pure to the last !' I heard him 
 say, though I had walked to the other side of the boom; 'ay, 
 though I rot to perdition for it! Down, old fiend!' as he 
 lifted his one hand with the book, and drove it along- 
 side, seemingly watching it settle away astern. 
 
 "Now I had heard nothing from Jones that I could n't 
 have fancied before, and there was even a humor to my rnind 
 in the notion of clapping it all on old Homer, if Homer 
 it was, and heaving him overboard with such a confoundedly 
 complimentary burial-service. But some of the words that 
 dropped from him shot through one's veins like icicles; 
 and now there was something fearful in the sight of him 
 standing 'straight again, with a look right into the heavens, 
 as if he 'd have searched them up and up in that lovely 
 night, too, spread far and wide the very rays of the moon- 
 light sparkled down the weather-side of the sail 1 was on, 
 trembling on the leech-ropes and brails as they swayed, and 
 into the hollows they made in the belly of the taut can- 
 vas; the long shining spot of it wavered and settled on the 
 same two planks of the quarter-deck, beyond the shadow of 
 the bulwark from the moon's eye, fast as the schooner moved 
 through the water, and it was like a hand laid upon her, 
 with the air and wind stretching between. Of a sudden. 
 I saw Jones wheel slowly round where he stood, like a 
 man turned about by main strength, with his eyes fixed 
 aloft, and his one arm raising from the shoulder till his 
 forefinger pointed to something, as I thought, about the 
 fore-to'gallant-sail. His face was like ashes, his eye glar- 
 ing, and I sprang across to him under the main-boom. 'See!' 
 said he, never turning his head, and the words hissed 
 betwixt his teeth, 'look at that !' 
 
 "Tor Heaven's sake, what, Mr. Jones?' said I. 'Her 
 her,' was his answer, 'coming against the wind dead fore- 
 and-aft in the shade of the sails!' On the lee sides of
 
 A SEA STORY 343 
 
 them the high boom-sails made a sort of a thin shadow 
 against the moonshine off the other beam, which came 
 glimpsing through between them out of a world of air 
 to the south-east, with a double of it flickering alongside 
 on the water as it heaved past to leeward; and whether it 
 was fancy, or whether it was but the reflection aloft from 
 below, I thought as I followed Jones's finger, I saw some- 
 thing like the shape of a woman's dress floating close in 
 with the bonnet of the fore-topmast-staysail, from the dusk 
 it made to the breast of the fore-topsail, and even across 
 the gush of white light under the yard long and straight, 
 as it were, like a thing lifted dripping out of water, and 
 going, as he said, right against the schooner's course. 'Now 
 in the foresail!' whispered Jones, his eye moving as on 
 a pivot, and a thrill ran through me at the notion; for L 
 made out one single moment what I thought a face against 
 the sky at the gaff-end, white as death, shooting aft towards 
 the mainsail though next instant I saw it was but a block 
 silvered by the moon as the schooner lifted. 'Now the 
 mainsail!' said he huskily, 'and now now, by the heavens 
 rising rising to the gaff -topsail away! Oh Lord! Mary!' 
 
 "He was leaning aft toward the width of the sky, with 
 both hands clutched together before him, shuddering all 
 over. For the first minute my own blood crept, I must 
 say; but directly after I touched him on the shoulder. 'This 
 is strange, Mr. Jones,' said I; 'what's the matter?' 'Once 
 in the Bermudas!' said he, still wildly, 'once in the Pacific 
 and now! Does the sea give up its dead, though, think 
 ye?' 'You've a strong fancy, Mr. Jones, that's all,' I said, 
 sternly. 'Fancy !' said he, though beginning to get the better 
 of himself; 'did ye ever fancy a face looking down down 
 at you in the utterest scorn -down sideways off the shoul- 
 der of the garment, as it sticks wet into every outline like 
 life? All the time gliding on the other way, too, and the 
 eyes like two stars a thousand miles away beyond, as kind 
 as angels' neither wind nor sea can stop it, till suddenly 
 it rises to the very cope of heaven still looking scornfully 
 down at you ! No, sir, fancy it you could n't !' 
 
 "The glance he gave me was somehow or other such as 
 I could n't altogether stomach from the fellow, and he was 
 turning to the side, when I said quietly, 'No, nor Homer 
 either, I dare say!' Jones started and made a step towards 
 me. 'You heard me a little ago!' rapped out he, eying me. 
 'Yes,' I said; 'by Jove! who could help being curious to 
 hear a sailor spout Greek as you were doing, Mr. Jones?'
 
 344 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 ' 'The fact is, Mr. Collins,' answered he, changing his 
 tone, 'I was well brought up the more shame to me for 
 bringing myself to what you saw me. I had a sister drowned, 
 too, on her passage to America ' one voyage, when I was 
 mate of the ship myself. No wonder it keeps my nerves 
 shaking sometimes, when I 've had too long about shore.' 
 'Well, well, Jones,' said I, rather softening, 'you 've proved 
 yourself a first-rate seaman, and I 've got nothing to com- 
 plain of but I tell "you fairly I had my doubts of you! 
 So you '11 remember you 're under the Articles of War aboard 
 here, sir,' added I, 'which, as long as I have this schooner 
 under hand, I '11 be hanged if I don't carry out !' All at 
 once the thought struck me, a little inconveniently, of my 
 carrying off Webb, and his people, and I fancied Jones's 
 quick eye wandered to the Lascars forward. 'I know it, sir,' 
 said he, looking me steadily in the face ; 'and what 's more, 
 Mr. Collins, at any rate I could n't forget you picked me 
 out, confounded low as I looked, to come aft here. 'T is 
 not every captain afloat that has such a good eye for a 
 seaman, as / know!' 'Oh, well, no more about it,' I said, 
 walking forward on the weather-side, and leaving him on 
 the lee one as distinctly as Lord Frederick Bury could have 
 done to myself in the frigate. Jones no doubt thought I 
 did n't notice the slight wrinkle that gathered round his 
 lee eye when he gave me this touch of butter at the end; 
 but I put it down for nothing more, gammon though it was. 
 
 "It was near the end of the watch, the moon beginning 
 to set, while it still wanted three hours of daybreak in 
 those latitudes, when the lookout on the topgallant-yard, 
 who was stationed there in man-o'-war cruising fashion, 
 reported a sail to windward. Just then the midshipman 
 came on deck to his watch, wonderfully early for him in- 
 deed, and on my remarking it was probably the Indiaman 
 at last, Jones himself went aloft with the night-glass to 
 make her out. 'Mr. Snelling,' said I, 'see the hands on 
 deck ready for going about.' Next minute I saw him rous- 
 ing up the rest of the Lascars, who slept watch and watch 
 on the forecastle. Only five or six of the 'Hebe's' men 
 were up, and all of them, save the man at the wheel, ran 
 aloft to rig out stun-stail booms to windward, as soon as 
 the schooner was fairly on the starboard tack, standing to 
 nor' -eastward. Suddenly I saw a scuffle between the mid- 
 shipman and the tindal,* a stout, dark-faced young Ben- 
 galee, with a jaunty skull-cap and frock, whom Snelliug 
 
 * Lascar boatswain's mate.
 
 A SEA STORY 345 
 
 had probably helped along with a touch of a rope's end, 
 and in a moment two or three more of them were upon 
 him, while the reefer drew his dirk, and sung out to me, 
 scarce before I was with him, the Lascars rolling into 
 ihe lee-scuppers at two kicks of my foot. 
 
 "Webb and three of the men from Cape Town were 
 hoisting a stun-sail at the time, the smart man-o'-war's- 
 nien aloft singing out to them to bear a hand. What with 
 the noise of the sail flapping, and its being betwixt my 
 own men and the deck, they could know nothing of the 
 matter; and the Lascars let go the halyards in a body, mak- 
 ing a rush at Snelling and myself with everything thex 
 could pick up in the shape of a spar. 
 
 "This would have been nothing, as in two or three minutes 
 more the men would have been down, and the cocoa-faced 
 rascals dodged every way from the handspike I got hold 
 of; but I just caught a glimpse on one side of the sly old 
 serang shoving on the fire-scuttle to keep down the watch 
 below, and on the other, of Webb looking round him, evi- 
 dently to see how matters stood. Two Dutchmen seized the 
 first sailor that came down the rigging, by the legs, and 1 
 saw the affair must be finished at once, it had so much the 
 look of a regular plot on Webb's part, if Jones was n't con- 
 cerned in it, too. I made one spring upon my Cape Town 
 gentleman, and took him by the throat with one hand, while 
 1 hit the biggest Dutchman full behind the ear, felling 
 him to the deck, on which the man-o'-war's-man grappled 
 his watch-mate, and Webb was struggling with me suf- 
 ficiently to keep both my hands full, when I had a pleasant 
 inkling of a Malay Lascar slipping toward my back with 
 a bare creese in his fist. 
 
 "I just looked over ray shoulder at his black eyes twinkling 
 devilishly before he sprang, when some one came sliding fair 
 down from the fore-topmast-head by a back-stay, and pitched 
 in a twinkling on top of his head a thing enough to break 
 the neck of a monument. Directly after, I saw Jones him- 
 self hitting right and left with his night-glass, from the 
 moonlight to the shadow of the foresail, while Snelling tum- 
 bled over a Lascar at every slap, standing up in boxer-style. 
 By the time the rest of the men came down all was set- 
 tledthe Dutchmen sulking against the bulwarks, and Webb 
 gasping after I let him go. 'Boatswain,' said I to one of
 
 346 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 'Did n't you carry us off illegally ?' said lie. 'I only meant 
 to recover the vessel upon my honor, nothing more, sir; and 
 if you 're 'ard with me, you '11 have to answer for it, I as- 
 sure you!' Here he looked round to Jones in a strange 
 way, as I fancied, for a moment; but Jones turned on his 
 heel with a sneer. 'Why, Mr. Webb,' answered I, 'you lost 
 that tack by offering yourself in a watch, which makes 
 the thing neither more nor less than mutiny so take him 
 below, do ye hear, bo'sun!' And down he went. 
 
 " 'Now, Mr. Jones,' said I, as soon as all hands were on 
 deck, 'you '11 be so good as have half of these Lascars 
 seized to the rigging here, one after the other, and see a 
 good dozen given to each of their backs; then these two 
 Dutchmen, each three dozen then pipe down the watch, sir.' 
 
 "Jones glanced at me, then at the fellows, then at me 
 again. I thought he hung aback for an instant; but do it 
 T was determined he should, for a reason I had; and I gave 
 him back the look steady as stone. 'Ay, ay, sir,' said he, 
 at last, touching his hat. I walked aft to the capstan, and 
 stood there till every mother's son of them had got his 
 share, the Lascar^ wriggling and howling on the deck after 
 it, and the Dutchmen twisting their backs as they walked 
 off. 'T was the first time I did that part of duty in com- 
 mand, and I felt, in the circumstances, I was in for car- 
 rying it out with a taut hand. 
 
 "By this time the moon was setting, and in the dusk we 
 lost sight of the sail to windward; but as we were heading 
 well up to weather upon her, and going at least ten knots, 
 I turned in below for a little, leaving the midshipman. Ac- 
 cordingly, it was n't very long before Snelling called me 
 in broad daylight. 'She 's a large ship, Mr. Collins,' said he, 
 'standing under all sail on a wind. I hope to goodness, sir, 
 it 's that confounded Indiaman at last !' I hurried on deck, 
 took the glass aloft, and soon made out the jury fore-top- 
 mast shorter than the main, as the old captain mentioned. 
 Accordingly, it was with somewhat of a flutter in me I 
 came down again, watching the schooner's trim below and 
 aloft, to see if I could n't take an hour or so off the time 
 betwixt that and once more setting eyes on the Judge's 
 daughter.
 
 A SEA STORY 34; 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 "AFTER breakfast-time the breeze freshened again, and 
 the ship had evidently perceived us, as well as the fact 
 of our having hauled on a wind to make up with her course; 
 for we could see her hoisting out one stun-sail after another 
 to the lee side, and keeping oft' in order to give them full 
 play. This was what I was afraid of, in fact, that our 
 looking her way in the circumstances would make her show 
 her heels; and being hull down, almost dead to windward 
 of us, with her spread of sail to such a breeze as the pres- 
 ent, it was like to be a troublesome matter ere we got 
 within signalling distance; especially if she had kept hold 
 of her wind a little more, instead of falling off before 
 it as she did, which tended the schooner always steadily 
 to weather upon her, the sharper we kept her nose to the 
 sun in the spray. Indeed, the wind during the forenoon 
 came gradually round more in our favor, till it stood south- 
 east by east or so; by which time, however, we had dropped 
 her topsails from the deck, then her to'gallant-sails, to, a 
 white speck far down on the lee-bow. We weathered fast 
 upon her, and I fancied I made out the yellow India 
 patches in her canvas; when, on turning about, I caught 
 Jones's glance at me, as if he could n't understand my 
 eagerness, or else had got curious what the schooner wanted 
 with the ship at all. 'She loses, I think, sir,' said he, 
 looking off to her again. 'Little doubt of that, Mr. Jones/ 
 said I. 'I know that Indiaman's sailing to a tee but 
 we shan't overhaul her at this rate an hour too soon, before 
 she might have a chance of dropping us in the dark, or 
 our running to leeward of her again.' 'Why, yes,' said Jones, 
 carelessly, 'if they knew how to do it, sir.' 'By George! 
 Mr. Collins,' exclaimed Snelling, T see her stern-gallery 
 sparkling in the run of the surges.' 
 
 "In a little while we could notice her canvas darken 
 slowly from the courses to the to'gallant-sails, leaving the 
 royals and studding-sails whiter than before: they were 
 wetting her sails. 'She must take us for something bad, 
 Lieutenant Collins!' remarked Jones, as if the thing were 
 at all doubtful. 'A pirate, in fact,' added the reefer, with 
 a grin. 'Why, sir,' said he, 'these Company's men seem 
 to think the sea swarms with pirates, though I'm blessed 
 if we've been so lucky as to sight even the tail-feather
 
 348 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 of one my eye ! though, how the griffins must be skipping 
 about just now!' 
 
 "The . truth was, the nearer we got, the more it struck 
 me that, altered as the schooner was aloft, our red streak 
 and lead-colored sides were just as the first time I saw 
 them ; which would n't do much toward settling the India- 
 man's doubts of us, for they couldn't fail to remember 
 her the moment our hull came in sight; and as for my 
 own character all along aboard the 'Seringapatam,' why, 
 neither first nor last did it seem to stand in good odor. 
 'Mr. Jones,' said I, as we slipped quietly through the water, 
 'have you got any old canvas at hand, sir? be so good as 
 have it ripped up in lengths, and fast clapped outside from 
 stem to stern along that red streak of ours, up as far as 
 the plank sheer, missing the ports give her a good broad 
 white stripe, sir, instead!' 'Ay, ay, sir!' answered he, with 
 a gleam in his eye as he turned off, half knowing, half in 
 surprise. 'And, Mr. Snelling,' continued I, 'hark ye, see 
 all the hammocks stowed over the bulwarks in her waist 
 and run both those long-guns forward, chock into the eyes 
 of her, to bring her down by the head a little keep the 
 men on the fok'sle, too she looks rather rakish at present, 
 I must confess!' 
 
 "All this the young gentleman seemed to do with as 
 rueful a look as if he were putting knee-breeches and gaiters 
 in place of white ducks, on his own lower timbers; and 
 presently he came aft to ask if he might n't stick a shot into 
 each of the guns. 'What for!' said I. 'Oh,' said the mid- 
 shipman, 'won't she show fight at all, sir, then?' Just then 
 the white range of the Indiaman's heavy quarter-gallery 
 came into view, then the bulge of her big hulking body half 
 on to us, with a port-lid or two raised in the white band : 
 we were to windward of her, already, stealing up on her 
 quarter. 'My eye!' said Snelling, 'she could blow us out 
 of water, if she chose, Mr. Collins, and only had 
 pluck enough.' 'Why, that 's all you know about it, Mr. 
 Snelling,' said I, with a laugh, 'since she don't carry long 
 muzzles in her side, and in a light breeze like this we could 
 however, 'as we happen to be friends, that 's of no mo- 
 ment, Mr. Snelling.' 'After all, though,' I added, 'you may 
 load once, and stand by to fire across her course, if re- 
 quired; but, for tire life of you, Snelling,' said I, seriously, 
 'in any case, if I give the word to fire, don't let anything in 
 the shape of iron go near that ship's hull ! By Jove ! sir,
 
 A SEA STORY 349 
 
 I'd let her blow us out of the water first, or else show 
 her our heels, myself!' 
 
 "Well, about four in the afternoon, there we were coming 
 down actually on the ship's quarter, from windward; when 
 we took in our flying-kites, clued up gaif and fore-topsails, 
 and to'gallant-sail, leaving St. George's flag fluttering bright 
 at the main-peak, and our long coach-whip streaming from 
 the mast-head, while she kept gliding easily ahead under 
 nothing but the two boomsails and large jib. Still the 
 Indiaman gave no other sign except showing the British 
 ensign, then her striped Company's flag under it, at the 
 mizzen-peak: she went jogging steadily on, as I was afraid 
 she would, like a fellow giving you the go-by in the street. 
 'Nothing else for it, after all, Mr. Snelling,' said 1, walking 
 forward, as we got within long range. 'The confounded 
 fools !' I could n't help saying, 'do they think a piratical 
 craft would give herself the trouble of hoisting all the flags 
 in Christendom one after the other, and she, of course, with 
 a long-Tom on a pivot amidships? Mr. Jones, oblige me by 
 pitching a shot right across her fore-foot.' Jones stepped 
 forward, had the gun slued, and blew the match. 'Are you 
 ready?' said I 'now mind your eye fire!' and the ball went 
 spinning from the top of one swell to another beyond the 
 Indiaman's bows, rather wide of the mark, as I thought: 
 when, all at once, the smoke had scarce cleared away betwixt 
 us ere I saw her jib-sheets fly, and the Indiaman luffing up in 
 the wind. Jones started, as almost next moment we could 
 see the spritsail-yard hanging in two across the spars 1 
 must say, rather to my own surprise, in spite of a good 
 deal of old cruising practice. 
 
 " 'A good aim, sir !' remarked he, turning round. 'There 
 goes her mainyard, now!' said Snelling; and she seemed to 
 be heaving-to, when the mainsail filled again, and on she 
 stood as before; then actually broached-to, all aback, and 
 gathering stern-way with her bows fairly facing us; while the 
 black figure-head under the bowsprit showed me his turban 
 again once more, like a fellow leaning over a horse he could- 
 n't manage. 'What the mischief are the lubbers about!' i 
 said, 'can't they heave-to at once and be done with it, now 
 that I fancy they see their mistake t' 
 
 "Here Jones, who had got aft and stood up on the taffrail, 
 jumped down again all at once, and met me at the capstan. 
 ^Lieutenant Collins,' said he in a low voice, and looking me 
 straight in the face with a very queer expression, 'the ship 
 has siruckl' 'Struck !' repeated I, starting ; and he, Snelling,
 
 350 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 and I sprang to the taffrail together. There was the India- 
 man, in fact, at length heaving into the wind, about three- 
 quarters of a mile off our lee-beam, with her two ensigns 
 hauled down, and something flying instead of them at 
 the gaff -end, which I could n't make out. Our helm was put 
 up, and the schooner edged swiftly down to her, slipping 
 along in sight of her stretch of bulwarks till we had hove-to 
 abreast of her starboard bow. 
 
 " 'What ship is that ?' hailed I from abaft, as we ran past 
 in the shadow of her sails; and I saw my gentleman 'first 
 officer,' Finch, standing up in her mizzen-chains with the 
 trumpet, more dashing than ever, as he had poor Captain 
 Williamson's uniform coat and hat on, apparently, and a 
 sword by his side: her whole quarter-bulwark bristling with 
 spyglasses and gun-barrels turned upon the schooner, though 
 not another head could be seen. 'The Honorable East In 
 began Finch ; but that moment there was a perfect hubbub of 
 cries and cheers, as a dozen faces I knew well showed them- 
 selves popping up from the quarter-deck: Old Rollock in a 
 huge straw hat and his shirt-sleeves, with a ship's musket in 
 his fists; Ford, Winterton, and the cadets the long-faced 
 Scotch surgeon, and Macleod's screwed nose and red whiskers 
 every eye fixed on me, as I fancied, not to say three or four 
 rusty barrels. Their confusion and bewilderment was rare to 
 witness; and being forty hands of us the Lascars' out- 
 landish physiognomies and all why, the schooner must have 
 looked rather respectable as she still slid ahead. 
 
 "In the meantime, the look of our smart 'Hebe's' men, with 
 the frigate's name shining in front of their regular-built hats, 
 and everything about us, not to say the reefer's naval uni- 
 form and mine, seemed to have set the Indiaman's people 
 more at their ease; till, when our gig's crew was ready to 
 lower away, there was even a glimpse of ladies to be seen 
 along toward her poop. Every moment I expected the sight 
 of a certain face to flash on me from over the black rail, as 
 the ship rolled and plunged in the heave of water opposite us, 
 showing her broad white band, with the drips of rust across 
 it from her chain-plates. 'We made somewhat of an awkward 
 mistake, sir!' hailed Finch, eying me queerly enough, and 
 trying to appear at his ease. 'So I supposed, sir,' said I; 'I 
 shall send a boat aboard of you directly' ; and I turned to the 
 midshipman, who stood surveying the ship from stem to stern 
 with his nose turned away from her, and his hands in the 
 tails of his coat, speaking all the time to Mr. Jones, though
 
 A SEA STORY 351 
 
 the latter was apparently the least interested of the two, for 
 he had his eye seaward. 
 
