"Oh!" I exclaimed at the same moment, drawing back hastily and tumbling
over the boatswain, who with Adams was now busy hauling inboard the
tackle of the disengaged cathead stopper. "I'm blinded!"
You see, I had been leaning over the bows, watching the operation of
letting go the anchor; and, as the ponderous mass of metal plunged into
the river, it sent up a column of spray on to the forecastle that came
slap into my face, drenching my clothes and wetting me almost to the
skin at the same time.
"Whisht, ma bouchal!" cried Tim Rooney, laughing at my sorry plight as I
picked myself up. "One'd think ye're kilt entoirely, wid all that row
ye'r makin'! Ye'll niver be a sailor, Misther Gray-ham, if ye can't
stand a bit av fun!"
"Fun, you call it?" I rejoined, rather angrily, I must confess, looking
down ruefully at my soaking suit. "Why, I'm wet through!"
"Niver moind that," replied he, still grinning, as was also Adams.
"Sure, it's ownly y'r say chris'nin', though it's pricious little av the
say there is, be the same token, in this dirthy shoal wather alongside
av us now."
"But, it is salt for all that," said I, having had an opportunity of
tasting it's flavour, my mouth being wide open when I got the ducking.
"It is just like brine and even more nasty!"
Tim laughed all the more at the faces I made, as I spluttered and fumed,
trying vainly to get rid of the taste; for, I had swallowed about half a
pint at least of the stuff.
"It ain't as good as Paydro's tay that we had jist now, is it?" he
observed consolingly. "Thare's too many did dogs an' cats an' other
poor bastesesses in it for that, me bhoy; but, faix, ye jist wait till
we gits into blue wather an' out av soundin's, it'll be a real trayte
for ye to taste it thin."
"I don't know about that," I answered, getting over my little bit of
temper and laughing too, he gave such a knowing wink and looked so
comical--as I daresay I did, with all the shine taken out of my new
uniform--"I think I've had quite enough of it already."
I do not believe I could forget anything, however trivial, that occurred
that day, every incident connected with the ship and its surroundings
being stamped indelibly on my mind.
The bright February afternoon was already drawing to a close, the sun
having set, as usual at that time of year, about half-past five o'clock,
going down just as we were in all the bustle of "bringing up;" and, as
the Silver Queen had swung with the tide after anchoring, her head now
pointing up stream, looking back as it were on the course she had gone
over, I had an uninterrupted view from where I stood on the forecastle
of the western horizon, with the hazy city still apparent between. I
noticed how the warm crimson and orange tints of the after-glow changed
gradually to the more sober tones of purple and madder and pale sea-
green, marking the approach of evening, a soft semi-transparent mist the
while rising from the surface of the water and blotting out one by one
the distant objects. It was still light enough, however, to see
everything all round near where we were lying, we being then just off
the Lobster, midway in the stream, which at that point is about a mile
wide, with Gravesend on our left or "port" hand, and the frowning fort
of Tilbury guarding the entrance to the river on our right.
All seemed very quiet, as if old Father Thames and those who went to and
fro on his broad bosom were thinking of going to sleep; and thus, the
shades of night slowly descended on the scene, hushing the spirit of the
waters to rest, the ebbing tide lapping its lullaby.
Two other vessels, large merchantmen both, were moored close to ours,
and a tug far-away down the stream astern was toiling up wearily against
the current with a long string of heavily-laden coal barges in tow, and
making but poor headway judging from the long time she took to get
abreast of us; while our own gallant little Arrow, which had pulled us
along so merrily to our anchorage, was lying-to, about a cable's length
off, waiting to see whether we would require her services any further,
blowing off her superfluous steam in the meantime, with a turn of her
paddles every now and then to show that she was quite ready for more
work.
These were all the signs of life afloat in our immediate vicinity on the
whilom teeming, busy tideway; and the shore on either side was equally
still, only an occasional light, twinkling here and there like a Will o'
the Wisp, bearing evidence that some people were stirring, or beginning
to wake up as the darkness grew, with that topsy-turvy habit which those
who live on land have sometimes of turning day into night!
We aboard ship, though, preserved the regular ways of sea-folk; and
beyond myself and Tim Rooney, who remained behind on the forecastle, to
keep me company more than to act as look-out, I believe, not a soul was
to be seen on the upper deck of the Silver Queen during this last half-
hour of the first dog-watch, now just expiring.
