Bob went round to the barracks at half past nine.
"Uncle says you have a piece of news to tell me, Carrie."
"My dear Bob," Captain O'Halloran said, "your uncle is a broth of a
boy. He would do credit to Galway; and if anyone says anything to
the contrary, I will have him out tomorrow morning."
"What has he been doing?" Bob asked.
"I told you, Carrie, yesterday, he wasn't a bit like what he
seemed."
"Well, Bob, you are not going to stay at his place of business any
longer."
"No! Where is he going to send me--to school again? I am not sure I
should like that, Carrie. I didn't want to leave, but I don't think
I should like to go back to Caesar, and Euclid, and all those
wretched old books again."
"Well, you are not going, Bob."
"Hurry up, Carrie!" her husband said. "Don't you see that you are
keeping the boy on thorns? Tell him the news, without beating about
the bush."
"Well, it is just this, Bob. You are to come out for two years to
live with us, at Gibraltar, and learn Spanish."
Bob threw his cap up to the ceiling, with a shout of delight;
executed a wild dance, rushed at his sister and kissed her
violently, and shook hands with her husband.
"That is glorious!" he said, when he had sufficiently recovered
himself for speech. "I said uncle was a brick, didn't I? But I
never dreamt of such a thing as this."
"He is going to pay, very handsomely, while you are with us, Bob,
so it will be really a great help to us. Besides, we will like to
have you with us. But you will have to work hard at Spanish, you
know."
"Oh, I will work hard," Bob said, confidently.
"And be very steady," Captain O'Halloran said, gravely.
"Of course," Bob replied. "But who are you going to hire to teach
me that?"
"You are an impudent boy, Bob," his sister said, while Captain
O'Halloran burst out laughing.
"Sure, he has us both there, Carrie. I wonder your uncle did not
make a proviso that we were to get one of the padres to look after
him."
"As if I would let a Spanish priest look after me!" Bob said.
"I didn't mean a Spanish priest, Bob. I meant one of the army
chaplains. We always call them padres.
"That would be worth thinking about, Carrie."
"Oh, I say," Bob exclaimed in alarm, "that would spoil it,
altogether!"
"Well, we will see how you go on, Bob. We may not find it
necessary, you know; but you will find you have to mind your P's
and Q's, at Gib. It is a garrison place, you know, and they won't
stand nonsense there. If you played any tricks, they would turn you
outside the lines, or send you up to one of the caverns to live
with the apes."
"Are there apes?" Bob asked, eagerly. "They would be awful fun, I
should think. I have seen them at Exeter 'Change."
"There are apes, Bob; but if you think you are going to get near
enough to put salt on their tails, you are mistaken."
"But am I going out with you?" Bob asked. "Why, tomorrow is
Christmas Day, and you sail two days after, don't you? And I
shouldn't have time even to go up to town, and down to Putney, to
say goodbye to the fellows. I should like to do that, and tell them
that I am going abroad."
"You are not going with us, Bob, and you will have time for all
that. We could not take you in the transport, and uncle will
arrange for a passage for you, in some ship going out. Of course,
he knows all about vessels trading with Spain."
"Well, we sha'n't have to say goodbye, now," Bob said. "I haven't
said much about it, but I have been thinking a lot about how horrid
it would be, after being so jolly here, to have to say goodbye;
knowing that I shouldn't see you again, for years and years. Now
that is all over."
A few minutes later, Mr. Bale came in. He had assumed his most
businesslike expression, but Bob rushed up to him.
"Oh, uncle, I am so obliged to you! It is awfully kind."
"I thought the arrangement would be a suitable one," Mr. Bale
began.
"No, no, uncle," Bob broke in. "You would say that, if you were in
Philpot Lane. Now you know you can say that you thought it would be
the very jolliest thing that was ever heard of."
"I am afraid, niece, that the sentiment of respect for his elders
is not strongly developed in Bob."
"I am afraid not, uncle; but you see, if elders set an example of
being double-faced to their nephews, they must expect to forfeit
their respect."
"And it is a lot better being liked than being respected, isn't it,
uncle?"
"Perhaps it is, Bob, but the two things may go together."
"So they do, uncle. Only I keep my respect for Philpot Lane, and it
is all liking, here."
They spent two more delightful days at Portsmouth; visited some of
the ships of war, and the transport in which the 58th was to sail,
and went over the dockyard. The next morning, Mr. Bale and Bob
returned by the early coach to London, as the boxes and trunks and
the portable furniture had to be sent off, early, on board.