 " 'Mr. Snelling,' said I, 'd' ye see that gentleman yonder 
 near the main-rigging, with the black hat on ? You '11 go 
 aboard in the gig, sir, give your commanding-officer's com- 
 pliments to the captain of the Indiaman, and mention to him 
 that that gentleman is wanted here Westwood his name is.' 
 
 "To tell you the truth, my head was in a perfect whirl at 
 knowing that, if I chose, five minutes could set me within 
 speaking distance of Violet yet you 'd scarce believe 1 
 actually almost made up my mind not to go on deck again 
 till our sheets were hauled aft, and we leaving the ship astern. 
 Bless your heart I was n't aware till that minute whatl felt 
 for her; everything about the voyage from Portsmouth came 
 back so fresh on me, at sight of the different parts about the 
 old 'SeringapatamV bulwarks, to the very odds-and-ends of 
 ropes hanging alongside that blessed lumbering coach-house 
 of hers amidships, and the live-stock cackling and bleating in 
 it between times ! And there was I glancing aft into our 
 little stern-cabins, which I fancied two or three days ago 
 might serve for their passage. But now, though I had a 
 pretty sharp guess these same cabins were meant originally 
 for neither more nor less than an emperor himself, why, 
 I saw the very notion was too ridiculous to mention! 
 'Mr. Jones,' said I, speaking up the skylight, 'as soon as 
 you see that passenger is in the boat, have the head sheets 
 hauled aft, sir, and the helm put up to make sail.' 'Ay, ay, 
 sir,' said he; but directly after, he added in a low voice, 
 'I believe though, sir, we are not likely to part company 
 from this ship so soon!' 'How, sir!' exclaimed I sharply, 
 and starting up off the chair to see him, for something 
 in the cool, collected tone of his voice jarred on me the 
 more on account of the state I was in myself 'what do you 
 mean by that?' i had merely to catch sight of my mate's 
 broad throat and hairy chin, however, as he stood with his 
 full chest thrown back, and one hand in his waistcoat, looking 
 aloft by the skylight, when, following his eye to our maingaff, 
 it was easy to know the last fanning of the wind; which, 
 taken together with the schooner's yerking motion abaft, was 
 sufficient to give you word of a calm. 'We have lost the breeze 
 for to-night, at any rate, sir,' said Jones, letting his eyes sud- 
 denly fall upon me, and meeting the flicker of pleasure I 
 could n't help showing on my face. 'Confound the thing I you 
 don't say so, Mr. Jones!' rejoined I quickly. 'Then as long 
 as she has a foot's steerage-way, sir, let her slip off the India-
 
 352 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 man's bow at once else the two of us will be grinding 
 together ere daylight like a couple of mill-stones without 
 corn !' 
 
 "On deck there were twenty things worth noticing, that 
 struck one at the same time. The schooner's light spars and 
 white canvas seen sharp against the white glare of light in 
 the west, as she settled round on the ship's other bow; while 
 the light air high aloft in the Indiaman's royals still kept 
 steadying her with her lee side to the sunset, where it made a 
 red trough along the horizon down through a golden cloud or 
 two, that looked like bright-winged things whirling off and 
 about the sun. 
 
 "Our gig was holding off by the boat-hook from her lee- 
 quarter, the oars upended, and two or three sailors, with their 
 heads shoved out under a portlid on the main-deck, talking to 
 the boat's crew, while a few of the men hung over the high 
 black topsides, peering aft at the gig; the rest being gathered 
 in the ship's bows, with their eyes fixed on the schooner. The 
 huge round of the sun went down astern like the mouth of a 
 furnace, sending a broad stream of red light across the face 
 of the water with every wet streak and wrinkle shown heav- 
 ing in it, right up to the Indiaman's white band and her 
 pitch-black bulwarks. Her quarter-galleries lashed out, and 
 you saw the passengers' heads aft through the red arch under 
 the wide mainsail-foot, till every face shone crimson-bright 
 out of the awning below; and I could see the midshipman's 
 gold band glisten as he took his cap off to some ladies coming 
 down the poop-stair, amidst a hubbub of cadets turning 
 round to eye the schooner. For half a minute the smooth 
 sea all astern of the ship seemed to wash to her water-line in 
 a flood of light and blood almost, as if the horizon vanished; 
 then the tip of the sun went down like a burning ruby, the 
 blue heave of water sank away from the copper at the 
 Indiaman's bows, giving us an easy lift at the other side of 
 the swell, and the whole compass of the sea appeared to slide 
 round cool and clear against the soft flush of all possible tints 
 in the west; till the deep indigo hue of the calm spread 
 melting off from both of us. 
 
 "What I gave most heed to was the knots of men's faces 
 on the 'Seringapatam's' forecastle, as the golden gleam of 
 light, and the red glare, struck across them with all sorts of 
 queer touches, that brought back every one of them clearly to 
 mind at once; and, stepping forward where Mr. Jones's figure 
 was to be seen dark against the pale glow in the west, I could 
 easily make out ugly Harry's big buffalo head, as he leaned
 
 A SEA STORY 353 
 
 his chin on his two hands, and surveyed us up and down, with 
 his dirty tarpaulin on the back of his head as usual, and his 
 shaggy black hair like thatch over his forehead, almost down 
 to the meeting ol his thick eyebrows. The moment I ap- 
 peared Mister Harry Foster shifted himself with a start, 
 looked aloft to his own ship, and began to whistle as if for 
 wind; the same moment Jones turned and noticed me, too, 
 and the difference of the two men's faces struck me the more, 
 that I could n't help thinking extremes met. 'That fellow 
 there seems to like us so well, Mr. Jones,' said I, laughing, 
 'that I 've half a mind to bring him aboard, as I could!' 'Who 
 which, sir?' said the mate, looking to every part of the 
 Indiaman but the right one. 'Why, that misbegotten-like 
 rascal you were looking at/ said I; 'I know a little of him, 
 and a more thorough blackguard does n't walk planks !' 
 'There 's the boat, though, Lieutenant Collins !' said Jones 
 suddenly: the boat-hook struck our mizzen-chains on the 
 other side in the dusk, and next minute Tom Westwood 
 swung himself on board, with the midshipman and Old Rol- 
 lock the planter following in his wake; the last, to my sur- 
 prise, carrying two hat-boxes and an umbrella. 
 
 " 'Why, Ned Collins !' broke out Westwood, 'what is the 
 meaning of all this what wind has blown you here?' 'My 
 dear fellow !' shouted the planter, almost jumping on top of 
 me, 'I never in my life saw the like of you the very same 
 infernal schooner, too! Come, let's hear have you taken 
 'em all then, head and tail have you ' 
 
 " Tor Heaven's sake, Mr. Rollock,' said I, sheering out of 
 his way as well as I could, 'come below, sir, if I must answer 
 all these questions!' 'So you are actually in command?' 
 said Westwood ; and hereupon I gave him the bearings of his 
 own affair, with the fact of my falling in with Lord Frederick 
 Bury, of course; and of all men in the world, I believe, the 
 'Honorable Bury' was the one Westwood could feel com- 
 fortable under, as his face showed at the time. 'Whether i 
 lose you or not in the Hoogly, Tom,' said I, 'I dare, say you '11 
 find "yourself in the end aboard the "Hebe," in some shape 
 or other ! and meantime I shall be glad of you here for a first 
 mate.' 'Well, well,' put in the planter again, impatiently, 
 after having kept questioning me every now and then for the 
 last ten minutes, which I answered without well knowing 
 what he said 'then you hung him, of course?' 'IT mm' 
 whom?' asked I, obliged to attend by Mr. Pollock's per- 
 severance. 'Why, El Americano, to bo sure the ^nnkoe 
 Snout!' said he, trying to lengthen his face for the news.
 
 354 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 'Hung him no!' said I, laughing; 'when I saw him on deck 
 there, last, he was lively enough, and anxious to get those 
 images of his out of the "Seringapatam." ' The planter's rosy 
 gills turned a shade or two paler, and he started off his seat. 
 'God bless me!' said he, in a low voice, and looking over his 
 shoulder, 'you don't mean to say you 've brought the man 
 back on me. I declare to you I lost a few pounds of my weight 
 here before, by his actually conceiving a friendship for me !' 
 Old Rollock's dismay was so comical that I could scarce find 
 in my heart to ease his mind, as I did. 
 
 " 'Why, my dear fellow,' said Westwood, with a smile, 'I 
 assure you that disappearance of yours took me by surprise. 
 Indeed, I only guessed, from something Captain Finch let 
 drop afterwards, how it came about ; and till the very moment 
 the brig-of-war got under way, I fancied you had some other 
 plan in view, or else you never would have carried it out. 
 The fact was, Ned, if your heart was bound for India, mine 
 was ashore in Old England, and I 'd rather have run the risk 
 to go back!' Here Tom caught my glance, and looked shyly 
 into one waistcoat pocket, then into another, fidgeting on his 
 chair, poor fellow! in a way that brought my sister Jane's 
 gray eyes, and her demure little arch face, distinctly before 
 me, thousands of miles as there were between us and Croy- 
 don. The thought of the 'Seringapatam' being so near, on 
 the other hand, somehow rushed on me at the same time, and 
 I felt wonderfully mild toward Tom. 'Hang it, Tom !' said I, 
 'never mind thinking if it mix your grog, man, and con- 
 found all care to the bottom of the sea. You 're well off ! 
 For my part,' said I, 'I had no notion at all how that case 
 stood, so I made a cursed mistake in the matter but here 's 
 luck!' 
 
 " 'However,'" said he, 'I saw your drift by that time ; 
 and the young lady herself was in the fore-cabin when I 
 told her father the whole story, not long after you went 
 off. 'T was no use with Sir Charles, though, to say you 
 were only carrying out the joke to screen me, and amuse 
 yourself at the same time he was sure you were after 
 some scheme; and all the while Miss Hyde sat sewing on the 
 sofa behind us, as quiet and careless as if she did n't hear a 
 word, or trouble herself about the matter. When I came 
 upon your vanishing so suddenly in the brig, however, and 
 said I was sure, by that time, you did so in order to let me 
 clear off, I had my eye on the looking-glass opposite the 
 young lady; and whatever you may make of it, Ned, I can 
 tell you she started and glanced up at that point.' 'Well,
 
 A SEA STORY 355 
 
 and what of that?' I asked. But Westwood went on 'it 
 was all one to Sir Charles, nevertheless, whatever way i 
 turned it. According to him, this was just of a piece with 
 the rest of your doings, which showed the bad effects of the 
 naval service. 'T was no use my standing up for you, saying 
 how fast you had risen, and would rise, if you had the right 
 thing to do for the old gentleman allowed everything, adding 
 it was so much the worse for such fellows to be set loose. "L 
 tell you what, Mr. Westwood," said he, looking round sharply, 
 as if he were speaking at somebody else, "there is a soul of 
 mischief in that young man that nothing will root out, unfit- 
 ting him for everything else, however admirably it may be 
 suited to maritime pursuits or to savage warfare. In short," 
 added the Judge, drawing himself up, "it is my conviction he 
 
 will either be drowned or knocked on the head " ' 'The 
 
 precious old curmudgeon!' I rapped out, betwixt laughter 
 and rage at the thought of her hearing all this pretty charac- 
 ter of me. ' "And I must say, my young friend/' said the 
 Judge,"! felt much relieved at finding Councillor Westwood's 
 nephew so different an individual exceedingly relieved! 
 Besides that, you cannot, of course, continue in the navy!" 
 Just at this moment,' continued Westwood, 'I saw the young 
 lady gather up her work behind us with a sparkle in her eye, 
 rise off the sofa, and walk straight aft through the cabin- 
 door.' 
 
 " 'Was that all?' said I, biting my lip. 'All, you heathen!' 
 answered Tom, laughing. 'Why, what would you have? I'll 
 be bound the Judge did n't mean all that for my use, my dear 
 fellow. But the worst of it was, that next day, when I met 
 her with the Brigadier's lady on the poop, the young beauty 
 passed me with as scornful an air as possible ; and for a week 
 or so, whenever the Judge happened to ask me into the 
 round-house cabins, either she wasn't there, or took an 
 opportunity of walking out the most I got was a bow or a 
 "good-morning" ; so you see the real Simon Pure did n't 
 prosper half so well as the false one!' 'Pooh!' said I, 
 gloomily, thinking of the little ground I had made myself, 
 'all contradiction the fact is, you 're too simple for women's 
 ways, Westwood.' Westwood looked down and gave a queer 
 smile as much as to say, I suppose, the case stood just the 
 contrary; and I must own it struck me he must be rather a 
 knowing fellow that could fathom my sister, seeing that, for 
 my part, I understood her no more than my mother's house- 
 maid did, with her high-flown music and poetry, and all that 
 sort of thing.
 
 356 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 " 'However,' said Westwood, 'I contrived by degrees to 
 get over all this, and for the last week or two we were as 
 good acquaintances as before in fact, the Judge was evi- 
 dently bent 011 it. And I tell you what it is, Ned, as charming 
 a girl, in her way, as Violet Hyde I can't well fancy but one 
 more hopeless to deal with, for a fellow that has n't got hold 
 of her heart, I believe does n't breathe ! Why, young as she 
 is, you 'd feel her playing you round her pretty forefinger as a 
 woman would, looking at you all the time under her soft eye- 
 lids with those bright eyes of hers, as if you could fancy her 
 falling in love in a moment with some one else, but never 
 with yourself !' 'By Jove, yes !' said I, feeling as dismal as I 
 dare say I looked. 'Do you know,' Westwood went on, 'her 
 figure and walk always remind me of a Hindoo girl's, all over 
 English as her face and hair are, with a touch of the tropical, 
 you can't say where, about it owing to her being born in 
 India, as I believe she was ; and altogether, Ned, I 'm glad 
 to Here Westwood shrugged his shoulders, and I 
 
 poured myself out another glass of grog in pure despair. 
 
 " 'The truth is,' said I, 'I wish I had never seen that con- 
 founded 'Seringapatam' ! Did n't she say any did n't you 
 in fact, Tom, what do you think of the matter, plump and 
 plain, stem and stern ?' said I manfully. 'Why,' said Tom, in 
 a thoughtful way, 'not to set you at all wrong on either side, 
 the thing that strikes me is, I don't think she ever once men- 
 tioned you, Ned, except in passing. But to my mind, in thy 
 circumstances, that 's not so much against you. The young 
 lady can say little when she pleases, I assure you; for only 
 last night, in that fine moonlight we happened to touch on 
 that affair in the river you know?' 'Yes,' I said, for it 
 was n't easy to forget. 'Now I always thought that night a 
 turning-point with you,' Westwood said; 'and it was the last 
 night you were aboard ; so I spoke of you a good deal, and 
 never a word did Miss Violet utter, save "Yes" and "No," 
 while her face being in the shadow, 1 could n't see it. Oh, by 
 the bye, though,' continued he, 'she did say one thing!' 
 
 " 'For heaven's sake, what was it ?' I broke out eagerly. 
 'Well, then, Ned,' answered he, leaning back on the two back 
 legs of his chair, and eying me with a comical air, which 
 surprised me a little, 'do you consider yourself good looking 'f 
 I started up. 'What do you mean by that, Tom ?' said I ; but 
 next moment I sat down again with a sulky 'No, I '"11 be 
 hanged if I do ! so -' 'No more does your lady-love, 
 then,' said Westwood, 'for she ma'de the remark very coolly, 
 and even without my asking her but don't be down-hearted
 
 A SEA STORY 357 
 
 at that, my dear Ned, for I think more of that little sentence, 
 in the way it was said, than of all she did not say!' 'The 
 greater the difference between us, I suppose,' said i, savagely. 
 'Why,' replied Tom, ' 't is my conviction you. never hear a 
 woman say the man she likes is handsome and from a 
 perverse young gipsy like 'Well, by Jove! Westwood/ 
 said I, losing my temper altogether, and giving the table a 
 slap with my fist that sent my glass crash to the deck, 'you 
 beat everything! I suppose if she'd called me a fool and a 
 blessed lubber, you 'd turn it to my favor. But the truth is, 
 I don't understand your niceties I want something broad . 
 and above-board, that a fellow can lay hold of and the short 
 
 and the long of it is ' With that I laid my face on my 
 
 arms down in the spilt grog on the table, and fairly groaned. 
 My head reeled till 1 scarce knew it was myself that was 
 sitting there, as all of a sudden one thought after another 
 crowded on me. Somehow I seemed for a single moment 
 to be out and out in the open sea, the different faces I 'd seen 
 along the ship's bulwarks rushing past me, with Jones's face, 
 and the look of the Indiaman in the sunset; through all 
 sorts of weather, too, in that confounded moment. 
 
 "Then, I can't say why, but my hair crept as I came back 
 to the thought of the Indiaman and the schooner in the calm 
 at the time, and I almost fancied I heard a whisper at my 
 ear. I looked up, and saw Tom Westwood sitting opposite 
 me, with a musing air, and rather melancholy. The sight of 
 my wild stare, with the grog I suppose trickling down my 
 forehead, and dripping off my nose, appeared to startle him, 
 and our eyes met queerly enough for half a minute till all at 
 once the notion seemed to strike both of us, of the absurdity 
 of two fellows hobnobbing and lackadaisying away this 
 fashion in a hole of a schooner's cabin, thousands of miles 
 from land; and I'm blessed if we didn't both burst at the 
 same moment into regular roars of laughter first one broad- 
 side, then 'bout ship, as it were, to deliver the other, gun 
 after gun. By George! though, I felt it do me good, as if 
 something deadly went off with it. 'Hallo!' sung out the 
 planter, blocking up the moonlight that shone misty-white 
 down the steps of the companion, to a blue glimmer at the 
 foot of them; 'both surviving yet, I declare'; and we felt the 
 scent of his cheroot in the hot calm as he walked aft 
 again. 
 
 "'Well, Ned,' said Westwood, still laughing, 'there's one 
 thing more I did contrive to get out, and it is certa- : nly 
 broad enough to lay hold of, as you say. Do you know, from
 
 358 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 some hints the Judge let drop in course of the passage, 
 after he got to know me, I have a rather sharp suspicion 
 he has some one in view for his daughter already!' At 
 this I gasped once more. 'Whether she knows it herself 
 or not, I 'm not sure,' added Tom ; 'but, very naturally, 
 the gentleman I mean was often enough mentioned in Sir 
 Charles's cabins for who do you imagine, of all persons in 
 the world, it is?' 
 
 "I made no trial at a guess, but sat eying Westwood in 
 perfect silence, and he went on 'Who but don't look so 
 fierce, my dear fellow just this this said nabob of an uncle 
 of mine, the Bengal Councillor! Why, you've no conception,' 
 said Westwood, 'what presents of pearl necklaces, fans, cash- 
 mere shawls, and China ivory work-boxes, and so on, the 
 Councillor must have sent home to her at different times, for 
 the 'Seringapatam' to bring back again. I did n't see her wear 
 any of them ; but every now and then Sir Charles would point 
 to something that lay about, telling me it came from my 
 uncle ! He is a bachelor, you know, not so old as Sir Charles 
 himself, who is n't so old as he looks, and they seem to be 
 sworn friends !' 'Tuts, man !' said I, brightening a bit, 'can't 
 you see he wants to adopt her?' 'So I should have imagined,' 
 answered Westwood; 'but the fact is, two or three times, as 
 I told you, Sir Charles Hyde hinted as much as that it was an 
 idea of long standing between himself and his friend the 
 
 Councillor, so ' 'The old villain!' I roared. 'Begging your 
 
 pardon, Westwood but I must say you are the pattern of a 
 Job's comforter, and no mistake!' 'Well,' answered he, 'if 
 you had heard the way in which the young lady mentioned 
 my uncle to me, you would n't be much afraid of your rival, 
 Ned. Why, she said she thought she remembered him when 
 she was a little girl, bringing her Indian sweetmeats from the 
 bazaar in his carriage she actually supposed he must be 
 older than her father, when the Judge set her right eagerly 
 enough but, you must know, he no more seems able to say a 
 sharp word to her, than Jacobs yonder would. So what did 
 she say next, after apparently thinking a little, but that, now 
 she recollected, my uncle used to have gray hair and white 
 whiskers, like Mr. Kollock, which for my part 1 knew no more 
 about than the table, when her father broke out describing 
 him as warmly as possible; and suddenly Miss Hyde looked 
 at him with a little turn of her pretty lip, and a twinkle in 
 her eye, that set the old gentleman fiddling about his coffee- 
 cup, and stopped him in a moment as if she had been a little 
 witch !'
 
 A SEA STORY 
 
 359 
 
 "'What's to be done, Tom?' I faltered out, after a long 
 stop. 'I 'm sure I don't know, Ned,' said he gravely ; 'let 's 
 go on deck at any rate, for it 's too hot here to sleep.' The 
 moment the sight of the calm burst upon us, however, with 
 the two vessels together in the midst of it, in the hazy sort of 
 moonlight, the same notion seemed to strike both of us in a 
 different way. 'I '11 tell you what, Collins,' said Westwood, 
 half jokingly, half in earnest, 'uncle though he be, if you can 
 contrive to cut out the Councillor anyhow, I '11 forgive you, 
 for one !' 'How, though how, by Jove !' replied I 'if they go 
 to Bombay in the Indiaman, by the time they reach Calcutta, 
 I shall be in the. Pacific !' "T is a difficult case,' said West- 
 wood, 'no doubt. And even suppose you had the opportunity, 
 't would be hard to manage an elopement ashore in India, 
 travelling "dauk" in two palanquins. Seriously speaking, 
 Ned, I see nothing for it but to wait till you come lack from 
 the Pacific.' 
 
