I EMBARK ON A SECOND VOYAGE
On my arrival at Amsterdam I obtained leave from my master, De Decker,
to visit my parents, and was received by them at my home at Urk with a
great show of affection, which, however, I found to be somewhat
lessened when it was known I had come back with empty pockets. My
father urged me to give up the sea, and to stick more closely to the
business of a merchant at Amsterdam, for which my education had fitted
me, and my mother extorted from me a half-willing promise that I would
follow my father's advice. I also met Anna Holstein, to whom I related
my adventures; nor did I conceal from her that my worldly condition was
not yet sufficiently improved to warrant my making formal proposals for
her hand in marriage.
My mother pronounced my appearance much improved, when she heard of my
attachment to Anna she declared me to be a fit mate for any lady in the
land.
"Of a truth, Peter," she said, "thou art become a proper man, like thy
father was before thee, and in my day a young man of spirit chose his
wife where he would. My own parents made objections to my being married
to your father without some payment to them in goods or money, to
compensate for the expense of my upbringing. But Abel Van Bu, thy
father, came to our house one June morning and bade me make ready to
marry him that very day, a clerk in holy orders being come to Urk to
mate together those islanders who were willing to be wed according to
the rites of the Church, and Abel's manner was so masterful that
neither I nor my parents dared say him nay. This is how I came to marry
your father, my son, and were I a man such as thou, art, I would take
the girl of my choosing, in the same manner as thy father did."
But although I laughingly agreed with my mother, I knew that such a way
of proceeding would not answer with Anna Holstein. Anna was rich. It
would have shamed me to go to her, a penniless husband. Still, love is
blind, and that Anna and I loved each other was not to be denied; so,
one evening, by the Zuider Zee, we once more plighted our troth.
It was then that Anna confided to me a trouble of which she had kept
the knowledge secret, fearing it might vex me, to the neglect of my
work at Amsterdam. I had become so absorbed in my love for her, that I
had given no thought to the question of others paying their court. Yet
that such should be the case was but natural. Anna was young,
beautiful, and wealthy, the only child of a proud noble, so that when
Count Hendrick Luitken proposed for her, Anna's father regarded his
suit with approval, and recommended him to his daughter's good graces.
But Anna, whose heart was wholly mine, had evaded the Count's
attentions, although she dared not openly reject him, lest the
clandestine love we bore each other might become known by reason of too
close questioning, so she had been compelled to play the part of a
wilful maid who did not know her own mind, and could not be made to see
how advantageous the alliance proposed for her would be.
"I could never marry anyone but you, Peter," she whispered to me, as we
sat together on the terrace of the palace by the Zuider Zee, after she
had confided to me her anxieties, "but I find it hard to keep up the
deception that I am heart-whole and fancy-free, and yet indifferent to
Count Hendrick's attentions. Indeed, my father openly upbraids me with
being fickle, inconstant, unmaidenly, and I know not what besides,
until I am driven to my wit's end to keep the peace between us. Yet I
doubt not, if he knew the truth, he would marry me willy-nilly to Count
Hendrick Luitken by force."
"Then it would be to a corpse he would marry you," I cried, "for sooner
than see you wedded to Count Luitken I would strangle him with my bare
hands if he refused to meet me as an equal in fair fight."
"Dear Peter," whispered Anna, as she nestled closer to me, "if I cannot
marry you I'll marry none other, and the Church does not now sanction
marriage vows given unwillingly. If they drive me to it I can at least
seek the cloister or the grave."
"Do not speak so, dear Anna," I entreated. "We are both young, and by
patience and industry I may yet win a place in the world."
But although I spoke hopefully I could see but little prospect of my
advancement at Amsterdam. My master, De Decker, the merchant, in whose
house I was employed, told me plainly that I need expect nothing more
than a clerkship so long as I remained in his service. His son, then a
boy at school, would inherit his business, and it might be many years
before I could hope to buy a partnership in it. De Decker's business at
this time, moreover, was not in a very flourishing condition. It
seemed, therefore, not improbable that I would lose my clerkship unless
it improved.
In these circumstances I was approached by Dirk Hartog some twelve
months after the return of the "Endraght", who offered to take me as
first officer on the "Arms of Amsterdam", a new vessel upon which he
was about to make a second voyage of discovery to the South.
"It is not because we met no luck with the 'Endraght' that there is
nothing to be gained, Peter," he said. "There is an island I have heard
of which, if we can strike it, will make us rich men. Nothing venture,
nothing win, and there is little prospect here for a man like you to
make money by quill-driving."
His words impressed me, as well they might, for the love of adventure
was strong within me, and I reflected that in my present calling of a
merchant's clerk I could not hope to obtain an independence for many
years--perhaps not at all. De Decker, also, appeared anxious that I
should go. The sale of the pearls which the king of Pearl Island had
given Hartog had more than repaid the merchants for sending out the
"Endraght", and with the "Arms of Amsterdam" they hoped to accumulate
further treasure. I was influenced also by Hartog's description of the
Island of Gems, and the more I thought of the offer he had made me the
more I liked it. Finally, I agreed to sign on for this second voyage,
and, taking leave of Anna and my parents, I embarked upon the "Arms of
Amsterdam", and set sail once more for southern seas.