A NEW BARGE.
The next morning Hilda went down to Rochester with Netta, Tom Roberts
accompanying them. They had no difficulty in discovering the
barge-builder's. It seemed to the girls a dirty-looking place, thickly
littered as it was with shavings; men were at work on two or three
barges which seemed, thus seen out of the water, an enormous size.
"Which is Mr. Gill?" Hilda asked a man passing.
"That is him, miss," and he pointed to a man who was in the act of
giving directions to some workmen. They waited until he had finished,
and then went up to him.
"I want to buy a barge, Mr. Gill," Hilda said.
"To buy a barge!" he repeated in surprise, for never before had he had a
young lady as a customer.
Hilda nodded. "I want to give it to a bargeman who has rendered me a
great service," as if it were an everyday occurrence for a young lady to
buy a barge as a present. "I want it at once, please; and it is to be a
first-class barge. How much would it cost?"
The builder rubbed his chin. "Well, miss, it is a little unusual to sell
a barge right off in this way; as a rule people want barges built for
them. Some want them for speed, some want them for their carrying
capacity."
"I want a first-class barge," Hilda replied. "I suppose it will be for
traffic on the Thames, and that he will like it to be fast."
"Well, miss," the builder said slowly, for he could not yet quite
persuade himself that this young lady was really prepared to pay such a
sum as a new barge would cost, "I have got such a barge. She was
launched last week, but I had a dispute with the man for whom I built
her, and I said that I would not hold him to his bargain, and that he
could get a barge elsewhere. He went off in a huff, but I expect he will
come back before long and ask me to let him have her, and I should not
be altogether sorry to say that she is gone. She is a first-class barge,
and I expect that she will be as fast as anything on the river. Of
course, I have got everything ready for her--masts, sails, and gear,
even down to her dingey--and in twenty-four hours she would be ready to
sail. The price is fifteen hundred pounds," and he looked sharply at
Hilda to see what effect that communication would have. To his great
surprise she replied quietly:
"That is about the sum I expected, Mr. Gill. Can we look at her?"
"Certainly, miss; she is lying alongside, and it is nearly high tide."
He led the way over piles of balks of timber, across sloppy pieces of
ground, over which at high tide water extended, to the edge of the
wharf, where the barge floated. She was indeed all ready for her mast;
her sides shone with fresh paint, her upper works were painted an
emerald green, a color greatly in favor among bargemen, and there was a
patch of the same on her bow, ready for the name, surrounded by gilt
scrollwork.
"There she is, miss; as handsome a barge as there is afloat."
"I want to see the cabin. What a little place!" she went on, as she and
Netta went down through a narrow hatchway, "and how low!"
"It is the usual height in barges, miss, and the same size, unless
especially ordered otherwise."
"I should like the cabin to be made very comfortable, for I think the
boatman will have his wife on board. Could it not be made a little
larger?"
"There would be no great difficulty about that. You see, this is a
water-tight compartment, but of course it could be carried six feet
farther forward and a permanent hatchway be fixed over it, and the
lining made good in the new part. As to height, one might put in a
good-sized skylight; it would not be usual, but of course it could be
done."
"And you could put the bed-place across there, could you not, and put a
curtain to draw across it?"
"Yes, that could be managed easy enough, miss; and it would make a very
tidy cabin."
"Then how much would that cost extra?"
"Forty or fifty pounds, at the outside."
"And when could you get it all finished, and everything painted a nice
color?"
"I could get it done in a week or ten days, if you made a point of it."
"I do make a point of it," Hilda said.
"What do you say to our leaving this bulkhead up as it is, miss, and
making a door through it, and putting a small skylight, say three feet
square, over the new part? You see, it will be fifteen feet wide by six
feet, so that it will make a tidy little place. It would not cost more
than the other way, not so much perhaps; for it would be a lot of
trouble to get this bulkhead down, and then, you see, the second hand
could have his bunk in here, on the lockers, and be quite separate."
"Isn't there a cabin at the other end?"
"Well, there is one, miss; you can come and look at it. That is where
the second hand always sleeps when the bargeman has got his wife on
board."
"I think that it would be better to have the second hand sleep there,"
Hilda said. "This is very rough," she went on, when she inspected the
little cabin forward; "there are all the beams sticking out. Surely it
can be made more comfortable than this."
"We could matchboard the timbers over if you like, but it is not usual."
"Never mind, please do it; and put some lockers up for his clothes, and
make it very comfortable. Has the barge got a name yet?"
"Well, miss, we have always called her the _Medway_; but there is no
reason that you should stick to that name. She has not been registered
yet, so we can call her any name you like."