 "I looked hopelessly round: the calm and heat together 
 gave one a helpless feeling and every notion of an active sort 
 appeared desperate. A perfect calm it was, too: there was 
 some filmy scum of a haze aloft, that served to spread the 
 moonlight all over, shutting out the shape of the sky, and 
 softening off the horizon ; with the moon standing slant up in 
 it, like a brighter spot, and a few stars low down in the east. 
 But for the long wide tremble of the water, in fact, as it 
 glanced up with a blue flicker, you 'd have fancied we might- 
 n't be far from land; while the big Indiaman lay off the 
 schooner's bow, without the least motion one could see; the 
 moonshine edging round her spars and ropes from the other 
 side, and her sails hanging shadowy against it, except below, 
 under her brailed-up courses, where the masts, the thick of 
 the rigging, and the tops of her deck-lumber, glistened as if 
 they were newly wet. Half of her watch were on the bow- 
 sprit, sending out a 'fished' spritsail-yard, the same we had 
 set dangling about their ears that afternoon, and we could 
 hear them speaking plain enough; every time they sang out 
 at a haul, it went far away on all sides ho-ho-ho-he-ho-ho-o 
 till you lost it in the dead calm, as if somebody had gone 
 there. Now and then the 'Seringapatam' made a slight plunge 
 by the head, as the wide soft swell floated up with her; and 
 the glossy black shadow, that seemingly gave her hull the 
 height of a tower, came wavering in quicksilver circles to our 
 very cut-water, while the lights from her after-windows went 
 twisting away round her heavy counter to the moonshine, 
 like yellow snakes; the schooner all the time lying as quiet
 
 360 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 as if she were on a pond, except that by little and little she 
 kept shifting her bearings to the Indiaman, and things were 
 confoundedly like our both sticking together in course of 
 the morning, if the calm held. I went forward to the fore- 
 castle and desired Jones to get all hands down into the boats, 
 and have her towed off to safe distance, seeing that the worst 
 of it would be sure to fall to our share. 
 
 "This was doing, and we drew slowly off the ship's bow, 
 where her men coolly knocked off working to watch ours, and 
 pass jokes on our gang of Lascars, as they handled the oars in 
 awkward style; in fact, by the way the Indiaman's watch 
 carried on, most of them seemed to have passed the grog-can 
 pretty freely, being Saturday night, which we could hear they 
 were still keeping up below in the forecastle, when our quar- 
 ter came abreast of her larboard bow. 'Hurrah !' said one, 
 waving his tarpaulin ; and 'Pull, you beggars !' roared an- 
 other; when my old customer, ugly Harry, all at once leaned 
 out of her fore-chains, and sung out to Jones, who was next 
 him in the stern-sheets of our gig : 'I say, mate, so ye 're 
 clearing off, are ye? The better for that 'ere nutshell of a 
 schooner o' yours, I reckon !' Jones made no answer, and the 
 fellow added : 'Come aboard when you 've got a safe berth, 
 anyhow, and drink "sweethearts and wives," will ye?' I saw 
 Jones start, and turn his face fiercely into the shadow of the 
 ship's main-course on the water, rising half-up with one fist 
 clinched, but he said nothing. 'Oh, you 're blasted proud !' 
 Foster called out : 'you forgets a man, blow me ! D' ye think 
 I does n't know a fellow I got glorious with myself, in old 
 Van Stinkoff's, at Cape Town? Sink me, mates,' said he 
 as loud as before, turning round on the rail of the bulwarks 
 to the rest, 'I picked him out o' the street scuppers, under 
 the sign of the Flying Dutchman, an' I 'm blowed if I did n't 
 think it beneath me at the time !' Here the end of our main- 
 boom opened us in sight of the ugly ruffian, and he was sink- 
 ing down inboard, when I hailed the Indiaman's quarter- 
 deck, where the Scotch mate was to be seen. 'Ay, ay, the 
 schooner ahoay !' sung out he, coming to the gangway. 'Did 
 you hear that man's impertinence, sir,' said I sternly, 'to my 
 officer on duty there? I expect you to see him punished, sir.' 
 The Scotchman said he 'd inquire into it ; but shortly after he 
 came back, saying he 'doubted' he could n't be sure of the 
 man; and, at any rate, he could have 'meant no ill.' The 
 boats had towed us by this time almost out of fair hearing, 
 but Harry Foster was to be seen coolly eying us from the 
 midst of his watchmates, as he slung a couple of blocks over
 
 A SEA STORY 361 
 
 his shoulder ; when he turned away with as much indifference 
 as if we had been a Thames collier, growling some two or 
 three words or other that brought a loud laugh from the 
 Indiaman's forecastle to her bowsprit, where the men were 
 turning lazily to their business again. 
 
 "Being now clear off the ship, with the rake 6f her hull in 
 our command if I chose, and free of her broadside at the 
 same time, I hailed the boats to leave off towing and come 
 aboard. As Jones came on deck, I saw that in his face to 
 make me think he took the thing to heart, seeing he met my 
 first look with his lips set together and a steady gleam of his 
 eyes. The truth was, I never in my life came across a man 
 that struck me so much with the notion of his having a devil 
 in him, seeking to get the better of what was good. 
 
 " 'I think we shall do, Mr. Jones ?' I said. 'Quite safe, 
 sir,' said he quietly; at that moment, standing as we did out 
 of ear-shot, with the setting moon in sight past the Indiaman, 
 shining in a rusty yellow glare to her hanging sails, 't was 
 strange how the odds of our different stations passed off. We 
 were foot to foot, in fact; I was fully aware, if never before, 
 what an enemy Jones would make he had great daring and 
 knowingness in him, and all on the wrong side of the hedge 
 for me at the time, seeing I had such a ticklish part to play 
 with the Indiaman. I caught myself, on the instant, measur- 
 ing youth and activity, not to say regular breeding to the ser- 
 vice, and a clear conscience besides, against him and his 
 thews and sinews; but as for turning and twisting with the 
 man before me, I saw it was the tack likely to throw him to 
 windward of me. My voice changed, and I lowered it 
 as I said : 'Mr. Jones, I happened to sail half the voyage as a 
 passenger in that ship, and I 've no common reason to be 
 anxious about her getting safe into port. There 's one single 
 being in her at this moment I'd willingly lose my life to 
 save from anything like what one could fancy ay, so help 
 me God, suppose I'd no chance of ever setting eyes on her 
 again!' Jones never stirred a feature, but looked past me 
 into the gleam of the moon over my shoulder. 
 
 "'Well, Mr. Jones,' I said, 'I'll acknowledge to you 
 frankly, as from one seaman to another, the question is, 
 are you for me or not?' 'We speak as man with man, it 
 seems, Mr. Collins!' said Jones, quietly; 'then I am for 
 you!' and he struck his hand all at once into mine; 'here's 
 a hand that never lied, whatever the tongue may have done 
 bad or good; I am for you, sir, and no more of it ! I 
 knew as well as if you 'd told me, Mr. Collins, by the looks
 
 362 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 of the passengers, that you had sailed aboard that ship in 
 
 some way or other and what 's more, sir, 1 saw ' here he 
 
 stopped, looking at me with his back to the sinking gleam 
 of light beyond the ship's hull, from the moon as she touched 
 the water, and I saw nothing but the shape of his head under 
 the straw hat, with a shadow blurring his face together, 
 though I felt him eying me out of it all the time 'what 
 some would think more worth while than if you were a 
 Spanish plate-ship,' he went on; and he lowered his voice 
 nearly to a whisper as he added, 'I tell you what, Mr. Col- 
 lins, 't is my conviction that, if you chose, you might do 
 what you liked in the end with that Indiaman and all 
 aboard her!' I stepped back with a shiver through me, as 
 the sudden setting of the moon blended everything black in. 
 with Jones's shoulders, leaving his head instead of her 
 against a glimmer of light, till for a moment it seemed 
 peering at me off the horizon with the whole lump of shadow 
 betwixt the two craft for a body; and I must say I thought 
 of old stories about the Tempter in human form. 'Devil!' 
 said I, hoarsely, while the last gleam to westward went out, 
 and it got so dark I could have fancied Jones had vanished 
 from the bulwarks without stirring a foot; in fact, on my 
 moving to the place I touched the cool planks with my 
 hand he was actually gone! Nothing was visible beyond 
 our own decks, save a slight glimmer such as one would 
 make in sculling with a single oar; and I saw at once he 
 had taken the small boat alongside to go aboard the India- 
 man! All the rest was that thick, heavy darkness only to 
 be found in a calm in the Indian Ocean, towards morning; 
 you may not only say you see it, but could stir it, as it 
 were, with a stick. 
 
 "A horrid notion of Jones's purpose crept through my 
 mind at first; but on second thoughts I easily saw this 
 was n't the occasion for him to choose, if he had really 
 meant ill, and accordingly there was more the reason to 
 trust him. Indeed, as I stood listening and watching, after 
 Westwood and the planter went below, the Indiaman's bin- 
 nacle lamp seemed to go slowly out, while at the same time 
 the sound of her watch speaking on the forecastle appar- 
 ently got distincter, till I could hear them clear of the 
 ship's hull and rigging, like low voices muttering in the air 
 betwixt her and us. 'T was only her having sheered grad- 
 ually bow-on to the schooner again, however, as a calm near 
 the equator has always something like a pulse in it but it 
 struck me there were men out on her jib-boom, which being
 
 A SEA STORY 363 
 
 of course the very privates! part of any in a ship for talk 
 why, to find more than one going out there, of a dark 
 night, and with no work to do, never looks otherwise than 
 suspicious. Nothing of this kind surprised me at present 
 in the 'Seringapatam,' with the opinion 1 had of her, but 
 the curious thing was, that the fellows must have sup- 
 posed it the farthest point they could get out of sight of us, 
 as well as from their own decks, she having had her beam to 
 the schooner when the moon set. 
 
 "The desperate feelings that steal upon a man in such a 
 case, and the fearful notions that breed in his head, with 
 the quickness of his senses and the way he holds on by a 
 single rope, you can scarcely conceive, though if a cry had 
 come from the Indiaman at that moment I dare say I 
 should have sprung in head foremost to get to her, when 
 all at once, from up in the air again, I thought I heard 
 the smart click of a flint and steel; at any rate, I saw 
 the sparks showering from it in the midst of the black 
 space before me even the pair of fists as they knocked to- 
 gether, then a mouth blowing the match, till there was a 
 light in a lantern between four heads leaning towards each 
 other over the spar. Queer enough it would have been to 
 see, in ordinary circumstances, but you '11 readily fancy 
 what a thing it looked all of a sudden, right out in the 
 midst of the pitch-black night, one did n't know how or 
 where in fact, two of them faced each other in the stream 
 of light from one side of the lantern, like the two edges 
 of a rent in the dark, and another was like a sprawling blot 
 in the center you just saw they were faces and heads, with 
 a foot or two of the thick round boom slanting up betwixt 
 them; but as for their bodies, they were all of a piece with 
 the perfect blackness beyond. I could see one of them hold 
 up the lantern and pass it round the three others' faces, 
 bringing out their chins and noses, as if to be sure who 
 they were a piece of caution which served almost equally 
 well for me, for I remembered each of them by headmark 
 amongst the crew, only I did n't see the said fellow him- 
 self, even when he drew out some paper or other in one 
 hand, seemingly unfolded it with the help of his teeth, 
 and spread it over the jib-boom under the lantern, where- 
 upon the whole four of the heads drew close together in 
 a black lump round the light, peering down upon the paper, 
 and muttering away as much at their ease, no doubt, as if 
 they'd been in a tap-room. All I wished for was a good 
 rifle-barrel in my hand at the time, to have knocked the
 
 364 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 light out from the midst of them, and sent the bullet by 
 accident through the tarpaulin hat behind it especially 
 when a glaring red flipper was shoved out on the white 
 paper, and the thumb planted steadily on a particular spot. 
 All at once, however, the light was put out in the lantern, 
 and I heard them going in-board, as the noise of the morn- 
 ing watch being called, at four o'clock, got up round the 
 fore-hatchway. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 "!N about half an hour the faint glimmer of Jones's oar in, 
 the water showed how hard it was to find the schooner 
 again; however, he managed to get aboard at last, by which 
 time I was walking carelessly past the binnacle in the dark, 
 and as soon as he sought me out and began to speak, I 
 saw it was all right. Mr. Snelling came on deck to his 
 watch, blowing up the men for letting out the only light 
 aboard, as he did n't know fore-and-aft from 'thwart-ships, 
 nor north from south. The cabin lamp under the skylight 
 had gone out, too, for want of oil, without being noticed 
 as long as the moon shone, and not even the planter's cheroot 
 was to be seen. From the snatches of their conversation 
 he had time to gather, I agreed with Jones that, whatever 
 the four fellows on the jib-boom might have intended be- 
 forehand, their present cue was n't at all to try seizing the 
 ship; in fact, the schooner's sudden appearance in this lati- 
 tude, with what they knew of her before, had naturally 
 enough brought out a number of the crew in different col- 
 ors to what they 'd stick to after getting a fright and find- 
 ing their mistake though by this time 1 had no doubt in 
 my own mind that the villain who bent on his silk necker- 
 chief to the signal halyards in that hurry the afternoon 
 before actually meant it for the black flag, while the ab- 
 surdity of an Indiaman striking at all to a cruiser that 
 wanted her just to heave-to, was a sign how most of the 
 crew's minds went, as long as they fancied us pirates. How- 
 ever, Jones had seen sufficient of the lantern affair on the 
 boom to explain it to my great relief; the ringleader of 
 1hem, no other I was sure than ugly Harry himself, seemed 
 to scrub trousers ordinarilv for one of the quarter-deck 
 officers, and had got hold of an old chart in his berth that
 
 A SEA STORY 365 
 
 same evening, which the four had come out there to get 
 a private overhaul of. All Jones could get room to sec 
 was that it was a chart of some islands, with a particular 
 mark at one of them, on which the fellow with the lantern 
 put his thumb, when another asked if there were n't any 
 trees on it. 'Trees, ay, trees enough to hang all the blasted 
 lubbers afloat !' said the first, as Jones listened. '1 'd as 
 soon think of sailing in a craft without spars as aboard 
 a dazart ileyand without trees!' One was tired of the In- 
 diaman, another sick of the world, and a third, with Jack 
 down on the bowsprit, wanted to chase buffaloes and shoot 
 birds. As for the rest, the head of the gang assured his 
 mates there were plenty of other islands not far off, and 
 natives in them; whereupon the light was put out, and, 
 in short, they made it up amongst them to take one of the 
 ship's boats quietly some night as soon as she got in the 
 latitude of the Maldives, and steer for this said island ; al- 
 though, in case of their being dogged about by the schooner, 
 of which the chief scoundrel seemed, by Jones's account, to 
 have a wholesome fear, it would n't be so easy a matter. 
 Indeed, the last words he was heard to say, as they crept 
 inward down the boom, were to the effect that he thought 
 there were some aboard as anxious to drop the cruiser as 
 they were. ' 'Faith, Mr. Jones,' said I, glad to find this 
 was what they wanted, 'if that 's all, I shan't stand in their 
 way so as soon as the breeze springs up, we 'd better clear 
 off altogether. The smoothest way is to let them take 
 themselves quietly off, and I 've no fear of the ship only, 
 before fairly shaping our own course for Bengal, we must 
 manage to have another sight of her under full sail for 
 Bombay !' 
 
 "Neither of us thought of turning in, for by the next 
 half-hour, in fact, the Indiaman's hull and canvas began 
 to blacken out of the gloom on one side the blue of the 
 water spread round till it glittered against the ring of light 
 kindling and kindling on the horizon, till it rose seemingly 
 in a perfect fire at one spot in the rim of it, blazing up 
 toward the cool blue aloft; then the sun was out. As long 
 as we had to stick to your niceties and fine manners, in fact, 
 I felt as much afraid of meeting Violet herself as a country 
 booby would I'll be hanged if I wasn't in doubt of her 
 cutting me dead, suppose I met her, and I should n't have 
 had a word to say whereas, with a spice of the rough work 
 I thought of all night, or even a chance of something des- 
 perate behind, why, a fellow needn't to mind much how
 
 366 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 he went about it seeing that in the midst of a hubbub the 
 words come into your mouth of themselves, and you 're 
 not expected to stand upon ceremony. 
 
 "The Scotch mate, being now first officer, had the side- 
 ropes handed us civilly enough, having just seen the decks 
 washed down in his own thorough manner, carronades, ropes, 
 and all ; but as the captain was n't turned out yet, I went 
 up the poop, where a couple of boys were still swabbing 
 up the wet. The moment I reached it, the sight of the 
 only two passengers that were out so early, rather took me 
 aback, one of them being the last I cared to meet namely, 
 the Irish Brigadier'^ lady, who was walking the deck in 
 pattens, the boys evidently keeping clear of her with their 
 swabs; and the stout, red-faced Brigadier himself, buttoned 
 up to the throat, while he stalked dismally fore-and-aft 
 with her on his arm. At the first glimpse of me, General 
 Brady stopped short and stared I dare say he was doubt- 
 ful whether to call me out or not. 'Glad to say you again, 
 sir !' said he. 'Well, now,' said his lady, 'you 're the very 
 man I wanted to see! : I still looked at her, unable to say 
 the like of herself, but terrified to speak a wrong word, with 
 the knowledge of her confounded temper: the Brigadier had 
 planted himself betwixt me and the poop-stairs, and never 
 having fairly come across her since the affair about her 
 dog and the shark, why, absurd as it was, 1 did n't know 
 what the woman might make of my connection with the 
 same craft that carried her off so soon after. 
 
 " 'Yes, indeed, and 't was foolish of me not to see it in 
 ye at first!' she went on, shaking her parasol at me in a 
 knowing way, end eying the schooner again. 'However, / 
 heard of you!' said she, with another look that set me all 
 alive, 'and a mighty bold sort of admirer you are!' '.Faith, 
 sir,' said the Brigadier, 'if I 'd commanded the batthery down 
 there last night, I 'd have waited till ye got nearer, and 
 blown you out of the wather.' ' 'T is only a lieutenant you 
 are?' said his lady, speaking without scruple in the midst 
 of his words, and frowning him quiet. 'Nothing more, 
 ma'am,' I said. 'Well, now, Mister Lieutenant,' said the 
 lady suddenly, 'what d'ye mean to do? You didn't find 
 us out here, I suppose, and actually take these cowardly 
 ship-people of ours by sa?/ge, like a bold fellow, for nothing?' 
 After a few words more, Mrs. Brady all of a sudden vanished 
 down the little quarter-gallery stair near the ship's taffrail; 
 though I had scarce missed her ere she appeared again, 
 making me a signal. 'Hush, now!' said she in a whisper^
 
 A SEA STORY 367 
 
 cut of the stairway, 'and step after me like a cat amongst 
 broken b/tottles, for he 's shaving yonder just now on the op- 
 posite side I saw his kitmagc.r taking in the hot water.' 
 Islext moment I had followed her into the small stateroom 
 in the larboard quarter, where she opened an inner door, 
 and left me. By Jove! I could have hugged that Irish- 
 woman on the spot, vixen as she was no matter though the 
 very ship might be out of sight in a few hours, and I never 
 set eyes on her again; I thought no more of it at the 
 moment than I did of her skipper waiting for me every- 
 thing was lost in the notion of seeing Violet Hyde's face 
 come out of that door. All the time there was a whis- 
 pering, a rustling, and a confusion in the berth, as if she 
 were taken by surprise, naturally enough then I caught a 
 word or two of the young lady's own, that made me think 
 it was all up. 
 
 "The door-handle turned, and the door half opened, then 
 it shut to again, and I heard Mrs. Brady's voice in a 
 coaxing sort of strain, till at last she opened the door wide 
 and said: 'Then you won't, my dear? So Mister Lieu- 
 tenant what 's-his-name,' added she, 'you may be off to your 
 vessel, and Suddenly I saw Violet's figure shrinking 
 back, as it were, behind the Brigadier's lady, into the berth ; 
 but all at once she walked straight out to the stateroom, 
 half frowning and half laughing, with an angry kind of 
 blush all over her face. Her hair was only looped up on 
 the side, and braided on the other, as if it weren't rightly 
 ship-shape yet for the day; while as for her dress, I re- 
 member nothing except its being some brown cloak or 
 other wrapped so close about her that one couldn't even 
 see her hands, like the picture of a nun. 'Mrs. Brady seems 
 so astonished to see you here again, Mr. Collins/ said she, 
 rather sharply, as I thought, 'that she cannot rest without 
 all the passengers meeting you, I suppose, before you go?' 
 With that she looked back, but Mrs. Brady had walked out, 
 though I heard the young lady's waiting-girl moving about 
 inside the berth yet. "T was all an accident, my happen- 
 ing to come aboard just now, Miss Hyde/ said I, anxiously, 
 'or, indeed, my having orders to speak the Indiaman at all ! 
 'Ah!' she answered 'and it was so strange of Mrs. Brady 
 to to persist!' The lovely girl had scarce condescended to 
 look at me yet, but here she glanced past me through the 
 quarter-gallery window at the schooner, where there was 
 nothing betwixt her and the gay little stateroom save the 
 blue heaving water and the light then her eye seemed to
 
 368 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 pass from the epaulet on my shoulder to the other that had 
 none, till it lighted for the first time on my face, with a 
 smile. 
 
