THE START.
It was nearly a year after he had made up his mind to emigrate
before Mr. Hardy was able to conclude all his arrangements. Then
came the great business of packing up. This is no trifling matter
when a family of six persons are going to make a move to a new
country. Mr. Hardy had at first thought of taking portable
furniture with him, but had been told by a friend who knew the
country that every requisite could be obtained at Buenos Ayres, the
capital of the Argentine Republic, at a far less price than he
could convey such heavy articles from England. Still the bulk of
luggage was very large; and the boys, who had now left off their
farming and carpentering lessons, worked at home at packing-cases,
and had the satisfaction of turning their new acquirements to a
useful purpose. In addition to the personal baggage, Mr. Hardy was
taking with him plows and agricultural implements of English make,
besides a good stock of seeds of various kinds. These had been sent
on direct by a sailing ship, starting a fortnight before
themselves. When their heavy baggage was packed up it too was sent
off, so as to be put on board the steamer by which they were to
sail; and then came a long round of visits to bid farewell to all
their friends. This was a sad business; for although the boys and
their sisters were alike excited and delighted at the thought of
the life before them, still they could not but feel sorrowful when
the time came to leave all the friends they had known so long, and
the house they had lived in ever since they could remember.
This over Mrs. Hardy and the children went to Liverpool, where they
were to embark; while Mr. Hardy remained behind for a day or two,
to see to the sale of the furniture of the house. The day after he
joined the family they embarked on board the Barbadoes, for Rio and
Buenos Ayres. Greatly were the girls amused at the tiny little
cabin allotted to them and their mother--a similar little den being
taken possession of by Mr. Hardy and the boys. The smartness of the
vessel, and the style of her fittings, alike impressed and
delighted them. It has not been mentioned that Sarah, their
housemaid, accompanied the party. She had been left early an
orphan, and had been taken as a nursemaid by Mrs. Hardy. As time
went on, and the little girls no longer required a nurse, she had
remained as housemaid, and having no friends, now willingly
accompanied them. Mr. Hardy had, to her great amusement, insisted
upon her signing a paper, agreeing, upon her master's paying her
passage, to remain with him for a year; at the end of which time
she was to be at liberty to marry or to leave them, should she
choose.
Knowing the scarcity of young Englishwomen in the country that they
were going to, and the number of Englishmen doing well in the towns
or as farmers, Mr. Hardy had considered this precaution to be
absolutely necessary; as otherwise Sarah might have married and
left them within a month of her arrival. At the end of a year her
so doing would not matter so much, as by that time the party would-be
comfortably settled in their new home; whereas during the
necessary hardship at first, it would be a great comfort having a
faithful and reliable servant.
The last looks which the party cast toward England, as the Welsh
coast sank in the distance, were less melancholy than those of most
emigrants. The young people were all full of hope and excitement;
while even Mrs. Hardy felt but little disposed to give way to
sorrow, as it had been arranged that in three or four years, if all
went well, she should bring her daughters over to England to finish
their education.
Very lovely was that first evening, and as they sat in a group
together upon deck the little girls remarked that they did not
think that the sea was anything like as terrible as they had
expected, and that they did not feel the least seasick. Their
father smiled: "Wait a little, my dears; there is an old proverb,
'Don't halloo until you are out of the wood.'"
The next day was still perfectly calm; and when, toward evening,
the children were told that they were now fairly getting into the
Bay of Biscay, they could scarcely believe the intelligence.
"Why, one would think, Maud," her father said, "that you were
disappointed at its being calm, and that you really wanted a
storm."
"Oh, papa, I do think it would be great fun; it would be so curious
not to be able to walk about, and to see everything rolling and
tumbling. Don't you think so, boys?"
"Yes, I think so, Maud; great fun," Charley said.
"Well, young people," the captain, who had been standing by
watching the sun, now fast nearing the horizon, and who had
overheard their remarks, said, "if it is any satisfaction to you, I
can tell you that you are very likely to have your wish gratified.
But I question if you will like it as much as you expect."
"Ah, you expect wind, Captain Trevor?" Mr. Hardy said. "I have been
thinking myself that the almost oppressive stillness of to-day, and
the look of the sunset, and these black clouds banking up in the
southwest, meant a change. What does the glass say?"
"It is falling very rapidly," the captain answered. "We are in for
a sou'wester, and a stiff one too, or I am mistaken."
Now that it appeared likely that their wishes were about to be
gratified, the young Hardys did not seem so pleased as they had
expected, although Charley still declared manfully that he was
quite in earnest, and that he did wish to see a real storm at sea.
As the sun set the party still leaned against the bulwarks watching
it, and the great bank of clouds, which seemed every moment to be
rising higher and higher. There was still nearly a dead calm around
them, and the heavy beat of the paddles, as they lashed the water
into foam, and the dull thud of the engine, were the only sounds
that broke the stillness. Now and then, however, a short puff of
wind ruffled the water, and then died away again.