No, not a soul. For Mr Saunders, the second mate, with Matthews and
the other apprentices had started aft to their quarters the moment the
anchor had been dropped and all things made snug forwards; Mr Mackay
had disappeared from the poop, having taken our river pilot down into
the cuddy for a glass of grog prior to his departure for the shore to
make his way back by land to the docks he had started from, unless he
could pick up a job of another vessel going up, and so "combine business
with pleasure," as Sam Weeks remarked to Matthews with a snigger, as if
he had said something extremely funny; while Adams and the other two
sailors, the remaining hands we had aboard, had likewise proceeded
towards the cuddy by the boatswain's advice to try and wheedle the
steward Pedro into giving them some tea, there not being as yet any cook
in the ship to look after the messing arrangements of the crew, so that
they were all adrift in this respect, having no proper provision made
for them.
Then, all was still inboard and out; nothing occurring, until,
presently, the same boy I had noticed before, and who I found was
helping the steward stowing provisions in the after-hold beneath the
saloon, came out from under the break of the poop at six o'clock to
strike the ship's bell, or "make it four bells," nautically speaking, in
the same way as he had done previously.
I think I can hear the sound now as I heard it that calm evening when we
were anchored off Gravesend. The "cling-clang, cling-clang!" of our
tocsin, tolling and telling the hour, being echoed by the "pong-pang,
pong-pang!" of the merchantman lying near us, and that again answered a
second or so later by the "ting-ting, ting-ting!" of the other vessel
further away, the different tones lingering on the air and seeming to me
like the old church bells of Westham summoning the laggards of the
congregation to prayers. Father wasn't an extreme high churchman, or
otherwise I would have said vespers!
After sunset, it grew colder, the wind coming from the eastwards up the
open reach of the river; and so, what with my wet things and standing so
long on the forecastle I began to shiver. The boatswain noticed this on
the sound of the ship's bell waking him up from a little nap into which
he had nearly fallen when things became quiet and I ceased to talk.
"Bedad ye're tremblin' all over, loike a shaved monkey wid the ag'ey,
sure," he said as he yawned and stretched himself, rising from his seat
on the knightheads, where he was supposed to be keeping a strict look-
out in the absence of the other men from forward. "Why the dickens
don't ye go into the cuddy aft an' warrum y'rsilf, an' dhry y'r wit
clothes be the stowve there, youngster?"
"I was just thinking of it," I replied.
"Ye'd betther do it, that's betther nor thinkin'," he retorted; "or ilse
ye'll be catching a cowld an' gittin' them nasty screwmatics as makes me
howl av a winther sometimes."
As Tim spoke, I heard a splashing noise in the distance, with the
rattling sound of oars moving in the rowlocks; and, looking over the
bows to the left, I noticed a large boat rowing rapidly up to us from
the direction of Gravesend.
This boat, as it got nearer, seemed to be crammed full of men, its
gunwale being quite down to the water's edge with the weight of its
human cargo.
In an instant, the thought flashed through my mind, ridiculous though it
was, that the ship was about to be boarded by pirates, my reading for
some time past, and especially during the last week or so when I was
assured of going to sea, having been mainly confined to stories of
nautical adventure, in which such gentry generally played a prominent
part.
"Look, look, Mr Rooney!" I cried stopping my shivering and feeling all
aglow with excitement. "Don't you see that boat there coming towards us
to capture the ship?"
"Arrah, don't make a fool av y'rsilf, Misther Gray-ham," he answered,
laughing and taking the matter quite coolly. "It's ownly goin' to that
Yankee astern av us; but the tide bein' on the ebb, in course, they've
got to make foorther up the strame towards this vessel, so as to fetch
their own craft handsomely--d'ye see?"
He was mistaken, however, for the boat approached closer and closer to
us, so that the occupants could be clearly distinguished; and, just as
it came alongside, a man in the stern-sheets, who had been steering,
stood up, still holding the yokelines, and hailed the ship.
"Silver Queen, ahoy!"
"Begorra, it's the skipper!" ejaculated Tim, recognising the voice at
once; and he then shouted out in a louder tone: "Aye, aye, Cap'en
Gillespie, it's the owld barquy, sure enough. Stand by, an' I'll haive
ye a rhope in a brace av shakes!"