 " 'How beautiful your schooner looks just now, Mr. Col- 
 lins !' said she, turning hastily again ; 'it is the the same that 
 that we saw before?' Now there was something in those 
 blue eyes of hers, with the dark lashes over them and un- 
 der them, that made me lose sight at the moment of every- 
 thing in the way -of my success, fear and all a sort of 
 a flying glance it was, that I could n't help turning to my 
 favor. 'For God's sake, Miss Hyde,' said I, 'let me have 
 something one way or other to know my fate by it 's no 
 use telling my mind after all that's come and gone; but 
 as I may n't see you again and the breeze will be up di- 
 rectly why ' Violet stood all the while gazing down on 
 
 the stateroom carpet, making no answer: there was a dead 
 stop, and I heard the first ripple of the breeze work against 
 the ship's rudder below by Jove! I could have hanged 
 myself at that moment when I saw her shoulder tremble 
 as she looked down, her soft eyelids just lifted till I caught 
 the blue of her eye, and the smile came over her lip. How 
 1 got hold of her hand^-for that confounded cloak, or 
 whatever it was, .1 really don't know; but so it was, and 
 out I came with the words 'Violet I love you to the last 
 drop of my blood, that 's all !' I said ; 'and I only wish i 
 had the chance of showing it!' Violet Hyde drew her hand 
 gently out of mine, and looked me straight in the face 
 for a moment with a merry sort of a quizzical air, as if 
 I meant some other adventure and 'Oh, no ! I hope not !' 
 added she, with a shudder, and then a blush, no doubt 
 thinking of the African river. 
 
 " 'But Violet, "V iolet !' said I eagerly, as she made a 
 move toward the nearest door, 'won't you say, then some- 
 thing, for heaven's sake, to keep one in hopef 'Why, what 
 would you have, sir ?' said she quickly, still turning away 
 but bless me! I don't exactly remember what followed, in 
 the desperation I felt nor how near she was to me when 
 I heard her begging me to 'go, go, if I really loved her !' 
 'Dearest girl!' I said, 'I shall be far enough off in a short 
 time!' 'Do you actually sail so soon, then?' said Violet, 
 in a low voice. 'Why, they 're bracing round the ship's 
 yards already, I hear,' answered I; 'but indeed 1 think the 
 schooner might keep near for a few days, to 'No no!' 
 said she anxiously, 'go altogether, else my father will be still 
 more set against against Perhaps,' she added, 'we may
 
 A SEA STORY 369 
 
 see you in Calcutta, when you are' and her eye glanced 
 from one shoulder of my uniform to the other. 'When 
 I've got my epaulet shifted to the right shoulder?'* asked 
 I, eagerly; 'then may I see you?' 'See yes,' was the whis- 
 per I caught and 'Dearest, dearest Violet,' said 1, almost 
 going down on the deck before her, 'suppose I managed to 
 
 ship them on both, in this confounded peace, will you ' 
 
 'Hush!' said Violet, listening, and all in a flutter, 'indeed 
 you must go, else 7 must !' Tor God's sake, Violet,' I went 
 on, keeping hold of her hand as she tried to get away, 
 'will you wait a year or two and give me the chance of a 
 war in China or up the Mediterranean or But here 
 the wild notions I had for a moment left me. 
 
 "Somehow or other at that instant a terrible glimpse, as 
 it were, of Bonaparte standing up on the crag in St. 
 Helena flashed across me; and as the folly of the thing, let 
 alone the impudence of it, struck me, I nigh-hand groaned, 
 while Violet Hyde's fingers slipped out of mine. Just then 
 she turned full round with a soft look of her eyes, and was 
 going to say something, as I thought; but the handle of the 
 aftermost door turned, and the Brigadier's lady hastened in. 
 As I glanced round, something or other dropped lightly into 
 the palm of my hand, and next moment Violet was gone. 
 'T was only a little knot of white ribbon I 'd got, though the 
 scent and the warm touch of it together were enough to 
 startle one I almost thought she 'd changed into it ; and 
 to this day, ma'am, I '11 be hanged if I know what that was 
 ihe scent of unless it was sandal wood! 
 
 " 'Quick !' said Mrs. Brady, in a hurry, 'what d' ye stand 
 staring there for, man alive? Sir Charles is upstairs, and 
 you can't go this way; so through the cabins with ye, lieu- 
 tenant, and out on the quarther-deck !' Before I well 
 knew what I was doing, accordingly, we were in the Judge's 
 main-cabin, where the ship's masts and the men gathering 
 about the ropes could be seen through the round-house doors 
 as they stood open. 'Mrs. Brady,' said I, suddenly stepping 
 back to her, 'you're an angel, ma'am, and 'You un- 
 principled young villain, ye!' said she, springing aft with 
 her fingers spread, and beginning to raise her voice, 'what 
 would ye do! Brigadier! D'ye think 'tis deaf I was in 
 the stair yonder, you promiscuous young However, I 
 gave her one bewildered look, and heard no more of it, 
 bolting as I did through the nearest door right against 
 
 * At that period the distinguishing mark of a commander, as the epaulet on 
 (he left shoulder, of a lieutenant, and the epaulet on both, of a post-captain.
 
 370 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 the man coming to the wheel; while the midshipman was 
 on the lookout for me everywhere to say that the captain 
 of the Indiaman was waiting for me below in his cabin. 
 
 "Indeed, she was moving slowly through the water already, 
 as the light cat's-paws ruffled it here and there, and drew 
 aloft into her royals; our own little craft beginning to 
 slip gently along to leeward of the ship, with the dark 
 Lascars' faces under the foot of her white fore-topmast- 
 staysail, giving her a doubtful enough air, I must own. I 
 had nothing particular to say to Finch, in fact; but, captain 
 as he was of the Indiaman for the time, 't was the least i 
 could do to see him; besides that somehow or other, I 
 had a sort of feeling as I came on board half an hour 
 before, I could n't exactly say why, that made one anxious 
 for a near sight of him. If he suspected anything wrong 
 amongst his crew, why at any rate he would have an op- 
 portunity of mentioning it ere we parted company; but, 
 awkward as our meeting each other again was, of course, 
 and both being on such different footing from before, while 
 my own mind was naturally full of what had just happened, 
 it turned out much as might be expected. Finch was 
 evidently not the same man he had been a few weeks 
 before, except in his puppy fine gentleman manners and 
 way of dress, which were twice as high-flown; with his hair 
 curled, a white handkerchief hanging half out of his breast- 
 pocket, a regular East India uniform, and everything show- 
 ing the tiptop skipper. The thing that set me less at my 
 ease with him was, that I was sure, by one glance of his 
 eye, he had a pretty fair guess of where I had been last, 
 and saw it in my manner which made me the more careful, 
 as matters stood, to give no signs of more meddling with 
 the Indiaman. However, I threw in a hint or two, when 
 Finch out and told me quite frankly, there had been a 
 little disorderly conduct on board after they left the Cape, 
 but he had thoroughly put it down, without letting the 
 passengers know anything about it, as he said: only, the 
 very day before, at the time when the schooner fired, there 
 were a few of the men, he told me, that seemed inclined to 
 disobey orders fellows he wished he could get rid of. 
 
 "'Now, Captain Finch,' said I, as I looked over my 
 shoulder at them from the capstan, 'will you point out the 
 men you spoke of, sir, that showed themselves mutinous?' 
 Finch drew back at this, however, and hummed and hawed 
 at the word. 'Yes, mutinous' repeated I; 'there's no use 
 mincing the matter, I suppose. Just be so good as let me
 
 A SEA STORY 371 
 
 see the fellows, and I '11 rid you of them at once !' Finch's 
 glance followed mine as it lighted on Harry 1'oster's shaggy 
 head watching us with the eye of a buffalo, past a knot of 
 slouching, hulking, foremastmen of his own kidney. The 
 moment I caught sight of Jacobs' broad, hearty, brown 
 face, standing apart a bit with his friends, Tom, Bill, the 
 red-haired Irish topman, and three other honest-like man- 
 o 7 -war's-men, I took my cue for the meantime. 'My lads,' 
 said I, walking quietly forward, 'I want a few hands for 
 the "Hebe" frigate you know her, I dare say and that's 
 enough ; for a model like the "Hebe" does n't float the water 
 now, I can't press any of you!' Here a general laugh 
 ran along both rows, and I heard a growling chuckle from 
 ugly Foster. 'But' added I, laughing, too, 'you can vol- 
 unteer!' 
 
 "There was a dead silence, in the midst of which Tom, 
 the fore-topman, the most dashing fellow in the ship, stepped 
 aft with his hat in his hand, then Jacobs, then Bill, and 
 my acquaintance the 'Savage,' then the three others. In, 
 place of grumbling, in fact, there began to be a hurrah 
 amongst the rest, except some of Foster's chums; a few 
 more seemed inclined to follow, and as for my gentleman 
 captain, he appeared not to know what to do. 'Now, my 
 man,' said I, stepping straight up to ugly Harry, and eying 
 him right in the face as he stood, 'you 're a fine seaman- 
 Ijke fellow true-blue, I 'm sure I 've taken a particular 
 fancy to ye won't you ship for the "Hebe" eh?' Foster 
 did n't know where to look, twisting himself round, hitching 
 up his trousers, and altogether taken fairly aback; every 
 eye was on him, and I '11 be hanged if I don't think he 
 turned it in his mind to agree. 'Come, Foster,' said 1, 
 in a low voice, 'I know you, my man; but if you ship I'll 
 look over the whole!' All at once Captain Finch walked 
 up to me, saying, 'If you persist in taking these men, sir, 
 you'll have to answer for it, I can tell you!' 'I know my 
 own meaning, sir,' said I, firmly ; 'I am in the regular course, 
 and answer for it I will ! Say the word, my man, and ship V 
 said I again. 'Blowed if I do!' said Harry, turning on 
 his heel with a grim scowl; 'none o' yer frigates for me!' 
 and he walked off. Jacobs and the others came on the 
 gangway with their bags, however, and pitched them to the 
 men in the boat, without anyone offering to interfere ;in,r 
 deed, Finch had seemingly given it up sooner $a& I ex- 
 pected. 
 
 "'Now, Captain Finch,' said I, before stepping over the
 
 372 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 side after Mr. Snelling and the men, 'I 'd much rather 
 we could have hit upon the right men ; however, the more need 
 for my keeping in sight of you to windward, as 1 shall do 
 at least till we steer for the Bay of Bengal. I could n't 
 do less, you see,' added I, on getting no answer, 'than 
 make myself strong enough to help you if needful!' '1 
 shall report to the Admiral at Bombay, sir!' said he, fiercely. 
 'You may do that, Captain Finch,' I said, 'as soon as possi- 
 ble; but, in the meantime, you can't be sure of what may 
 turn up of a dark night, and a couple of lights at your 
 main-yardarm, or anywhere, will bring the schooner down 
 in half an hour or so if there 's a breeze. As for a calm/ 
 said I, turning round but such a strange white look had 
 come over Finch's face as he glanced after me, that, think- 
 ing he was beside himself with rage, I went down the side 
 without another word. 'Take you own way !' I fancied i 
 heard him mutter betwixt his teeth; but next moment we 
 were pulling off. 
 
 "Well, the breeze ere this time was steady, though light, 
 and we drew gradually to windward of the Indiaman, till by 
 the afternoon the white band on her hull was just awash 
 with the water, and there I kept her, with a little variety, 
 pretty near the whole night, and most of the following day. 
 
 "The next night came almost as dark as it had been 
 that night of the calm; but the breeze freshened again 
 pretty strong, and accordingly I kept the schooner down 
 to get nearer the ship, which we had seen in the first dog- 
 watch dead to leeward. I was rather uneasy for awhile at 
 not being able to make out her lights, and we slipped fast 
 through the water, when all at once both Jones and West- 
 \vood called out from forward that they saw them, and I 
 walked to the bows. 
 
 "'All right,' said I; 'but, no, by heaven! That's the 
 signal I named to the captain! Set stun-sails, Mr. Jones, 
 and make her walk, for God's sake!' Two lights it was, 
 aloft in the gloom, right to leeward as before: there 
 was something wrong, or else she wanted to speak us; so 
 away we flew before the wind, under everything that could 
 be set. I looked and looked, when a thought struck me; 
 not another light was to be seen below, and they were n't 
 high enough for the heave of the sea for even a ship's 
 lower mast. 
 
 "'Yes, by George!' said I hurriedly to Westwood and 
 Jones, 'that 's a trick! The fellow means to give us the slip. 
 Clap the helm down, Mr. Snelling, and haul aft the sheets
 
 A SEA STORY 373 
 
 there luff, luff!' We were losing our weather-gage; in 
 fact, the Indiaman must actually be to windward of us 
 ere then, and if the breeze freshened we might lose them 
 altogether. The thing that troubled me most was, that 1 
 could n't believe the man had thought of such a plan him- 
 self; and if he once took a hint from any of the scoun- 
 drels I knew were aboard, why, there was no saying what 
 might be the upshot in the end. Finch was a common 
 enough character at bottom; but with such notions as 1 
 was sure were working in his head about Miss Hyde, one 
 step might lead him on to another, till any chance occasion 
 might make a desperate villain of him, especially if he sus- 
 pected myself of aught like good fortune with the young 
 lady. It was n't much past midnight, the air was won- 
 derfully heavy and sweltering, and the swell going down, 
 when we heard a murmur amongst the men on the fore- 
 castle, and saw a red fire-ball pass high over . to nor'ard 
 for half a minute, leaving a trail in the dark sky beyond 
 the headsails. 
 
 "A queer, ghastly sort of ruddy gray streak opened out in 
 the black of the horizon, where some of them thought they 
 made out the ship ; but soon after we could hear a low hollow 
 kind of a hum, rushing as it were from east to west, till it 
 grew almost like the sound of waves on a beach; which 
 made us begin to look to ourselves. There was a bright 
 line of light directly in the opposite quarter, and the sea 
 for away seemed getting on fire, with a noise and hubbub 
 coming along below, that nobody appeared to know^ the 
 meaning of; while aloft it was as still as a church. For a 
 moment I saw the 'Seringapatam' quite plainly several miles 
 off, but from the confusion, I never could say whether it 
 was north or east; in fact, we kept watching the canvas, 
 expecting to have a hurricane into it next minute. Suddenly 
 the sea came gleam-gleaming and flickering on, as it were, 
 with a washing bubble and a hissing smother of foam, 
 till it splashed right against our larboard bulwarks, heap- 
 ing up like perfect fire upon the schooner's side, and 
 running past both stern and bows, away with a long rolling 
 flash to the other horizon. All was pitch-dark again after 
 that, and a whisper went about our decks and round the 
 binnacle lamp, of 'The ripples! It's the ripples!'* 'Noth- 
 ing more, sir!' said Jones, even he seeming taken by sur- 
 prise at first. Twice again we had it, though each time 
 
 * The "Ripples "a marine phenomenon peculiar, apparently, to the Indian 
 Ocean.
 
 374 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 fainter, right out of the midst of the gloom; after which it 
 was as calm as before. 'Thank God!' said 1, breathing 
 hard, 'we '11 have that Indiaman in the morning, at any 
 rate!' 'Why, sir,' answered Jones, thoughtfully, 'after this 
 we are likely to have the south-west monsoon upon us ere 
 long 't is just the place and the season for it.' 
 
 "And so it was. Instead of sighting the 'Seringapatam' 
 at daybreak, I had a strong suspicion she had gone to east- 
 ward; but of course the faster the schooner was, why if 
 it were the wrong way we should only get from her the 
 farther, and miss her altogether, without ever knowing how 
 matters went, even if she got quietly into port; so, being the 
 best plan I could think of for the meantime, away we 
 drove north-westward, sweeping the horizon with the glass 
 every morning. We had run so far, indeed, without suc- 
 cess, that I was sure she could n't be ahead ; when one 
 day I asked Mr. Jones to bring me up the chart for 
 those parts, as we took the latitude. We were a long way 
 to westward of our own course at the time, and Jones's 
 finger went along eastward till it stopped right upon the 
 Maldive islands, while he looked up with a sudden sharp 
 glance. 'By heaven,' said I, 'yes! I forgot that story alto- 
 gether be so good as to send that man there, Jacobs, to me. 
 Jacobs,' said I, 'which of the officers' clothes did that fellow 
 Foster use to scrub lately, in the Indiaman?' Jacobs gave 
 his hair a rub, recollected a moment, and answered, 'Why, 
 sir, the captain's own.' 'Oh !' I said, 'well, that '11 do, Jacobs' 
 and Jacobs walked forward again. 'Mr. Jones,' said I, 
 quickly, 'that chart belonged to the captain ! I '11 have a 
 look at that said desert island, sir!' We found something 
 answering to it on the chart; and in a few minutes the 
 schooner was bowling before the dregs of the monsoon to 
 eastward. 
 
 "'At all events,' added I, 'we'll see if these vagabonds 
 mean to keep their word and turn hermits either we catch 
 them there, Mr. Jones, or else we must find that Indiaman, 
 though she were in sight of Colibah* lighthouse!' Jones's 
 eye lighted, and he turned his nostrils to the monsoon as 
 if he snuffed it in; in fact, he was that sort of man that 
 needed somewhat out of the comm'ou way to keep him right. 
 
 * Outside the harbor of Bombay.
 
 A SEA STORY 375 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 " 'No, Westwood,' said I, 'it can't be the right one nor 
 any of these, indeed!' And on looking at the chart, which 
 was one not meant for anything but navigation in open 
 water, with the channels laid down clearly enough, but evi- 
 dently rather offhand as to the islands, Jones himself seemed 
 to get uncertain about the matter; partly owing to the 
 short glimpse he ? d had of the other chart, and partly to its 
 being, as he thought, an old one made for a purpose, by a 
 hand that knew tho islands well. After two or three days' 
 sail, we were getting into the thick of the Maldives, where 
 the reefs and sandbanks stretching out on every side, and 
 beginning to lap in upon each other, made it more and more 
 dangerous work; but at any rate the islands we saw were 
 either very small, or else low and muddy-like, with a few 
 scrubby-looking cocoas upon them, like bulrushes growing out 
 of a marsh. No runaway sailors would ever think of taking 
 up their quarters hereabouts, even if we had n't caught sight 
 of a smoke now and then, and once of some native craft 
 with a couple of brown mat-sails, and an out-rigger, that 
 showed the clusters hereaway to have people about them. 
 Besides, there was no pretext any Indiaman could have 
 for steering near enough to such a jungle of mud and 
 water, to give a boat the chance of making towards it 
 with any certainty. 
 
 "I saw at once that the spot in question must lie tolerably 
 for the course of a ship to western India, otherwise they 
 wouldn't have appeared so sure of their mark as Jones 
 said they did. All this, at the same time, kept me the 
 more bent on searching the matter out ere I did aught else, 
 seeing that in fact the Indiaman's attempt to get rid of 
 the schooner was the very thing likely to bring her on this 
 track ; fancying, as she would, that we were either in chase 
 of her toward Bombay, or off on our own course again. Now, 
 on the one hand, nothing could fit better for the said run- 
 away scheme of Harry Foster's; and on the other hand, 
 nothing would have pleased me more, and greatly eased 
 my mind, too, than to catch him and his chums on their 
 spree ashore. The worst of it was, that I began to have my 
 doubts of Jones again. He was the only man that could 
 put us on the right scent; yet he seemed either to have
 
 376 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 lost it, or to have something creeping on his mind that 
 made him unwilling to carry it out. 
 
 " 'Mr. Jones,' said I, as the schooner was hove to, and 
 he stood musing gloomily by the binnacle, with a glance 
 now and then in at the compass, and out at the chart 
 again, 'if you 're at a loss now, sir, just say and I shall 
 try my own hand for want of a better!' 
 
 " 'iNo, Lieutenant Collins !' answered he suddenly, in a 
 husky voice 'no, sir, that 's not it, but God help me ! no, 
 there 's no use standing against fate, I see. Whatever it 
 costs me, Mr. Collins,' he went on, firmly, 'I 'm with you 
 to the end of it; but there is something horrible about all 
 this.!' 'How! what do you mean?' said I, startled by the 
 difference in his manner, and the quiver of his lip. 'Oh,' 
 said he, 'as for the present matter, there may be nothing 
 more in it than what I heard on the ship's boom yonder. 
 The truth is, I did n't know at first but this cluster here 
 might have been the one though I see now there is only one 
 island in the whole chain that can answer the description, 
 snd that is not here.' With that he pointed to another 
 piece of the chart, showing no more than a few spots upon 
 1he paper, not to speak of shades in it standing for reefs 
 and shoals, towards the 'Head' of the Maldives; one spot 
 lying away from the rest, with the single name of Minicoy 
 for them all. I asked him hastily enough what it was 
 called, and all about it, for the whole affair made me more 
 and more uneasy; but on this point Jones seamed inclined 
 lo keep close, plainly not liking the topic, except that I 
 found it went by several names, one of which I had heard 
 before myself White-water Island. 
 
 "About the time I was a boy in a merchantman's fore- 
 castle, 't was a sort of floating yarn amongst some seamen, 
 this White-water Island, I remembered; but 1 never met 
 with a man that had seen it, every one having had it 
 from a shipmate last voyage, though a terrible place it 
 had been, by all accounts, without one's knowing exactly 
 where it was. One craft of some kind had gone to find 
 out a treasure that was buried in it, and she never was 
 heard of more; a man took a fancy to live ashore in it, 
 like Robinson Crusoe, and he went mad, while the reason 
 there were no 'natives' was owing to the dreadful nature 
 of it, though at the same time it was as beautiful as a 
 garden. The right name, however, according to Jones, was 
 Incoo. 'There 's no good in blinding one's self to it, Mr. 
 Collins,' he went on ; 'that 's the island the men meant, only
 
 A SEA STORY 377 
 
 their chart set me wrong owing to the greater size of it- 
 you had better beat out of this at once, and keep up for 
 the Eight Degrees Channel there.' 
 