"Look at that great cloud, papa," Hubert said; "it almost looks as
if it were alive."
"Yes, Hubert, it is very grand; and there is no doubt about there
being wind there."
The great cloud bank appeared to be in constant motion. Its shape
was incessantly shifting and changing; now a great mass would roll
upward, now sink down again; now the whole body would seem to roll
over and over upon itself; then small portions would break off from
the mass, and sail off by themselves, getting thinner and thinner,
and disappearing at last in the shape of fine streamers.
Momentarily the whole of the heaving, swelling mass rose higher and
higher. It was very grand, but it was a terrible grandeur; and the
others were quite inclined to agree with Ethel, who shrank close to
her father, and put her hand in his, saying, "I don't like that
cloud, papa; it frightens me."
At this moment Mrs. Hardy, who had been down below arranging her
cabin, came up to the group. "What a dark cloud, Frank; and how it
moves. Are we going to have a storm, do you think?"
"Well, Clara, I think that we are in for a gale; and if you will
take my advice, you will go down at once while it is calm, and see
that the trunks, and everything that can roll about, are securely
fastened up. I will come down and help you. Boys, you had better go
down and see that everything is snug in our cabin."
In a quarter of an hour the necessary arrangements were completed,
but even in that short time they could feel that a change was
taking place. There was now a steady but decided rolling motion,
and the young ones laughed as they found it difficult to walk
steadily along the cabin.
Upon reaching the deck they saw that the smooth surface of the sea
was broken up by a long swell, that the wind now came in short but
sharp puffs, that the bank of clouds covered nearly half the sky,
and that the detached scud was now flying overhead. The previous
stillness was gone; and between the sudden gusts, the roar of the
wind in the upper region could be heard. The sun had set now, and a
pall of deep blackness seemed to hang from the cloud down to the
sea; but at the line where cloud and water touched, a gleam of dim
white light appeared.
In preparation for the coming storm, the sailors had put on thick
waterproof coats. Many of the passengers had gone below, and those
who remained had followed the sailors' example, and had wrapped
themselves up in mackintoshes.
Every moment the gusts increased in frequency and power, and the
regular line of swell became broken up into confused white-headed
waves. The white gleam under the dark cloud grew wider and broader,
and at last, with a roar like that of a thousand wild beasts, the
gale broke upon them. Just before this Mr. Hardy had taken Mrs.
Hardy and the girls below, promising the latter that they should
come up later for a peep out, if they still wished it. Charley and
Hubert were leaning against the bulwark when the gale struck them.
For a moment they were blinded and half-choked by the force and
fury of the spray and wind, and crouched down behind their shelter
to recover themselves. Then, with a hearty laugh at their drenched
appearance, they made their way to the mainmast, and then, holding
on by the belaying pins, they were able to look fairly out on the
gale. It was dark--so dark that they could scarcely see as far as
the foremast. Around, the sea was white with foam; the wind blew so
fiercely that they could scarcely hear each other's voices, even
when they shouted, and the steamer labored heavily against the fast
rising sea. Here Mr. Hardy joined them, and for some little time
clung there, watching the increasing fury of the gale; then,
drenched and almost confused by the strife of winds and water that
they had been watching, they made their way, with great difficulty,
down into the cabin.
Here the feeling of seasickness, which the excitement of the scene
had kept off, increased rapidly; and they were glad to slip off
their upper clothes, and to throw themselves upon their berths
before the paroxysm of sickness came on.
When questioned afterward as to the events of the next thirty-six
hours, the young Hardys were all obliged to confess that that time
was a sort of blank in their memory--a sort of horrible nightmare,
when one moment they seemed to be on their heads, and the next upon
their feet, but never lying down in a comfortable position, when
sometimes the top of the cabin seemed under their feet, sometimes
the floor over their head. Then, for a change, everything would go
round and round; the noise, too, the groaning and the thumping and
the cracking, the thud of the waves and the thump of the paddles,
and the general quivering, and shaking, and creaking, and
bewilderment--altogether it was a most unpleasant nightmare. They
had all dim visions of Mr. Hardy coming in several times to see
after them, and to give them a cup of tea, and to say something
cheering to them; and all four had a distinct idea that they had
many times wished themselves dead.
Upon the second morning after the storm began it showed some signs
of abating, and Mr. Hardy said to his sons, "Now, boys, make an
effort and come upon deck; it's no use lying there; the fresh air
will do you good." Two dismal groans were the only response to this
appeal.
"Yes, I know that you both feel very bad, and that it is difficult
to turn out; still it is worth making the effort, and you will be
very glad of it afterward. Come, jump up, else I shall empty the
water-jug over you. There, you need not take much trouble with your
dressing," he went on, as the boys, seeing that he was in earnest,
turned out of their berths with a grievous moan. "Just hold on by
something, and get your heads over the basin; I will empty the jugs
on them. There now you will feel better; slip on your clothes and
come up."