The quiet that had reigned on board now vanished; and all was bustle and
activity, the captain's loud hail having been heard by others besides
the boatswain.
Almost before he had time to pitch the promised rope to the bowman of
the boat so that it could drop down with the stream under the ship's
counter, Mr Mackay and the pilot appeared again on the poop; while the
others came out on to the main-deck, ready to receive the new-comers in
seaman-like fashion, the second mate and Matthews taking up a position
just amidships, abaft of the main-chains, where the side-ladder was
fixed, acting as a sort of guard of honour as it were.
First to appear on board, holding on to the side lines which the second
mate had thrown over within his reach, and stepping up the narrow and
slippery ladder cleats as if he were ascending a comfortable staircase,
only pausing an instant on the edge of the gunwale of the bulwarks
before jumping down on the deck, was a tall spare man with a thin face
and high cheekbones, a long pointed nose being also a most prominent
feature. He had very scanty whiskers, too, and this seemed to make his
face look thinner and his nose longer, so that the latter resembled a
bird's beak.
This was Captain Gillespie, as I quickly learnt from the way Mr
Saunders and Matthews addressed him; Mr Mackay, meanwhile, giving him a
cordial salutation from the head of the poop, his proper place as the
officer in command, until his superior took the reins in his own hand,
which as yet the captain did not offer to do.
"I hardly expected you so soon, sir," said Mr Mackay, leaning over the
rail. "We brought up earlier than I thought we should, the tide
fetching us down in capital time."
"Aye, but I was on the look-out for ye, Mackay, for I told you I'd be
aboard almost as you anchored; and, you know, when I say a thing I mean
a thing."
"Hear that now?" said Tim the boatswain to me in a loud whisper, he
having come down from the forecastle after heaving a rope over to those
in the boat, and I following him to where the others were standing on
the deck. "Ye'll soon know owld Jock's ways. We allers calls him
`Sayin's an' Maynins'; for that's what he's allars a-sayin'!"
While the captain was exchanging greetings with the mates and Matthews,
my other two fellow apprentices being nowhere to be seen, another thin
man followed him up the side-ladder from the boat, who, wearing a thick
monkey-jacket, looked a trifle less lean than Captain Gillespie; and to
him succeeded a shoal of sailors, nineteen clambering in on board after
him.
Tim Rooney did not notice these much, only telling me that the one who
came immediately in the captain's wake was the "say," or channel pilot,
who would con the ship for the remainder of her course down the river
and to the Downs beyond; and I may add that this individual was the only
thin pilot I have ever seen!
Rooney also said that the batch of men brought to complete our crew
seemed "a tidy lot;" but when the last man stepped down from the
bulwarks, he seemed a little more impressed, not to say excited.
"Bedad," he exclaimed sotto voce to me, "I'm blissid if the skipper
ar'n't picked up that Chinee cook we'd aboard two v'y'ges agone, owld
Ching Wang! There's his ugly yalle'r face now toorned this way
foreninst you, Misther Gray-ham. Begorra hee don't look a day oulder,
if a troifle uglier since I sayed him last!"
"And is he a Chinaman?" I asked, full of curiosity; "a real, live
Chinaman from the East?"
"Be jabers he is, ivery inch av him from his blissid ould pigtail, tied
up with a siezin' of ropeyarn, down to his rum wooden brogues an' all,
the craythur!" replied Tim, stretching out his big hairy fist to the
other, who had advanced on seeing him and stopped just abreast, his
saffron-coloured face puckered up into a sort of wrinkled smile of
pleasure at meeting an old shipmate like the boatswain, who said in his
hearty way: "Hallo, ye ould son av a gun! Who'd a-thought av sayin' ye
ag'in in the ould barquey, Ching Wang? Glad ye're a-comin' with us, an'
hopes ye're all roight!"
"Chin-chin, Mass' Looney," answered the Chinee, putting his monkey-like
paw into Tim's broad palm and shaking hands cordially in English
fashion. "Me belly well, muchee sank you. Me fetchee chow-chow number
one chop when you wauchee."
"Aye, that's roight, me joker; if ye say that I gits me groob whin I
wants it, we'll be A1 friends an' have no squalls atwane us," said my
friend the boatswain as the Chinaman passed along the deck to the
forward deck-house, entering the galley as if he knew the way well, Tim
adding as he got out of hearing: "The ig'rant haythin, he nivir can
spake me name roight; allers callin' me `looney,' jist as if I wor a
blissid omahdawn loike himsilf!"