 "We were in open sea again, out of sight of land from 
 the masthead, steering for somewhere about north-north- 
 east, with a very light breeze from nearly the monsoon quar- 
 ter, and sometimes a flying squall, sometimes no more than a 
 black pour of rain, that left it hotter than before. The 
 clear deep blue of the Indian Ocean got to a sickly heavy 
 sort of dead color towards noon, like the bottoms of old 
 bottles, and still we were standing on without signs of 
 land, when, almost all at once, I noticed the water in 
 the shadow of the schooner had a brown, coffee-like tint 
 I had never exactly seen hitherto; indeed, by the after- 
 noon, it was the same hue to the very horizon, with a clean 
 seaboard on all sides. I had the deep-sea lead-line hove 
 at length, and found no soundings with a hundred and 
 fifty fathoms; there was neither land nor river, I knew, for 
 hundreds and hundreds of miles to the coast of Arabia; as 
 for current, no trial I could think of showed any; and there 
 were now and then patches of small glittering sea-jellies 
 and sea-lice to be seen amongst a stalk or two of weed on 
 the soft heave of the water, going the way of the breeze. A 
 dozen or so of Portuguese men-of-war, as they call them, 
 held across our bows one time; little pink blubbers, with 
 their long shining roots seen hanging down in the clear 
 of the surface, and their little blue gauze sails with the 
 light through them, ribbed like leaves of trees, as they kept 
 before the wind. Westwood and I both fancied we could 
 feel a queer, sulphury smell as we leaned over the side, 
 when a surge came along the bends. Not a single fish was to 
 be seen about us, either, except the long big black-fish that 
 rose one after another at a distance, as the wind got lighter. 
 One while you heard them groaning and gasping in the half- 
 calm, as if it were the breathing of the sea far and wide every 
 time it swelled; another, one saw them in a cluster of black 
 points against the bright sky-line, like so many different 
 shaped rocks with the foam round them, or a lot of long-boats 
 floating bottom up, with their back-horns for humps on the 
 keel. As for Jones, he looked graver and graver, till all of a 
 sudden we saw him go below; but after a little he came up 
 with an almanac in his hand, and his finger fixed where the 
 time of the next new moon was given, as I found when I took 
 it from him, for he seemed not inclined to speak. ^Why, what 
 has that to do with the thing?' I said. ^We are heading fair
 
 378 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 for the Minicoy cluster, I think.' 'Yes, sir,' said he; 'if one 
 needed anything to prove that, he has only to look at the sea ; 
 at this season, 1 Itneiv how it would turn out.' 'Well, that 's 
 what I can't understand, Mr. Jones,' said I; 'the water 
 seems as deep as St. Paul's Cathedral thrice over!' 
 
 " 'Do you not know then, sir, why that island is called 
 what it is?' was the answer. 'But, wait wait till night!' 
 And with that Jones turned round to the bulwarks, leaning 
 his arms on the rail. In the meantime Jacobs and some of 
 the men had drawn a bucket of water, which we noticed 
 them tasting. A pannikin full of it was handed along to 
 the quarter-deck, and the taste struck you at once, owing 
 to the want of the well-known briny twang of real blue 
 water, and instead of that a smack as it were of iron, 
 though it was as clear as crystal. Every one had a trial 
 of it but Jones himself; indeed, he never once looked 
 round, till it had occurred to me to pour the tin of water 
 into a glass, and hold it with my hand over it inside the 
 shade of the binnacle, when I thought I made out little 
 specks and sparks shooting and twisting about in it, as 
 if the water had a motion of itself; then it seemed to sink 
 to the bottom, and all was quiet. Just then I looked up 
 and caught Jones's scared, restless sort of glance, as if he 
 were uneasy. There was a strange life in that man's brain, 
 I felt, that none could see into; but owing as it plainly 
 was to something far away from the present matter, I 
 knew it was best to let him alone. In fact, his doing as 
 he did showed well enough he meant fair by ourselves. 
 Nothing on earth ever gave me more the notion of a wreck 
 in a man than the kind of gaze out of Jones's two eyes 
 when he 'd turn to the light and look at you, half keen, 
 half shrinking, like a man that both felt himself above 
 you, and yet, somehow or other, you 'd got him under you. 
 
 "I 'm blessed if I did n't trust him more because he had 
 been too desperate a character in his deeds beforehand to 
 turn his mind to little ones now, than for anything good 
 in him; being one of those fellows that work their way 
 from one port to another in ship's forecastles, and get 
 drunk ashore, though, all the time, you 'd say there was n't 
 one aboard with them, from the skipper to the chaplain, 
 knew as much or had flown as high some time. Some day 
 at sea the hands are piped round the grating, hats off, 
 and the prayer-book rigged down goes 'Jack Jones' with a 
 plash and a bubble to his namesake, old 'Davy,' and you 
 hear no more of him I
 
 A SEA STORY 379 
 
 "Well, just after sundown, as the dusk came on, West- 
 wood and I left the deck to go down to supper with the 
 planter, the midshipman being in charge. There was noth- 
 ing in sight, sail or land; indeed, the queer dark-brown tint 
 of the horizon showed strongly against the sky, as if it 
 had been the mahogany of the capstan-head inside its brass 
 rim; the night was cloudy, with a light breeze, and though 
 the stars came out, I expected it to get pretty dark. As 
 I went down the companion, I heard nothing but the light 
 wash of the water from her bows, and the lookout stepping 
 slowly about betwixt her knight-heads on the forecastle; 
 while it struck me the smooth face of the sea seemed to 
 show wonderfully distinct in the dusk, the completer it got, 
 as if a sort of light rose up from off it. Down below we 
 felt her stealing pleasantly through all, and Tom and I sat 
 for I did n't know how long, trying to settle our differ- 
 ences on the main point about the 'Seringapatam,' of 
 course, and which way she was likely to be gone. Tom 
 plumed himself mightily on his common-sense view of a 
 thing, and having by this time got back a good deal of 
 his cheerfulness, he and Mr. Rollock almost laughed me 
 over to his line of thinking. 
 
 "We then agreed that the ship must be at present edging 
 up on one side or other of the Maldives, but both of them 
 thought the less we had to say to her the better. 'I say, 
 though,' exclaimed the planter, whose face was turned the 
 opposite way to ours, 'I 'd no idea it was moonlight !' 'Moon- 
 light ! there 's no moon till morning,' I said. 'Look into tha 
 stern-cabin there, then!' said Bollock; and I turned round, 
 seeing into the door of the after-cabin, where, to my no 
 small surprise, there was a bright white glare through the 
 little square stern-light, gleaming on the rim of the sill, 
 and seemingly off both the air and the water beyond. Quito 
 confounded, as well as wondering what Snelling could 
 be about, I hurried up the companion, the planter and 
 Westwood hard at my heels. 
 
 "For so long as I had kept at sea, and a good many 
 different latitudes I had been into, yet I must say 1 
 never in my life before saw such a strange sight as broke 
 on us the instant we put our heads out of the booby-hatch, 
 fresh from the lamp-light in the cabin. Indeed, I can't but 
 own to my first feeling being fright; for what it was I 
 couldn't understand, unless we were got into a quarter of 
 the world where things weren't natural. There were a few 
 stray clouds in the sky, scattered away ahead, and clearing
 
 380 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 eastward to settle along before the breeze; all aloft of 
 us, high over the sharp dark edge of the sails and gaffs, 
 the air seemed to open away out pale and glimmering 
 like a reflection in the ice: all round you caught a glimpse 
 of the stars weakening and weakening toward the horizon. 
 
 "But the water itself that was the sight that bewil- 
 dered one! On every side the whole sea lay spread out 
 smooth, and as white as snow you could n't fancy how 
 wide it might stretch away astern on our lee-beam, for not 
 a mark of horizon was to be seen, save on the north- 
 west, where you made it out, owing to the sky there being 
 actually darker than the sea but all the time the wide face 
 of it was of a dead ghastly paleness, washing with a swell 
 like milk to our black counter as we forged ahead. It 
 was n't that it shone in the least like blue water at night in 
 the ordinary tropics by Jove! that would have been a com- 
 fort but you 'd have thought there was a winding-sheet laid 
 over all, or we were standing across a level country covered 
 with snow only when I stood up, and watched the bows, 
 there was a faint hissing sparkle to be seen in the ripple's 
 edge, that first brought me to myself. The Lascars had 
 woke up where they lay about the caboose, and were cower- 
 ing together for sheer terror; the men standing, each one 
 in his place, and looking; while Jones, who had relieved 
 the midshipman, leaned by himself with his head on the 
 capstan, as if to keep out the sight of it all; the schooner's 
 whole dusky length, in fact, with every black figure on 
 her decks, and her shape up to the lightest stick or rope 
 of her aloft, appearing strange enough, in the midst of the 
 broad white glare, to daunt anyone that was n't acquainted 
 with the thing. 'Mr. Jones,' said I quickly, on going up 
 to him, 'what the devil is this?' I'll be hanged if 1 
 did n't begin to believe in witchcraft or something. 'Where 
 are we getting to?' 'Nothing, nothing, sir,' said he, lifting 
 his head ; ' 't is natural enough ; only the milk-sea, as they 
 call it the white-water, sir, that comes down twice a year 
 hereabouts from God knows where you only see it so at at 
 night!' 
 
 " 'Oh, then, according to that,' I said, 'we shan't be long 
 of sighting yoilr island, I suppose?' 'No,' said he; 'if the 
 breeze freshens at all, keeping our present course, the mast- 
 head ought to hail it in two or three hours; but, God knows, 
 Lieutenant Collins, natural though the sight is, there's 
 
 something a man can't get rid of, especially if ' He 
 
 stood up, walked to the side, and kept facing the whole
 
 A SEA STORY 381 
 
 breadth of the awful-looking sea, as it were, till it seemed 
 to blind him. 'I tell you what, sir,' said he slowly, 'if 
 that water had any use, a priest would say 't was sent 
 to wash that same island clean of what 's been done on it ; 
 but, it couldn't, Mr. Collins, it couldn't, till the day of 
 judgment!" He leaned over till his dark face and his 
 shoulders, to my notion, made the milk-white surge that 
 stole up to the schooner's bends take a whiter look. 'If 
 that water could wash me, now,' muttered he, 'ay, if it 
 could only take the soul out of me, but I 'd go down, 
 down this moment to the bottom!' With that he gave a 
 sudden move that made me catch him by the arm. 'No, no, 
 Mr. Collins,' said he, turning round; 'the truth is, I mean 
 to go through with it ; I '11 let it carry me where I am bound 
 for! Wasn't I born without asking my leave, and I'll 
 kick the bucket the same way, if it was on a blasted 
 dunghill!' 'Come, come, Mr. Jones,' said I, in a soothing 
 sort of a way, 'go below for a little, and sleep; when 
 we hail the land I '11 have you called.' 'I 'd rather not, sir,' 
 said Jones quietly ; 'the truth is, it strikes me there 's 
 something strange in my happening to be aboard here, at 
 this particular season, too; and see that same island, now, 
 I must ! It 's fate, Lieutenant Collins,' added he ; 'and i 
 must say, I think it 's the more likely something may turn 
 out there. Either you'll see that ship, or the men, or else 
 I 'II be there myself, in some way or other !' 
 
 "Now there was something in all this that began at 
 moments quite to bewilder one, the more excited the state 
 was it put you in. There was nothing for it but to push 
 on, and see what might come of it. Indeed, the weather 
 favored us better on our present course than on any other; 
 and I felt, if I didn't keep active, I should go distracted. 
 'T was almost as if what Jones said had a truth in it, and a 
 sort of a power beyond one were drawing the schooner the 
 way she steered; while at the same time there was every 
 little while somewhat new in the extraordinary looks of 
 things to hold you anxious. Even a flying touch of a squall 
 .we had about midnight didn't the least do away with the 
 whiteness of the water all around; on the contrary, as the 
 dark cloud crept down upon us widening on both sides like 
 smoke, the face of the sea seemed to whiten and whiten, 
 casting up a ghastly gleam across the cloud, with^ its ripples 
 frothing and creaming; till, not knowing how things might 
 go hereabouts, you almost expected the first rush of the wind 
 to send it all in a flame to our mast-heads.
 
 382 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 "Then up she rose on a surge like a snowdrift, and off 
 we drove, heeling over to it, gait's lowered and canvas down, 
 everything lost sight of, save the white sea heaving up 
 against the mist; while the clear-colored plash of it through 
 our weather bulwarks showed it was water sure enough. 
 The sqiiall went off to leeward, however, the rain hissing 
 like ink into the swell it left, and spotting it all over till 
 the last drops seemed to sink in millions of separate sparkles 
 as far as you could see. The schooner rose from one heave 
 to another to an even keel on the smooth length of it, hoist- 
 ing her spanking gaffs, hauling aft the sheets, and slipping 
 ahead once more to a breeze fed by the rain. As the sky 
 cleared, the dead white glare the water sent up into it 
 was such you did n't know the one from the other toward 
 the horizon; and in the midst there was only the smooth 
 faint surface, brushing whiter with the breeze, as if it was 
 nothing else kept it from going out of sight; with a few 
 streaky clouds turning themselves out like wool in a con- 
 fused rift of the air aloft; the schooner walking in it with- 
 out ever a glimpse of a shadow on one side or another; 
 while, as for seeing a sail on the horizon, you might as 
 well have looked for a shred of paper. It was n't light, 
 neither, nor was it haze; nothing but a dead color off the 
 very sea's face for the schooner rose and plunged without 
 letting you see a hair's breadth of her draught below the 
 water-line. Every man rubbed his eyes, as if it were all 
 some kind of a dream, and none the less when suddenly we 
 were right upon a long patch of black stripes winding 
 away through the white, like so many sea-serpents come up 
 to breathe, with both ends of them lost in the faintness. 
 Nobody stirred, or said, 'Look-out'; stripe after stripe she 
 went slipping through them as if they 'd been ghosts, with- 
 out a word or an extra turn of the wheel. I dare say, if 
 we had commenced to rise in the air, every man would 
 have held on like grim death, but he would n't have won- 
 dered much ; 't was just, 'whatever might happen to please 
 them as had the managing of it,' which was Jacobs' ob- 
 servation when we talked of it after. 
 
 "Mr. Snelling was the only one that ventured to pass a 
 joke; when Jones, who I thought was out of hearing, looked 
 at the reefer with such a fierce glance, and so scornful at 
 the same time, that I could n't help connecting what hap- 
 pened the very next moment with it for without the slight- 
 est warning, both of us were flung to leeward, and Snell- 
 ing pitched into the scuppers, as a huge rolling ridge of the
 
 A SEA STORY 
 
 383 
 
 white water came down upon our beam; while the schooner 
 broached to in the wind, floundering on the swell with her 
 sails aback. Had the breeze been stronger, I think it would 
 have fairly swamped us with the sternway she had; and 
 heave after heave swelled glaring and weltering out of the 
 pale blind sky, till our decks swam with light in the dusk 
 under the bulwarks, and about the dark mouths of the 
 hatchways. Just as suddenly the rollers seemed to sink in 
 the smooth of the sea, and at last we payed off with the breeze 
 as before, at the cost of a good fright and a famous duck- 
 ing. Two or three times in the course of the middle watch 
 did this happen, except that we were taken less by surprise, 
 and had the hatches closed, with every rope ready to let go; 
 the breeze strengthening all the time, and the same sort 
 of look continuing all round and aloft.* 
 
 "About four o'clock or so, the appearance of the sky 
 near where the horizon ought to be, right ahead, struck 
 Westwood and me as stranger than ever; owing to a long 
 lump of shadow, as it were, lying northward like the shape 
 of a bow or the round back of a fish miles long, though it 
 softened off at one end into the hollow of the air, and the 
 gleam of the white water broke past the other like the streaks 
 of the northern lights in a frosty night toward the Pole, 
 save for the thin shadowy tint of it, and the stars shin- 
 ing plainly through. I 'd have fancied it was high land ; 
 when suddenly the half-moon was seen to ooze like a yellow 
 spot out of the shapeless sort of steam to eastward, like a 
 
 * The description of this peculiar phenomenon of the Indian Ocean, as given 
 by Captain Collins, surprised us as much as the reality seems to have done him. 
 However, on consulting a seafaring old gentleman of much experience in all 
 parts of the world, we are informed that such an appearance is periodically to 
 be met with for some distance between the Laccadive and Maldive Islands, as 
 he had reason to know. The old Dutch Captain Stavorinus also furnishes an 
 account substantially similar, having particularly attended to the cause of it 
 in bis voyage to the East Indies. It reaches also to some of the south-eastern 
 islands at a great distance from India, near Java or at all events appears 
 there. In the Atlantic, Humboldt says there is a part of the sea always milky, 
 although very deep, in about 57 degrees W. longitude, and the parallel of the 
 island of Dominica. Of the same nature, probably, are the immense olive-green 
 spaces and stripes seen in blue water by Captain Scoresby and others, toward 
 the ice of the north polar regions. The pale sea alluded to is supposed cither 
 to move from the shores of Arabia Felix, and the gulfs in that coast, or, by 
 some, to arise from sulphureous marine exhalations appearing to rot the 
 bottoms ot vessels, and to frighten the fish. Both at the Laccadives and near 
 Java it is seen twice a year, often with a heavy rolling of the sea and bad 
 weather. The first time, at the new moon in June, it is called by the Dutch 
 the " little white-water" ; again, at the new moon in August, the " great white- 
 water" ; by English seamen, generally, the " milk-sea," or the " blink."
 
 384 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 thing nobody knew, shedding a faint brown glimmer far 
 below, where you had n't seen there was water at all. 
 
 "The bank of shadow softened away towards her, till in 
 little more than five minutes the dark rippling line of the 
 sea was made out, drawn across the dusk as if it had been 
 the wide mouth of a frith in the polar ice, opening far 
 on our weather-bow. A soft blue shimmering tint stole 
 out on it by contrast, leaving the milk-white glare still 
 spread everywhere else, astern, ahead, and on our lee-beam, 
 into the sightless sky : 't was the old blue water we caught 
 sight of once more, with the natural night and the stars 
 hanging over it; and the lookout aloft reported blue water 
 stretching wide off to the nor'ard. There was one full 
 hurrah from the seamen in the bows, and they ran of 
 themselves naturally enough to the ropes, standing by to 
 haul the schooner on a wind to head up for the old salt 
 sea, no doubt. 
 
 " 'Lieutenant Collins,' said Jones, in a low voice, 'do you 
 mean to steer for that island, sir?' 'Yes,' I said, 'cer- 
 tainly, Mr. Jones I shall see this matter out, whatever the 
 upshot may be!' 'Then keep on, sir,' said he firmly, 'keep 
 in the white water 't is your only plan to near it safely, 
 sir !' This I did n't well understand ; but, by Jove ! there 
 was so much out of the common way hereabouts, that 1 
 had made up my mind to follow his advice. Another hail 
 from aloft, at length 'Something black on our lee-bow, sir 
 right in the eye cf the white it is, sir!' We were now 
 running fast down in the direction where there was least 
 possibility of seeing ahead at all, although, in fact, the little 
 moonshine we had, evidently began to make this puzzling 
 hue of the surface less distinct turning it of a queer ashy 
 drab, more and more like the brown we noticed by day- 
 time; while the light seemed as it were to scoop out the 
 hollow of the sky aloft, when a dark spot or two could be 
 observed from the deck, dotting the milky space over one 
 bow -you could n't say whether in the air or the water, 
 as they hung blackening and growing together before us 
 through below the foot of the jib. 
 
 "Larger and larger it loomed as we stood before the 
 breeze, till there was no doubt we had the bulk of a small, 
 low island not far to windward of us, a couple of points 
 or thereabouts on our larboard bow when she fell off a 
 little lying with the ragged outline of it rising to a top 
 near one end, its shape stretched black and distinct in the 
 midst of the pale sea; while the white water was to be seen
 
 A SEA STORY 385 
 
 taking close along the edge of the island, showing every 
 rock and point of it in the shadow of the moon, till it 
 seemed to turn away all of a sudden like a current into the 
 broad dreamy glimmer that still lay south-eastward. On 
 the other side of the island you saw the dark sea-ripples 
 flickering to the faint moonlight, and some two or three 
 more patches of flat land just tipping the horizon, with the 
 thin cocoanut trees on them like reeds against the stars and 
 the dusk; while the one nearest us was sufficiently marked 
 out to have saved me the trouble even of the look I 
 gave Jones, which he answered by another. 'You have seven 
 or eight fathoms water here, sir,' added he; 'and as soon 
 as she rounds the point yonder, we can shoal it by degrees 
 to any anchorage you like, as long as we keep in the 
 white water but we must hold to it!' It was accordingly 
 found so with the lead, and ere long, having kept past 
 the point, the same milky hue could be noticed as it were 
 jagging off through the darker water, and winding away 
 hither and thither all round the other side, till you lost it. 
 
 "However, here we brailed up and hauled down every- 
 thing, letting go an anchor little more than half a mile 
 from a small sloping beach, where the strange water actually 
 surged up through the shadow of the land, in one glitter- 
 ing sheet like new-fallen snow, while the back-wash seethed 
 down into it all along the edge in perfect fire. Nothing 
 stirred on it, apparently; not a sound came from it, save 
 the low wash of the surf on that lonely bare beach; and 
 you only made out that part of the island was covered 
 with trees, with the ground rising to a flat-topped hum- 
 mock toward one end. So being pretty wearied by this 
 time, impatient though I was for a clearer view of mat- 
 ters, most of us turned in, leaving the deck to a ^ strong 
 anchor-watch, in charge of Jones especially as it was 
 towards morning, and the breeze blowing fresh over the 
 Island through our ropes. But if ever a man walked the 
 deck overhead in a fashion to keep you awake, it was 
 Jones that morning: faster and faster he went, till you d 
 have thought he ran; then there was a stop, when you felt 
 him thinking, and off he posted again. No wonder, by 
 George! I had ugly dreams!
 
