MR. NICHOLAS VAN WOLTER.
Mr. Nick Van Wolter, a young gentleman of eighteen, and the oldest son
of the mate of the Ucayga, was dressing himself with extraordinary care
on the morning preceding the incidents of the last chapter. He was very
little like his father, who was a plain, honest, straightforward man,
and very much like his mother, who was a vain, aspiring, ambitious
woman. The mate was willing to do his duty faithfully and patiently,
and let the future take care of itself, though he was not without a
reasonable ambition to distinguish himself, and make his fortune. His
wife thought the world, and particularly Colonel Wimpleton, had wronged
and defrauded her husband out of money and position. She had high hopes
of Nick, for he was of an aspiring nature, and did not believe that he
had yet found his true sphere.
Nick had brushed his hair with remarkable precision; he had carefully
laid each individual hair of his downy mustache; and he was now
engaged in the difficult and trying operation of tying his cravat.
He had donned his Sunday clothes, though it was Monday, and though
he was going in the Raven, which was the name of Waddie Wimpleton’s
new sail-boat. The fact that Miss Minnie Wimpleton was to be one of
the party may explain the reason of all the extra pains the young man
bestowed upon himself. Miss Wimpleton was certainly a very beautiful
girl, though this need not have made any difference with Nick, who had
only been invited to help work the Raven, for Waddie had a lame arm,
wrenched at the shoulder in playing base ball.
It would be difficult to describe the precise social or business
position of Nick Van Wolter. He had worked on the steamer as a deck
hand, and as a waiter in the cabin; but he had become disgusted with
both of these places. They were beneath his dignity, and below his
sphere. He had obtained a place in a store in Centreport, where his
father’s family resided; but sweeping out, working in the cellars, and
carrying bundles were so far beneath his aspirations that he had also
abandoned the store. He now appeared to be “waiting for something to
turn up.” He wanted to be the clerk of the Ucayga, as a stepping-stone
to a higher place; but the present incumbent obstinately persisted
in retaining the situation. He was devoted, mind, heart, and soul,
to Waddie Wimpleton, through whom he expected finally to accomplish
his purpose. He was willing to “toady” to the great man’s son, to bow
down before him, and cling to the skirts of his garments. When Waddie,
therefore, in his partially disabled condition, needed assistance in
the boat, Nick was available for the service, and had gladly accepted
the invitation.
Nick labored heavily at the neck-tie, and his ambitious mother stood in
the middle of the floor, watching with interest the effect produced by
various experiments. Bow knots, square knots, and sailor’s knots were
successively tried and successively discarded, until it was evident
that the cravat would be worn out before it could be adjusted. But at
last Mrs. Van Wolter interfered, and insisted that a simple crossing
of the ends of the tie, fastened by a large breast-pin, which was
borrowed from the mate’s wardrobe, gave the most stunning effect. She
was satisfied, and Nick could devise nothing better, though he was not
wholly pleased.
“Now, let me put this moss-rose on the lapel of your coat,” said the
devoted mother. “If Miss Wimpleton thinks it is a pretty one, or makes
any remark about it, be sure you make her a present of it.”
“I don’t think she cares anything about me,” replied Nick, as he
glanced at the looking-glass to observe the effect of the rose.
“Well, I don’t suppose she does; but you must make her care for you. If
you have any wit at all, you can make yourself useful and agreeable.
Why, look at Wolf Penniman. They do say that he and Grace Toppleton are
good friends, at the very least. Wolf is smart; he knows what he is
about.”
“So do I know what I am about,” retorted Nick, repelling what appeared
to him to be an insinuation that he did _not_ know what he was about.
“If there is any such thing as getting on the right side of Minnie
Wimpleton, you will find me there.”
“I hope so. You ought to be as high up in the world as Wolf Penniman.
You are a better looking fellow,” added the fond mother, gazing with
admiration at the form and features of her son. “If you are not as
smart as he, it is because you have never put yourself forward, and it
is high time for you to begin. There’s Wolf, captain of the Ucayga,
while you can’t even be clerk. It’s a shame. I know your father ought
to be captain of that steamer, for he has really run the boat, while
Wolf has had all the credit of it. But I can’t get your father to do
anything about it.”
“Father is his own master,” said Nick, with something like malice in
his tones.
“I know he is. If he would hear to me, he would be captain of the
steamer, and you would be clerk. Only to think of it! Your father, who
has been a steamboat man all the days of his life, acting as mate to a
boy, a mere snipper-snapper, who don’t know any more about managing a
steamboat than I do! It’s a shame! I can’t bear to think of it!”
“Don’t, then.”
“Well, if your father won’t do anything for the family, you must,
Nicholas. Waddie is your best friend; and, if you can only make an
impression upon Miss Minnie, your fortune will be made, for I don’t
believe the colonel will live a great many years. He is soaked in rum
all the time.”
