express purpose of elucidating an important point in the pedigree of
the respectable and ancient family which still bears the name of that
distinguished place," said I, with the gravest face I had ever made use
of. "When the Parrot-cum-Poodles first intermarried with the Tabbies,
connected as the Tabbies previously were with the Macaws, one of the
collateral branches of the Parrot-cum-Poodle family; and the Macaws
having formed several alliances with the Pugs, I am desirous of knowing
what degree of consanguinity the Pugs bear to the present descendants
of the ancient race of the Parrot-cum-Poodles, because it is an inquiry
of exceeding interest, and one of the utmost value towards a right
understanding of the family genealogy. You must remember, that when the
branch of the Tabbies became extinct for want of heirs male, there was a
lineal descendant that could trace his pedigree in a direct line up to
the first inheritor of the ancient name of Parrot-cum-Poodle; but he
being abroad at the time when the title was declared extinct, knew
nothing of his legal claim to the honourable name of his ancestors, and
had a large family which were brought up in perfect ignorance of their
relationship with the Tabbies. One of these has lately married a remote
branch of the Pugs: now the descendants of this pair will stand in a
very extraordinary point of relationship to the Parrot-cum-Poodles; and
I should wish to know where any of these descendants are to be found."
"The oldest old lady had gradually opened her mouth as I proceeded to
show the labyrinth of the Parrot-cum-Poodle genealogy, till it was
extended as far as it could stretch, and she stared at me through her
spectacles with as complete a look of mystification as it was possible
to imagine, and was turning towards the youngest old lady when she met a
mouth equally wide, and eyes equally mystified on the point of turning
towards her with the same desire for explanation. All this time Floss
had stood behind them making the most desperate efforts to swallow her
pocket-handkerchief.
"However it is sufficient to say, that after having bothered the old
folks till they did not know whether they were standing on their head or
their heels, I took my departure; and so ended my second folly, for I
never saw Floss again. And now, having amused you, don't you see, which
is all I aimed at, I must insist upon your going to Oriel Porphyry, and
inquiring of him whether there exist any reason for your suspicions."
"I will try and do it," replied Zabra, in a more cheerful tone than he
had previously used; "and I hope it may be as you say."
CHAP. IX.
A DISCOVERY.
"And so you have no desire to live in the gay world of fashion, Lilya?"
inquired Oriel Porphyry, as they sat together on the sofa.
"I do not understand what fashion means," replied the simple girl.
"Fashion itself is merely the way in which a certain class of persons
dress, think, speak, and conduct themselves," said Oriel. "And the
world of fashion is this exclusive class, with all its gaieties, its
frivolities, its prejudices, its follies, and its crimes."
"If there is any thing wrong in it, I certainly should not like to live
there," observed Lilya.
"What, not to partake of its brilliant pleasures, of its balls, operas,
concerts, dinners, and fêtes?" asked the young merchant.
"The things you mention I know nothing of. Where do they grow?" inquired
his fair companion.
"They do not grow, Lilya," replied Oriel, with a smile; "they are the
amusements of the world of fashion. A ball is a collection of persons,
or rather the amusement of a collection of persons brought together
for the purpose of enjoying the diversion of dancing; and dancing is
a gliding motion of the feet, by which the body is moved in different
attitudes from one place to another."
"And do people amuse themselves in this way; or is it an amusement for
others to look upon?" asked Lilya.
"It is the amusement in which both sexes most delight," said the young
merchant. "They meet together in rooms such as this cabin, only much
larger, and much more gay, where music is provided; and directly the
music plays, they are all set in motion, and so continue till the dance
is over. Some dances consist in whirling round, others in bounding
forward, and a great number in gliding from place to place."
"I do not think a ball would amuse me; I should soon get tired of such
exertion, especially as I cannot perceive what causes the amusement,"
said Lilya.
"The amusement, I believe, is more generally created by the persons who
are brought together than by any quality in the dance," observed Oriel.
"But it is considered a graceful and agreeable way of passing the time;
and, to young people particularly, it appears to possess very great
attractions. It might be rendered a profitable exercise, but the heat
and glitter of a ball-room is not the place in which it can be made most
advantageous."
"I would rather run after the leveret, or chase the young deer for
exercise," observed the simple girl.
"Operas and concerts are places where fashionable people meet to hear
music," continued the young merchant. "It is rarely that the best music
is played there; but, generally, the best performers are there to be met
with."