Mr. Medlin was less surprised, at hearing that Bob was going to
leave, than the latter had expected.
"You know, Bob, I was away one day last week. Well, I didn't tell
you at the time where I was, because I was ordered not to; but your
uncle said to me, the evening before:
"'I am going to drive down by coach to Windsor, Mr. Medlin, and
shall be glad if you will accompany me.'
"I guessed he wanted to talk about things outside the business, and
so it was. We had a capital dinner down there, and then we had a
long talk about you. I told him frankly that, though I was very
glad to have you with me, I really did not see that it was of any
use your being kept at that work. He said that he thought so, too,
and had an idea on which he wanted my opinion. He was thinking of
accepting your sister's invitation to go down and spend Christmas
with her; and intended to ask her if they would take charge of you,
for a couple of years, in order that you might learn Spanish. Of
course, I said that it was the very best thing in the world for
you; and would not be any loss of time because, if you could speak
Spanish well, you would learn the business much more quickly when
you went to Cadiz; and need not be so long abroad, then."
"I shall be awfully sorry to go away from you, Mr. Medlin, and from
Mrs. Medlin and the others. It has been so jolly with you, and you
have all been so kind."
"Yes, it has been very comfortable all round, Bob, and we shall all
be sorry that you are going; but I did not expect we should have
you long with us. I felt sure your uncle would see he had made a
mistake, in taking you into the place so young; and when he finds
out he has made a mistake, he says so. Some people won't; but I
have known him own up he has been wrong, after blowing up one of
the boys in the cellar for something he hadn't done. Now, there is
not one employer in a hundred who would do that.
"Yes, I felt sure that he would change his mind about you, and
either send you back to school again or make some other
arrangement; so I wasn't a bit surprised when he spoke to me, last
week. Still, we shall all be sorry, Bob."
Another fortnight, passed without Bob hearing more; except that he
was taken by Mr. Medlin to various shops, and a large outfit was
ordered.
"You will bear in mind two things, Mr. Medlin," his employer had
said. "In the first place, that my nephew will grow, in the next
two years. Therefore order some of his things to fit him, now, and
some to be made larger and in more manly fashion. Give instructions
that, when these are finished, they are to be put in tin cases and
soldered down, so as to be kept distinct from the others.
"In the second place, you will bear in mind that clothes which
would be perfectly right and suitable for him, here, will not be at
all suitable for him, there. He will be living with an officer, and
associating entirely with military men; and there must therefore be
a certain cut and fashion about his things. Of course, I don't want
him to look like a young fop; but you understand what I want. There
will be no boys out there, it is therefore better that he should
look a little older than he is. Besides, I think that boys--and
men, too--to some extent live up to their clothes.
"I do not think that I have anything else to say, Mr. Medlin;
except that, as he will not be able to replace any clothes he may
destroy out there, and as he is sure to be climbing about and
destroying them, in one way or another, it is necessary that an
ample supply should be laid in."
Mr. Medlin had scrupulously carried out all these instructions, and
Bob was almost alarmed at the extent of the wardrobe ordered.
"I know what I am doing, Mr. Robert,"--for they were in the city
when Bob made his protest--"I am quite sure that my employer will
make no objection to my ordering largely; but he would certainly be
much displeased, if I did not order what he conceived to be
sufficient."
At the end of the fortnight, Mr. Bale informed Bob that he had
arranged for his passage to Gibraltar in the brig Antelope.
"She is bound to Valencia for fruit. She is a fast sailer, and is
well armed. There will be no other passengers on board but, as I am
acquainted with the captain--who has several times brought over
cargoes for me, from Cadiz and Oporto--he has agreed to take you. I
would rather you had gone in a ship sailing with a convoy but, as
there was a very strong one went, at the time the transports
sailed, there may not be another for some time. These small vessels
do not wait for convoys, but trust to their speed.
"You can now discontinue your work here, as you will probably wish
to go down to Putney, to say goodbye to your friends there. The
brig will sail next Monday; but you will go down on Saturday, by
coach, to Southampton, where she now is. I shall request Mr. Medlin
to see you on board. He tells me that your outfit is completed; and
your trunks, with the exception of what will be required upon the
voyage, will be sent off by the carrier waggon, on Wednesday.
"On Thursday afternoon you will leave Mr. Medlin's, and stay here
till you start."
