As he was hurrying on along the shore, he saw what looked to him like a
wheelbarrow, with a heap of gourds or inflated skins, or some other
roundish objects, though he could scarcely at the distance distinguish
what they were. He reached the spot. "Come, at all events, if the
waters rise, as I fear they will, these things will enable me to
construct a raft on which I may manage to float on the troubled waters,"
he said to himself.
Lashing them together, he took his seat on the top of this curiously
constructed raft. Scarcely had he done so, when the waters came rushing
over the island, and carried him and his raft far away as they swept
onward in their course. On and on he went, his very natural fear being
that he should be carried into the Zuyder Zee; he soon, however, came in
sight of land raised above the waters, on which he could distinguish
cottages and other buildings.
"Well, this is a new style of navigation, but I ought to be thankful
that I have got something to keep me above water," he said to himself.
He of course, as he glided on, was looking about in all directions, and
he now caught sight in the distance of what he hoped was a boat. Again
and again he cast his eager gaze at the object. Yes, it was a boat, and
a man was in her; he waved his hat and shouted. As he approached, the
Count looked at him; yes, he was, there could be no doubt about it, the
one-eyed mariner, old Pieter, who shouted--
"Hold on, Mynheer! hold on! and I will soon be up to you."
"What, don't you know me?" asked the Count, as Pieter got near.
"Bless me, of course I do; and glad I am to have come to take you on
board, or you might have been carried away into the Zuyder Zee, or
somewhere else, for aught I can tell. When I saw you on board Captain
Jan Dunck's vessel, I tried to get near enough to warn you that you must
beware of him, as I felt sure that he would play you some scurvy trick
or other. He has been going on from bad to worse, all owing to the
oceans of schiedam he has poured down that ugly mouth of his."
This was said when the Count was comfortably seated in the stern of
Pieter's boat. There was another person on board whom the Count
recognised as the small ship's boy, who had long been Pieter's faithful
companion. He nodded and smiled his recognition, and seemed highly
delighted at again meeting with the Count.
"And now where shall we go?" asked Pieter.
"To the nearest shore where I can obtain food and shelter, and change my
wet garments," answered the Count.
"Well, you do look dampish," observed Pieter.
"Damp! I have been wet to the skin for these hours past, and almost
starved to death in the bargain," said the Count.
"Then I will lose no time in taking you to Meppel, or any other place we
can most easily reach." And bending his back to the oars, the one-eyed
mariner pulled away.
"`One good turn deserves another,' as the old saying is," observed
Pieter, for he wanted to say something to keep up the Count's spirits.
"You saved my life and gave me this boat, and now I have the
satisfaction of saving yours."
"You are an honest fellow, Pieter, and as I prize honest men, of whom I
have not discovered as many as I desire in the world, I should be glad
if you and the small ship's boy will accompany me, and I will endeavour
to obtain some post which I consider suited to your merits." Old Pieter
gladly accepted the Count's offer, and it did not make him pull the less
vigorously. All night long they rowed on, till they arrived at a part
of the country which the flood had not reached. Here Pieter took the
Count to the house of a farmer to whom the honest boatman was well
known, having been on various occasions employed by him. The good
farmer treated the Count with the utmost hospitality and kindness. It
was some days, however, before the Count had sufficiently recovered to
be once more himself, and able to extend his walks beyond the precincts
of the farm. He had gone one day to some distance, when he saw a large
and picturesque house rising amid an extensive shrubbery; an open gate
invited him to enter. As he walked along he caught the sound of voices,
and presently found himself in the presence of a party of gentlemen,
seated round a table with books and papers before them. Conspicuous on
one side was a large easel supporting a handsome picture. "Ah! this is
something out of the way," thought the Count, and advancing he made a
bow and introduced himself.
"You are welcome, noble Count, to our revels," said one of the
gentlemen, who appeared to be the president. "But ours is a feast of
reason and the flow of soul, and we are met here to discuss works of
art, to hear read the practical effusions of our members, and to enjoy
the society of men of intellect and erudition."
"A very praiseworthy and satisfactory mode of passing time, and I am
fortunate in having fallen into such good company," remarked the Count.
The various members of the society individually welcomed him. A poet
had just read some verses he had composed, which were received with
thundering applause, one of the excellent rules of the society being
that every one was to praise the works of the rest. The artist now
exhibited his paintings; when the others had admired them to their fill,
the Count looked at them through his spectacles, and if he did make a
mistake, and suppose that a horse was a cow, or a sheep a pig, he wisely
kept his opinion to himself, merely exclaiming: "Beautiful! how true to
nature. What exquisite colouring; what elegant outlines! yet all are
equalled by the composition." As no one asked him to point out the
individual excellencies of which he spoke, he was looked upon as a
first-rate judge of art.