“If I only get the chance, mother, I shall show Minnie who and what I
am. She is very gentle and kind to me, and all I want is an opportunity
to lay myself out before her.”
“If you don’t find the chance, make it, Nicholas--make it.”
Nick was thoughtful at this suggestion. It seemed to be a new idea to
him. He had devoted no inconsiderable portion of his valuable time to
the reading of exciting romances, and he was confident that if he could
obtain the opportunity to save Miss Minnie from a watery grave, rescue
her from a burning house, or stay the mad flight of her runaway horse,
just as she was about to be dashed to pieces over a yawning precipice,
doing the noble deed at the imminent peril of his own life, the prize
would be won. The proud daughter of a noble house would be filled with
admiration and gratitude, and would, of course, fall in love with him,
and the third part of Colonel Wimpleton’s millions would drop into his
lap. The last chapter of the romance would end in the unutterable
bliss of the noble hero and the beautiful heroine. This was about the
idea Nick had of “a chance to lay himself out before her.” He wanted
such a chance, and his mother, doubtless without exactly comprehending
her son’s views, had suggested that he should make the chance. The
thought was worthy of consideration.
“Your father is too tame and spiritless to do anything for the family.
You must do it for him, Nicholas,” added Mrs. Van Wolter.
“I’m willing to do what I can,” meekly responded the hopeful son.
“If you do, your father shall be captain of the steamer; you shall be
clerk, and in good time the husband of Miss Minnie.”
“What do you mean, mother? You don’t expect me to make father
captain--do you?”
“Well, well; we won’t talk about that now,” answered the mother,
evasively. “We must use circumstances for our own advantage.”
Mrs. Van Wolter appeared to be a bold schemer, and even Nick was
astonished at the magnitude of her ideas. He was looking for a
brilliant future, and to his mind there was no reason why Wolf
Penniman should monopolize all the honors and all the emoluments of the
high positions. He put on his hat, and left the house. He was rather
anxious to know by what means his mother expected to promote the mate
to the captaincy, and to make him the clerk of the steamer; but his
present business was in relation to Minnie Wimpleton, and he hastened
to the pier where the Raven was moored.
Nick was only a tolerable boatman; and he was not conceited in regard
to his ability to manage a sail-boat. He was willing to take lessons of
Waddie, who had no superior. Indeed, he yielded the palm in everything
to the young magnate. He hoisted the mainsail, and put everything in
order about the boat. By the time he had finished the preparations for
the trip, Waddie and his sister appeared. The young gentleman had his
arm in a sling, and the young lady, in the estimation of Nick, was
radiant with loveliness.
“Good morning, Mr. Van Wolter,” said Minnie, as she arrived at the pier.
There was a twinkle in her eye, and one would have judged there was
no little mischief in her composition. She glanced at the elaborate
toilet, and particularly at the huge breast-pin in the cravat of the
aspiring Nick. Perhaps she was vain enough to suspect that all this
extra preparation had been made for her sake.
“Good morning, Miss Wimpleton,” replied Nick, removing his hat with an
extensive flourish, probably to afford the wealthy little divinity an
opportunity to see how nicely his hair was parted, oiled, and brushed.
“May I have the pleasure of assisting you on board the Raven?”
“Will it be a pleasure, Mr. Van Wolter?” said she, mischievously, as
she extended her gloved hand to him.
“A very great pleasure indeed, Miss Wimpleton,” he replied, as he
eagerly took the offered hand, his heart beating like the throes of an
earthquake, under the delicious sensations of the moment.
He handed her to a seat in the standing-room, touched his hat, and
bowed, as if to thank her for the unexpected honor she had conferred
upon him.
“Cast off, and run up the jib, Nick,” said Waddie, impatiently. “We
are going to have a shower to-day, and we must get up to Grass Springs
before it comes on.”
“A shower, Waddie?” added Minnie.
“It looks like one.”
“I don’t want to go if it is to be rainy.”
“Only a shower. The cabin will keep you as dry as your own room,”
answered Waddie. “There is a good breeze, and we shall be down there in
a couple of hours.”
“It will spoil Nick’s new clothes,” laughed the sprightly miss.
“Don’t you tease the simpleton,” whispered Waddie.
“I can’t help it. I enjoy it hugely,” she replied.
“There goes the Belle,” added Waddie, pointing to Wolf’s boat, which
Tommy Toppleton had chartered for the occasion, as she shot out from
the wharf at Middleport. “Now for a race!”
Nick ran up the jib, and, as the Raven took the breeze, he seated
himself opposite Miss Minnie, to feast his eyes upon her “matchless
loveliness.”