The week passed quickly. Bob enjoyed his day at Putney where, after
saying goodbye to his old schoolfellows, he called upon Admiral
Langton, who was very glad to hear of the change in his prospects.
"It will do you good," he said, "to go out into the world, and see
a little of life. It was a dull thing, for a lad of your age and
spirits, to be cooped up in a counting house in the city; but now
that you are going to Gibraltar, and afterwards to Cadiz and
Oporto, and will not return to settle down to business until you
are one-and-twenty or so, I think that the prospect before you is a
very pleasant one; and I am glad that your uncle has proved
altogether different to your anticipations of him.
"Well, you are sure to see my son at Gibraltar, sometimes. I shall
write to him, and tell him that you are there; and as your friend
Sankey is on board the Brilliant, it will be pleasant for both of
you.
"Only don't lead him into scrapes, Bob. Midshipmen are up to
mischief enough, on their own account."
"Everyone always seems to think I am getting into scrapes, admiral.
I don't think I get into more than other fellows."
"I rather think you do, Bob. Mr. Tulloch certainly intimated, to
me, that you had a remarkable talent that way, if in no other.
Besides, your face tells its own story. Pickle is marked upon it,
as plainly as if it were printed.
"Now you must have supper with us, at seven o'clock, and catch the
eight o'clock stage. You can stay until then, I hope?"
"Yes, sir. I told Mr. Medlin that I might not come back until the
last stage."
At parting, the admiral placed a case in Bob's hands.
"There, my lad, are a brace of pistols. You won't have any use for
them for some years to come, I hope; but if you stay out in Spain
and Portugal, they may prove useful. Those fellows are very handy
with their knives; and it is always well to be armed if you go
about, at night, among them. I should advise you to practise
shooting, whenever you get an opportunity. A pistol is an excellent
weapon, if you really know how to use it; but is of no use at all,
if you don't.
"Another thing is, you may get involved in affairs of honour. I
consider duelling to be a foolish practice, but it is no use one
person standing up against a crowd. It is the fashion, in our days,
to fight duels and, therefore, it is almost a necessity for a
gentleman to be able to shoot straight; besides, although you might
be able to avoid fighting a duel with any of your countrymen, there
is no possibility of getting out of it, if you become involved in a
quarrel with a foreigner. In that case, an Englishman who showed
the white feather would be a disgrace to his country.
"Another advantage of being a good shot--I mean a really good
shot--is that, if you get forced into an affair, and are desirous
of giving a lesson, but no more, to an opponent, you have it in
your power to wing him; whereas, if you are only a tolerably good
shot, you can't pick your spot, and may--to your lasting
regret--kill him.
"But all this is in the future, Bob. I have fought several duels,
myself, with those very pistols, and I am happy to say I have never
killed my man; and shall be glad to believe, Bob, that they will
always be used in the same spirit."
Bob's last two evenings before sailing were more pleasant than he
had expected. Mr. Bale seemed to forget that he was still in
Philpot Lane, and chatted with him freely and confidentially.
"I hope that I am doing the best for you, Bob. I know this is an
experiment, and I can only trust that it will turn out well. I
believe you have plenty of sound sense, somewhere in your head; and
that this association with a number of young military men will not
have any bad effect upon you; but that, after four or five years
abroad, you will not be less, but rather more inclined to settle
down to business. I regard you as my son, and have indeed no
relations whom I care for in any way, except you and your sister. I
trust that, when you come back, you will apply yourself to
business; without becoming, as I have done, a slave to it.
"I might, if I chose, make you altogether independent of it; but I
am sure that would not be for your good. There is nothing more
unfortunate for a young man, belonging to the middle classes, than
to have no fixed occupation. The heir to large estates is in a
different position. He has all sorts of responsibilities. He has
the pursuits of a country gentleman, and the duties of a large
landowner. But the young man of our class, who does not take to
business, is almost certain to go in for reckless dissipation, or
gambling. I have seen numbers of young men, sons of old friends of
my own, who have been absolutely ruined by being left the fortunes
their fathers had made, simply because they had nothing with which
to occupy their minds.
"It is for this reason, Bob, that I chiefly wish you to succeed me
in my business. It is a very good one. I doubt whether any other
merchant imports such large quantities of wines as I do. During the
next few years I shall endeavour to give up, as far as I can, what
I may call private business, and deal entirely with the trade. I
have been doing so for some time, but it is very difficult to give
up customers who have dealt with me, and my father before me.
