MADEIRA SIGHTED--MISFORTUNES OF COMMANDER BABBICOME--A RIDE ON SHORE--
NAVAL CAVALRY CHARGE DOWN A HILL AND OVERTURN SOME DIGNITARIES OF CHURCH
AND STATE--A PLEASANT VISIT OF APOLOGY--SUDDENLY ORDERED TO SEA--AN
EXPEDITION TO BRING OFF "WASH CLOTHES."
A few days after the storm was over Madeira was made; to the eastward of
it, as the frigate sailed on, there came in sight a small island called
the Desertas. Tom, wishing to show that he was wide awake, reported a
large ship coming round the Desertas. He was, however, only laughed at,
for his supposed ship turned out to be a rock of a needle form, rising
several hundred feet out of the sea, and would have been as Higson told
him, if it had been a ship, bigger than the famed _Mary Dunn_, of Diver,
whose flying jibboom swept the weathercock off Calais church steeple,
while her spanker-boom end only just shaved clear of the white cliffs of
old England. The scenery of Madeira, as they sailed along its shore,
was pronounced very grand and beautiful; its lofty cliffs rising
perpendicularly out of the blue ocean with a fringe of surf at their
base, and vine-clad mountains towering up into the clear sky beyond
them; here and there a small bay appearing, forming the mouth of a
ravine, its sides covered with orange groves and dotted with whitewashed
cottages, and a little church in their midst. Rounding the southern end
of the island, the frigate came to an anchor in the bay of Funchal, the
town in a thin line of houses stretching along the shore before them,
and a wild mountainous region beyond, with country houses or quintas
scattered over the lower ground, and high above it the white church of
Nossa Senhora do Monte, glistening in the sun.
An important object had attracted Captain Hemming to Madeira. It was to
ship a couple of casks of its famed wine for the admiral on the Jamaica
station, as well as one for himself, and he took the opportunity of
fitting a new topgallant-mast. A few hours afterwards the _Tudor_ came
in and dropped her anchor close to the frigate. She had evidently
suffered severely in the gale. Her fore-topsail-yard was so badly
sprung that sail could not be carried on it. Her mizen-topmast was
gone, her starboard bulwarks forward stove in, one of her boats carried
away; besides which she had received other damages. The sea which had
injured her bulwarks had swept along her deck, but everything had been
secured, without doing further harm, and fortunately no one had been
lost.
Commander Babbicome at once came on board the _Plantagenet_ to pay his
respects to Captain Hemming. He was a short, stout man, with a red face
and thick neck, betokening a plethoric habit. After having been on
shore for some years he had been appointed to the _Tudor_ through the
influence of a relative, who had actively supported the ministry in
electioneering matters. Probably never much of a sailor, though he
might have been as brave as a lion, such experience as he possessed
being that of days gone by, he had an especial horror of all new-fangled
notions. He laid all the blame of the disasters his ship had met with
to the Dockyard riggers. "They don't do things as they used to do,
that's very clear, or I shouldn't have lost my mizen-topmast!" he
exclaimed, while pacing the frigate's deck with angry steps; "I doubt
whether in this hole of a place we can get our damages repaired."
"I'll send my carpenters on board, so that you may be independent of the
natives. How long will it take to set you to rights?"
"Three or four days I should suppose," was the answer.
"Well, I will remain for that time, and we will sail together," said
Captain Hemming.
It was quickly known on board both ships that they were not to leave for
some days, and parties were made up to go on shore the next morning, and
take a ride to the Corral and other places of interest.
A merry set of gun-room officers and midshipmen left the ships soon
after breakfast, Jack and Adair, with Lieutenant Jennings leading.