"Then we will call her the _Walter_," Hilda said, for the girls had
already settled this point between them.
"And now, Mr. Gill, I suppose there is nothing to do but to give you a
check for fifteen hundred pounds, and I can pay for the alterations when
I come down next Monday week. Can you get me a couple of men who
understand the work--bargees, don't you call them? I want them to take
her as far as Hole Haven and a short way up the creek."
"I can do that easily enough," the builder said; "and I promise you that
everything shall be ready for sailing, though I don't guarantee that the
paint in the new part of the cabin will be dry. All the rest I can
promise. I will set a strong gang of men on at once."
A few days later Hilda wrote a line to William Nibson, saying that she
intended to come down with the child on the following Monday, and hoped
that he would be able to make it convenient to be at home on that day.
"She is not long in coming down again, Betsy," he said, when on the
Friday the barge went up to Pitsea again, and he received the letter,
which was carried home and read by his wife, he himself being, like most
of his class at the time, unable to read or write. "I suppose the child
pined in his new home, and she had to pacify him by saying that he
should come down and see us next week. That will suit me very well. I
have a load of manure waiting for me at Rotherhithe; it is for Farmer
Gilston, near Pitsea, so that I shall just manage it comfortably. Next
week I will go over to Rochester and see if I can hear of a good barge
for sale."
On the following Monday morning the girls again went down to Rochester,
this time taking Walter with them; having the previous week sent off
three or four great parcels by luggage train. Roberts went to look for a
cart to bring them to the barge-builder's, and the girls went on alone.
"There she lies, miss," Mr. Gill said, pointing to a barge with new
tanned sails lying out in the stream; "she is a boat any man might be
proud of."
"She looks very nice indeed," Hilda said, "though, of course, I am no
judge of such things."
"You may be sure that she is all right, Miss Covington."
"Is the paint dry, down below?"
"Yes. I saw that you were anxious about it, so put plenty of drier in.
So that, though she was only painted on Saturday morning, she is
perfectly dry now. But you are rather earlier than I had expected."
"Yes; we have sent a lot of things down by rail. Our man is getting a
cart, and I dare say they will be here in a quarter of an hour."
The things were brought on a large hand-cart, and as soon as these were
carried down to the boat they went off with Mr. Gill to the barge.
"There, miss," he said, as he led the way down into the cabin; "there is
not a barge afloat with such a comfortable cabin as this. I put up two
or three more cupboards, for as they will sleep in the next room there
is plenty of space for them."
Except in point of height, the cabin was as comfortable a little room as
could be desired. It was painted a light slate color, with the panels of
the closets of a lighter shade of the same. The inner cabin was of the
same color. A broad wooden bedstead extended across one end, and at the
other were two long cupboards extending from the ceiling to the floor.
The skylight afforded plenty of light to this room, while the large one
in the main cabin gave standing height six feet square in the middle.
"It could not have been better," Hilda said, greatly pleased.
"Well, miss, I took upon myself to do several things in the way of
cupboards, and so on, that you had not ordered, but seeing that you
wanted to have things comfortable I took upon myself to do them."
"You did quite right, Mr. Gill. This big skylight makes all the
difference in height. I see that you have painted the name, and that you
have got a flag flying from the masthead."
"Yes; bargemen generally like a bit of a flag, that is to say if they
take any pride in their boat. You cannot trade in the barge until you
have had it registered; shall I get that done for you?"
"Yes, I should be very much obliged if you would."
"And in whose name shall I register it? In yours?"
"No; in the name of William Nibson. If you want his address it is Creek
Farm, Pitsea."
"Well, miss, he is a lucky fellow. I will get it done, and he can call
here for the register the first time he comes up the Medway."
Roberts was sent ashore again for a number of hooks, screws, and a few
tools.
"Now, Mr. Gill, we are quite ready to start. We shall get things
straight on the voyage."
"You will have plenty of time, miss; she will anchor off Grain Spit till
the tide begins to run up hard. You won't be able to get up the creek
till an hour before high tide."
"That won't matter," Hilda said; "it will not be dark till nine."
"You can get up the anchor now," the builder said to two men who had
been sitting smoking in the bow.
The barge's boat was lying bottom upwards on the hatches and another
boat lay behind her.
"This boat does not belong to her, Mr. Gill; does she?" Hilda asked.
"No, miss; that is the men's boat. When they have got the barge to where
she is to be moored, they will row down to Hole Haven, and get a tow up
with the first barge that comes down after the tide has turned. How
will you be coming back, Miss Covington?"
