IN WHICH ARE NARRATED THE ADVENTURES WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE CORPORAL'S
CRUISE IN THE JOLLY-BOAT.
Corporal Van Spitter, so soon as he had expended all his breath in
shouting for help, sat down with such a flop of despair on the thwart of
the boat, as very nearly to swamp it. As it was, the water poured over
the starboard gunwale, until the boat was filled up to his ankles. This
alarmed him still more, and he remained mute as a stock-fish for a
quarter of an hour, during which he was swept away by the tide until he
was unable to discover the lights on shore. The wind freshened, and the
water became more rough; the night was dark as pitch, and the corporal
skimmed along before the wind and tide. "A tousand tyfels!" at last
muttered the corporal, as the searching blast crept round his fat sides,
and made him shiver. Gust succeeded gust, and, at last, the corporal's
teeth chattered with the cold: he raised his feet out of the water at
the bottom of the boat, for his feet were like ice, but in so doing, the
weight of his body being above the centre of gravity, the boat careened
over, and with a "Mein Gott!" he hastily replaced them in the cold
water. And now a shower of rain and sleet came down upon the
unprotected body of the corporal, which added to his misery, to his
fear, and to his despair.
"Where am I?" muttered he: "what will become of me? Ah, mein Gott!
twenty tousand tyfels--what had I to do in a boat--I, Corporal Van
Spitter?" and then he was again silent for nearly half an hour. The
wind shifted to the northward, and the rain cleared up, but it was only
to make the corporal suffer more, for the freezing blast poured upon his
wet clothes, and he felt chilled to the very centre of his vitals. His
whole body trembled convulsively; he was frozen to the thwart, yet there
was no appearance of daylight coming; and the corporal now abandoned
himself to utter hopelessness and desperation, and commenced praying.
He attempted the Lord's Prayer in Dutch, but could get no further than
"art in heaven," for the rest, from disuse, had quite escaped the
corporal's memory. He tried to recollect something else, but was
equally unsuccessful; at last, he made up a sad mixture of swearing and
praying.
"Mein Gott--a hundred tousand tyfels--gut Gott--twenty hundred tousand
tyfels! Ah, Gott of mercy--million of tyfels! holy Gott Jesus!--twenty
millions of tyfels--Gott for dam, I die of cold!" Such were the
ejaculations of the corporal, allowing about ten minutes to intervene
between each, during which the wind blew more freshly, the waves rose,
and the boat was whirled away.
But the corporal's miseries were to be prolonged; the flood-time of
water was now spent, and the ebb commenced flowing against the wind and
sea. This created what is called boiling water, that is, a contest
between the wind forcing the waves one way, and the tide checking them
the other, which makes the waves to lose their run, and they rise, and
dance, and bubble into points. The consequence was, that the boat, as
she was borne down by the tide against them, shipped a sea every moment,
which the wind threw against the carcase of the corporal, who was now
quite exhausted with more than four hours' exposure to a wintry night,
the temperature being nearly down to zero. All the corporal's stoicism
was gone: he talked wildly, crouched and gibbered in his fear, when he
was suddenly roused by a heavy shock. He raised his head, which had
sunk upon his chest, and beheld something close to him, and to the
gunwale of the boat. It was a thin, tall figure, holding out his two
arms at right angles, and apparently stooping over him. It was just in
the position that Smallbones lay on the forecastle of the cutter on that
day morning, when he was about to keel-haul him, and the corporal, in
his state of mental and bodily depression, was certain that it was the
ghost of the poor lad whom he had so often tortured. Terror raised his
air erect--his mouth was wide open--he could not speak--he tried to
analyse it, but a wave dashed in his face--his eyes and mouth were
filled with salt water, and the corporal threw himself down on the
thwarts of the boat, quite regardless whether it went to the bottom or
not: there he lay, half groaning, half praying, with his hands to his
eyes, and his huge nether proportion raised in the air, every limb
trembling with blended cold and fright. One hour more, and there would
have been nothing but corporal parts of Corporal Spitter.
The reason why the last movement of the corporal did not swamp the boat
was, simply, that it was aground on one of the flats; and the figure
which had alarmed the conscience-stricken corporal was nothing more than
the outside beacon of a weir for catching fish, being a thin post with a
cross bar to it, certainly not unlike Smallbones in figure, supposing
him to have put his arms in that position.