Murray could not go, but Archy Gordon got leave; his services, as he
told his friends, not being absolutely required. They wisely landed in
shore-boats, thus escaping a drenching from the surf, and were hauled up
the shingly beach by a number of shouting, bawling, dark-skinned
natives, who handed them over to an equally vociferous crowd of
muleteers and donkey boys, assembled in readiness with their beasts of
high and low degree, to carry travellers up the mountain. Amid the
wildest hubbub produced by the shouting, wraggling, jabbering of the
owners of the beasts, each man praising the qualities of his own animal
as he dragged it to the front, the naval party managed to mount; those
who could secure them, on horses, the rest on mules; donkeys being
despised, though attempts were made to thrust the midshipmen on them.
The tall lieutenant of marines had not secured his horse, which he chose
for its height, without a desperate struggle. A band of natives rushing
on him, one had hoisted his right leg across a mule, another shoving a
donkey's rein into his hands, while a third adroitly brought a pony
under his left leg, while kicking in the air; but the owner of the high
horse saw that his eye had been fixed on it, and being a big fellow came
to the rescue, and offering his shoulder as a rest, enabled the
lieutenant to spring clear of the mule and other beasts on to the one he
had chosen.
"Forward, my lads," he shouted in triumph, as he galloped to the front.
Amid an increased chorus of strange-sounding shrieks and cries, the
party, shouting and laughing themselves almost as loudly as their
attendants, set forward.
"Whoo! whoo!" sung out all the assembled natives in chorus, when the
muleteers, catching hold of the tails of their respective animals with
their left hands, began to urge them on by digging into their flanks the
points of the short goads held in their right hands.
"Arra burra! cara! cara cavache! caval!" screamed out the natives, and
on went the steeds, kicking and clattering through the pebble-paved
streets, well nigh sending some of their less experienced riders over
their heads, and dispersing to the right and left every one they
encountered.
"I say, we won't be after having these fellows at our heels all the
way," exclaimed Adair.
"Of course not," said Jack; "it would be a horrid bore."
"Be off with ye, now," cried Adair, to the natives; Jack and the rest
giving similar orders; but the muleteers, in the first place, did not
understand what they said, and, in the second, knew better than to let
go, as without the usual tail-pulling and goading, the beasts would not
have budged a foot.
"We shall be quit of yer, ye spalpeens, when we get to the lull," cried
Adair, at which the swarthy natives grinned, and would have grinned more
had they comprehended his remark. Quickly passing through the town, up
the steep sides of the mountain, they clattered between high stone
walls, crowned by vines, geraniums, and numberless flowering plants,
while orange groves were seen here and there through various openings,
with pretty quintas nestling amid them; or when they turned their heads
glimpses were caught of the town and bay, and the blue ocean.
They had not gone far when they met an Englishman on horse-back, who,
pulling up, introduced himself as the merchant about to ship the
admiral's wine, and invited them to stop at his quinta, on their way
down from the Corral.
"With all the pleasure in life," answered Adair; "and will you have the
kindness, sir, to tell these noisy fellows, pulling at our horses'
tails, that we can dispense with their company?"
"It would be far from a kindness if I did, for you would find that your
beasts would not move ahead without them," said the merchant, laughing,
and directing the arrieros to stop at his house on their return, he bade
the merry party good morning.
Up and up they went, till Gerald declared that they should reach the
moon if they continued on much longer. At length they found themselves
on the brink of an enormous chasm, some thousand feet in depth, upwards
of two miles in length, and half-a-mile in width, while before them a
precipitous wall of rocks towered up towards the blue heavens, broken
into numberless craggy pinnacles, amid which the clouds careered
rapidly, although far below they lay in thin strata, unmoved by a
breeze.
"Grand! magnificent!" and similar exclamations broke from the party.
They pushed on to the end of the ravine, where it almost closes; a
natural bridge of rocks existing over it to the opposite side; another
much broader ravine opening out beyond. Returning by the way they came,
the party gazed down upon Funchal and their ships in the harbour.
"Faith, they look for all the world like two fleas floating with their
legs in the air," exclaimed Adair; "this is a mighty big mountain, there
is no doubt about that."