"We have arranged for a gig to be at Hole Haven at eight o'clock to
drive us to Brentwood, where we shall take train to town. We shall not
be up before half-past eleven, but as we have our man with us that does
not matter; besides, the carriage is to be at the station to meet the
train."
The girls and Walter watched the operation of getting up the anchor and
of setting the foresail and jib. They remained on deck while the barge
beat down the long reach past the dockyards, and then with slackened
sheets rounded the wooded curve down into Gillingham Reach, then,
accompanied by Roberts, they went below. Here they were soon hard at
work. The great packages were opened, and mattresses and bedclothes
brought out.
"This reminds one of our work when you first came to us," Netta laughed,
as they made the bed.
"Yes, it is like old times, certainly. We used to like to work then,
because we were doing it together; we like it still more to-day, because
not only are we together, but we are looking forward to the delight that
we are going to give."
Carpets were laid down, curtains hung to the bed, and a wash-hand stand
fixed in its place. A hamper of crockery was unpacked and the contents
placed on the shelves that had been made for them, and cooking utensils
arranged on the stove, which had been obtained for them by the builder.
By this time Roberts had screwed up the hooks in the long cupboards, and
in every spot round both cabins where they could be made available. Then
numerous japanned tin boxes, filled with tea, sugar, and other
groceries, were stowed away, and a large one with a label, "Tobacco,"
placed on a shelf for Bill Nibson's special delectation. Curtains that
could be drawn were fixed to the skylights, looking-glasses fastened
against the walls, and by the time that the barge neared Sheerness their
labors were finished. Then the forward cabin was similarly made
comfortable. Walter had assisted to the best of his power in all the
arrangements, and when he became tired was allowed to go up on deck, on
his promise to remain quiet by the side of the helmsman.
"Now I think that everything is in its place," Hilda said at last, "and
really they make two very pretty little rooms. I can't say that the one
in the bow is pretty, but at any rate it is thoroughly comfortable, and
I have no doubt that Joshua will be as pleased with it as the Nibsons
are with theirs. Oh, dear, how dusty one gets! and we never thought of
getting water on board for the jugs."
On going up on deck, however, they observed two barrels lashed together.
"Are those water?" Hilda asked the man at the tiller.
"Yes, ma'am."
"How do you get it out? I don't see a tap."
"You put that little pump lying by the side into the bunghole. I will do
it for you, miss."
"Now we will go downstairs and tidy up, and then come and sit up here
and enjoy ourselves," said Hilda.
When they were below they heard a rattle of the chain, and, on going up,
found that the barge had come to anchor in the midst of some thirty or
forty others. The foresail had been run down and the jib lowered, but
the great mainsail, with its huge, brightly painted sprit, was still
standing. Roberts now opened a hamper that had been left on deck, and
produced luncheon. Cold meat and beer were handed to the two watermen,
who went up into the bow to eat it. An hour later the tide began to
slacken, and many of the barges got up sail.
"Shall we get up the anchor, ma'am?" one of the watermen asked.
"There's plenty of time, is there not?" Hilda asked.
"Yes, ma'am, but we thought that you would like to see how she goes with
the others."
"Yes, I should like that," Hilda said, and in a few minutes the barge
was under sail again.
"She is a clipper, and no mistake," the man at the tiller said, as one
by one they passed the barges that had started ahead of them, and Walter
clapped his hands in delight.
"We may as well go down to the lower end of the Hope, miss. We shall
have plenty of time to get back again before there is water enough for
us in the creek."
For three hours they sailed about, the girls enjoying it as much as
Walter.
"I do think, Netta, that I shall have to buy a barge on my own account.
It is splendid, and, after all, the cabins are large enough for
anything."
"You had better have a yacht," Netta laughed. "You would soon get tired
of always going up and down the river."
"One might do worse," Hilda said. "Of course, now we shall give up that
big house in Hyde Park Gardens, which is ridiculous for me and the boy.
We have each got a country house, and when we want a thorough change I
would infinitely rather have a yacht than a small house in town. I don't
suppose that it would cost very much more. Besides, you know, it is
arranged that I am always to have rooms at your house at the institute.
That is to be the next thing seen after; you know that is quite agreed
upon."
"I shall be glad to be at work again," Netta said. "Now that Walter is
found, there is certainly nothing to keep us any longer in town."
"I know that it must have been horribly dull for you, Netta, but you see
that you are partly to blame yourself for refusing to go out with me."
"That would have been duller still," Netta laughed. "I should have been
a long time before I got to know people, and there is no good in knowing
people when you are going right away from them in a short time, and may
never meet them again."
At last the men said that there would be water enough to get up the
creek.
"We shan't be able to sail up, miss; you see, the wind will be right in
our teeth. But that don't matter; we can pole her up. The tide will
take us along, and we shall only have to keep her straight and get her
round the corners."