 3 86 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 "I COULD scarce believe it was n't a dream still, when, 
 having been called half an hour after daybreak, 1 first saw 
 the change in the appearance of things all about us. The 
 horizon lay round as ciear as heart couid wish not a speck 
 in sight save the little dingy islets at a distance; the 
 broad blue ocean sparkling far away on one side, and the 
 water to windward, in the direction we had come, showing 
 the same brownish tint we had seen the day before, while 
 it took the island before us in its bight, and turned off 
 eastward with the breeze till it spread against the open 
 sky. Ihe top of the land was high enough to shut out the 
 sea-line, and, being low water at the time, it was plain 
 enough now why Jones wished to keep the white streaks 
 over-night; for, where the dingy-colored ripples melted on 
 the other side towards the blue, you could see by the spots 
 of foam, and the greenish breaks here and there in the sur- 
 face, that all that coast of the island was one network of 
 shoals and reefs, stretching out you did n't know how wide. 
 White-water Island, in fact, was merely the hea'd of them 
 the milky stream that had so startled us just washing 
 round the deep end of it, and edging fair along the side 
 of the reefs, with a few creeks sent in amongst them, as it 
 were, like feelers, ere it flowed the other way : we could n't. 
 otherwise have got so near as we were. But the island 
 itself was the sight to fasten you, as the lovely green of it 
 shone out in the morning sun, covering the most part of 
 it close over, and tipping up beyond the bare break where 
 it was steepest, with a clump of tall cocoas shooting every 
 here and there out of the thick bush; indeed, there was ap- 
 parently a sort of split lengthways through the midst, where, 
 upon only walking to the schooner's bow, one could see the 
 bright greenwood sinking down to a hollow out of sight, 
 under the clear gush of the breeze off a dark blue patch of 
 the sea that hung beyond it like a wedge. 
 
 "As the tide made over the long reefs, till the last line of 
 surf on them vanished, it went up the little sandy cove op- 
 posite us with a plash on the beach that you could hear; 
 the place was just what a sailor may have had a notion of 
 all his life, without exactly seeing it till then; and though 
 as yet one had but a rough guess of its size, why, it could n't 
 be less than a couple of miles from end to end, with more
 
 A SEA STORY 387 
 
 than that breadth, perhaps, at the low side toward the reefs. 
 JSlot a soul amongst the man-o'-war's-men, I dare say, as 
 they pressed togmner in the schooner's Lows to see into 
 it, but would have taken his traps that moment, if I'd 
 told him, and gone ashore on the chance of passing his 
 days there ; so it was n't hard to conceive, from the state 
 it seemed to put their rough, sunburnt faces in, honest as 
 they looked, how a similar fancy would work with Master 
 Harry Foster, even if it tried his virtue a little. 
 
 "I had no more doubt in my mind, by this time, of its 
 being the fellow's intended 'hermitage/ than I had of its 
 being the same White-water Island I had heard of myself, 
 or the spot which Jones seemed to know so well; 't was likely 
 the foremast-man had got inkling of it somewhat in the 
 way I did; and, lying, as it happened to do, between no 
 less than three channels which the Indiaman might take, 
 after dodging us in this fashion round the long cluster 
 of the Maldives, she could n't make north-westward again 
 for the open sea without setting Foster and his mates pretty 
 well upon their trip. 
 
 "Indeed,, if she were to eastward of the chain at present, 
 as I was greatly inclined to believe, the course of the breeze 
 made it impossible for her to do otherwise; but there 
 was one thing always kept lurking about my mind, like a 
 cover to something far worse that I did n't venture to 
 dwell upon namely, that Captain Finch might get wind 
 of their purpose, and drive them on another tack by knock- 
 ing it on the head, either at the time or beforehand, with- 
 out the courage to settle them. Nothing in the world would 
 have pleased me better than to pounce upon ugly Harry, at 
 his first breakfast ashore here; but the bare horizon, 
 and the quiet look of the island since ever we hove in 
 sight of it, showed this wasn't to be. At any rate, how- 
 ever,. I was bent on seeing how the land lay, and what sort 
 of a place it was; so, accordingly, as soon as the hands 
 had got breakfast, Westwood and I at once pulled ashore, 
 with a boat's-crew well armed, to overhaul it. We found 
 the sandy beach covered, for a good way up, with a frothy 
 slime that no doubt came from the water on that side, with 
 ever so many different kinds of blubber, sea-jelly, star- 
 fish, and shell, while the rocky edge round to windward 
 was hung with weed that made the blocks below it seem 
 to rise out of every surge, like green-headed, white-bearded 
 mermen bathing. Glad enough we were to get out of the 
 queer, sulphury smell all this stuff gave out in the heat,
 
 388 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 letting the men take every one his own way into the bushes, 
 which they enjoyed like as many schoolboys, and making 
 ourselves right for the highest point. Here we saw over, 
 through the cocoanut trees and wild trailing-plants below, 
 down upon a broad bushy level towards the reefs. 
 
 "It was far the widest way of the island; indeed making 
 it apparently several miles to go round to the different 
 points; and as the men were to hold right to windward, and 
 meet again after beating the entire ground, Westwood and 
 I struck fair through amongst the tangle of wood, to see 
 the flat below. 
 
 "We roused out a good many small birds and paroquets, 
 and several goats could be noticed looking at us off the 
 grassy bits of crag above the trees, though they did n't seem 
 to know what we were. As for most of the wood, it was" 
 mainly such bushes and brush as thrive without water, 
 with a bright green flush of grass and plants after the rain 
 at the monsoon, the prickly pear creeping over the sandy 
 parts, till we came on a track where some spring or other 
 apparently oozed down from the height, soaking in little 
 rank spots amongst the ground leaves, with here and there 
 a small rusty plash about the grass blades, as if there were 
 tar or iron in it. Here there were taller trees of different 
 kinds on both sides, dwindling off into the lower bush, 
 while, to my surprise, some of them were such as you 'd 
 never have expected to meet with on an island of the size, 
 so far off the land bananas, mangoes, a shaddock or two, 
 and a few more, common enough in India; though here they 
 must evidently have been planted, the cocoas being the only 
 sort natural to the place, and of them there were plenty 
 below. Suddenly it led down into a shady hollow, out of 
 sight of the sea altogether, where we came on what seemed to 
 have been a perfect garden some time or other; there were 
 two or three large broad-leaved shaddock-trees, and one or 
 two others, with a heap of rubbish in the midst of the wild 
 Indian corn and long grass, some broken bamboo-stakes 
 standing, besides a piece of plank scattered here and there 
 about the bushes. 
 
 "Right under the shade of the trees was a hole like the 
 mouth of a draw-well, more than brimful at the time 
 with the water from the spring, for, owing to the late rains, 
 it made a pool close by the side, and went trickling away 
 down amongst the brushwood. Every twig and leaf grew 
 straight up or out, save in a narrow tr.ack toward the rising 
 ground no doubt made by the goats, as we noticed the
 
 A SEA STORY 389 
 
 prints of their hoofs on the wet mud. 'T was evident no 
 human being had been there for Heaven knew how long, 
 since, by the care that had been taken with the place, 
 it was probably the only spring in the island perhaps for 
 leagues and leagues round indeed. Trees, branches, green 
 grass, and all they had such a still, moveless air under the 
 heat and light, in the lee of the high ground, with just a 
 blue spot or two of the sea seen high up through the 
 sharp shaddock-leaves, and the cool-looking plash of water 
 below them, that Westwood and I sat down to wait till we 
 heard the men. Still there was a terribly distinct, par- 
 ticular cast about the whole spot, which, taken together 
 with the ruin and confusion, as well as the notion of Foster 
 and his shipmates actually plotting to come there, gave one 
 almost an idea of the. whole story beforehand, dim as that 
 was the longer you looked the more horrid it seemed. 
 Neither natives nor a single man could have brought the 
 different trees to the island, or contrived a tank-well of 
 the kind, seeing it was apparently deep enough to supply 
 a ship's casks, while at the same time I could n't help think- 
 ing some one had lived there since it was made, or perhaps 
 much used. 
 
 "By the space taken up with the hut that had been there, 
 and the little change in the wild state of things, most 
 likely it was by himself he had been, and for no short time. 
 It looked, however, as if he had been carried off in the end, 
 otherwise his bones would have been hereabouts; probably 
 savages, as Westwood and I concluded from the scatter 
 they had made of his premises. For my own part, I won- 
 dered whether Jones might n't have been the man, in which 
 case most of that disturbed mind he showed lately might 
 come of remembering the dreary desolate feelings one must 
 have, living long on a desert island. No doubt they had 
 'marooned' him for something or other, such as not being 
 a bloody enough captain; and I could as easily fancy one 
 having 'a spice of madness in him, after years ashore here, 
 as in Captain Wallis after a French prison. Still it 
 startled one to see one's face in the black of the well: 
 and we couldn't make up our minds to drink out of it. 
 Even the pool at its side had a queer taste, I thought 
 but that may have been all a notion. All at once, by the 
 edge of this same pool, Westwood pointed out two or three 
 marks that surprised us both, being quite different from 
 what the goat- conM have made; and on observing closer, 
 they were made out to be more like the paws of a wild
 
 390 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 beast stamped in the mud. 'By Jove!' I said, 'no wolves 
 on the island, surely!' 'All of them seem to stick to the 
 pool in preference to the well, at any rate,' said Tom; 
 'they appear to have the same crotchet with ourselves, Ned!' 
 'Strange!' said I, 'what the devil can it be?' 
 
 "Westwood eyed the prints over and over. 'What do you 
 think of a dog?' he asked. 'Good heavens!' exclaimed I, 
 looking down 'yes!' and there we sat gazing at the thing, 
 and musing over it, with somehow or other a curious creep- 
 ing of the blood, for my part, that I can't describe the 
 reason of. At last we heard the men hallooing to each 
 other on the level beneath, when we hurried down, and 
 coasted round till we came upon the boat again, where the 
 coxswain was amusing himself gathering shells for home 
 and we pulled back to the schooner. 
 
 "My first resolve after this was to keep before the breeze 
 again, try to get sight of the ship, and tell Finch out and 
 out, as I ought to have done at once, what was afoot amongst 
 his crew; or else to let Sir Charles Hyde know of it, 
 and make him a bold offer of a passage to Calcutta. However, 
 I soon saw this would n't do ; and a regular puzzle I found 
 myself in, betwixt inclining to stick to the island and 
 catch Foster if he came, and wishing to know how the 
 Indiaman stood on her course if he did n't. Jones must 
 have read my thoughts as I leaned upon the capstan, looking 
 from White-water Island to the horizon and back again ; 
 for he stepped aft, and said in a low voice, 'Lieutenant 
 Collins, there 's one thing I did n't tell you about that 
 island before, because, as I said, I was n't at first sure it was 
 the one the men meant; it may help to decide you, sir,' said 
 he, gravely. 'Ah?' I said. 'In that island,' he went on, 
 his ordinarily dark face as pale as death, 'there is enough 
 gold, at this moment, to buy half an English county 
 ay, and better than gold, seeing that only one man knows the 
 spot where it is, and he would rather sail round the world 
 without a shirt to his back than touch one filing of the 
 hell's dross !' 
 
 "I looked at Jones in perfect amaze as he added, 'You 
 may fancy now, Mr. Collins, whether if a man of the kind 
 happened to get wind of this, he would not stir heaven and 
 earth to reach the place? But, rather than that gold should 
 come into living hands,' said he fiercely, 'I would wait for 
 them by myself ay, alone alone'; and a shudder seemed to 
 run through him again as he gave another glance to the 
 island. For my part, I drew a long breath. What he men-
 
 A SEA STORY 39 ! 
 
 tioned had all at once relieved my mind wonderfully; for if 
 this was Master Foster's cue, as I now saw it must have been 
 the whole voyage over, why, he would be just as sure not to 
 spread the thing widely, as he would be to get here some time, 
 if he could. On second thoughts, it was n't so plain how the 
 rest of the crew might work with it, on the least inkling ; but 
 inclined as I naturally was to look upon the best side of the 
 matter, you need n't wonder at my making up my mind as I 
 did. The short and the long of it was that, in an hour more, 
 Jones and myself, with Jacobs and four other good hands 
 and, somewhat to my annoyance, Mr. Rollock, who persisted 
 in coming were pulling back for the island; while the 
 schooner, under care of Westwood and Snelling, was hauled 
 on a wind to stand up across the Nine Degrees Channel, which 
 the Indiaman would no doubt take as the safest course for 
 Western India, if all went well, and supposing 1 had reckoned 
 correctly why we missed her so long. In that case, three or 
 four days at most could n't fail to bring her up; and on first 
 sighting her at the horizon, they could easily enough strip the 
 schooner to her sticks, keeping her stern on so as to let the 
 ship pass without noticing the loom of so small a craft; 
 whereas if they did n't see her at all, in that time, they were 
 to bear up before the wind again for the island. Of all 
 things, and every circumstance being considered, I agreed 
 with Westwood it was best not to come across her again, if we 
 could help it. 
 
 "For our own part, in the boat, we were fully provisioned 
 and armed for all the time we could need, not to speak of 
 what the island itself afforded; and after watching the 
 schooner stand heeling off to sea, round the deep end of it, we 
 cruised close along, not for the beach this time, but seeking 
 for a cove in the rocks where the Voat could be hauled up out 
 of sight, and safe from the surf at high water. This we 
 were n't very long of finding behind some blocks that broke 
 the force of the surge, where the wild green trailers from 
 above crept almost down to the seaweed; and after helping 
 them a little to hide her perfectly, the whole of us scrambled 
 ashore. The first thing was to post a lookout on the highest 
 point, the sharp little peak next to the reef side, overlook- 
 ing the spring and the level ground betwoe'i : on the other Birti 
 of the long green valley, full of bush in the midst, was the 
 flat-topped rise towards the brown water, from which I and 
 the planter watched the schooner softening for an hour or two, 
 till she reached the blue sea-gleam, and lessened to a speck. 
 By that time, the men had pitched a little canvas tent on the
 
 392 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 slope opposite to us, over the hollow Jones evidently being 
 anxious to keep clear of the spot, which somebody eise had 
 picked out beforehand; in fact the highest ground was be- 
 twixt us and it; and on coming down through the thicket to 
 our quarters, after a stroll in which Rollock shot a couple of 
 rose-colored paroquets, declaring them to be splendid eating, 
 we found Jones had had to send over the other way for 
 water. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 "I WOKE up in the tent perhaps an hour before midnight, as 
 I judged on looking through the opening at the stars that 
 shone in the dark sky through the north-east end of the valley 
 above the sea. At the other end, being higher, you just saw 
 the scattered heads of the bushes against a pale floating glim- 
 mer of air, with a pale streak of horizon. Behind us was the 
 height where we had the lookout, and in front the flat top of 
 the crag drawn somehow or other as distinct as possible upon 
 the faint starlight in that quarter, roughening away down on 
 both sides into the brushwood and dwarf cocoanut trees. 
 With the stillness of the place all round, the bare sight of 
 that particular point gave me a dreamy, desolate, ghastly sort 
 of feeling, beyond aught I ever saw in my life before: it was 
 choking hot and heavy inside, and seemingly throughout the 
 hollow, though a good deal of dew began to fall, glistening on 
 the dark green bushes nearest us, and standing in drops on 
 the fern-like cocoa leaves which Jacobs and the other men had 
 roofed themselves with. They were sound asleep ; and the 
 glimpse of the soles of their shoes and their knees, sticking 
 out of the shadow you saw their rough faces in, with the sight 
 of their cutlass-hilts, served to give one a still wilder notion 
 of the place. One felt scarce sure of being able to wake them, 
 in case of anything turning up; and, at any rate, a dread 
 came over you of its being possibly somewhat unnatural 
 enough to make the thing useless. 
 
 "On the other hand, the planter kept up such a confounded 
 snoring inside the canvas close by me, that although there was 
 no doubt of his being alive, the sound of it put stranger 
 thoughts into your head. Sometimes his breath would bo 
 jogging on like that of a tolerably ordinary mortal, then get 
 by degrees perfectly quiet ; and then all of a sudden go rising
 
 A SEA STORY 393 
 
 and rising, faster and faster, as if some terrible dream had 
 hold of him, or there was some devilish monster hard in chase 
 of his soul, till out it broke into a fearful snort that made 
 your very heart jump whereupon he 'd lie as if he were fin- 
 ished, then go through the whole story again. I can't tell you 
 how that cursed noise troubled me ; 't was no use shoving arid 
 speaking to him, and ail the time the old boy was evidently 
 quite comfortable, by something he said at last about 'indigo 
 being up.' The best I could do was to get out and leave him 
 to himself ; in fact, where Jones had gone at the time I did n't 
 know, till suddenly I caught sight of his dark figure standing 
 on the rise at the back of our post, and went up to him. 
 Jones was certainly a strange mixture, for here had he been 
 all round the low side of the island by himself, yet I found 
 him leaning bareheaded on the barrel of his musket, listening 
 like a deer. He assured me solemnly he thought he had 
 heard voices for the last hour on the other side, where he 
 had n't been, and asked me if I would go with him to see. 
 Then down came our lookout from the peak, rolling through 
 the bushes like a sea-crow, to report his not having seen any- 
 thing, and to say they'd forgot to relieve him aloft; so rous- 
 ing up Jacobs, I sent them both back together, while Jones 
 and I held the opposite way for the other height. 
 
 "The moment we had got to it, there was the same faint 
 blotted-out horizon as we had had all astern of us the night 
 before, the same strange unnatural paleness cast off the face 
 of the sea, making it look black by contrast to north-eastward 
 and east, against the blue shadow with the bright stars in it, 
 where the sea rippled as usual ; while the keenest glare in the 
 middle seemed to stream right to the breast of the island, like 
 the reflection of daylight down a long break in the ice only 
 it was dead and ghastly to behold. The white water washed 
 round under the black edge of the rocks before us, to the 
 bare sloping beach, where it came up fairly like a wide plash 
 of milk, glimmering and sparkling back amongst the little 
 sea-creatures you fancied you saw moving and crawling out 
 or in : till it ran along by where the reefs were, and turned off 
 to the dim sky again. Everything else was still, and Jones 
 drew a breath like one relieved: 'Nothing after all, I think, 
 sir!' said he. But to my mind there was something a long 
 sight more awful in the look of that unaccountable white 
 water bearing down like snow upon the island, as it were, 
 with the wrinkles and eddies to be seen faintly in it here and 
 there back toward the glaring breadth of it, and the floating 
 streaks in the sky above; especially when he told me he
 
 394 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 thought it was owing to millions upon millions of living 
 things in it, that made the same show there at two different 
 seasons in the year, for a week or so at a time the appear- 
 ance of it getting less distinct every night. 
 
 "However, I had begun to grow uneasy again about the 
 Indiaman, and the schooner too, as well as doubtful of the 
 fellows coming to the island at all; on the contrary, as I said 
 to Jones, if they saw the schooner, and Westwood did n't 
 manage as I told him, why both she, the ship, and ourselves 
 might possibly get the finishing-stroke altogether. 'The 
 more I think of it,' said I, 'the more foolish it seems to be 
 here instead of aboard!' 'Why it is, Mr. Collins, I don't 
 know,' replied Jones, 'yet I feel as sure these men will land 
 here as if I heard them in the woods ; and if I was n't aware 
 how one crime breeds another, for my part I should n't be 
 here at present, sir. Many a night afloat has the thought of 
 this place weighed on me, lest there was something new doing 
 in it ; but what 's buried here I 'm resolved no man shall stir 
 up, if I can help it, sir!' A little after, as we got up and 
 went down to the beach, all of a sudden like a thing he 
 could n't avoid Jones began to give me some snatches of 
 what had happened here some years before, which, according 
 to him, he had got from a shipmate of his that died; and I 
 must say it made the blood creep in me to listen to it. 
 
 "'At the beginning of the war,' he said, 'the island had 
 been a nest of regular pirates, who had taken pains to make 
 it, from a mere muddy head of a reef with some cocoas upon 
 it, probably into a resort on occasions especially as even the 
 wild Maldive natives to southward had somehow a dislike to 
 it. The whole gang being taken by some cruiser or other at 
 sea, however, too far off to leave any clew to their harborage 
 hereabouts, they were all hanged, and the place lost sight 
 of, till, a good many years after, a country Arab craft, bound 
 for Dacca up the Ganges, was driven in a gale upon the reefs 
 some way off, without seeing the island at all till the sea went 
 down, and she was going to pieces. 
 
 " 'There were only two Europeans aboard, both having 
 turned Mussulmans, and the youngest of them was mate. 
 There was a passenger, a native Indian merchant, and his 
 servants, with, as was believed, his harem below in the after- 
 cabins, for nobody ever had seen them; but the Arab rais of 
 the vessel and several more being washed off when she struck, 
 the other Mussulmans took to the only boat they had, and got 
 ashore, leaving the two Englishmen with the passenger. 
 Next day the two men had contrived a raft of the spars,
 
 A SEA STORY 
 
 395 
 
 whereupon the Hindoo at last brought up his three women, 
 veiled from head to foot, and the whole got safe to the island. 
 Here all the Mahometans herded together amongst them- 
 selves, forcing the two Englishmen to keep on the other side 
 of the island, as they had no firearms, while the old Hindoo 
 merchant and his native servant got a tent pitched on the 
 highest point for the women, where they were no more seen 
 than before, and a flag hoisted on a stick all the time for a 
 signal to ships poor simple devil!' as Jones said with a 
 laugh. 'Every day he offered the Arab crew more of the gold 
 and jewels he had with him, to make for India and get him 
 brought off, till at last some of the Arabs came round to the 
 mate and his companion, wanting them to take the boat and 
 go instead, otherwise they would kill both of them at once. 
 The two men accordingly had provisions given them, and 
 hoisted sail on the boat before the breeze to eastward; they 
 had almost dropped the island, when all at once the one in the 
 boat's bows stepped aft to him that had the tiller, and said it 
 struck him the Arabs could n't mean well to the Hindoo and 
 his wives, in trying to get clear of others. 
 