Their keen appetites and the recollection of the merchant's promised
repast made them hurry on their downward way. They were not
disappointed either in the substantials, or in the delicacies, oranges,
and grapes, with other fruits and wines provided for their
entertainment.
"I am expecting your captains and a few grandees and others to dinner,
or I would have pressed you to stay," said their kind host, as he wished
them good-bye; "I hope you will come to-morrow, though, and remember
that my house is at your orders as long as you stay."
Most of the naval heroes had imbibed a sufficient quantity of the
merchant's generous liquid to raise their spirits, even somewhat above
their usual high level, and Adair took Gerald to task for not having
refused the last few glasses offered, though he declared that he himself
was as sober as an archbishop.
"And so, faith, am I, Uncle Terence," cried Gerald; "to prove that same
I'll race ye down to the bottom of this hit of a hill, and whoever comes
in first shall decide the question. Now off we go. `Wallop ahoo! ahoo!
Erin-go-bragh!'" And urging on his steed, of which his arriero had
long since let go, as had the others of their animals on descending the
mountains, away he started; Adair shouting to him to stop, from the fear
that he would break his neck, followed, however, at the same headlong
speed, giving vent, in his excitement, to the same shout of "Wallop
ahoo! ahoo! Erin-go-bragh!"
The example was infectious, the marine officer even catching it, and off
set lieutenants and surgeons, and midshipmen and clerks, as if
scampering away from an avalanche to save their lives, instead of
running a great risk of losing them. In vain their attendants shouted
to them to stop, and went bounding after them. The animals kept well
together in a dense mass--a regular stampedo--Terence and his nephew
keeping the lead. To check themselves had they tried it was impossible,
without the certainty of bringing their steeds to the ground, and taking
flying leaps over their heads. Suddenly there appeared before them a
palanquin--a dignified ecclesiastic seated in it--attended by footmen,
while further on were seen several cavaliers, some in military uniforms,
with a couple of naval cocked hats rising in their midst. That instant
had the cry of "Erin-go-bragh!" escaped from the excited Irishman's
throat. "Avast! haul up for your life, boy," shouted Adair, on
beholding the spectacle before him. "Starboard your helm, or you'll be
over the padre."
Gerald did try to pull up with might and main, but it was too late, his
steed stumbled, shooting him as from a catapult, right on the top--not
of a humble padre, but of a bishop of the holy Roman Empire, when his
floundering steed upsetting the leading bearer, bishop and midshipman
rolled over together, the former shouting for help, the latter
apologising. The matter did not stop here. Though Adair managed to
clear the bishop, after knocking over one of his lordship's footmen, his
steed bolted into the midst of the cavaliers behind, coming full tilt,
as ill-luck would have it, against Commander Babbicome of the _Tudor_,
who, in spite of his boasted horsemanship, was incontinently capsized,
while, before he could recover himself, or his companions rescue him,
down came thundering on them the rest of the hilarious cavalcade.
Several of the riders, including Tom, attempting to rein in their
animals, were sent flying over the prostrate bishop, among the foremost
ranks of the party ascending the mountain, while the rest dashing on
overthrew the military governor and several other personages of
distinction, till Jack, who had from the first reined in his steed, and
was behind the rest, could see nothing but a confused mass of kicking
legs, and cocked hats, and naval caps, and here and there heads and
backs and arms, with a shaven crown in their midst, blocking up the
narrow roadway, shouts, cries, shrieks and execrations issuing from
among them. The liberated horses had dashed on, leaving their riders to
their fate. This contributed considerably to lessen the difficulties of
the case. The drivers coming up, Jack dismounted, and giving his horse
to one of them ran to assist the bishop and his fallen friends. The
midshipmen quickly picked themselves up, very much frightened at what
they had done, but not a bit the worse for their tumble. The
ecclesiastic was next placed on his legs, with robes somewhat rumpled,
but happily without contusions or bones broken, though dreadfully
alarmed and inclined to be somewhat angry at the indignity he had
suffered. Jack endeavoured to apologise with the few words of
Portuguese he could command, Tom and Gerald assisting him to the best of
their power, though their united vocabulary failed to convey their
sentiments. Meantime, the dismounted cavaliers behind had regained
their saddles, as had the gunroom officers and young gentlemen who had
tilted against them their feet. Lieutenant Jennings and Terence had
scraped clear without losing their seats, but nearly all the rest had
been unhorsed. Commander Babbicome was the only one who had suffered
damage, and he had received a bloody nose by a blow from his horse's
head, but he was infinitely the most irate. "It is a disgrace to the
service that such things should be allowed," he exclaimed. "Captain
Hemming, I shall demand a court-martial on your officers, or an ample
apology. Mine know how to respect their commander." At that moment his
eye fell on his own purser and surgeon, with two or three others who
were trying to get by close to the wall on either side. "Ah! I see;
they shall hear more about it, they may depend on that!"