"Now, gentlemen, as our friend Scrubzen has not been able to-day to
complete his grand picture, I am deputed to invite you to inspect it
to-morrow, when it will be in a more forward state. We shall, I hope,
be favoured by your presence, Count Funnibos?"
"By all means," answered the Count, who was highly pleased with the
society into which he had fallen; and he parted from them to return to
the house of his hospitable entertainer. The next morning he set out to
repair to the house of which the president had given him the address.
"Several of Scrubzen's admirers have already arrived," said the
president, whom he met at the door; "and with them a distinguished
foreigner."
As the Count and the president entered, they saw at the further end of
the room a large picture on an easel representing a coast scene. On one
side stood the artist explaining the details of his painting; a number
of ladies and gentlemen were gazing at it with admiring glances; but one
figure especially attracted the attention of the Count. It was, there
could be no doubt about it, Baron Stilkin, whom he thought had long
since reached Amsterdam, or had returned to his family mansion. Yes, it
was the Baron, not decreased in rotund proportions since they parted.
"Grand, very grand!" he exclaimed in sonorous tones, approaching the
picture. "It reminds me forcibly of the best of Claude's productions;
exquisite colouring!"
"And what is your opinion, Count Funnibos?" asked the President.
"He has grown wonderfully fat," answered the Count, who was thinking of
the Baron. "I fear that no carriage can be found strong enough to take
him home."
"I beg your pardon, Count, I was speaking of the picture," remarked the
President. The Baron, however, had heard the Count's voice; turning
round, he opened his arms to give him a friendly embrace.
"What, my dear Count! Is it you, yourself?"
"I think you ran away and left me to my mysterious fate," said the
Count, with a slight degree of stiffness. "I conclude that you did not
receive my letter requesting you to meet me at Amsterdam, and stating
the reasons for my not rejoining you sooner; however, I am very glad to
see you again."
"No, indeed, I received no letter," answered the Baron. "Had I done so,
it would have saved me a world of anxiety."
"We must remember that we are in the presence of strangers," said the
Count. "Our friend here desired to know my opinion of that magnificent
picture. I may add that it surpasses my utmost expectations."
His opinion highly pleased the artist as well as the spectators, who
were delighted to find their countryman's production so highly praised
by two distinguished foreigners.
"And now, Count," said the Baron, as they walked away arm in arm, "I am
compelled to return home. My son, the hope of my house, is about to
marry a lady whose magnificent fortune will retrieve the fallen fortunes
of our family. Will you accompany me?"
"By all manner of means," answered the Count. "I have met with
sufficient adventures, or rather misadventures, to satisfy me for the
rest of my life. I have seen a large portion of Holland, if not the
whole of it, and I am satisfied that it is as well worth seeing as any
country in the world."
"Your decision gives me infinite satisfaction," answered the Baron. "We
will go back to-morrow, and I hope that you will be present at the
wedding of my beloved son. I would rather he married the lady himself,
though she is of an age which might have been considered suitable to
me."
The Count and the Baron travelled back, accompanied by Pieter and the
small ship's boy, at a far greater speed than that at which they had
performed their outward journey. The Count was greatly relieved that
his castle and estates had not run away during his absence, although
Johanna Klack, at the very hour of his arrival, gave him notice that she
must give up his service.
"To-morrow is the day fixed for my dear son's wedding," said the Baron,
who had called on the Count. "You will, I trust, honour him and me by
your presence, and that of your household."
"By all means," said the Count. "I will come myself, and bring one-eyed
Pieter and the small ship's boy. It will be a novel and interesting
spectacle to them."
The Count and his attendants arrived. The happy bridegroom appeared
dressed in the height of fashion, the hour for the nuptial party to set
out had struck.
"I must go in and bring forth the bride," he said; and he soon
reappeared with a female, holding a large bouquet in her hand. She wore
a wreath of roses and a white veil over her head; her neck was long, so
was her nose; her figure was the reverse of stout, but that in a
youthful female is to be admired.
"Is that a mop-stick with clothes hung on it?" whispered the small
ship's boy, as he gazed at the future Baroness.
"My dear Baron," said the Count, after he had made a profound bow to the
lady, "how did your son manage to make up his mind?"
"I made it up for him," answered the Baron. "He is a dutiful son, and
does whatever I tell him. Suppose we change the subject, and when the
nuptials are over, what do you say to setting out again on our travels?
I shall be as ready as before to keep the accounts, and I hope to put a
fair share into the common fund."
"I will think about it," said the Count. "At present, I have had
travelling enough to satisfy me for some time to come; and as Johanna
Klack has left my service, I do not know into whose hands I can
satisfactorily leave the charge of my castle and estates during my
absence."