On crossing the gangway, I stopped near the main-hatchway, where five or
six sailors were busy with a large pile of barrels and boxes. I saw
that they were lading the vessel, and with a tackle were lowering the
barrels and boxes into the hold. They were in their shirt-sleeves, some
with Guernsey frocks and wide canvas trousers, smeared with grease and
tar. One among them wore a blue cloth jacket, with trousers of similar
material, and it occurred to me that he might be the mate; for I fancied
that the captain of such a big ship must be a very grand individual, and
very superbly dressed.
He with the blue jacket was constantly giving orders and directions to
the sailors at work, which I noticed were not always promptly obeyed;
and frequently the men might be heard suggesting contrary modes of
action, until a hubbub of voices would arise disputing about the proper
plan for executing the work.
All this would have been different on board a man-of-war, where the
order of an officer is instantly obeyed without question or remark; but
on a merchant vessel it is far otherwise. The orders of the mate are
often issued more as counsels than commands, and the men exercise a sort
of discretion in obeying them. This is not always the case, and depends
very much on the character of the mate himself; but on board the _Inca_
the discipline did not appear to be of the strictest. What with the
clatter of tongues, the "skreeking" of pulley-blocks, the rattling of
boxes against each other, the bundling of trucks over the staging, and
other like sounds, there was more noise than I had ever heard in my
life. It quite disconcerted me at first; and I stood for some minutes
in a state of half bewilderment at what I heard and saw.
After a while there was a sort of lull. The great water-butt that the
sailors had been lowering down the hatchway had reached the hold below,
and been rolled into its place, and this produced a temporary cessation
in the noises.
Just then one of the sailors chanced to set his eyes upon me; and, after
regarding me with a comic leer, cried out--
"Ho! my little marlin-spike! What might _you_ be wantin' aboard?--goin'
to ship, eh?"
"No," rejoined a second; "don't yer see he's a captain hisself?--got his
own craft there!"
This remark was made in allusion to my schooner, which I had brought
along with me, and was holding in my hands.
"Schooner ahoy!" shouted a third of the men. "Whither bound?"
This was followed by a burst of laughter from all hands, who were now
aware of my presence, and stood regarding me as though I was something
extremely ludicrous in their eyes.
I was rather abashed by this reception on the part of the rough tars,
and remained for some moments without knowing what to say or do. But I
was relieved from my uncertainty by the mate in the blue jacket, who,
approaching me, asked, in a more serious tone, what was my business
aboard.
I replied that I wanted to see the captain. Of course I believed that
there was a captain, and that he was the proper person to whom I should
address myself in regard to the business I had in view.
"Want to see the captain!" echoed my interrogator. "And what might be
your business with him, youngster? I'm the mate: won't I do?"
I hesitated a moment; but seeing that it was the captain's
representative who put the question, I thought there could be no harm in
frankly declaring my intentions. I replied--"I wish to be a sailor!"
If the men had laughed loud before, they now laughed louder. In fact
there was a regular yell, in which the mate himself joined as heartily
as any of them.
Amidst the peals of laughter, my ears were greeted with a variety of
expressions that quite humiliated me.
"Look yonder, Bill!" cried one, addressing a comrade who was at some
distance. "Look at the wee chap as wants to be a sailor. My eyes! You
little tuppence worth o' ha'pence, you ain't big enough for a belayin'
pin! A see-a-lor! My eyes!"
"Does your mother know yer out?" inquired a second.
"No, that she don't," said a third, making reply for me; "nor his
father, neyther. I'll warrant, now, the chap has run away from home.
Have you gi'n 'em the slip, little sticklebat?"
"Look here, youngster!" said the mate. "Take my advice: go back to your
mother, give my compliments to the old lady, and tell her to take a turn
or two of her petticoat strings round you, belay them to the leg of a
chair, and keep you safe moored there for half a dozen years to come!"
This advice elicited a fresh peal of laughter. I felt humiliated at
this rough bantering, and knew not what reply to make. In my confusion
I stammered out the words--
"I have no mother to go home to!"
This reply appeared to produce a sudden effect upon the mirth of these
rude-looking men, and I could hear some of them give utterance to
certain expressions of sympathy.
Not so, however, the mate, who, without changing his tone of banter,
instantly rejoined--
"Well, then, go to your father, and tell _him_ to give you a good
flogging!"
"I have no father!"
"Poor little chap! it's a horphin arter all," said one of the tars, in a
kind tone.
"No father either, you say," continued the mate, who appeared to me an
unfeeling brute; "then go to your grandmother, or your uncle, or your
aunt, if you've got one; or go anywhere you like, but get about your
business from here, or I'll trice you up, and give you a round dozen on
the buttocks; be off now, I say!"
The brute seemed fully in earnest; and, deeply mortified by the threat,
I turned away in obedience to the command.
I had reached the gangway, and was about to step upon the plank, when I
observed a man coming in the opposite direction--from the shore. He was
dressed in the same style as a merchant or other citizen might have
been, with a black frock-coat and beaver hat; but there was something in
his look that told me he belonged to the sea. The complexion of his
face was of that weather bronze, and there was an expression in the eyes
which I knew to be characteristic of men who lead the life of the
mariner. Moreover, his trousers were of blue pilot-cloth, and that gave
him a sea-faring look. It struck me at the moment that he was the
captain of the ship.
I was not long in doubt. On reaching the gangway, the stranger stepped
aboard with an air that betokened him the master; and I heard him issue
some orders in a tone that bespoke his full command of everybody within
hearing.
He did not stop after going aboard, but walked on towards the
quarter-deck of the vessel.
It occurred to me that I might still have some chance by addressing
myself directly to him; and, without hesitation, I turned back and
followed him.
In spite of some remonstrance from the mate and one or two of the men, I
kept on till I had overtaken the captain just as he was about to dive
down into his cabin.