Meanwhile, the other men who had come on board, most of whom were fine
strapping fellows, as if Captain Gillespie had selected them carefully,
scrambled past us to their quarters in the forecastle, the boatswain
scanning them keenly with his sharp seaman's eye as they went by, and
commenting on their appearance; some being sturdy and having decent
chests of clothes, which they lugged after them, while others looked
lean and half starved, carrying their few belongings in bags, which
showed that they had little or nothing beyond what they stood up in, and
were but ill provided for the long voyage we were about to take.
Tim shook his head at these latter.
"Begorra, thay're as lane as Job's toorkey, an' that wor all skin an'
faythers," he muttered. "Thay'll pick up, though, whin they gits out to
say an' has a good bit av salt joonk insoide av 'em, instid av the poor
livin' thay've hid av late."
As soon as the men had all disappeared under the forecastle, leaving
room for us to pass along the deck, the boatswain stepped up to the
captain to present himself; and I followed his example.
"Hi, Rooney, man," said Captain Gillespie accosting Tim, "I'm glad you
haven't deserted us; though I knew it before, for I heard your voice
answering my hail."
"No, cap'en, I'll niver desart the ould ship so long's ye're the
skipper," replied Tim. "It's goin' on foive years now since we've
sailed togither."
"Aye, close on that; and I hope we'll sail together for five years more,
man, for I don't wish a better bosun," responded the other pleasantly.
"But, who's that you've got in tow?"
"Misther Gray-ham, sorr," said Tim, shoving me more in front as I took
off my cap and bowed.
"Our new apprentice," explained Mr Mackay from the top of the poop
ladder as he caught sight of me. "He came aboard just before we left
the docks."
"Ah, I thought I didn't see him this morning," observed the captain.
And turning to me he said: "I've read a very good letter the owners got
about you, youngster, and if you only do your duty and obey orders I'll
try to make a sailor out of you, and we'll get on very well together;
but, mind you, if you try any tricks with me, you'll find me a
scorcher."
"Oh, I think he'll turn out all right," put in Mr Mackay as I blushed
and stood before the old fellow not knowing what to say, he looked so
stern at me when he spoke. "I've had a chat with him already, and I
think he's got the right stuff in him."
"Has he?" returned the captain. "That's got to be proved by and by.
All boys promise well at first, but generally end badly! However, I
only want him to understand me at the start, and know that when I say a
thing I mean a thing, and stick to it, too. Where are the other
'prentices?"
"I told them they might turn in, as there was nothing else for them to
do," replied the first mate, excusing them; "they were hard at it all
day getting the cargo in, and helping to warp out of dock."
"H'm," muttered the captain, as if he did not like the idea of anyone
having a rest off while he was about; and he compressed his lips while
his long nose seemed to grow longer. "H'm!"
"What do you think of doing sir?" inquired Mr Mackay in the middle of
this awkward pause, by way of changing the conversation. "The wind
looks as if it was going to hold from the east'ard."
"Aye, so I think, too," assented Captain Gillespie, looking more amiable
as his mind was recalled to action. "It's just the wind we want for
going down Channel; and the sooner we take advantage of it, the better.
What say you pilot?"
"I'm agreeable," replied the thin man alongside him in the monkey-
jacket, who was giving some parting message to the one in the oilskin as
he went down the side-ladder to take a passage back to Gravesend in the
shoreboat that had brought his comrade off. "I think we'd better lose
no time but tow on at once to the Downs."
"Just what I wish," said Captain Gillespie springing up the poop ladder
and taking his place by the side of Mr Mackay; and, as the shoreboat
pushed off with its now solitary passenger and only one waterman to
pull, he shouted out, "Hands, up anchor!"
"Aye, aye, sorr," responded the boatswain, who, expecting the order, had
already gone forwards to rouse out the men before they had stowed
themselves into their bunks, quickly followed by Mr Saunders the second
mate, who also anticipated what was coming; and the next moment I could
hear Tim's shrill whistle and his hoarse call, which seemed an echo of
the captain's, albeit in even a louder key, "A-all hands up anchor!"