For upwards of an hour did the corporal lie reversed, when the day
dawned, and the boat had been left high and dry upon the flat. The
fishermen came down to examine their weir, and see what was their
success, when they discovered the boat with its contents. At first they
could not imagine what it was, for they could perceive nothing but the
capacious round of the corporal, which rose up in the air, but, by
degrees, they made out that there was a head and feet attached to it,
and they contrived, with the united efforts of four men, to raise him
up, and discovered that life was not yet extinct. They poured a little
schnappes into his mouth, and he recovered so far as to open his eyes;
and they having brought down with them two little carts drawn by dogs,
they put the corporal into one, covered him up, and yoking all the dogs
to the one cart, for the usual train could not move so heavy a weight,
two of them escorted him up to their huts, while the others threw the
fish caught into the cart which remained, and took possession of the
boat. The fishermen's wives, perceiving the cart so heavily laden,
imagined, as it approached the huts, that there had been unusual
success, and were not a little disappointed when they found that,
instead of several bushels of fine fish, they had only caught a corporal
of marines; but they were kind-hearted, for they had known misery; and
Van Spitter was put into a bed, and covered up with all the blankets
they could collect, and very soon was able to drink some warm soup
offered to him. It was not, however, till long past noon that the
corporal was able to narrate what had taken place.
"Will your lieutenant pay us for saving you and bringing him his boat?"
demanded the men.
Now, it must be observed, that a great revolution had taken place in the
corporal's feelings since the horror and sufferings of the night. He
felt hatred towards Vanslyperken, and goodwill towards those whom he had
treated unkindly. The supernatural appearance of Smallbones, in which
he still believed, and which appeared to him as a warning--what he had
suffered from cold and exhaustion, which by him was considered as a
punishment for his treatment of the poor lad but the morning before--had
changed the heart of Corporal Van Spitter; so he replied in Dutch--
"He will give you nothing, good people, not even a glass of schnappes, I
tell you candidly--so keep the boat if you wish--I will not say a word
about it, except that it is lost, he is not likely to see it again.
Besides, you can alter it, and paint it."
This very generous present of his Majesty's property by the corporal was
very agreeable to the fishermen, as it amply repaid them for all their
trouble. The corporal put on his clothes, and ate a hearty meal, was
freely supplied with spirits, and went to bed quite recovered. The next
morning, the fishermen took him down to Amsterdam in their own boat,
when Van Spitter discovered that the Yungfrau had sailed: this was very
puzzling, and Corporal Van Spitter did not know what to do. After some
cogitation, it occurred to him that, for Vanslyperken's sake, he might
be well received at the Lust Haus by Widow Vandersloosh, little
imagining how much at a discount was his lieutenant in that quarter.
To the Frau Vandersloosh accordingly he repaired, and the first person
he met was Babette, who, finding that the corporal was a Dutchman, and
belonging to the Yungfrau, and who presumed that he had always felt the
same ill-will towards Vanslyperken and Snarleyyow as did the rest of the
ship's company, immediately entered into a narrative of the conduct of
Snarleyyow on the preceding night, the anger of her mistress, and every
other circumstance with which the reader is already acquainted.
Corporal Van Spitter thus fortunately found out how matters stood
previous to his introduction to the widow. He expatiated upon his
sufferings, upon the indifference of his lieutenant, in sailing, as to
what had become of him, and fully persuaded Babette not only that he was
inimical; which now certainly he was, but that he always had been so, to
Mr Vanslyperken. Babette, who was always ready to retail news, went up
to the widow, and amused her, as she dressed her, with the corporal's
adventures; and the widow felt an interest in, before she had seen,
Corporal Van Spitter, from the account of his "moving accidents by flood
and field."
But if prepossessed in his favour before she saw him, what did she feel
when she first beheld the substantial proportions of Corporal Van
Spitter! There she beheld the beau ideal of her imagination--the very
object of her widow's dreams--the antipodes of Vanslyperken, and as
superior as "Hyperion to a Satyr." He had all the personal advantages,
with none of the defects, of her late husband; he was quite as fleshy,
but had at least six inches more in height, and, in the eyes of the
widow, the Corporal Van Spitter was the finest man she ever had beheld,
and she mentally exclaimed, "There is the man for my money;" and, at the
same time, resolved that she would win him! Alas! how short-sighted are
mortals; little did the corporal imagine that the most untoward event in
his life would be the cause of his being possessed of ease and
competence. The widow received him most graciously, spoke in no
measured terms against Vanslyperken, at which the corporal raised his
huge shoulders, as much as to say, "He is even worse than you think
him," was very violent against Snarleyyow, whom the corporal, aware that
it was no mutiny, made no ceremony in "damning in heaps," as the saying
is.
The widow begged that he would feel no uneasiness, as he should remain
with her till the cutter returned; and an hour after the first
introduction, Corporal Van Spitter had breakfasted with, and was
actually sitting, by her request, on the little fubsy sofa, in the very
place of Vanslyperken, with Frau Vandersloosh by his side.