"Are you sure that there will be water enough?"
"Yes, miss. You see, she is empty, and doesn't draw much more than a
foot of water."
As they entered the haven the head sails were dropped and the mainsail
brailed up. The tide was running in strong, and, as the men had said,
they had nothing to do but to keep the barge in the deepest part of the
channel.
* * * * *
"How do you think they will be coming, Bill?" Betsy Nibson said, as she
joined her husband, who was standing on the bank dressed in his Sunday
clothes.
"I cannot say, Betsy; if I had known I should have gone to meet them.
They cannot drive here from Pitsea, but must walk; and, of course, I
would have been there if I had been sure of their coming that way. But I
should think most likely that they will drive to the haven and come up
by boat."
"There is a new barge coming up the creek," Joshua said. "You can see
that she is new by her spars and sails."
"That's so, boy," Bill agreed. "She has got a flag I haven't seen before
at her masthead. It is white, and I think there are some red letters on
it--her name, I suppose. 'Tis not often that a new barge comes up to
Pitsea. She is a fine-looking craft," he went on, as a turning in the
creek brought her wholly into view. "A first-class barge, I should say.
Yes, there is no doubt about her being new. I should say, from the look
of her spars, she cannot have made many trips up and down the river."
"She has got a party on board," Mrs. Nibson said presently. "There are
two women and a child. Perhaps it's them, Bill. They may have some
friend in the barge line, and he has offered to bring them down, seeing
that this is a difficult place to get at."
"I believe you are right, Betsy. They are too far off to see their
faces, but they are certainly not barge people."
"They are waving their handkerchiefs!" Betsy exclaimed; "it is them,
sure enough. Well, we have wondered how they would come down, but we
never thought of a barge."
The three hurried along the bank to meet the barge. Walter danced and
waved his hat and shouted loudly to them as they approached.
"You did not expect to see us arrive in a barge, Mrs. Nibson," Hilda
called out as they came abreast of them.
"No, indeed, miss; we talked it over together as to how you would come,
but we never thought of a barge."
"It belongs to a friend of ours, and we thought that it would be a
pleasant way of coming. She is a new boat. You must come on board and
have a look at her before we land."
In a few minutes the barge was alongside the bank, opposite the house. A
plank was run across and Walter scampered over it to his friends.
"Bless his little face!" Mrs. Nibson said, as she lifted him up to kiss
her. "What a darling he looks, Bill! And he has not forgotten us a bit."
"He could not well forget in a week," Bill said, rather gruffly, for he,
too, was moved by the warmth of the child's welcome. "Well, let us go on
board and pay our respects. She is a fine barge, surely; and she has got
the same name as the child."
"Why, it is not 'Jack,'" his wife said, looking up.
"Jack!" her husband repeated scornfully. "Didn't they call him Walter
the other day? Go on, wife; the lady is waiting at the end of the plank
for you."
Mrs. Nibson put the child down and followed him across the plank,
smoothing her apron as she went.
"My best respects, miss," she said, as Hilda shook hands with her
warmly.
"We are glad to see you again, Mrs. Nibson, and hope that you have not
missed Walter very much."
"I cannot say that I have not missed him a good deal, miss, but,
luckily, we have had other things to think about. We are giving up the
farm; it is lonesome here in the winter, and I am going to take to barge
life again."
"Well, what do you think of this barge, Mr. Nibson?" Hilda asked.
"I allow she is a handsome craft, and she ought to be fast."
"She is fast. We have been sailing about until there was enough water in
the creek, and we have passed every barge that we have come near. She is
comfortable, too. Come below and look at her cabin."
"Well, I never!" Mrs. Nibson said, pausing in astonishment at the foot
of the ladder. "I have been in many barge cabins, but never saw one like
this." Her surprise increased when the door of the bulkhead was opened
and she saw the sleeping cabin beyond. "Did you ever, Bill?"
"No, I never saw two cabins in a barge before," her husband said. "I
suppose, miss, the owner must have had the cabin specially done up for
his own use sometimes, and the crew lived forward."
"There is a place forward for the second hand," she replied, "and I
suppose the owner will sleep here."
"Of course it is a loss of space, but she will carry a big load, too.
Who is the owner, miss, if I may make so bold as to ask?"
"The registered owner is William Nibson," Hilda said quietly.
The bargeman and his wife gazed at each other in astonishment.
"But," he said hesitatingly, "I have never heard of any owner of that
name."
"Except yourself, Nibson."
"Yes, except myself; but I am not an owner, as I have sold the _Mary
Ann_."
