"What singular emotions fill
Their bosoms, who have been induced to roam,
With flattering doubts, if all be well or ill,
With love for many, and with fears for some!"
BYRON.
The China fleet arrived without encountering any further danger; the
commodore and commanders of the several ships composing the fleet
received that praise from their countrymen to which their conduct had so
fully entitled them. As soon as the _Bombay Castle_ had entered the
basin of the East India docks, Newton requested, and easily obtained,
permission to leave the ship. He immediately directed his steps to
Greenwich, that he might ascertain if his father was in existence; for
he had received no letters since his departure, although he had taken
several opportunities to write. It is true that he had not expected
any; he knew that his father was too absent ever to think about writing
to him, and his uncle much too busy to throw away any portion of his
time in unnecessary correspondence.
When we approach the dwelling containing, or supposed to contain, an
object of solicitude, of whose existence we are uncertain, what a thrill
of anxiety pervades the frame! how quickened is the throbbing of the
heart! how checked the respiration! Thus it was with Newton Forster as
he raised his hand to the latch of the door. He opened it, and the
first object which delighted his eyes was his father seated upon a high
stool smoking his pipe, in the company of two veterans of the hospital,
who had brought their old bones to an anchor upon a large trunk. They
were in earnest conversation, and did not perceive the company of
Newton, who waited a little while, holding the door ajar, as he
contemplated the group.
One of the pensioners was speaking, and continued:--"May be, or may not
be, Mr Forster, that's _dubersome_; but if so be as how he is alive,
why you'll see him soon, that's sartain--take my word for it. A good
son, as you say he was, as soon as he can get over the side of the ship,
always bears up for his parent's house. With the help of your
barnacles, I worked my way clean through the whole yarn, and I seed the
report of killed and wounded; and I'll take my affidavy that there
warn't an officer in the fleet as lost the number of his mess in that
action, and a most clipping affair it was; only think of mounseer
turning tail to marchant vessels! Damn my old buttons! what will our
jolly fellows do next?"
"Next, Bill! why there be nothing to do, 'less they shave off the beard
of the grand Turk to make a swab for the cabin of the king's yacht, and
sarve out his seven hundred wives amongst the fleet. I say, I wonder
how he keeps so many of them craft in good order?"
"I knows," replied the other, "for I axed the very question when I was
up the Dardanelles. There be a big black fellow, a _unique_ they calls
him, with a large sword and a bag of sawdust, as always stands sentry at
the door, and if so be a woman kirks up a bobbery, why plump her head
goes into the bag."
"Well, that's one way to make a good woman on her; but as I was saying,
Mr Forster, you mustn't be down in the mouth; a seaman as knows his
duty, never cares for leave till all the work be done. I'd bet a yard
of pigtail that Mr Newton--"
"Is here, my good fellow!" interrupted Newton. "My dear father!"
Nicholas sprang off his seat and embraced his son.
"My dear, dear boy! why did you not come to me before? I was afraid
that you had been killed. Well, I'm glad to see you, Newton. How did
you like the West Indies?"
"The East Hinges, you mean, Mr Forster.--Newton," continued the old
pensioner, wiping both sides of his hand upon his blue breeches, and
then extending it--"Tip us your daddle, my lad; I like to touch the
flipper of one who has helped to shame the enemy, and it will be no
disgrace for you to grapple with an old seaman, who did his duty as long
as he had a pin to stand upon."
"With pleasure, my friend," replied Newton, taking the old man's hand,
while the other veteran seized the one unoccupied, and, surveying Newton
from top to toe, observed, "If your ship be manned with all such lads as
you--why, she be damned well manned, that's all."
Newton laughed and turned to his father.
"Well, father, how are you?--have you been quite well? And how do you
like your berth here?"
"Why, Newton, I get on much better than I did at Bristol."
"It be Liverpool he mean, Mr Newton; but your good father be a little
damaged in his upper works; his memory-box is like a sieve.--Come, Bill,
we be two too many. When father and son meet after a India voyage,
there be much to say as wants no listeners.--Good-bye, Mr Forster; may
you never want a son, and may he never want a ship!"