"I would rather hear Zabra," exclaimed the bashful maiden, hanging down
her head as if afraid the acknowledgment might not have been proper.
"And so would I a thousand times," replied the young merchant,
emphatically. "For in him we might be sure of finding something like
nature, which is not to be hoped for at operas or concerts. As for
dinners and fêtes, they are merely for the purpose of allowing people to
eat and drink together, talk, stare, push, squeeze, and elbow."
"Then I have no desire for any of these," said Lilya. "I do not perceive
the pleasure they would confer. I would rather be what I am, than exist
in a state such as you have described."
"But that cannot be Lilya," observed Oriel, kindly. "I am going to put
you under the protection of a lady--of the lady whom I love, Lilya. She
is a beautiful, accomplished, and amiable woman, of high family, and
admirable disposition; and, as she is obliged to find friends and
acquaintances in the circle I have pointed out to your attention, you
must from the same source derive all your social enjoyments; and then
you will be clothed in silks and velvets, feathers and diamonds--will
not that delight you?"
"Do these fine things make the possessor happy?" asked his companion.
"To tell you the truth Lilya, I do not think they do," replied Oriel
Porphyry.
"Then I will have none of them," she exclaimed. "I know that I can be
happy in these humble skins that I have put together with my own hands;
but I know not that I can be happy in the gay things to which I am
unused; and I would rather retain what I possess, than give it up for
an uncertainty."
"But the Lady Eureka, with whom you will stay, makes use of these
things," said the young merchant; "and, unless you mean to offend your
best friends, you must do the same."
"I will wear them if my friends wish it," observed the simple girl;
"but I would rather not, because I should appear so awkward in them."
"I do not fear that," exclaimed the young merchant. "You will not be
allowed to wear them till you know in what manner they should be worn;
and that you should look, and act, and think, as becomes one who is the
Lady Eureka's friend. The most skilful masters in every department of
education will be provided for you; and every endeavour will be made to
render you as elegant, intellectual, and agreeable a woman as the world
of fashion can produce."
"Will Zabra be there?" inquired Lilya, timidly.
"Yes, I think so. I've no doubt he will," replied Oriel Porphyry.
"Then I should like to be there!" murmured his fair companion, with
marked emphasis on the pronoun. "And the Lady Eureka you speak of--do
you love her?
"Indeed I do, Lilya," replied the young merchant, earnestly; "and
you will find her worthy of being beloved. She is beautiful, good,
affectionate, and intelligent."
"And does she love you in return?" asked Lilya.
"It is my happiness to believe so," responded Oriel.
"How delightful it must be for both of you," exclaimed the simple girl,
with her face beaming with animation as she turned her soft blue eyes
full upon her companion.
"And you shall share in this delight, Lilya, if you prove yourself
worthy of it," said Oriel, kindly. "Eureka is distinguished for her
superior excellence; and she cannot love you unless you possess goodness
to recommend you to her. There is nothing in the world that a woman
ought so much to pride herself upon as the purity of her actions. She
ought not to allow any one even to suspect her of wrong; and if her
behaviour is free from mystery or deceit, she will never give cause for
suspicion. The first step towards the commission of great criminality in
a woman, is a carelessness in tolerating familiarities from more than
one, that are not considered any thing beyond trifling gallantries from
the one by whom she is truly loved; and from that one only can such
things be permitted, because in this instance they become the natural
signs of a sincere affection, that are peculiarly graceful and
refreshing in their influence: but as the wife confines all expressions
of affection to her husband, so ought the loved one to preserve all her
devotion for her lover. Their situations are exactly similar; and 't is
as great a crime for a woman to deceive her lover by allowing others to
share in her affections, as it is for a wife to betray her husband by a
violation of the marriage vow."
"I do not understand you," said Lilya, looking considerably puzzled and
bewildered.
"Ah! I forgot it was to you I was speaking," replied Oriel. "But what I
meant to express to you is, that if you wish to insure and preserve the
good opinion of those whose good opinion is most valuable to you, you
will show yourself particularly anxious to become distinguished for
excellence of conduct and goodness of disposition."
"Ah, that is just what Zabra has told me," exclaimed the blushing
maiden, "He used to be always talking to me in that way; and told me so
much that was proper for me to know, and looked so kind, and appeared
so attentive, that I was always delighted to hear him. But he no longer
talks to me in that manner. He is now harsh in his language, and stern
in his gaze; and he will scarcely look or speak to me."