"Lieutenant Adair will be ready to make you an ample apology, I can
answer for that, and you know that naval officers are not always the
best of horsemen, of which we have just had an example," said Captain
Hemming, who, though annoyed at what had happened, wished to soothe the
feelings of the angry commander.
The Portuguese officers ascertaining that the bishop was unhurt took
their own overthrow very coolly. "It's the way of those young English
naval officers," they observed, with a shrug of the shoulders.
"Paciencia!"
With bows and further apologies the two parties separated; the one to
partake of the banquet prepared for them, the other to make the best of
their way into the town.
"Uncle Terence, you bate me, I'll acknowledge, but if it hadn't been for
the fat bishop I'd have won," exclaimed Gerald, as they met Adair not
very comfortable in his mind, coming back to look for them.
"We shall all get into a precious row, ye young spalpeen, in consequence
of your freak," answered Adair. "Why didn't you pull up at once when I
told you?"
"Pull up was it ye say, Uncle Terence?" cried the irrepressible young
Irish boy. "Faith now, that's a good joke. Didn't I pull till I
thought my arms would be after coming off, but my baste pulled a mighty
dale harder."
"Really that nephew of mine will be getting into serious difficulties if
he does not learn to restrain the exuberance of his spirits," said
Terence quite seriously to Jack, as they rode on together. "When I was
a youngster I never went as far as he does."
"As to that, we are apt to forget what we were, and what we did, in the
days of our boyhood," answered Jack, laughing heartily.
"You certainly had a wonderful aptitude for getting out of scrapes when
you had tumbled into them. However, as it is wiser to keep clear of
them altogether, you will do well to give your nephew a lecture on the
subject, and I hope that he will benefit by it. I intend to bestow some
good advice on Tom on the subject. Many a promising lad injures his
future prospects by thoughtlessness. Though we were not always as wise
as Solomon, we were invariably sober fellows, or we should probably have
come to grief like so many others we have known."
"Faith, yes, it was that last magnum of Madeira floored the bishop and
Commander Babbicome, no doubt about it," observed Adair, with a twinkle
in his eye.
By this time they had reached the beach, when the arrieros having
claimed their horses, not forgetting a liberal payment for their use,
the party returned in shore-boats to the ships.
The next morning Commander Babbicome's anger was somewhat cooled down,
though to vindicate his outraged dignity, as he could not punish the
_Plantagenet's_ midshipmen, he stopped all leave from the _Tudor_.
Captain Hemming considering that the matter should not be altogether
overlooked, took Tom and Gerald on shore to apologise to the bishop, who
instead of being angry, laughed heartily, and gave them a basket full of
sweet cakes and fruit, for which, though it was a gentle hint that he
looked upon them as children, they were very much obliged to him, and
voted him a first-rate old fellow.
When the midshipmen of the _Tudor_ heard of it they wanted to go and
apologise also, but as none of them unfortunately had tumbled over his
lordship, they could not find a sufficient excuse for paying him a
visit, and though they sent a deputation on board the _Plantagenet_ to
put in a claim for a share, old Higson declined to entertain it.