However, I shall curtail the business in that direction, as much as
I can; and you will then find it much more easily managed. Small
orders require just as much trouble in their execution as large
ones; and a wholesale business is, in all respects, more
satisfactory than one in which private customers are supplied, as
well as the trade.
"I am entering into arrangements, now, with several travellers, for
the purpose of extending my dealings with the trade in the
provinces; so that when it comes into your hands you will find it
more compact, and at the same time more extensive, than it is now.
"I am glad that I have had you here, for the past four months. I
have had my eye upon you, more closely than you suppose; and I am
pleased to see that you have worked well and willingly--far more so
than I expected from you. This has much encouraged me in the hope
that you will, in time, settle down to business here; and not be
contented to lead a purposeless and idle life. The happiest man, in
my opinion, is he who has something to do--and yet, not too much;
who can, by being free from anxieties regarding it, view his
business as an occupation, and a pleasure; and who is its master,
and not its slave.
"I am thinking of giving Mr. Medlin a small interest in the
business. I mean to make a real effort to break a little loose from
it, and I have seen enough of him to know that he will make a very
valuable junior. He is a little eccentric, perhaps--a sort of
exaggeration of myself--but I shall signify to him that, when he
comes into the firm, I consider that it will be to its advantage that
he should import a little of what we may call his 'extra-official'
manner into it.
"In our business, as I am well aware--although I do not possess it,
myself--a certain cheerfulness of disposition, and a generally
pleasing manner, are of advantage. Buyers are apt to give larger
orders than they otherwise would do, under the influence of
pleasant and genial relations; and Mr. Medlin can, if he chooses,
make up for my deficiencies in that way.
"But I am taking the step rather in your interest than in my own.
It will relieve you of a considerable portion of the burden of the
business, and will enable you to relax somewhat, when you are
disposed, if you have a partner in whom you can place thorough
confidence.
"I do not wish you to mention this matter to him. I would rather
open it to him, myself. We will go on another fishing expedition
together, and I think we can approach it, then, on a more pleasant
footing than we could here. He has modelled himself so thoroughly
upon me that the matter could only be approached in so intensely a
businesslike way, here, that I feel sure we should not arrive at
anything like such a satisfactory arrangement as we might do,
elsewhere."
In the course of the week, Captain Lockett of the Antelope had
called at the office, and Bob had been introduced to him by Mr.
Bale. He was a hearty and energetic looking man, of some
five-and-thirty years of age.
"I shall want you to go to Cadiz for me, next trip, Captain
Lockett," Mr. Bale said. "I am having an unusually large cargo
prepared for me--enough, I fancy, to fill up your brig."
"All the better, sir," the sailor said. "There is nothing like
having only one shipper--it saves time and trouble; but I should
advise you to insure it for its full value, for the channel swarms
with French privateers, at present; and the fellows are building
them bigger, and mounting heavier guns than they used to do.
"I am mounting a long eighteen as a swivel gun, this voyage, in
addition to those I carried before. But even with that, there are
some of these French craft might prove very awkward customers, if
they fell in with us. You see, their craft are crowded with men,
and generally carry at least twice as many hands as ours. It is
just the same with their fishing boats. It takes about three
Frenchmen to do the work of an Englishman."
"Well, don't get caught, this time, Captain Lockett. I don't want
my nephew to learn to speak French, instead of Spanish, for there
is very little trade to be done in that quarter, at present; and
what there is is all carried on by what I may call 'irregular'
channels."
"I fancy there is a great deal of French wine comes into this
country still, sir, in spite of the two nations being at war. It
suits both governments to wink at the trade. We want French wine,
and they want English money."
"That's so, Captain Lockett; but at any rate, we can't send English
buyers out there, and must take what they choose to send."
On Saturday morning Bob said goodbye to his uncle, with an amount
of feeling and regret he would have considered impossible, four
months previously. Mr. Medlin accompanied him to Southampton, and
the journey was a very lively one.
"Goodbye, Bob," the clerk said, as they shook hands on the deck of
the Antelope. "You will be a man, when I see you again--that is, if
you don't come home, for a bit, before going to the people at Cadiz
and Oporto. You will be coming into the firm, then; and will be Mr.
Robert, always."
"Not if we go out fishing expeditions together," Bob said, and
laughed.
"Ah! Well, perhaps that will be an exception.
"Well, goodbye; a pleasant voyage to you, and don't get into more
scrapes than you can help."
