CRUISING ROUND THE HEBRIDES--CAUGHT IN A "PUFF"--MAN OVERBOARD--DINNER
ON THE CLIFF--BRIGHT PROSPECTS.
Three months have passed away since the adventure at the eagle's nest.
So swiftly, too, they have fled that it seems to our heroes but
yesterday that the little cutter spread her white sails to the wind, and
headed down the loch for Fort Augustus. And all the time they have been
cruising, with varied fortunes, up and down among the Western Isles.
When I say that the time has passed swiftly, it is equivalent to telling
you that the brave crew of the _Flower of Arrandoon_ have enjoyed
themselves, and this again you will readily guess is equivalent to
saying that it had not been all plain sailing with them; had it been so,
the very monotony of such a cruise, and the lack of adventure, would
have rendered it distasteful to them. In this bright, beautiful world
of ours you may find seas in which, during the months of summer, you can
cruise in the most flimsy of yachts, among islands, too, as lovely as
dreamland, where the wind is never higher than a gentle breeze, nor the
waves than a ripple, and where danger is hardly ever to be encountered;
but such a _dolce far niente_ existence is not for youth; youth should
be no lotus-eater, and so McBain had done well in choosing for his young
pupils the cruising ground on which they now were sailing. They had had
a taste of all kinds of Highland summer weather--true it had been mostly
fine--but many a stiff breeze they had had to face nevertheless, and
they soon learned to do so cheerily, and to feel just as happy under
their glittering oilskins and sou'-westers, with half a gale tearing
through the rigging, and the spray dashing most uncomfortably in their
teeth and eyes, as they did when, with all sail set, they glided calmly
over the rippling sea, the sun shining brightly overhead, and the purple
mist of distance half hiding the rugged mountains. McBain knew exactly
what the cutter could do, and to use his own phrase, he just kept her at
it. In fact he got to love the boat, and he used to talk about her as a
living thing. And so she really appeared to be, for although she almost
invariably did all that was required of her, there were days when she
seemed to evince a will and determination of her own, and to want to
shake herself free of all control.
"Wo, my beauty?" McBain would say when she was particularly
disobedient, talking to her as if she were a restless hunter; but he
would smile quaintly as he spoke, for the vessel's little eccentricities
only served to show off his seamanship. He said he knew how to manage
her, and so he did. So he used to play with her, as it were, while in a
sea-way or on a wind, and delighted in showing off her good qualities.
Not that he did a great deal of the manual labour himself. Was he not
master, and were not Ralph, Allan, and Rory not only his crew, but his
pupils as well? It would have been unfair to them, then, if they had
not been allowed to do all they had a mind to, and that, I assure you,
was nearly everything that was to be done. But McBain had all the
orders to give when sailing, especially if there was a bit of a blow on.
I am rambling on with my tale now in a kind of a gossiping fashion; but
it is not without a purpose. I wish you to know as clearly as possible
what manner of man McBain was, because you will see him in several
different strange positions before he finally disappears from off the
boards.
Well, then, when giving his orders, he never talked a bit louder nor
quicker than there was any occasion for. He knew by experience that a
command given in a sharp, loud key, was very likely to cause nervousness
and slight confusion in obeying it. Woe is me for your officers on
board big ships--and there are many of them too--who, while giving
orders, strut about the decks, and stamp and yell at their men; they do
but excite them, and cause them to give proof of the proverb, "The more
hurry the less speed." More than once have I seen a good ship's safety
jeopardised in a squall, and all through this fault in the officer
carrying on duty. But you see McBain loved the crew--he loved "his
boys," as he was fond of calling them, and he was wishful to impart to
them in a friendly way all the knowledge of boats that he himself
possessed.