"Have you not been able to induce him to return to us? I should have
thought your intreaties would have been complied with immediately," said
the young merchant.
"Alas, no!" replied Lilya, sorrowfully. "All my intreaties have been
disregarded."
"Then you must allow me to make you forget him till he comes to his
senses," said Oriel.
"No, I cannot forget him--I'm sure I cannot forget him--indeed, I cannot
forget him," exclaimed the artless girl.
"He scarcely deserves to be so well remembered," observed the young
merchant. "In fact I am beginning to feel angry with him for being so
obstinate."
"Oh, do not be angry with him!" exclaimed Lilya, earnestly; "you must
not be angry with him, for I am sure he is unhappy."
"Well, then, if I promise you not to be angry, you must allow me to be
as kind to you as you would wish him to be," said Oriel Porphyry. "For I
cannot suffer a creature so unoffending as you are to be made wretched
by such unreasonable conduct. I shall regard you as a favorite sister;
and I feel just as much interested in your happiness as if you were so
dearly related to me. I will not allow you to have a wish ungratified
that is harmless and natural. I will endeavour to afford you whatever
pleasure you most delight in, that I have the means of procuring; and I
will watch over you, and guard you from all evil, and shield you from
every danger."
"Oh, how good you are!" murmured the gentle girl, raising her beautiful
eyes, suffused with tears, to his face.
"And I shall expect in return for all this attention to your welfare,
that you will regard me with a sisterly affection," continued the other.
"You must be as kind to me as I will be to you. You must endeavour
always to appear cheerful and willing to be pleased. Every effort that
I make to render your life an enjoyment to you, you must respond to by
showing the gladness it ought to produce. You must be attentive to my
instructions, obedient to my wishes, be gratified with my attentions,
and satisfied with the exertions I shall make to insure your happiness."
"Indeed, I will!" exclaimed the timid maiden, affectionately clasping
the hand of Oriel in her own.
"It will be a most pure and exquisite pleasure to me to be allowed to
labour in such a good work as creating the felicity of so gentle and
innocent a creature," said the young merchant; his noble countenance
beaming with benevolence. "It will be a labour of which my father would
be proud; and to do as he would do must always appear to me to be the
highest degree of excellence. It will be delightful to be loved as a
brother, and to show a brother's care and anxiety and solicitude. It
will be admirable to be able to enjoy the sweet sympathies of a nature
such as yours, and to live in the enjoyment of an interchange of
endearments so purifying to the heart as ours will be. I must be
loved Lilya. I will be as kind to you and as careful of you as may be
necessary for your welfare; but I must be loved."
"And I will love you;" murmured his fair companion, trembling and
blushing she knew not for why--"I will love you as fondly as you wish. I
will love you kindly and affectionately. I will love you always. I will
be at all times every thing you most desire me to be. You shall never
find reason to be dissatisfied. I will not allow you to be unhappy: all
I do shall be done with the intention of giving you pleasure. My heart
is overflowing with your goodness; and, indeed--and, indeed I love you
very much." With these words she caught up the hand she had held in her
own; and eagerly, yet timidly, pressed it to her lips!
Oriel Porphyry was so charmed by the simplicity and genuine affection
expressed by the action, that he drew the bashful girl to his arms,
and pressed her lips to his own. This had scarcely been done, when, on
raising his eyes, he encountered the full and piercing gaze of Zabra.
He stood before them,--his dark features wearing an expression the most
wild and fearful--his breast heaving with passion, and his whole frame
trembling with the powerful excitement under which he laboured. Lilya,
with an exclamation of surprise, shrunk into the farthest corner of the
sofa, and covered her face with her hands. Oriel looked upon him with
astonishment, not unmixed with wonder; for the extraordinary beauty
of his countenance, shrouded by its clustering black curls, with the
intensity of the expression now impressed upon it, looked perfectly
sublime.
"Has it come to this?" muttered the youth, in a voice that seemed choked
with emotion. "Has it come to this? The last hope I have been allowed to
entertain is now utterly crushed. Nothing remains but the conviction of
my own misery, and of your baseness."
"Zabra!" exclaimed Oriel.