Captain Hemming afterwards went on board the _Tudor_, and having told
Commander Babbicome of the kind way the bishop had behaved, suggested
that it was more Christian-like to forgive than revenge an insult even
if premeditated, while that of which he complained certainly was not,
and finally induced him to promise that he would say no more about the
matter.
The repairs of the _Tudor_ were nearly completed.
"A man-of-war steamer coming in from the eastward," reported the
signal-midshipman to Mr Cherry.
"She has made her number the _Pluto_," he shortly added.
The _Pluto's_ huge paddle-wheels soon brought her into the bay, when the
lieutenant commanding her came on board the _Plantagenet_, with
despatches for Captain Hemming.
"It was thought possible that we might catch you here as we have had a
good deal of calm weather, and our wheels carry us along rather faster
than your sails under such circumstances," observed the lieutenant, who
knew that his tea-kettle was held in no great respect.
"Ah, yes, steam is useful for despatch-boats," answered the captain, in
a slightly sarcastic tone, as he opened the despatches.
He was to direct the _Plantagenet_ and _Tudor_ to proceed without delay
to Trinidad, and thence to go on to Jamaica, calling at the larger
Caribbean Islands, belonging to Great Britain, on their way. There was
an idea that the blacks were in an unsettled state of mind, and that the
appearance of a couple of men-of-war would tend to keep them in order.
Instantly the news became known there was a general bustle on board the
frigate. Washed clothes had to be got off and fresh provisions
obtained. She was to sail at daylight the next morning, and the _Tudor_
was to follow as soon as ready.
"What are we to do for our washed clothes?" exclaimed Higson. "Mother
Lobo wasn't to bring them on board till to-morrow evening, and if we
send to her the chances are she doesn't get the message or doesn't
understand it if she does."
"Sure, the best thing will be to go for them, then," exclaimed Gerald.
"Does any one know where she lives?"
"Well thought of, youngster," said Higson; "I know where she hangs out,
to the west of the town, beyond the old convent, some way up the hill,
but as I can't make her understand a word I say, even if I was to go
there, I should not much forward matters."
"But I can talk Portuguese like a native," exclaimed Norris, a
midshipman who had been on board a ship stationed at Lisbon for several
months, and who, professing to be a great linguist, was always ready to
act as interpreter. Whether he understood the replies of the natives or
not, he never failed to translate them. It was reported of him that
once having accompanied the first lieutenant on shore to get a new
topmast made, he asked the Portuguese carpenter at the dockyard,--"In
how many dayso will you make a new topmasto for mio fregato?"
"Nao intende," was the answer.
"`Not in ten days,' he says, sir," reported Norris to the lieutenant.
"Why, we can make one on board in less than half that time. Lazy
rascals, we will have nothing to do with them," exclaimed the
lieutenant, his confidence in the midshipman as a linguist unshaken.
On the present occasion Norris's services were, however, accepted, and
all in the berth who could get leave agreed to go. Some of the
_Tudor's_ midshipmen who were on board the frigate offered to bring on
the things if they were not ready.
"No! no! thank ye," answered Higson, cocking his eye, "I've a notion
that clean linen would be plentiful aboard the corvette, and by the time
it reached us it would be ready again for the laundress."
He, however, accepted their offer to accompany the expedition. As the
wind was light and off shore they got leave to take the jolly-boat,
being able easily to land in her. Under the guidance of Higson they
made their way up the hill to Senhora Lobo's abode. A stream ran near
it, on the banks of which half-a-dozen women were kneeling battering
away, fine as well as coarse articles of clothing on some rough granite
slabs, occasionally rubbing them as a change, with might and main on the
hard stones, singing at the same time as they rubbed, or stopping
occasionally to laugh and chatter. Among them was discovered Senhora
Lobo or Mother Lobo, as Higson designated her, battering away harder
than anybody at one of his shirts, as an example to her handmaidens.