We must pass over the few days during which the cutter was away. Widows
have not that maiden modesty to thwart their wishes, which so often
prevents a true love-tale from being told. And all that the widow could
not tell, Babette, duly instructed, told for her; and it was understood,
before the cutter's arrival, that Corporal Van Spitter was the accepted
lover of the Frau Vandersloosh. But still it was necessary that there
should be secrecy, not only on account of the corporal's being under the
command of the lieutenant, who, of course 2 would not allow himself to
be crossed in love without resenting it, but also because it was not
advisable that the crew of the Yungfrau should not be permitted to spend
their money at the Lust Haus. It was therefore agreed that the
lieutenant should be blinded as to the real nature of the intimacy, and
that nothing should take place until the cutter was paid off, and
Corporal Van Spitter should be a gentleman at large.
Independent of the wisdom of the above proceedings, there was a secret
pleasure to all parties in deceiving the deceiver Vanslyperken. But
something else occurred which we must now refer to. The corporal's
residence at the widow's house had not been unobserved by the Jesuit,
who was the French agent in the house opposite, and it appeared to him,
after the inquiries he had made, that Corporal Van Spitter might be made
serviceable. He had been sent for and sounded, and it was canvassed
with the widow whether he should accept the offers or not, and finally
it was agreed that he should, as there would be little or no risk. Now,
it so happened that the corporal had gone over to the Jesuit's house to
agree to the proposals, and was actually in the house conversing with
him, when Vanslyperken arrived and knocked at the door. The corporal
ascertaining who it was by a small clear spot left in the painted window
for scrutiny, begged that he might be concealed, and was immediately
shown into the next room by a door, which was hid behind a screen. The
Jesuit did not exactly shut the door, as he supposed he did, and the
corporal, who wondered what could have brought Vanslyperken there, kept
it ajar during the whole of the interview and the counting out of the
money. Vanslyperken left, and as he shut the other door, the corporal
did the same with the one he held ajar, and took a seat at the other end
of the room, that the Jesuit might not suspect his having overheard all
that had passed.
Now the Jesuit had made up his mind that it was better to treat with the
principal than with a second, and therefore did not further require the
services of Corporal Van Spitter. He told him that the lieutenant
having received private information that one of the people of the cutter
had been seen at his house, and knowing that he was the French agent,
had come to inform him that if he attempted to employ any of his men in
carrying letters, that he would inform against him to the authorities.
That he was very sorry, but that after such a notice he was afraid that
the arrangements could not proceed. The corporal appeared to be
satisfied, and took his final leave. No wonder, therefore, that the
widow and Babette were on the watch, when they saw Vanslyperken enter
the house, at the very time the corporal was there also.
The corporal went over to the widow's, and narrated all that he had
heard and seen.
"Why, the traitor!" exclaimed the widow.
"Yes, mein Gott!" repeated the corporal.
"The villain to sell his country for gold."
"Yes, mein Gott!" repeated the corporal.
"Fifty guineas, did you say, Mynheer Van Spitter?"
"Yes, mein Gott!" repeated the corporal.
"Oh, the wretch!--well," continued the widow, "at all events he is in
your power."
"Yes, mein Gott!"
"You can hang him any day in the week."
"Yes mein Gott!"
"Ho, ho! Mr Vanslyperken:--well, well, Mr Vanslyperken, we will see,"
continued the widow, indignant at the lieutenant receiving so large a
sum, which would otherwise have been, in all probability, made over to
Corporal Van Spitter, with whom she now felt that their interests were
in common.
"Tousand tyfels!" roared the corporal, dashing his foot upon one of the
flaps of the little table before them with so much force, that it was
broken short off and fell down on the floor.
"Hundred tousand tyfels!" continued the corporal, when he witnessed the
effects of his violence.
Although the widow lamented her table, she forgave the corporal with a
smile; she liked such proofs of strength in her intended, and she,
moreover, knew that the accident was occasioned by indignation at
Vanslyperken.
"Yes, yes, Mr Vanslyperken, you'll pay me for that," exclaimed she; "I
prophesy that before long you and your nasty cur will both swing
together."
The corporal now walked across the little parlour and back again, then
turned to the widow Vandersloosh, and with a most expressive look slowly
muttered:--
"Yes, mein Gott!"
After which he sat down again by the side of the widow, and they had a
short consultation; before it was over, Corporal Spitter declared
himself the deadly enemy of Lieutenant Vanslyperken; swore that he would
be his ruin, and ratified the oath upon the widow's lips. Alas! what
changes there are in this world!
After which solemn compact the corporal rose, took his leave, went on
board, and reported himself, as we have stated in the preceding chapter.