"What a reward is this you have given me!" continued the other, in the
same hoarse tones. "What a recompense for all I have done! Could you
think of no way of showing your appreciation of my devotion for you than
by destroying the dream of happiness I have entertained? Have I not been
faithful, and attached, and willing, and affectionate--as ready in the
hour of danger to defend as desirous in a time of pleasure to amuse? Did
I not share with you your anxieties, and rejoice with you in every thing
that gave you joy? And yet you have committed this treachery."
"Zabra!" again exclaimed his patron.
"In what have I failed to do you honour and worship?" still continued
his companion, slightly raising his voice as he proceeded. "In what have
I been deficient? Where have I offended? Have I not sought all times and
opportunities to fulfil your wishes before they could be expressed? Has
not my heart been ever anxious to assist in the realisation of your
best hopes? Is there any one thing you could have wished me to do that
I have not done? If I had been slack in my exertions--if I had been
careless in my services--if I had been heedless, thoughtless, or
inattentive in my behaviour, there might have been some cause for
depriving me of the affections which then I should have been unworthy to
possess:--but I have exceeded all previous examples in the exclusiveness
of my devotion. I have dared to do more than others could have
imagined--I have sought you out to watch over your safety--and have
served you with all honour, and care, and kindness. Why--why have you
used me thus?"
"Zabra, what madness is this?" exclaimed the young merchant, more
surprised than offended.
"And this is your love for Eureka!" continued the youth. "This is the
way in which you return an affection, so deep, so earnest, and so true
as her's has been? Have you lost all notion of justice, of virtue, and
of that sincerity which most ennobles manhood? Where is your sense of
shame? What manner of man are you, who, after you have been loved in
all earnestness, in all purity, in all exclusiveness, and with all that
self-abandonment which is most conspicuous in the love of woman, can
turn round upon the object by whom you have been so truly honoured, and
cast her hopes to the wind?"
"Zabra, you are proceeding beyond the limits of endurance; and I shall
be obliged to acquaint Eureka with your unreasonable and offensive
conduct," said Oriel.
"I--I AM EUREKA!" shouted the disguised page, in a voice that made both
her companions leap from their seats with looks of the most intense
astonishment, as, with flashing eyes, and words that seemed to breathe
of fire, she exclaimed,--"It was Eureka who left her father's house
to escape from an alliance into which she would have been forced had
she remained.--It was Eureka who forsook family and friends, and the
security and comforts of her own land, to share the dangers and watch
over the safety of one to whom she was so completely devoted.--It was
Eureka who quitted the dress and abandoned the prejudices of womanhood,
the more securely to devote her disinterested heart to the service
of her lover.--It was Eureka who dared with him the perils of the
sea--rescued him from the clutches of the pirate--stopped the blows
that were aimed at his life--shed her blood in his defence; and, in all
offices of kindness--in all times of danger and difficulty--in all
moments of tranquillity and desire of innocent enjoyment, thought only
of his security--cared only for his amusement, and was anxious only for
the perfect realisation of his happiness. It was Eureka who did these
things: and I--I am Eureka!"
Probably she might have continued the same eloquent and forcible
language; but the attention of herself and of her lover were attracted
towards their companion. Lilya had listened with the most breathless
interest to the avowal of the disguised Zabra; her eyes were fixed upon
the speaker in one continued stare--wild, ghastly, and unnatural: the
colour fled from her lips, the blood rushed from her face; her breast
heaved in quick, short, spasms, and something was seen rising and
swelling at her throat. An expression of unutterable anguish was
impressed upon her beautiful features; she made two or three choking
gasps, and tottering forward a few steps, fell at the feet of Eureka.
Oriel hurried to raise her from the ground; gently he lifted her head,
and exposed to view a face pale as marble; the delicate mouth, half
open, and the fair blue eyes fixed and sightless. As he attempted to
take her hand, the head fell back upon his shoulder.--She was dead.
"Eureka!" exclaimed the young merchant, in a voice husky with emotion,
as he supported the drooping corpse upon his arm, "you have wronged both
her and me. She would never have been regarded by me save as a sister;
and it was only with a brother's fondness that you saw me caress her. I
am deeply grateful to you for the devotion with which you have honoured
me; but when I look here,"--he continued, gazing on the lifeless form he
held, with feelings that almost deprived him of utterance,--"and find
a creature so perfectly innocent, so simple, so gentle, and so kind,
that has been made its victim, I am obliged to regret that it has been
purchased at so fearful a sacrifice."