She rose from her knees, twisting tightly the dripping garment, not to
lose time, as she recognised the young gentlemen, when Norris for a
wonder made her comprehend more by signs than words, that as the ship
was about to sail they must have their clothes immediately.
"Amanaa? to-morrow?" asked Senhora Lobo.
"No, no, `esta noite,' to-night," answered Norris vehemently.
The washerwoman consulted with her attendants. Piles of wet linen lay
on the ground, but a quantity had not yet seen the water. After a
considerable amount of jabbering and talking, it was agreed that the
task could be accomplished. The sun was hot, and the gentlemen must not
be very particular about the ironing. While one half of the damsels set
to work again in the stream, the rest, headed by the mistress, began to
hang up the washed articles, a young girl being despatched apparently
for further assistance. This looked like being in earnest, and the dame
assured Norris that the things should be ready by ten o'clock. How to
spend the intermediate time was the question, and a ramble into the
country was agreed on. Had they been wise they would have secured some
mules or donkeys to convey the clothes to the beach. They had, however,
undertaken to carry the bags themselves, and were resolved heroically to
persevere. They set off on their ramble, Tom and Gerald, and the other
youngsters, skylarking as usual. They expected to fall in with some
venda, or wine-shop, where they could obtain the refreshment they should
require before returning, and Dick Needham was sent back with an order
for the boat to come for them at the appointed hour. After rambling to
a considerable distance, they began to feel hungry, but in vain they
searched for a venda. Fortunately at this juncture they fell in with an
Englishman on horseback, to whom they made their wants known.
"Come along with me," he answered; "I will show you a place where you
can get some food."
Turning to the right, he led them through a gateway, along a walk
bordered by orange-trees, myrtles, geraniums, ever-blossoming
rose-trees, and numberless other plants and flowers, up to a
bungalow-style of building, from the verandah of which a fine view could
be enjoyed over the bay, with the town in the distance, and the hills on
either side.
"This looks like a regular first-class boarding-house; we shall have to
pay handsomely," whispered Tom to Gerald; "but never mind, we shall
enjoy ourselves, and I am terribly sharp-set!"
"Make yourselves at home, gentlemen," said their guide; "supper will
soon be on the table."
"Let's have it as soon as possible, that's all, and pray tell the
landlord that we shall be perfectly content if we can have a few cold
fowls and a ham, or eggs and bacon, and bread and cheese, and some
bottles of country wine--we are in no ways particular!" exclaimed
Higson, throwing himself on a garden-seat and producing his cigar-case.
"Will any of you fellows have a smoke?"
When the case was opened but one cigar remained. Their guide observed
it.
"Never mind, I dare say I can find some in the house," he said, and soon
returned with a box full. He offered it round.
"What do they cost?" asked Gerald, who indulged in a smoke sometimes,
when out of Adair's sight, though his slender purse forbade cigars.
"Never mind," was the answer; "it shall be put down in the bill."
The midshipman took a cigar, when a black servant appearing with a dish
of charcoal embers, it was lighted and pronounced excellent. Shortly
afterwards several ladies came out of the house and entered into
conversation with the young officers, who took them to be guests staying
at the inn. The time sped pleasantly by till supper was announced. The
ladies accompanied them in, the oldest taking one end of the table,
while their guide sat at the other.
"He's mine host after all!" whispered Tom to Gerald. "He knows,
however, how to look after his guests properly."
There might not have been quite as many cold chickens on the table as
Higson would have desired, but ample amends was made by the variety of
other good things and the abundance of fruit, cakes, and wine.
"Capital Madeira, this of yours, landlord! Haven't tasted better
anywhere in the island!" exclaimed Higson, smacking his lips. "I'll
trouble you to pass the bottle."
"I am glad you approve of it, sir," said mine host, doing as he was
requested. "There are several other qualities, but I always put the
best before my guests."