Newton smiled his thanks to the considerate old pensioners, as they
stumped out of the door, and left him alone with his father. The
communications of Nicholas were as concise as usual. He liked his
situation, liked his company, had as much work as he wished for, and had
enjoyed good health. When Newton entered upon pecuniary matters, which
he was the sooner induced to do by observing that his father's coat and
smallclothes were in a most ruinous condition, he discovered, that
though the old gentleman had provided himself with money from the
bankers, during the first year, to purchase a new suit of clothes,
latterly he not only had quite forgotten that there were funds at his
disposal, but even that he had procured the clothes, which had remained
in the chest from the day they had been sent home without having been
tried on.
"Dear me! now I recollect, so I did; and I put them upstairs somewhere.
I was busy at the time with my improvement on the duplex."
"Have you seen much of my uncle, sir?" inquired Newton.
"Your uncle!--dear me, no! I don't know where he lives; so I waited
until you came back. We'll go to-morrow, Newton, or he may think me
unkind. I'll see if his watch goes well; I recollect he said it did.
But, Newton, tell me all about your voyage, and the action with the
French ships."
Newton entered into a detail, during which he perceived by his father's
questions that his memory had become more impaired, and that he was more
absent than ever. He arranged to call upon his uncle the ensuing day;
and then it was his intention, without communicating it to his father,
to make every inquiry and advertise to ascertain the fate of his mother.
This was a duty which he had long wished to repeat; but his necessities
and want of time had hitherto prevented the renewal of the task.
Early the next morning, Newton and his father went up to London by the
Greenwich coach; and a walk of a few minutes after they were put down,
brought them to the chambers of Mr John Forster.
"How do you do, Mr Scratton? Is my uncle at home?" inquired Mr
Newton.
Mr Scratton immediately recognised him, and very graciously replied,
that his uncle was at home and would be very glad to see him, having
talked very often of him lately.
Newton and his father were ushered into the parlour, where he found his
uncle precisely in the same position as when he last saw him;--it would
almost have appeared that he had not quitted his seat during Newton's
tedious voyage.
"Nephew," said Mr John Forster, without rising from his chair, "I am
very glad to see you.--Brother Nicholas, I am very glad to see you
too.--Chairs, Scratton," continued the old lawyer, taking his watch off
the table, and placing it in his fob. "Well, nephew, I am very glad to
hear such good accounts of you. I saw Mr Bosanquet yesterday, and he
told me that you had for your good conduct been promoted to the rank of
second-mate."
"It is more than I am aware of," replied Newton, much pleased with the
information. "I am much obliged to you for the intelligence, as I am
for your many other acts of kindness."
"Well, so you ought to be; it's no bad thing, as I told you before, to
find out an uncle. By-the-bye, there has been some alteration in my
establishment since we parted, nephew. I have a house in Lincoln's Inn
Fields, and a spare bed, if you will accept of it. We dine at six;
brother Nicholas, I shall be very happy to see you, if you can stay. It
will be too late to go home after dinner, but you can share my nephew's
bed."
"I shall be most happy to accept your kind offer for a few days, sir, if
it does not incommode you," replied Newton.
"No; you will not incommode me _there_, but you do very much _here_,
where I am always busy. So good-bye, my boy; I shall be at home at six.
Brother Nicholas, you did not vouchsafe me an answer."
"About what, brother John?" replied Nicholas, who had been in the
clouds.
"Oh, I'll tell you all about it, father," said Newton, laughing. "Come
away now--my uncle is busy." And Nicholas rose up, with the
observation--
"Brother John, you appear to me to read a great deal."
"Yes, I do, brother."
"How much do you read a day?"
"I really cannot say; much depends upon whether I am interrupted or
not."
"It must be very bad for your eyes, brother John."
"It certainly does not improve them," replied the lawyer, impatiently.
"Come, father, my uncle is very busy," said Newton, touching Nicholas on
the arm.
"Well, good-bye, brother John. I had something to say--oh! I hope you
are not displeased at my not coming to see you before?"