 " 'All his companion did,' Jones said, 'was to ask if he was 
 man enough to go back, face them boldly, and offer to take 
 the passenger and his harem too, when some craft or other 
 might come back for the Arabs, since they weren't seamen 
 enough to venture first in the boat. "1 tell you what," said 
 the first, "try the two largest breakers of water there !" The 
 water for use next after the open one was tasted, and it was 
 salt. "Will you stand by me?" the second ^man said, after 
 awhile. The other had a dog with him of his own, that had 
 swam ashore from the vessel after the raft he landed upon, 
 and it was sleeping in the boat's bow at the moment, near 
 him ; the dog lifted its head as they spoke, eyed the two, and 
 lay down again with a low sort of growl. "Ay," answered 
 the other, "to the last I will as long as you stick by me!" 
 They hauled over the sheet, laid the boat sharp on a wind, 
 and as soon as it was dusk began to pull back toward the 
 island, where they got ashore in the dark before morning.' 
 
 "Here Jones stopped, turned suddenly round to the glare 
 of the white water plashing upon the beach, and said no more. 
 'Why, Jones/ said I, 'is that all you've to tell? What 
 came of them ? For God's sake, yes what was the upshot < 
 * 'T is enough to show how one bad thing breeds another, as 1 
 said, sir,' answered he. 'Probably in the end, though at any 
 rate I only fancy the rest 't is a horrible dream to me, for a 
 _9_ gqua n came on when that shipmate, of mj.ne got so far,
 
 396 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 and we had to reef topsails. He went overboard off the yard 
 that very night,' said Jones, wildly. 
 
 " 'The man must have been there,' said I, in a pointed way, 
 'to give all the particulars he was the mate himself, Mr. 
 Jones !' He made no answer, but kept gazing out to sea. 
 'And how long was this ago ?' I asked. 'Oh,' answered he, 
 'years enough ago, no doubt, sir, for both of us to be children, 
 if you were born, Mr. Collins' and he turned his face to me 
 as ghastly as the water toward the horizon he was looking at 
 before 'at least I hope to God it was so the man was a poor 
 creature, sir, bless you, and old, as it seems to me twice my 
 own age at the time, Lieutenant Collins 1 At all events, 
 though,' he went on, rambling in a strange way that made 
 me think he was going out of his mind, 'he remembered well 
 enough the first time he saw the white water coming down 
 upon the island. He was hunting hunting through the 
 bushes and up and down, and came up upon the crag.' 
 'Hunting ?' I said. 'Yes, you did n't know how it lived, or 
 where it kept, but every night it was on the lookout there. 
 There was no one else, save the girl sleeping over beyond in 
 the hut, and the man almost fancied the water of the sea was 
 coming down to the rocks and the beach, like the Almighty 
 himself, to show He was clear of all that had happened if he 
 could but have finished that brute, testifying like the very 
 devil, he'd have been happy, he felt! Hark ye,' said he, 
 sinking his voice to a whisper, 'when he went back at day- 
 light the woman was dying she had borne a what was as 
 innocent as she was, poor, sweet,young heathen!' 
 
 "And if I had n't guessed pretty well before that Jones 
 was the man he 'd been speaking of, his glittering eye and his 
 stride from the beach would have showed it; apparently he 
 forgot everything besides at that moment, till you 'd have 
 thought his mind gloated on this piece of his history. 'The 
 woman !' I could n't help saying, 'what woman ? Had the 
 rest left you in the boat, then?' 
 
 "Jones looked upon me fiercely, then turned away; when 
 all on a sudden such a long unearthly quaver of a cry came 
 down through the stillness, from somewhere aloft in the 
 island, that at first I did n't know what to think, unless one of 
 our lookout men had met with an accident, and tumbled 
 down. 'T was so dark where they were, however, there was 
 no seeing them. Without looking for himself, Jones faced 
 me, shivering all over. 'What is that, Mr. Collins?' whis- 
 pered he, catching my arm with a clutch like death; 'is there 
 anything yonder behind behind sir? 'On the flat- head
 
 A SEA STORY 397 
 
 
 
 of the crag north-westward, black against the pale glimmer 
 over the very spot where we had stood half an hour before, to 
 my utter horror, there was some creature or other sitting as if 
 it looked toward the sea; and just then another wild, quiver- 
 ing, eddying sound came evidently enough from it, like a 
 thing that would never end. It was n't a human voice, that ! 
 my brain spun with it, as I glanced to Jones. 'Good heavens !' 
 I said, 'what? But, by Jove! now I think of it; yes 't is the 
 howl of a dog nothing else!' 'Eight ten years!' said 
 Jones, hoarsely, 'without food, too, and enough in that well to 
 have poisoned whole gangs of men for twenty years can it 
 be an earthly being, sir'f The stare he gave me at the 
 moment was more frightful than aught else, but I mentioned 
 what Westwood and I had observed the day before. 
 
 "Before I well knew what he meant, Jones was stealing 
 swiftly up the rising ground to the shoulder of it. I saw him 
 get suddenly on a level with the creature, his musket aiming 
 for it there was a flash and a shot that left the height as bare 
 as before and next minute, with a short whimpering howl, 
 the animal flew down the hill, while I heard Jones crashing 
 through the bushes after it, till he was lost in the dark. 
 Such a terrible notion it gave me of his strange story being 
 true, whereas before I had almost fancied it partly a craze of 
 his, from having lived here alone that for a moment or two 
 it seemed to my mind we were still in the midst of it. I 
 hurried back to our post, and close upon morning Jones came 
 over and lay down by himself, without a word, haggard and 
 covered with sweat. 
 
 "All next day the horizon on every side was clear of a 
 single speck; no signs either of ship or schooner, till I began 
 to wish we were out of it, hoping the 'Seringapatam' had, 
 after all, kept the old course for Bombay, in spite of us. 
 found Jones had warned the men not to get our water out of 
 the tank ; it being poisoned in a way fit to last for years, as 
 the pirates knew how to do. For our parts, we had to amuse 
 ourselves the best way we could, waiting for the schooner to 
 come down again for us, which was the only thing 1 looked 
 for now. That night the white appearance of the water to 
 north and windward seemed a good deal gone, save where i 
 hung like a haze in the direction it took off the island : the 
 stars shone out, and in two or three nights more I found from 
 Jones there would be nothing of it, which I hoped I should 
 have to take on his word. 
 
 "At daybreak, however, our lookout could all of a sudden 
 be seen hoisting the signal for a sail, in sight, and waving his
 
 398 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 hat for us to come. No sooner had we hurried up, accordingly, 
 than a sail could be made out in the south-east, hull down; 
 and the schooner not being likely thereaway, a certain flutter 
 in me at once set it down for the Indiaman at last, on her way 
 far past the island for the open channel. Being broad day- 
 light, too, with a fresh breeze blowing, we saw that Foster and 
 his party, if they carried out their scheme, would have to wait 
 till she was a long way to windward at night-time, in order 
 to get clear off. In fact, I had every one kept down off the 
 height, lest the ship's glasses might possibly notice some- 
 thing; while, at the same time, we had n't even a fire kindled 
 to cook our victuals. I was watching her over the brow of 
 the hill, through the telescope, when she evidently stood 
 round on the other tack to get up to windward, which brought 
 her gradually nearer. She was a large ship, under full 
 canvas; and at last she rose ner hull to the white streak 
 below the bulwarks, till I began to think they intended 
 passing the island to eastward to make the channel. 1 went 
 down for Jones, and asked him how far the reefs actually ran 
 out, when he told me there would probably be signs enough 
 of them in such a strong breeze; besides, as he reminded me, 
 if she was the Indiaman, it was the captain himself that had 
 a chart of thf ; in which, from the particular nature of it 
 being an old buccaneering chart, as he thought they would 
 be laid down quite plainly. 
 
 "Indeed, when we both returned to the height, there were 
 lines of surf to be noticed here and there, more than three 
 miles out; and seeing her by that time so distinctly, a new 
 uneasiness began to enter my head. There were no signals 
 we could make, even if they did n't serve the other way ; and, 
 to tell the truth, I did n't much like the idea of being found 
 there. Still, it was terrible to sej- her getting nearer and 
 nearer, without the power of doing the least thing to warn her 
 off; spreading and heightening before you, till you counted 
 her sails, and saw the light betwixt them, with the breeze 
 always strengthening off that side the island, and of course 
 making it the safer for her to pass it to leeward. The blue 
 surges rose longer to the foam at their crests, till one's eye 
 got confused between them and the spots of surf rippling 
 greenish over the tongues of reef ; in fact, it was n't far off be- 
 ing low-water at the time, and the whole was to be seen better 
 from the height than elsewhere, stretched out like a floor that 
 the breeze was sweeping across, raising a white dust where the 
 blue melted into the light-brown tint of the sea to leeward. 
 The breeze came so fresh .that she even hauled down her sky-
 
 A SEA STORY 399 
 
 sails and fore-royal, falling off to go to leeward of the island. 
 At the same moment, I made out with the glass that she was 
 actually the 'Seringapatam,' and also that she 'd got a leads- 
 man at work in the chains. Five minutes more, and she'd 
 have gone time enough into the distinct brown-colored swells 
 to stand past the deep end : without help from the glass, I saw 
 the sun sparkle in the spray from her black bows ; she made a 
 sliding forge ahead with her whole beam on to us ; when, next 
 moment, as if she had taken a sudden yaw and broached' to in 
 the wind, she came fairly end on, showing the three piles of 
 canvas in one. A wild boding of the truth crept on me as I 
 sprang on the peak, waving my arms and stamping like a 
 lunatic, as if they could hear me. 
 
 "The next instant she had fallen a little over, her fore- 
 topmast and main-to'gallant-mast gone out of their places at 
 the shock, and the heavy blue swells running to her highest 
 side in a perfect heap of foam ; while the spray rose in white 
 jets across her weather bulwarks at every burst of them. 
 The Indiaman had struck on a rib of reef, or else a spit of 
 sand, near the very edge of the whole bank : had it been only 
 high-water as I had reason to believe afterwards she'd 
 have gone clear over it. As soon as the first horror of the 
 thing was a little past, I looked, without a word, to Jones, and 
 he to me. 'The fellows have come at last, certainly !' said he, 
 in a serious enough tone. 'Mr. Collins,' he added, 'the mo- 
 ment I set foot on ground here, I felt sure something would 
 come out of it !' 'Get the men down at once, sir,' I said, 'and 
 let 's pull out to the ship !' 'Why, sir,' answered he, 'the 
 breeze is likely to keep for some time as it is, and if she 's 
 completely gone, they '11 be able to bring all hands safe 
 ashore. If you take my advice, Mr. Collins, you 'll hold all 
 fast, and show no signs of our being here at all, in case of 
 having something or other to manage yet that may cost us 
 harder !' 'It did n't need much thought to see this, in fact ; and 
 in place of going down, ten minutes after we were all close 
 amongst the bushes on the slope, watching the wreck. What 
 was at the bottom of all this I did n't know ; whether Captain 
 Finch had really got wind of Foster's scheme, and been play- 
 ing with some hellish notion his heart failed him to carry out, 
 or how it was ; but what he was to make of this was the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 "Well, toward afternoon, the wreck seemed pretty much 
 in the same state, though by that time they had evidently 
 given her up, for the boats were beginning to be hoisted out 
 to leeward. We could n't see what went on there, till one of
 
 400 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 them suddenly appeared, pulling out for the island, about 
 three miles off; then the large launch after it. There were 
 ladies' dresses to be made out in both, their cloaks and shawls 
 fluttering bright to the breeze as the boats dipped in the 
 short swells; and they were full an hour ere they got out of 
 our sight, near the broad beach, on the level side, where the 
 tide was ebbing fast again, making it a hard matter to pull 
 the distance. Two more boats came off the ship, filled full of 
 casks and other matters, save the crews; the rest of the 
 passengers and men no doubt waiting for the launch and 
 jolly-boat to go back and take them ashore for, soon after, 
 they both could be seen rounding the point on their way out. 
 On coming within hail of the fresh boats, however, they 
 apparently gave in, since we could see the two of them, to our 
 great surprise, strike round, and make for the beach again 
 with their shipmates, spite of signals from the wreck, and 
 shots even fired after them. The breeze by that time flagged, 
 leaving less of a sea against the ship's hull in the dead water 
 from the other reefs, and she had fallen over again to leeward 
 a proof of her sticking fast where she struck, without much 
 fear of parting very soon in such weather; but the sun was 
 going down, and this being the first sign of foul play we had 
 observed, it was plain at all events we should have to look 
 sharp about us. We kept close up the height, bolted our cold 
 junk and biscuit, washing down with a stiff caulker, and 
 looked every man to his tools. 
 
 "To my great satisfaction, the planter, who had watched 
 everything seemingly in pure bewilderment, woke up out of 
 it when he knew how matters stood, and handled his double- 
 barrel as cool as a cucumber, putting in two bullets above the 
 small shot he had got for the birds, and ramming down with 
 the air of a man summing up a couple of bills against a 
 rascally debtor. For my own part, I must say I was longer of 
 coming to feel it was n't some sort of dream, owing to Jones's 
 broken story; till the thought of who was to all likelihood on 
 the very island below, with the rest of the ladies, amongst a 
 set of all sorts of foremast-men thrown loose from command 
 half of them probably ruffians, with some hand in the 
 matter it came on me like fire at one's vitals. Meantime we 
 sat there patiently enough for want of knowing what was to 
 do first, or which way we had best keep to avoid bringing 
 matters to a head, worse than they yet were.
 
 A SEA STORY 401 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 "THE night came out of the dusk a fine starlight to seaward, 
 beyond the reefs where the Indiaman lay, the high side of the 
 island glooming back against the deep blue glistening sky, 
 till you didn't see how large it might be; while the white 
 water hung glimmering off to leeward from the rocks. The 
 ship's crow had kindled a fire on the long strand near the boats, 
 and we heard their noise getting louder and louder above 
 the sound of the. sea plashing upon it evidently through 
 their making free with liquor. Jones, being no doubt well 
 acquainted with every part of the ground, proposed to go over 
 and see how things stood, and where the passengers might 
 be ; at the same time, as Mr. Rollock was more likely to come 
 conveniently to speech of them, both for explaining our being 
 here and putting them on their guard, he agreed to go too. 
 
 "One or other of them was to hurry back as quickly as 
 possible, while the men and myself waited in readiness for 
 whatever might turn up. Hour after hour passed, however, 
 till I was quite out of patience, not to say uneasy beyond 
 description. All was still, save below toward the water's edge 
 the seamen's voices at times mixing with the washing hum 
 of the surge on the sand, then rising over it in the chorus 
 of a forecastle song, or a sudden bit of a quarrelsome uproar ; 
 notwithstanding which they began apparently to settle down 
 to sleep. 
 
 "At last the planter came skirting round the hill through 
 the trees, quite out of breath, to say they had discovered the 
 spot where the ladies had no doubt been taken by their friends, 
 as Captain Finch himself, with one of the ship's officers, and 
 two or three cadets, were walking about on the watch, all of 
 them armed. To judge by this, and the fact of the other 
 gentlemen being still apparently on the wreck, Finch mis- 
 trusted his men. However, the planter thought it better not 
 to risk a hasty shot through him by going nearer; and, to tell 
 the truth, I thought it better myself to wait till daylight, 
 when we should see if the rest got ashore; or possibly, as I 
 wished to Heaven were the case, the schooner might heave in 
 sight. 'Where is Mr. Jones, though?' asked I; on which L 
 found he had gone over for the first time towards the well for 
 some water, as he told Mr. Rollock. Indeed, the passengers 
 were settled near the thick of the wood on this side ot tne
 
 402 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 watering-place, none of the Indiana an's people seeming to 
 know as yet there was such a thing on the island. 
 
 "We each of us held our breath, and listened to hear Jones 
 come back. I was just on the point of leading my party 
 that way, when I caught the sound of some one panting, as 
 it were, up the ridge from the shore, and next moment saw, 
 to my great surprise, it was the creature Jones had such 
 a horror of the dog that had run wild on the island, 
 sniffing with his nose to the ground as if he were in chase of 
 something; while the straw hats and tarpaulins of half a 
 dozen fellows with ship's muskets and cutlasses followed him 
 over the hill, not thirty paces above us. 
 
 "I signed to Jacobs to keep quiet, as they halted together, 
 looking at the dog; and, from what I could catch of their 
 words, they had noticed it ever since sundown, sitting at 
 the foot of the hill watching what went on, till the ani- 
 mal ran toward them as if they were friends, every now 
 and then turning and making for the heights with a bark 
 and a whimper, as it did at present. One of the men 
 was Foster. 'I tell ye what it is,' said he ; 'there 's some 
 fellow on the island already, mates. If we ketch him, why, 
 we '11 have it out of him then down with it quietly to 
 the shore, and go off in the long-boat, seeing as how this 
 blasted fool of a skipper of ours has spoiled our pleasure !' 
 The dog turned again, wagged his tail, and put his nose to 
 the ground. I thought at first he 'd bring them right upon 
 us, when suddenly he broke off with a yelp exactly into 
 the track Jones had taken with Mr. Rollock on leaving us. 
 The sailors kept away in his wake, down through the 
 bushes into the thick dusk of the trees; upon which tho 
 planter and I started to our feet at once, and held cau- 
 tiously after them, the five man-o'-war's-men following at 
 cur heels, Indian file. 
 
 "Jones, however, had either heard the dog, or got an ink- 
 ling of the thing, and he had taken a long round so as to 
 join us from behind: the Indiaman's men keeping on for a 
 quarter of an hour or so, when they brought up again, seem- 
 ingly doubtful whether to follow the creature or not; and 
 we dropped like one man into the shadow, till they made 
 sail once more. Soon after the planter pointed to the 
 trees where the passengers were, and, on a sign from me, 
 the whole of us edged down to the spot, till we were stand- 
 ing within sight of the half-finished fire, where the Judge's 
 Icitmagar was sitting asleep, tailor-fashion, with his flat 
 turban sunk to his breast. One of the cadets stood down the-
 
 A SEA STORY 403 
 
 slope a little, betwixt that and the beach where the crew were, 
 leaning sleepily on his gun, and nodding, while in the' 
 midst was a sort of shed, run up with branches and cocoanut 
 leaves, where you could see a glimpse of the dresses of the 
 different ladies, young and old, asleep on the ground. 
 
 "The starlight fell right down into the opening, and 
 showed the glistening edges of the leaves, with the sea 
 broad out beyond the cocoas at the foot of the rising ground ; 
 so bidding Jones look out sharp, I stepped carefully through. 
 My eye lighted at once on Sir Charles Hyde lying in one 
 nook of the shelter, wrapped up in his pilot-coat the first 
 time in the old gentleman's life for a good while, I dare say, 
 that he had passed his night on the ground, especially with 
 such a lot of berths taken up beside him. Still he was 
 sound enough at the time, to judge by his breathing, trifle 
 as it was to the planter's; and close by him was his daugh- 
 ter, with her cloak drawn half over her head in the shadow 
 her hair confused about her cheek as it pressed white 
 into the bundle of red bunting she had for a pillow, and 
 one hand keeping the cloak fast at the neck, as if she 
 dreamed of a stiff breeze. The sight went to my heart, and 
 so did the notion of waking her; but I heard sounds be- 
 low on the beach, as if the rest of the crew missed their 
 shipmates, probably getting jealous after their booze, and not 
 unlikely to seek them up the island, so the more it struck 
 me there was no time to be lost in coming to an under- 
 standing. Accordingly, 1 stooped down quietly and touched 
 her on the shoulder. 
 
 "Violet Hyde opened her eyes at once, and looked at me; 
 but whether it was the starlight showing my uniform, or 
 her fancying it was still the Indiaman in the Atlantic, in 
 place of crying out, why, there was almost a smile on her 
 lips as she saw me from the ground. Next moment, how- 
 ever, she drew her hand across her eyelids, sat up with the 
 help of the other arm, and gazed on me in a bewildered 
 way, naming me at the same time below her breath. 'Yes, 
 Miss Hyde !' I said, hastily ; and a few words served to give 
 her a notion of the case as well as to advise her to wake 
 up the Judge, with the rest of the ladies, and be ready to 
 move the moment we came back. My fii-st thought was to 
 take Foster's own plan, and secure the long-boat, if we 
 could only get betwixt the Indiaman's crew and the water; 
 or even try our own, or the opposite side of the island, 
 and carry off the other boats to the wreck; after which we
 
 404 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 might keep off till the schooner appeared, as she could n't 
 be long o doing in this weather. 
 
 "I had just stolen back to the men and Mr. Rollock, when 
 all at once there was a wild cry, not twenty yards off, among 
 the brushwood. A heavy b.c\v and a struggle, in the midst 
 of which three shots, one after the other, were heard from 
 the cadets; next minute, with oaths and curses to the 
 masthead, and a crash through amongst the branches in the 
 dark, Foster and his shipmates came making for the open- 
 ing. Something horrible flashed through my mind as I 
 fancied I had caught Finch's voice, whether one way or the 
 other I could n't say, for I had no thought at the time ex- 
 cepting for Violet. Shriek upon shriek broke from the 
 ladies, ere I well knew I had big Harry himself by the 
 hairy throat of him, as he was aiming a left -handed stroke of 
 his cutlass at the Judge, who had sprung betwixt him and 
 his daughter. The strength of that ruffian was wonderful, 
 for he flung me off and levelled Sir Charles Hyde at the 
 same moment, the Judge's body tripping me. 
 