Altogether the young gentlemen enjoyed themselves particularly, and
talked and laughed away with unrestrained freedom to the ladies, who
seemed highly amused by them, and insisted on filling the pockets of the
younger midshipmen with cakes and fruit to take to their messmates on
board.
"It's myself could manage better with a handkerchief!" exclaimed Paddy
Desmond, producing a good big one.
The hint was taken, and some of the oldsters pulling out theirs got them
filled likewise, supposing that it was the custom of the country for the
guests to carry off the remains of a feast. Coffee was brought in, and
a stroll through the grounds was then proposed. The object of the young
gentlemen's visit to the shore came out in the course of the evening.
"You must stay here, then, till the time you have appointed, and I will
show you a much shorter cut to the shore than by the high road," said
mine host.
Higson gladly accepted his offer. Tea and further refreshments were
found on the table on their return from the garden, and then one of the
younger ladies went to the piano, and another took a harp, and a third a
guitar, and the young officers who could sing were asked to do so, which
of course they did, Paddy Desmond especially having a capital voice.
Thus the evening passed pleasantly away, till it was nearly ten o'clock.
"I had no idea there were such capital houses of public entertainment as
yours in the island," said Higson, highly pleased with mine host, who
had been very attentive to him. "Whatever Englishmen undertake,
however, they always beat the natives hollow, and now just tell me
what's to pay?"
"I am amply repaid by having had the pleasure of entertaining you,"
answered mine host, laughing. "I must not let you go away under a
mistake. The ladies you have seen are my mother and wife, and our
sisters and two cousins staying with us. You may have heard my name as
one of the principal shippers from the island, and when you come across
my brand in the old country you will be able to say a good word for it."
"That I will, sir; but I must beg ten thousand pardons for my stupidity,
and that of my shipmates. We ought to have found you out at first--
couldn't understand it, I confess."
Mr--soon set Higson and the rest at their ease, and thanks and
farewells being uttered, under the guidance of the former they commenced
their journey through orange groves and vineyards down the hill.
Senhora Lobo's washing establishment was soon reached, and there stood
before her house a long line of bags and bundles, the former containing
clothes, the latter tablecloths, sheets, and towels, each weighing
twenty or thirty pounds. As time would be lost by sending to the boat
for men the young gentlemen agreed to carry their property between them.
Their new friend at once declared his intention of assisting. How to
fist the bundles was the question. One could be easily carried on the
back; but on counting them it was found that each person must carry two.
After due discussion it was decided that the only way to do this was to
fasten the bags or bundles two and two together, by the strings of the
bags or the corners of the bundles, and to sling them thus over their
shoulders, one hanging before and one behind. The two younger
midshipmen got the lightest for their share, old Higson manfully taking
the largest, and saying that he would bring up the rear. Their new
friend led to show them the way. There was a high gate near the bottom
of the path, but that was sure to be open. Off started the strange
procession amid shouts of laughter, to which Senhora Lobo and her
hand-maidens added their share. "Adios, adios, senhores!" they
shrieked, clapping their hands and bending almost double in their
ecstasies. The shouts of the merry damsels could be heard long after
they had been lost to sight, as the not less jovial young gentlemen
descended the hill. At first the path was tolerably even, but gradually
it became steeper and steeper, and the bundles seemed to grow heavier
and heavier, and the night darker and darker. They could see that they
were passing though a vineyard, formed on terraces, built upon the
hillside. The assistant surgeon, who followed next their friend, had
slackened his speed, allowing the latter to get ahead of him. Suddenly
the medico lost sight of his guide, when stumbling he let his bags slip
off his shoulders, and was obliged to stop a minute to adjust them,
bringing everybody else behind him to a halt. Then to make up for lost
time he pushed on at greater speed than before. He heard their guide
cry out something, but what it was he could not tell. "Make haste you
in the rear," he exclaimed, but scarcely were the words out of his mouth
than he found himself going headforemost from the top of a high wall,
when he began to roll over and over, down a steep declivity. He was not
alone, for one after the other came his companions, the darkness
preventing those behind from discovering what had happened, Higson being
the last, till the whole party were rolling away down the hill,
struggling and kicking with the bags round their necks, some well-nigh
strangled by the cords which held them together.