"Oh, I am growing out of that, Mr. Medlin!"
"Not you, Bob. They may be different sorts of scrapes, in the
future; but scrapes there will be, or I am a Dutchman."
"Well, youngster, are you a good sailor?" the captain asked; as the
Antelope, with all sail set, ran down Southampton water.
"I hope I am, captain, but I don't know, yet. I have gone out
sailing in boats at Plymouth several times, in rough weather, and
have never felt a bit ill; but I don't know how it will be, in a
ship like this."
"If you can sail in rough water in a boat, without feeling ill, you
ought to be all right here, lad. She is an easy craft, as well as a
fast one; and makes good weather of it, in anything short of a
gale.
"There is eight bells striking--that means eight o'clock, and
breakfast. You had better lay in as good a store as you can. We
shall be outside the Needles, if the wind holds, by dinnertime; and
you may not feel so ready for it, then."
The second mate breakfasted in the cabin with the captain and Bob,
the first mate remaining on deck. The second mate was a young man
of three or four and twenty, a cousin of the captain. He was a
frank, pleasant-faced young sailor, and Bob felt that he should
like him.
"How many days do you expect to be in getting to Gibraltar,
captain?"
"About ten, if we have luck; twenty if we haven't. There is never
any saying."
"How many men do you carry?"
"Twenty-eight seamen, the cook, the steward, two mates, and myself;
and there are three boys. Thirty-six all told."
"I see you have eight guns, besides the pivot gun."
"Yes. We have plenty of hands for working them, if we only have to
fight one side at once; but we shouldn't be very strong handed, if
we had to work both broadsides. There are four sixteen pounders,
four twelves, and the pivot; so that gives three men to a gun,
besides officers and idlers. Three men is enough for the twelves,
but it makes rather slow work with the sixteens. However, we may
hope that we sha'n't have to work both broadsides at once.
"We carry a letter of marque so that, in case of our having the
luck to fall in with a French trader, we can bring her in. But that
is not our business. We are peaceful traders, and don't want to
show our teeth, unless we are interfered with."
To Bob's great satisfaction, he found that he was able to eat his
dinner with unimpaired appetite; although the Antelope was clear of
the island, and was bowing deeply to a lively sea. The first
mate--a powerful looking man of forty, who had lost one eye, and
whose face was deeply seamed by an explosion of powder in an
engagement with a French privateer--came down to the meal, while
the second mate took the duty on deck. Bob found some difficulty in
keeping his dish before him, for the Antelope was lying well over,
with a northerly wind abeam.
"She is travelling well, Probert," the captain said. "We have got
her in capital trim, this time. Last time we were too light, and
could not stand up to our sails.
"If this wind holds, we shall make a fast run of it. We will keep
her well inshore, until we get down to the Scillys; and then
stretch across the bay. The nearer we keep to the coast, the less
fear there is of our running against one of those French
privateers."
The wind held steady, and Bob enjoyed the voyage immensely, as the
brig sailed along the coast. After passing Portland Bill they lost
sight of land until, after eight hours' run, a bold headland
appeared on the weather beam.
"That is the Start," the captain said. "When I get abeam of it we
shall take our bearings, and then shape our course across the bay.
If this wind does but hold, we shall make quick work of it."
Presently the tiller was put up and, as the brig's head paid off,
the yards were braced square; and she ran rapidly along towards the
southwest, with the wind nearly dead aft. The next morning when Bob
went on deck he found that the wind had dropped, and the brig was
scarcely moving through the water.
"This is a change, Mr. Probert," he said to the first mate, who was
in charge of the deck.
"Yes, and not a pleasant one," the officer replied. "I don't like
the look of the sky, either. I have just sent down to the captain,
to ask him to step on deck."
Bob looked round. The sky was no longer bright and clear. There was
a dull, heavy look overhead; and a smoky haze seemed to hang over
the horizon, all round. Bob thought it looked dull, but wondered
why the mate should send for the captain.
The latter came up on deck, in a minute or two.
"I don't much like the look of the sky, sir," the mate said. "The
wind has died suddenly out, this last half hour; and the swell has
got more kick in it than it had. I fancy the wind is going round to
the southwest; and that, when it does come, it will come hard."
"I think you are right, Mr. Probert. I glanced at the glass, as I
came up, and it has fallen half an inch since I was up on deck in
the middle watch. I think you had better begin to take in sail, at
once. Call the watch up from below. It is not coming yet; but we
may as well strip her, at once."