He was answered only by hysteric sobs, that in a few minutes were
succeeded by violent convulsions: and Dr. Tourniquet entering the cabin
at this moment, Oriel hastily explained what had transpired; left her to
his care, and rushed upon deck.
CHAP. X.
A FIGHT AT SEA.
"A sail to leeward!" shouted the look-out man on the gangway.
"Give me my glass, Loop!" cried the Captain.
"What does she look like, Cap'ain," inquired Climberkin.
"I see nothin' yet but a tall spar, pointing pretty sharpish into the
sky," said Hearty. "Now I observe she has her royals set, and has an
unkimmon low hull. But take the glass yourself, and see what you can
make of her."
"She's schooner built, sir, with raking masts, carries a smartish number
o' guns, and is altogether as suspicious looking a craft as ever I
seed," observed the Lieutenant.
"Which way does she steer?" inquired the old man.
"She's bearin' right down upon us, sir," replied Climberkin; "and she
means mischief, or I'm pretty considerably mistaken."
"Call up all hands to quarters--throw open the ports, and let the guns
be shotted;" cried the captain. All was immediately bustle and confusion
in every part of the Albatross. Fore and aft the men with the utmost
alacrity, prepared to give the strange vessel a proper welcome in case
of an attack. Muskets, pikes, cutlasses, powder and shot, were handed up
from the hold with as much cheerfulness as if the crew were commencing
some favourite amusement. The officers were giving their orders, the men
busy at their preparations. Some threw off their jackets and tucked up
their sleeves to be the more free in their movements. The decks were
cleared: all things put away that could be an obstacle at such a time;
the guns run out, and every man was at his post ready for action.
The schooner bore down gallantly upon the Albatross, and certainly was a
very suspicious-looking vessel. A shot from one of her carronades came
booming along without doing any mischief.
"There's no mistaking that, captain;" said Oriel Porphyry, who had been
watching the proceedings around him with considerable interest.
"She's a pirate, sir, there's not a doubt on 't," observed the old man;
"but she'll find we are not to be caught napping; and as she's ventured
to begin the game, we'll just see who can play at it best. Give her a
taste of the long gun, Boggle."
"Ay, ay, sir;" replied the second lieutenant.
"I must bear a hand in this, Hearty;" said the young merchant, unable to
restrain his eagerness to join in the approaching fight.
"As you please, sir," rejoined the captain; "and as we know you are
a fighter, and one o' the right sort, we shall be very glad o' your
company. Here's a capital cutlass, which is much at your service."
"No, thank you; I'll go and get my own arms;" replied Oriel, and he
immediately left the deck.
A long brass thirty-two pounder under the management of an experienced
gunner was now got ready, and fired with such precision as to make the
splinters fly from her hull.
"Pitch the shot into her as often as you can load and fire;" cried the
captain.
"Ay, ay, sir;" said the man at the gun.
At this instant, a shot from the schooner brought down some of the
standing and running rigging of the Albatross, and severed the jaws of
the main-gaff. It was immediately answered by her long gun, which was
kept rapidly firing, and ploughed up the decks of the pirate at every
shot. During this, the Albatross by her superiority of sailing, kept
wearing round the schooner, raking her fore and aft with a most
destructive fire. They were now near enough to see that the decks of the
supposed pirate were covered with men, among whom the thirty-two pounder
had done considerable mischief. Finding that this sort of warfare was
telling against them, the pirates altered their course, made sail, and
ranged up within a cable's length of their opponent, displaying at the
same time in their ship a black flag soaring up to her main-peak. As
they approached, the sound of many voices came over the waters, and
the crew of the Albatross distinctly heard the pirates singing in full
chorus:--
"Our ship sails on the wave,
On the wave, on the wave,
Our ship sails on the wave, Captain Death;
For free mariners are we, and we ride the stormy sea,
And our Captain still shall be
Captain Death! Captain Death!
Our Captain still shall be Captain Death!"
"It must be the miscreants we left on the island of Madagascar;" said
the young merchant. "I remember that murderous song well; but we'll
strive hard to spoil their singing."
"Scrunch me if we don't make 'em change their toon at any rate;"
exclaimed the old man. "There's nothin in life I've been so much wishin
for as a 'portunity to sarve out that ere double distilled willain
Scrumpydike, or Rifle, or whatever his name is."
"And you must leave the other scoundrel to me;" added Oriel Porphyry. "I
have an account to settle with him, and if I can get within reach, he
shall not escape."