"There is no other owner now," she said, "that I know of, of that name.
The barge is yours. It is bought as testimony of our gratitude for the
kindness that you have shown Walter, and you see it is named after
him."
"It is too much, miss," said Bill huskily, while his wife burst into
tears. "It is too much altogether. We only did our duty to the child,
and we were well paid for it."
"You did more than your duty," Hilda said. "The money might pay for food
and shelter and clothes, but money cannot buy love, and that is what you
gave, both of you; and it is for that that we now pay as well as we
can."
"Miss Covington should say 'I,'" Netta broke in, "for it is her present
entirely. Walter's trustees could not touch his money for the purpose,
and so she has done it herself."
"Hush, Netta! You should have said nothing about it," Hilda said; and
then, turning to Nibson, went on, "I am his nearest relative--his only
relative, in fact--besides being his guardian, and, therefore, naturally
I am the most interested in his happiness; and as, fortunately, I am
myself very well off, I can well afford the pleasure of helping those
who have been so good to him. Please do not say anything more about it.
Now we will go on deck for a few minutes, and leave you and your wife to
look round. We will show Joshua his cabin."
So saying, she and Netta went on deck. Joshua, led by Walter, was just
crossing the plank. He had not received a special invitation, and he
felt too shy to go on board with these ladies present. Walter, however,
had run across to him, and at last persuaded him to come.
"Well, Joshua," Hilda said, as she reached him, "what do you think of
the barge?"
"She is as good a one as ever I seed," the boy said.
"Well, Joshua, she belongs to Mr. Nibson."
"To Bill?" Joshua exclaimed. "You don't mean it, miss."
"I do mean it," she said; "this is his barge."
"Well, I shouldn't have thought that Bill was that artful!" Joshua
exclaimed almost indignantly. "Fancy his keeping it from the missis and
me that he had been and bought a new barge! But she is a fine one, there
aint no doubt about that."
"Come forward and look at your cabin, Joshua. I think you will say that
it is more comfortable than usual."
"Well, I am blowed!" the boy ejaculated, as he followed her down the
ladder and looked round. "Why, it is a palace, that is wot it is; it is
more comfortable than the master's cabin aft in most barges. And what a
bed! Why, it is soft enough for a hemperor."
"There are no sheets, Joshua. They told me that the men never use sheets
in barges."
"Lor' bless you! no, ma'am. We mostly stretch ourselves on the locker
and roll ourselves up in a blanket, if we are lucky enough to have one.
Why, I don't know as I shan't be afraid of getting into that bed, though
I does take a header in the water every morning. There are lockers on
both sides, too, and a basin. Who ever heard of such a thing as a basin?
Why, miss, we allus washes in the pail on deck."
"Well, I should think that it would be a good deal more comfortable to
wash down here in a basin on a cold morning."
"Well, I suppose it might, miss; it be sharp sometimes outside. Why,
there is oilcloth all over the floor, and a mat to wipe one's feet at
the bottom of the ladder, and a rug by the side of the bed! I never did
see such things. Bill must have gone clean off his chump. Well, I am
blessed!"
"It is Miss Covington who has given Bill the barge and seen to its being
fitted up," Netta said, "and she has done her best to make your cabin as
comfortable as possible, because you have been so kind to Walter."
"And I hope to do some more for you, Joshua, when I can see my way to do
it. You will find two or three suits of clothes for your work in those
lockers. I do not know that they will quite fit, but I dare say if they
don't Mrs. Nibson can alter them for you, and you will find shirts and
warm underclothing, and so on, in that cupboard."
Joshua sat down suddenly on a locker, completely overpowered with what
seemed to him the immensity of his possessions.
There the girls left him, and they went up on deck again.
Going aft, they sat down and talked for a few minutes, and were then
joined by Nibson and his wife. The latter still bore traces of tears on
her cheeks, and there was a suspicious redness about Bill's eyes.
"We won't try to say what we would like to say," the man began, "'cause
we could not say it, but we feels it just the same. Here we are with
everything man or woman could wish for, ready to hand."
"As I have said before, Nibson, please do not say anything more about
it. It has made me quite as happy to get this barge for you, and to make
it comfortable, as it can do you both to receive it. And now we will go
ashore."
In the house they found that tea was ready, save pouring the water into
the pot. A ham and a couple of cold chickens were on the table, and jam
and honey were specially provided for Walter. Joshua did not make one of
the party. After recovering from the contemplation of his own cabin he
had gone aft and remained in almost awe-struck admiration at the comfort
and conveniences there, until summoned by Bill to take his place and
help to get the new boat into the water, and to row the ladies down to
Hole Haven.