"Humph! not in the least, I can assure you, brother Nicholas; so
good-bye. Newton, you'll bring him with you at six," said Mr John
Forster; and he resumed his brief before they had quitted the room.
Newton was much surprised to hear that his uncle had taken a house, and
he surmised whether he had not also been induced to take a wife. He
felt an inclination to put the question to Mr Scratton, as he passed
through the office; but checked the wish, lest it should appear like
prying into his uncle's affairs. Being the month of February, it was
dark long before six o'clock, and Newton was puzzled what to do with his
father until that time. He returned to the Salopian Coffee-house,
opposite to which they had been put down by the Greenwich coach; and
taking possession of a box, called for some biscuits and a pint of
sherry; and requesting his father to stay there until his return, went
out to purchase a sextant, and some other nautical luxuries, which his
pay enabled him to procure without trespassing upon the funds supplied
by the generosity of his uncle. He then returned to his father, who had
finished the vine and biscuits, and had his eyes fixed upon the ceiling
of the room; and calling a hackney coach, drove to the direction which
his uncle had pointed out as his residence.
Mr John Forster had already come home, and they found him in the
dining-room, decanting the wine for dinner, with Amber by his side.
Newton was surprised at the appearance of a little girl; and, as he took
her proffered hand, inquired her name.
"Amber. Papa says it's a very foolish name; don't you, papa?"
"Yes, my dear, I do; but now we are going to dinner, and you must go to
Mrs Smith: so good-night."
Amber kissed the old lawyer, as he stooped to her; and wishing the
company good-night, she left the room.
"Brother John," said Nicholas, "I really had no idea that you were a
married man."
"Humph! I am not a married man, brother."
"Then pray, brother, how is it _possible_ for that little girl to be
your daughter?"
"I did not say she was my daughter: but now we will go upstairs into the
drawing-room, while they put the dinner on the table."
The dinner was soon announced; the cookery was plain, but good, the wine
excellent. When the dessert was placed on the table, Mr John Forster
rose, and taking two bottles of port wine from the sideboard, placed
them on the table, and addressed Newton.
"Nephew, I have no time to _sip_ wine, although it is necessary that I
drink it. Now, we must drink fast, as I have only ten minutes to spare;
not that I wish you to drink more than you like, but I must push the
bottle round, whether you fill or no, as I have an appointment, what we
call a consultation, at my chambers. Pass the bottle, brother,"
continued the lawyer, helping himself, and shoving the decanter to
Nicholas.
Nicholas, who had been little accustomed to wine, obeyed mechanically,
swallowing down each glass _a gorge deployee_, as he was awoke from his
meditations by the return of the bottle, and then filling up his glass
again. Newton, who could take his allowance as well as most people,
could not, however, venture to drink glass for glass with his uncle, and
the bottle was passed several times without his filling. When the ten
minutes had elapsed, Mr John Forster took his watch from the table,
replaced it in his fob, and rose from his chair. Locking up the
remainder of the wine, he quitted the house without apology, leaving his
guests to entertain themselves, and order tea when they felt inclined.
"My brother seems to be very busy, Newton," observed Nicholas. "What
wine was that we have been drinking? It was very strong; I declare my
head turns round;" and in a few moments more Nicholas dropped his head
upon the table, and was fast asleep.
Newton, who perceived that his father was affected by the wine which he
had been drinking, which was, in the sum total, a pint of sherry at the
coffee-house before dinner, and at least a bottle during and after his
meal, thought it better that he should be allowed to take his nap. He
therefore put out the candles, and went up into the drawing-room, where
he amused himself with a book until the clock struck twelve. According
to the regulations of the house, the servants had retired to bed,
leaving a light in the passage for their master on his return, which
sometimes was at a very late hour, or rather, it should be said, at a
very early one. Newton lighted a chamber-candlestick, and went down
into the parlour to rouse his father; but all his attempts were in vain.
The wine had taken such an effect upon him, that he was in a state of
lethargy. Newton observed that the servant had cleared the table, and
that the fire was out: and, as there was no help for it, he removed the
chairs to the end of the room, that his father might not tumble over
them if he awoke in the dark, and then retired to his own bed.