"Och, it's kilt I am entirely!" exclaimed Paddy Desmond, who was the
first to find his voice. "Where are we after going to? Is the say
below us, does any one know?"
"Can't some of you fellows ahead stop yourselves?" sung out Higson, who
came thundering along with his big bundles about his neck; but the
ground had just been cleared, not a root or branch offered a holdfast,
and his weight giving a fresh impetus to the rest away they all went
again over another terrace wall, shrieks and shouts and groans
proceeding from those whose throats were not too tightly pressed by the
cords to allow them utterance. Their cries quickly brought their friend
to their assistance, when a level spot having fortunately been reached,
with his aid, after some hauling and twisting, they were at length got
on their legs, and their bundles and bags being replaced on their
shoulders they proceeded in the same order as before. One or two
groaned, occasionally, from the weight of their burdens or from the pain
of their bruises, but most of the party trudged on, laughing heartily at
their adventure.
"Hillo, why the gate is locked--never knew that before!" they heard
their guide exclaim. "Never mind, we can easily climb it." Saying this
he threw his bags over, and climbing to the top safely dropped down on
the other side. The rest of the party, with one exception, followed his
example. When Higson came to the gate it looked so contemptibly easy
that he determined to climb it with his bundles on his back. Telling
Tom, who was next him, to go on, he mounted to the top, when just as he
had got over his foot slipped, and down he came, having his body on the
outer side and his huge bundles still on the inner, his neck being held
fast by the cord which fastened them together. A deep groan escaped
him. It might have been the last he would ever have uttered, but
fortunately Tom heard it, and turning back discovered what had happened.
"Help! help!" he shouted; "here's old Higson hanging himself."
His shout brought the rest to the rescue, accompanied by Dick Needham,
who had come up from the boat to see after them. While a couple of the
oldsters climbed to the top of the gate Dick raised the old mate with
his shoulders, and after much pulling and hauling his neck was cleared
from the noose, when he would have fallen to the ground had not Dick
caught him.
"I'm much afeered Mr Higson's gone," exclaimed Dick, as he placed his
burden gently down.
"Dead! why he was kicking tremendously just now," cried Tom, much
concerned, for he had a real regard for his messmate.
"I'm afeered so," repeated Dick, with a sigh.
"Let me see," said McTavish, the assistant-surgeon, and stooping down he
undid Higson's handkerchief and rubbed away at his throat, feeling
carefully round it. "Neck not dislocated, as I feared; he's all right,
and will come round presently," he said, the announcement giving
infinite relief to those who stood around.
As McTavish had predicted, Higson soon recovered; and as Dick was there
to carry his bundles the adventurers were once more _en route_ to the
boat. All hands were warm in their expressions of thanks to their
hospitable entertainer.
"You'll not forget `mine host' of the country venda," he said, laughing,
as he shook hands for the last time. They gave him three cheers, as the
boat shoved off and pulled away for the frigate.
Higson had been silent, while the rest were talking, as if brooding over
something; at length he exclaimed, "I say, Rogers, I'll not have you
call me old Higson--they were the last words I heard."
"Then you didn't hear me call the other fellows to your assistance,"
answered Tom promptly. "If I hadn't you wouldn't have been sitting up
and talking now. It wouldn't have been pleasant for your friends to
have seen a paragraph in the papers, `John Higson, mate of HMS
_Plantagenet_, was hung on the --'"
"Avast there," cried Higson, "or I'll break your head, you--"
"He really was the means of saving your life," said McTavish.
"Then I'm obliged to you, Rogers, and you may call me old Higson as
often as you like, provided you do me an equal service every time."
The next morning the frigate stood out of the Bay of Funchal on her way
to the West Indies.