 "Jones and my own men, as well as the planter, were 
 hard at work with the other five desperate villains, while the 
 cadets and the second officer of the 'Seringapatam' rushed 
 in from the trees all of it passing in half a minute. As I 
 started to my feet, Foster had lifted Violet Hyde in his 
 arms, and was dashing through the darkest of the wood 
 with her toward the hollow, when, just as I was hard upon 
 him, doubly to my horror, above all the screams of the 
 ladies I could hear the wild drunken shouts of the crew 
 below coming up from the beach like so many devils. Fos- 
 ter had got as far as the next opening where the rubbish 
 of the hut was, and, no doubt catching the sound as well 
 as myself, all at once he dropped the young lady on the 
 grass in a faint as she was, and her white dress stained with 
 blood, as I thought from herself. 'Now, ye -' shouted he, 
 turning bolt round till her moveless figure lay betwixt us, 
 with a flourish of his cutlass, which I fancied was bloody, 
 too, 'who are you? You'll have a dozen on ye directly, 
 but what 's meat for the skipper 's meat for the passenger, 
 
 so ' 'Devil !' said I, through my teeth, as I edged round ; 
 
 and Foster was in the very act of rushing at me, whether 
 he trod on her or not, when my voice or dress seemed to 
 strike him in the dusk. 'How the bloody comfort did 
 
 you ' said he, shrinking back for a moment; 'so much 
 
 the better,' and he sprang forward again right upon me, with 
 a swinging boarder's blow at my head, which flashed off
 
 A SEA STORY 405 
 
 my blade with force enough to have shivered it, had it not 
 
 he made, I caught him fair under it, the point going through 
 arid through his body as I thrust him back stride by stride 
 his cutlass waving fiercely all the time in the air, clear 
 of my head, for the stroke came under his arm. The mo- 
 ment he fell, though I knew nothing before that of where 
 we were, there was a heavy plunge; I had nearly followed 
 on top of him, as he went head-foremost down the tank- 
 well under the trees; but next moment, without a thought 
 more to him in the heat of the struggle, I was lifting 
 Violet off the grass. What I did or what I said, to see if 
 she would revive, I don't really know; but I remember as 
 well as if it were last night the very sound of her voice 
 as she told me she was n't hurt. The affair in the wood 
 below us had suddenly ceased during these five or ten 
 minutes indeed, as I found afterwards, Jones and my party 
 had settled every one of the five, either altogether or for 
 the time; but the uproar of more than twenty fierce voices 
 could be heard beyond them, cursing and yelling as they 
 came stumbling and crashing up amongst the brushwood 
 in a body; while the ladies and their companions struggled 
 up from all sides toward the height, wild with terror, i 
 met Sir Charles Hyde hurrying to seek his daughter, how- 
 ever; and the moment he had her in his arms, I rushed 
 down, pistol in hand, to join my men, who were standing 
 firm below, as the mutineers burst into the opening, no 
 doubt with the notion they had only the cadets to do with. 
 
 " 'Here, my lads !' I sang out ; 'make every man of them 
 prisoner down with 'em to the schooner!' And as I broke 
 suddenly through in the starlight in the midst of them, 
 Jones, Jacobs, the planter, and the other four man-o'-war's- 
 men sprang after me, one by one taking the cue, and 
 shouting as if to ever so many behind us, 'Here they are, 
 shipmates this way settle the blackguards!' In fact, the 
 ir.oment I appeared, the gang of half-drunken fellows were 
 taken aback. One of them roared as if he saw the very 
 devil; and giving them no time to think, we drove them 
 scattering down toward the beach. One of Foster's parly. 
 however, being only stunned, had contrived to get down 
 amongst them; and in a little while, seeing we /lid n t 
 follow, the whole lot of them appeared to get an inkling 
 of the truth, on which they rallied. It was n't long ere I
 
 406 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 saw they had got desperate, and were planning to divide, 
 and come somewhere over upon us round the heights; so 
 that, in the dark, with our small party, not knowing their 
 numbers, the best we could do was to gather up toward 
 the peak, and secure the ladies. Accordingly, we passed 
 an uncomfortable enough time during the rest of the night, 
 till daybreak, when still no signs of the schooner, as we 
 saw in the clear to north-eastward. Frightful notions came 
 into my head of something having happened to her; the 
 mutineers below were on both sides of the island, and thev 
 held the watering-place. We had n't provisions for a single 
 breakfast to half the party of us and the fellows being 
 now fairly in for it, they could starve us out if they chose. 
 You may conceive, accordingly, what a joyful sight met 
 my eyes, when, on the dusk lifting off to northward, we 
 could see the lovely craft under all sail not six miles off, 
 bearing down before a fresh breeze for the deep end of the 
 island ! 
 
 "The wind had headed her off on her way back; and, 
 knowing nothing of the wreck, Westwood might have landed 
 at the mercy of the villains in the bush. But the minute 
 we saw his boat out, the whole of us, save the Judge and 
 the planter, made a clean charge down upon them the 
 schooner's men joining us with the oars and boat-stretchers : 
 and in half an hour the whole gang, having lost heart, 
 were taken and lashed fast by the wrists on the beach, to a 
 single man. 
 
 "On searching the watering-place during the day, we 
 found some one had covered the mouth of the tank with 
 sticks and leaves, through which Harry Foster had gone 
 when he fell. The stuff had fallen in over him; and the 
 well being evidently made deep into the rock, to hold 
 water the longer, with the roots of the trees growing out into 
 it, his body never came up. Somehow or other no one 
 liked to sound it to the bottom; but the thing that horrified 
 all of us the most was to find Captain Finch himself lying 
 quite dead amongst the brushwood near where the passen- 
 gers had pitched their quarters, with a cut through his skull 
 enough to have killed an ox. It was supposed Foster had 
 suddenly come upon him as he and his shipmates looked 
 out for the hoard they thought the pirates had in the island, 
 while Finch was on guard over the ladies. Whether the 
 fellow took a new notion at the moment, or what it was, 
 the whole gang of them made their rush upon the second
 
 A SEA STORY 407 
 
 mate and the cadets, the minute after the captain met his 
 death. 
 
 "As for Jones, he told me he had noticed the dog watch- 
 ing the seamen below, and the idea got into his head of 
 what might happen. There was that about the animal to 
 give one a dread you couldn't describe. How it had 
 lived all this time, and how the customs came back on it, 
 after growing perfectly wild, of carrying on like what it did 
 that night, was a mystery ; but Jones said he had n't heard 
 it bark before, neither had the man he knew of, since the 
 time he was first left alone on White-water Island. In fact, 
 the whole of us might have hunted it down before we left. 
 But 'No !' Jones said ; 'there 's a perfect fiend in the brute, 
 ] do believe yet it strikes me by this time, the creature 
 belongs to to the Almighty, sir!' The men and passen- 
 gers had been taken off the Indiaman's wreck, which there 
 was no chance of getting off the reef; so, taking out the 
 best of her stores and the passengers' property, we had 
 every soul aboard the schooner, and at last set sail to 
 the south-east, meaning to go in at Madras, where a sloop 
 might be sent to recover more from the ship. 'T was with 
 no ordinary state of things, from stem to stern, that we 
 dropped White-water Island astern. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 "WELL, ma'am, the rest you may easily fancy. We made 
 Madras Koads, and there I expected to lose sight of the 
 Judge and his daughter again, as we did most of the other 
 passengers; but to my perfect delight Sir Charles pre- 
 ferred carrying out the voyage on to Calcutta in the 
 schooner, where they had the after-cabins to themselves. 
 The Indiaman's crew I kept, prisoners and all, till we 
 should meet the frigate off the Sunderbunds. 
 
 "Just conceive standing up the hot Bay of Bengal with 
 flagging south-westerly breezes, shifting at times to a brisk 
 south-easter, or a squall, as we 've done ourselves this week. 
 The moon wasn't at the full then, of course, so we only 
 had it like a reaper's sickle in the dog-watches; but it was 
 fine weather, and you may imagine one sometimes contrived, 
 betwixt Westwood and myself, to have Violet on the quar- 
 ter-deck of an evening without the Judge. Tom would
 
 408 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 step forward suddenly to see a small pull taken on a sheet, 
 and Snelling knew pretty well not to walk aft of the 
 capstan; so I could lean over the taffrail near her, and look 
 at the schooner's wake glimmering and sparkling up in 
 the bubbles astern. 
 
 "Then, to save trouble, you need but picture to yourselves 
 some such sort of a daybreak as we had this morning; a cool 
 blue cloudless sky all aloft, dappled to eastward with a 
 mighty arch, as it were, of small white spots and flakes, 
 as a perfect sea of light flows up into it before the sun 
 under the horizon, and a pale slanting shaft of it seems 
 to hang gray in the yellow above him.* 
 
 "The sea heaves deep-blue and deeper blue under the 
 schooner; the wide flock of small clouds burn from gold to 
 fire; the slanting streak of light fades and vanishes, and 
 the sun comes up like a gush of flame sending a stream 
 of glittering radiance along the water to our starboard 
 bow, while it shows a long flat line of land far on the other 
 beam. The planter is smoking his first cheroot for that 
 day at the stern gratings, when we make out three or 
 four faint points over the streak of land shining like gold 
 in the dawn; while at the same time three hazy pillars, 
 as it were, are seen standing up betwixt sea and sky, beyond 
 the rippling blue in the north-eastern board. 'T is the 
 spires of Juggernaut pagoda on one side; and as the brisk 
 morning breeze drives the water into short surges, till the 
 schooner rises the ship upon the other, all of a sudden she 
 looms square and white upon our starboard bow. As the 
 hull lifted higher and higher under her canvas, there was 
 less doubt every few minutes of her being a frigate; and 
 by the time Violet and her father were standing together 
 on the quarter-deck, the glorious old 'Hebe' was signalling 
 us from her fore-royal-masthead, as she kept close on a 
 wind to cross our course. 
 
 "We spoke the pilot-brig that evening, took out the pilot, 
 and stood up into the mouth of the Hoogly with the night- 
 tide in the moonlight dropping the 'Hebe' at Diamond Har- 
 bor next day; while Lord Frederick, and a Government 
 gentleman he had with him from St. Helena, went up to 
 Calcutta with us in the schooner. The whole of the In- 
 diaman's late crew and officers were left in the frigate till 
 further notice, notwithstanding which we were pretty well 
 crowded on our way up; Westwood and I were glad of a 
 
 The zodiacal light, seen at sunrise and sunset.
 
 A SEA STORY 409 
 
 couple of hammocks in the half -deck; and, in fact, I saw 
 little more of Violet Hyde jtill they went ashore opposite 
 Fort William. 
 
 "In half an hour we were lying at anchor in the midst 
 of the crowd of Indiamen, country ships, Arab craft and 
 all sorts of craft besides, stretching far up to the next 
 reach; the long front of flat-topped buildings, with their 
 green Venetians and balustrades, shining white over the 
 row of trees on the right bank, like a string of palaces 
 spreading back through the huge mass of the city to the pale ' 
 hot eastern sky a tall cocoanut tree or a sharp spire break- 
 ing it here and there; while the pile of Government House 
 was to be seen dotted with adjutant-birds; and the opposite 
 shore ehowed far off in a line of green jungle, faced by a few 
 gay-looking spots of bungalows. All the rest of the day Jones 
 busied himself seeing all made regular and ship-shape be- 
 low and aloft, till I began to think he had taken a fancy 
 to the schooner, and meant to go with her and the frigate 
 to the China seas. Next morning, however, as soon as 
 breakfast was over in the cabin, he came to me and said 
 that, as there was nothing more to be done at present aboard, 
 according to our agreement he would bid us good-by. Noth- 
 ing I could say was of the least use, so at last I had to 
 give it up. Having little money about me, however, ex- 
 cept in bills, and intending to go ashore myself, I told him 
 I should pay him his mate's wages at once at a banker's in 
 the town. By the time I came on deck, Jones had hailed 
 a dinghy, and the native boatman paddled us to the ghaut 
 below the Sailors' Home together. 
 
 "I had shaken hands with him, and stood watching him 
 from the bank veranda, as his manly figure, in the blue 
 jacket, white duck trousers, and straw hat, passed away 
 down Flag Street, stepping like a seaman fresh from 
 blue water through a stream of Hindoos in white muslin, 
 Mussulman servants, tall-capped Armenians, Danes, French- 
 men, Chinamen, Arabs, and Parsees. Three or four Coolies 
 with painted umbrellas were shouting and scrambling in 
 his way, mentioning their names, salaaming, and s'ahbing 
 him to the nines; a couple of naked black boys were trying 
 to brush his shoes in the dust; a tray of native sweet- 
 meats seemed to be shoved every now and then under his 
 nose; and two or three children with heads as big as 
 pumpkins were stuck before him, their mothers begging 
 for 'Buckshish! buckshish!' Jones held on like a man 
 accustomed to every sort of foreign scenes in the world;
 
 410 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 and, out of curiosity to see where he would go, I followed 
 him for a little toward the thjck of the noise and crowd, 
 through Tank Square, where the water-carriers were sprink- 
 ling the ground from the sheep-skins on their backs as they 
 walked, serpent-charmers and jugglers exhibiting, and a 
 dirty fakir rolling at the corner in seeming agony, with 
 a crowd of liberty-men in Sunday toggery all round him. 
 
 "Jones looked up at the church steeping in the white heat, 
 and across the glare of light to the city beyond, standing 
 like a man that did n't know what to do, or had n't seen 
 Calcutta before; then passed carelessly by the half -slued 
 sailors, who hailed him as if he were a ship. At length 
 he got to the turn of a street running into the native town, 
 where you caught a glimpse of it swarming this way and 
 that with turbans in the close overhanging bazaars. Some 
 Hindoo procession or other was coming along with tom-toms, 
 gongs, tambourines, and punkahs, sweeping on through a 
 babel of heathenish cries and songs; a knot of dancing- 
 girls, with red flowers in their sleek black hair, could be seen 
 in a hackery drawn by two hump-backed bullocks; and 
 a white Brahmin bull was poking its head amongst the 
 heaps of fruit at a stall; whilst you heard a whole ship's 
 crew hurrahing and laughing amongst the confusion, as 
 they drove along. Suddenly I saw Jones hail a palanquin 
 near him, and get in. The four mud-colored bearers took 
 the pole of it on their shoulders, fore and aft greasy- 
 looking fellows, with ochre-marks on their noses and fore- 
 heads, a tuft of hair tied back on their heads like women, 
 and as naked as they were born, save the cloth round 
 their middle and next moment away they trotted, grunting 
 and swinging the palanquin, till I lost sight of them in the 
 hubbub. 'T was the last I saw of Jones." 
 
 Here the captain stopped; the "Gloucester's" crew were get- 
 ting the anchors off her forecastle to her bows for next day, 
 when the light-ship off the Sandheads was expected to be 
 seen; and, from his manner and his silence together, he 
 evidently considered the yarn at an end. "That 's all, then ?" 
 carelessly asked the surgeon, who was a chess-player, and 
 had heard only this part of the captain's adventures, and 
 the first two, so that he appeared to perceive a slight want 
 of connection. "All ?" was the unanimous voice of the lady 
 passengers, most of whom had been faithful listeners 
 the younger ones were obviously disappointed at something. 
 
 "Why, yes," said Captain Collins, with a look which
 
 A SEA STORY 4 n 
 
 might be interpreted either as modest or "close" "the fact 
 is, I fancied the affair might serve to while away a single 
 evening or so, and here have I been yarning different nights 
 all this time ! 'T is owing to my want of practice, no doubt, 
 ma'am." "Come, come," said the matron of the party, "you 
 must really give us some idea of a denouement. These girls 
 of mine won't be satisfied without it, Captain Collins; they 
 will think it no story at all, otherwise!" 
 
 /'An end to it, you mean?" answered he. "Why, ma'am, 
 if there were an end to it, it couldn't be a 'short' yarn at 
 all that would be to finish and 'whip' it, as we say, before 
 it 's long enough for the purpose : whereas, luckily, my life 
 has n't got to a close yet." 
 
 "Oh!" said the lady, "no sea casuistry for us; besides, / 
 am aware of the sequel, you know!" "Why, ma'am," an- 
 swered the captain, looking up innocently, "it wasn't for 
 two years and a half afterwards that I I settled, you know ! 
 Do you mean me to tell you all that happened in that time, 
 about the Frenchman, and what befell the schooner in the 
 China seas? 'twould last the voyage home; but if you'll 
 go back with me, I 've no particular objection, now I 've got 
 into the way." 
 
 "No, no, my dear captain," said the lady, "we have had 
 enough for the present of your nautical details I beg par- 
 don but tell us how you succeeded in " 
 
 "Well," interrupted the narrator, rather hastily, " 't was 
 somewhat thus: I was at home at Croydon, being by that 
 time first lieutenant of the 'Hebe' ; but she was just paid off. 
 One morning, at breakfast, the letter-bag from the village 
 was brought in as usual, my mother taking them out, read- 
 ing off all the addresses through her spectacles, while Jane 
 made the coffee. My mother handed Jane a ship-letter, 
 which she put somewhere in her dress., with a blush, so 
 that I knew in a moment it must be from Tom Westwood, 
 who was in the Company's civil service in India, up-coun- 
 try. 'None for me, mother?' asked I, eagerly; for the fact 
 was, I had got one or two at different times, at Canton and 
 the Cape of Good Hope, during the two years. 'Yes, Ned,' 
 said my mother, eying it again and again, anxiously enough, 
 as I thought; 'there is but I fear it is some horrid thing 
 from those Admirals' the Admiralty, she meant 'and they 
 will be sending you off immediately or a war, or some- 
 thing. Oh, dear me, Ned,' exclaimed the good woman, quite 
 distressed, 'won't you do as I wish you, and stay altogether?' 
 By the Lord Harry! when I opened it, 'twas a letter from
 
 412 THE GREEN HAND 
 
 Lord Frederick Bury, who had succeeded to his eldest 
 brother's title while we were out, saying he had the promise 
 of a commandership for me, as soon as a new brig for the 
 West-India station was ready. 'I shan't have to go for six 
 or seven months at any rate, mother,' said I, 'by which time 
 I shall be confounded tired of the land, I know!' She 
 wanted me to buy a small estate near Croydon, shoot, 
 fish, and dig, I suppose; while Jane said I ought to marry, 
 especially as she had a girl with money in her eye for me. 
 Still they saw it was no use, and began to give it up. 
 
 "Why I never heard at all from a certain quarter, I 
 could n't think. Till that time, in fact, I had been as sure 
 of her proving true as I was of breezes blowing; but now I 
 could n't help fancying all sorts of tyranny on the Judge's 
 part and her mother's, not to speak of Tom's uncle, the 
 Councillor. I went down the lane for the twentieth time, 
 past the end of the house they had lived in, where the 
 windows had been shuttered up and the gates close ever 
 since I came. All of a sudden, this time, I saw there 
 were workmen about the place, the windows open, and two 
 servants washing down the yellow wheels of a travelling- 
 carriage. I made straight back for our house, went up to 
 Jane, who was at her piano in the drawing-room, and asked, 
 quite out of breath, who was come to the house over the 
 park behind us. 'Did you not know that old Nabob was 
 coming back from India?' said Jane. 'His face was getting 
 too yellow, I suppose; and, besides, his wife is dead from 
 his crossness, no doubt. But the young lady is an heiress, 
 Ned, and as I meant to tell you, from good authority' 
 here the sly creature looked away into her music 'passion- 
 ately fond of the sea, which means, you know, of naval offi- 
 cers.' 'The devil she is, Jane!' I broke out; 'what did 
 Westwood mean by that? but when are they coming, for 
 Heaven's sake?' 'Why,' said Jane, 'I believe, from what 
 I heard our gardener say, they arrived last night.' 'Then, 
 by Jove, my dear girl!' said 1, 'I'll tell you a secret and 
 mind, I count on you!' 
 
 "My little sister was all alive in a moment, ran to the 
 door and shut it, then settled herself on the sofa to hear 
 what I had to say, as eagerly as you please. So I told 
 her what the whole matter was, with the state of things 
 when we left Calcutta. Jane seemed to reckon the affair 
 as clear as a die ; and you 've no notion what a lot of new 
 ropes she put me up to in a concern of the kind, as well as
 
 A SEA STORY 413 
 
 ways to carry it out ship-shape to the end, in spite of the 
 Judge or else to smooth him over. 
 
 "The long and short of it was, I did n't leave till about 
 seven months after, when the 'Ferret' was put in commis- 
 sion; but by that time it was all smooth sailing before me. 
 The Judge had got wonderfully softened; and you may be 
 sure, I continued to see Violet Hyde pretty often before I 
 went to sea. You 'd scarce believe it, but, after that twelve 
 months' cruise, I actually did n't leave the land for two 
 years, which I did owing to the chance I had of seeing sharp 
 service in the Burmese war, up the rivers, while General 
 Campbell had tough work with them inland. So that 's all I 
 can say, ma'am!" 
 
 "Very good, sir!" was the surgeon's cool remark. "And, 
 in fact, sir, I fancy if every one of us were to commence 
 telling his whole life over, with everything that happened 
 to him and his friends, he must stop short somewhere 
 however long it might be!" The captain smiled; they sat 
 on the poop talking for awhile, sometimes saying nothing, 
 but watching the last night at sea. 
 
 The pilot-brig is spoken to windward next morning, even 
 while the deep-sea lead-line is being hove to sound the bot- 
 tom. Falling sudden from the foreyard, the weight takes the 
 long line from hand after hand back to the' gangway, till it 
 trembles against the ground. 'T is drawn up slowly, the wet 
 coil secured, and the bottom of the lead showing its little 
 hollow filled with signs of earth "Gray sand and shells!" 
 They stand on till the pilot is on board, the low land lifts 
 and lengthens before the ship; but the flow of the tide 
 has yet to come, and take them safely up amongst the wind- 
 ing shoals into the Indian river's mouth. A new land, and 
 the thoughts of strange new life, the gorgeous sights and 
 fantastic realities of the mighty country of the Mogul and 
 Rajahs, crowd before them after the wide solitary sea. The 
 story is already all but forgotten. AND THE ANCHOB is 
 
 LET GO! 
 
 THE END.
 
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