The mate gave the order to the boatswain, whose shrill whistle
sounded out, followed by the shout of "All hands to take in sail!"
The watch below tumbled up.
"Take the royals and topgallant sails off her, Mr. Probert. Double
reef the topsails, and get in the courses."
Bob watched the men as they worked aloft, and marvelled at the
seeming carelessness with which they hung on, where the slip of a
foot or hand would mean sudden death; and wondered whether he could
ever attain such steadiness of head. Three quarters of an hour's
hard work and the mast was stripped, save for the reduced topsails.
"Get in two of the jibs, and brail up the spanker."
This was short work. When it was done the second mate, who had been
working forward, looked to the captain for further orders. The
latter had again gone below, but was now standing on the poop,
talking earnestly with the first mate.
"Yes, I think you are right," Bob heard the captain say. "The glass
is still falling and, very likely, it will be some time before we
want these light spars again. There is nothing like being snug."
"Aloft again, lads!" the mate sung out, "and send down the yards
and topgallant masts."
"Now she is ready for anything," the captain said, when the men
again descended to the deck.
Bob, who had been so intently watching the men that he had not
looked round at the sky, since they first went aloft, now had time
to do so; and was startled with the change that had come over the
sea, and sky. There was not a breath of wind. There was a dull,
oily look on the water, as it heaved in long, regular waves,
unbroken by the slightest ripple. Black clouds had banked up from
the southwest, and extended in a heavy arch across the sky, but
little ahead of the brig. From its edge ragged, fragments seemed to
break off suddenly, and fly out ahead.
"It is going to blow, and no mistake," the captain said. "It is
lucky that we have had plenty of time to get her into fighting
trim.
"You had better get hold of something, lad, and clutch it tight. It
will begin with a heavy squall and, like enough, lay her pretty
well over on her beam ends, when it strikes her."
Higher and higher the threatening arch rose, till its edge stood
over the mainmast. Then the captain cried:
"Here it comes, lads. Hold on, every one!"
Looking ahead, Bob saw a white line. It approached with wonderful
rapidity, and with a confused, rushing sound. Then in a moment he
felt himself clinging, as if for life, to the stanchion of which he
had taken hold. The wind almost wrenched him from his feet while,
at the same moment, a perfect deluge of water came down upon him.
He felt the brig going further and further over, till the deck
beneath his feet seemed almost perpendicular. The captain and first
mate had both grasped the spokes of the wheel, and were aiding the
helmsman in jamming it down. Bob had no longer a hold for his feet,
and was hanging by his arms. Looking down, the sea seemed almost
beneath him but, with a desperate effort, he got hold of the rail
with one hand, and then hauled himself up under it, clinging tight
to the main shrouds. Then he saw the second mate loose the jib
halliards, while one of the sailors threw off the fore-staysail
sheet, and the spanker slowly brought the brig's head up into the
wind.
As it did so she righted, gradually, and Bob regained his place on
deck; which was still, however, lying over at a very considerable
angle. The captain raised his hand, and pointed to the main
topsail; and the second mate at once made his way aft with some of
the men and, laying out on the weather rigging, made his way aloft.
The danger seemed, to Bob, so frightful that he dared not look up.
He could hear, through the pauses of the blast, the mate shout to
the men above him and, in a few minutes, they again descended to
the deck.
Even Bob could feel how much the brig was relieved, when the
pressure of the topsail was taken off. The lower planks of the deck
rose from the water and, although this still rushed in and out
through the scupper holes, and rose at times to the level of the
bulwark rail, he felt that the worst was over.
One of the men was called to assist at the helm, and the captain
and mate came forward to the poop rail.
"That was touch and go, youngster!" the former shouted to Bob.
"It was," Bob said. "More go than touch, I should say; for I
thought she had gone, altogether."
"You had better go below, and change your things. Tell the steward
to bring me my oilskins, out of my cabin. You had better keep
below, until this rain has stopped."
Bob thought the advice was good; so he went down and got into dry
clothes, and then lay down on the cabin sofa, to leeward--he could
not have kept his place, on the other side. The rain was still
falling so heavily, on deck, that it sounded like a waggon passing
overhead; and mingled with this noise was the howl of the wind, and
the swashing of the water against the ship's side. Gradually the
motion of the vessel became more violent, and she quivered from bow
to stern, as the waves struck her.