Mr Mackay now hailed the tug, which had been standing by still with her
steam up, awaiting our summons, and she steered up alongside shortly;
so, while our portion of the crew manned the windlass, hauling in the
cable with a chorus and the clink-clanking noise of the chain as the
pauls gripped, another set of hands busied themselves in getting in the
towing-hawser from the Arrow, and fastening it a second time around our
bollards forward.
"Hove short, sir!" soon sang out the second mate from his station on the
knightheads, when the anchor was up and down under our forefoot. "It'll
show in a minute!"
"All right," answered Captain Gillespie from aft, "bring it home!"
More clink-clanking ensued from the windlass; and, then, as the vessel's
head slewed round with the tide, showing that she was released from the
ground, Mr Saunders shouted, "Anchor's now in sight, sir!"
"Heave ahead!" the captain roared in answer to the master of the tug;
and, a second or two later, we were under weigh and proceeding once more
down the river, Captain Gillespie calling to the second mate that he
might "cat and fish" the anchor if he liked, as he did not intend to
bring up again, but to make sail as soon as the tug cast off in the
morning. Adding, as Mr Saunders turned away to give the order for
manning the catfalls: "And you'd better see to your side-lights at once,
for fear of accidents."
Mindful of my previous experiences on the forecastle, I now kept away
from this part of the vessel, especially now that it was crowded with
the additional hands that had come on board; and after remaining for
some little time near the deck-house, I went up on the poop after the
new pilot, who as soon as we were moving took up a similar position on
the weather side as his predecessor had done, proceeding likewise to con
the ship in the same manner.
The evening was rapidly drawing in; and the big red and green lanterns,
which I noticed were placed presently in the fore-chains on the port and
starboard sides respectively, began to shoot out their party-coloured
gleams across the surface of the water, stretching out to meet the
bright twinkling lights ashore on either hand, which multiplied fourfold
as the darkness grew.
Adams was not at the wheel now, one of the fresh hands having taken his
place. But I did not mind this man being a stranger, nor did I feel so
lonesome and anxious for someone to speak to as was the case earlier in
the day; for Captain Gillespie having taken command of the ship, Mr
Mackay the first mate was a free man, and he came and talked to me,
explaining things very kindly as we pursued our way onward, the tide
still with us and adding considerably to the rate we were being towed by
the little Arrow, which had red and green side-lights like ours and a
bright clear white one at the masthead as well, to show to other craft
that she was a steamer under weigh, so that they might avoid fouling in
the fairway.
An hour or so after starting from Gravesend, we passed a bright red
beacon, which Mr Mackay told me was the light marking the Mucking Flat;
and, later on yet, glided by the one on Chapman Head, getting abreast of
the light at the head of Southend Pier on our left at ten o'clock, or
"four bells" in the first watch--soon after which, the revolving light
of the Nore lightship was sighted, like a single-eyed Cyclops, staring
at us in the distance one moment and eclipsed the next.
The moon now rose, putting all these artificial lights to shame as it
flooded the stream with its silver sheen; but I got so sleepy with the
night air after all my excitement through the day, besides being
thoroughly exhausted from standing so long on my legs, that, as Mr
Mackay was pointing out something in connection with Sheerness and the
Isle of Sheppey, and a light house on top of a church--I'm sure I can't
recollect what it was all about--I made a stumble forward and nearly
fell on my face on the deck, dead beat.
"Poor little chap, you're tired out," said the first mate
sympathisingly, putting his arm round me and holding me up; "and when a
fellow's tired out, the best thing he can do is to turn in!"
"Eh, sir," said I sleepily. "Turn where?"
"Turn in, my boy," he replied laughing. "Go to roost, I mean. To bed--
if you understand that better."
"But where shall I go, sir?" I asked, catching his meaning at last.
"Come along and I'll soon show you," he answered, taking me down the
poop ladder to the after-deckhouse, and hailing the steward to show a
light: "There!"
It was a little narrow box of a cabin with four bunks in it, two on one
side running athwart the deck and two fore and aft. The ends of these
crossed each other, and they looked exactly like shelves in a cupboard;
while, to add to the effect and trench on the already limited space of
this apartment, the floor was blocked up by two other sea-chests besides
my own, and a lot of loose clothes and other things strewn about.
The two bottom bunks were already occupied, Jerrold and Sam Weeks
snoring away respectively in them; and one of the two upper ones was
filled with what looked like a collection of odds and ends and crockery
ware.--This was the situation.
What was I to do?