It was hard work for Charley and Hubert to obey orders, for the
ship rolled so tremendously that they could only proceed with their
dressing by fits and starts, and were more than once interrupted by
attacks of their weary seasickness. However, their father stayed
with them, helping and joking with them until they were ready to go
up. Then, taking them by the arm, he assisted them up the stairs to
the deck.
Miserable as the boys felt, they could not suppress an exclamation
of admiration at the magnificent scene before them. The sea was
tossed up in great masses of water, which, as they neared the ship,
threatened to overwhelm them, but which, as she rose on their
summits, passed harmlessly under her, hurling, however, tons of
water upon her deck. The wind was still blowing fiercely, but a
rift in the clouds above, through, which the sun threw down a
bright ray of light upon the tossing water, showed that the gale
was breaking.
The excitement of the scene, the difficulty of keeping their feet,
and the influence of the rushing wind, soon had the effect which
their father predicted. The boys' looks brightened, their courage
returned; and although they still had an occasional relapse of
sickness, they felt quite different beings, and would not have
returned to the blank misery of their cabins upon any consideration.
They were soon able to eat a piece of dry toast, which Mr. Hardy
brought them up with a cup of tea at breakfast-time, and to enjoy a
basin of soup at twelve o'clock, after which they pronounced
themselves as cured.
By the afternoon the force of the wind had greatly abated, and
although a heavy sea still ran, the motion of the vessel was
perceptibly easier. The sun, too, shone out brightly and cheeringly,
and Mr. Hardy was able to bring the little girls, who had not suffered
so severely as their brothers, upon deck. Two more days of fine
weather quite recruited all the party; and great was their enjoyment
as the Barbadoes entered the Tagus, and, steaming between its
picturesque banks and past Cintra, dropped her anchor off Lisbon.
As our object, however, is to relate the adventures of our young
settlers upon the Pampas of La Plata, we must not delay to describe
the pleasure they enjoyed in this their first experience in foreign
lands, nor to give an account of their subsequent voyage across the
Atlantic, or their admiration at the superb harbor of Rio. A few
days' further steaming and they arrived at the harbor of Buenos
Ayres, where the two great rivers, the Uruguay and the Parana,
unite to form the wide sheet of water called the river La Plata. It
was night when the Barbadoes dropped her anchor, and it was not
until the morning that they obtained their first view of their
future home.
Very early were they astir, and as soon as it was broad daylight
all four of the young ones were up on deck. Their first exclamation
was one of disappointment. The shores were perfectly flat, and,
seen from the distance at which they were anchored, little except
the spires of the churches and the roofs of a few of the more lofty
houses could be seen. After the magnificent harbor of Rio, this
flat, uninteresting coast was most disappointing.
"What a distance we are anchored from the shore!" Hubert said, when
they had recovered a little from their first feeling. "It must be
three or four miles off."
"Not so much as that, Hubert," Maud, who was just a little fond of
contradicting, said; "not more than two miles, I should think."
Hubert stuck to his opinion; and as the captain came on deck they
referred the matter to him.
"The distance of objects across water is very deceiving," he said.
"It is from eight to nine miles to those buildings you see."
Maud looked rather crestfallen, and Charley asked, "Why do we
anchor such a long way off, captain?"
"Because the shore is so flat that there is no water for us to get
in any closer. In a couple of hours you will see boats coming out
to fetch you in; and unless it happens to be high tide, even these
cannot get to the beach, and you will have to land in carts."
"In carts, Captain Trevor?" they all repeated; "that will be a
strange way of landing."
"Yes, it is," the captain answered. "I think that we can safely say
that the Argentine Republic is the only country in the world where
the only way to land at its chief city is in a cart."
The captain's boat was by this time lowered, and he at once started
for shore with his papers. Soon after ten o'clock he returned,
followed by a number of boats. He brought also a letter to Mr.
Hardy from an old friend who had been settled for some years near
Buenos Ayres, and whose advice had decided him to fix upon that
country as the scene of his labors. It contained a warm welcome,
and a hearty congratulation upon their safe arrival. This letter
had been written two or three days previously, and had been left at
the office of the steamship company. It said, however, that the
writer would hear of the arrival of the steamer, and would have
everything in readiness to take them out to his place upon their
landing.
Mr. Hardy had been in frequent communication with his friend from
the time that he had determined to emigrate, and Mr. Thompson's
letters had contained the warmest assurance of a welcome, and an
invitation to make his house their home until they had one of their
own to go into; and now this kind letter, coming off so instantly
after their arrival, cheered them all much, and made them feel less
strange and to some extent at home in the new country at once.