Although it was early in the afternoon, it became almost as dark as
night in the cabin. The steward had brought him a glass of hot
grog, as soon as he had changed his clothes and, in spite of the
din, he presently fell off to sleep. When he woke the rain had
ceased; but the uproar caused by the howling of the wind, the
creaking of the spars, and the dashing of the waves was as loud as
before.
He soon made his way up on deck, and found that a tremendous sea
was running. The fore-topsail had been got off the ship, the
weather sheets of the jib and fore-staysail hauled across, and the
vessel was making comparatively little way through the water. She
was, in fact--although Bob did not know it--lying to, under these
sails and the spanker.
It all looked so terrible, to him, that he kept his place but a few
minutes; and was then glad to return to the sofa, below. In a short
time, the captain came down.
"How are you getting on, lad? All in the dark, eh?
"Steward, light the lamp, and bring me a tumbler of hot grog. Keep
the water boiling; the other officers will be down, directly.
"Well, what do you think of it, young gentleman?"
"I don't like it, at all," Bob said. "I thought I should like to
see a storm, but I never want to see one, again."
"I am not surprised at that," the captain said, with a laugh. "It
is all very well to read about storms, but it is a very different
thing to be caught in one."
"Is there any danger, sir?"
"There is always more or less danger, in a storm, lad; but I hope,
and think, the worst is over. We are in for a heavy gale but, now
that the brig has got through the first burst, there is not much
fear of her weathering it. She is a capital sea boat, well found
and in good trim; and we were fortunate enough in having sufficient
warning to get her snug, before the first burst came.
"That is always the most dangerous point. When a ship has way on
her, she can stand almost any gale; but when she is caught by a
heavy squall, when she is lying becalmed, you have to look out.
However, she got through that without losing anything; and she is
lying to, now, under the smallest possible canvas and, if all goes
well, there is no reason, whatever, for anxiety."
"What do you mean by 'if all goes well,' captain?"
"I mean as long as one of her masts isn't carried away, or anything
of that sort. I daresay you think it rough, now, but it is nothing
to what it will be by tomorrow morning. I should advise you to turn
in, at once. You could see nothing, if you went up; and would run
the risk of being washed overboard, or of getting a limb broken."
Bob's recollections of his position, as the ship heeled over when
the storm struck her, were still far too vivid for him to have any
desire for a repetition of it; and he accordingly took the
captain's advice, and turned in at once.
When he got up in the morning and, with some difficulty, made his
way on deck he found that, as the captain predicted, the sea was
far heavier than the night before. Great ridges of water bore down
upon the ship, each seeming as if it would overwhelm her; and for
the first few minutes Bob expected to see the brig go, head
foremost, and sink under his feet. It was not till he reflected
that she had lived through it for hours that he began to view the
scene with composure. Although the waves were much higher than when
he had left the deck on the previous afternoon, the scene was
really less terrifying.
The sky was covered with masses of gray cloud, ragged and torn,
hurrying along with great velocity, apparently but a short distance
above the masthead. When the vessel rose on a wave, it seemed to
him that the clouds, in places, almost touched the water, and
mingled with the masses of spray caught up by the waves. The scud,
borne along by the wind, struck his face with a force that caused
it to smart and, for a time, he was unable to face the gale even
for a minute.
The decks were streaming with water. The boats had disappeared from
the davits, and a clean sweep seemed to have been made of
everything movable. Forward was a big gap in the bulwark and, as
the brig met the great waves, masses of green water poured in
through this, and swept along the deck waist deep. The brig was
under the same sail as before, except that she now showed a
closely-reefed fore-topsail.
When he became a little accustomed to the sea, and to the motion,
he watched his time; and then made a rush across from the companion
to the weather bulwark, and got a firm hold of one of the shrouds.
The captain and the second mate were on the poop, near the wheel.
The former made his way to him.
"Good morning, Master Repton! Managed to get some sleep?"
"Yes, I have slept all night, captain. I say, isn't this
tremendous? I did not think anything could be like this. It is
splendid, you know, but it takes one's breath away.
"I don't think it is blowing quite so hard, is it?"
"Every bit as hard, but it is more regular, and you are accustomed
to it."
"But I see you have got up some more sail."
"Yes, that's to steady her. You see, when she gets into the trough
between these great waves, the lower sails are almost becalmed; and
we are obliged to show something above them, to keep a little way
on her. We are still lying to, you see, and meet the waves head on.
If her head was to fall off a few points, and one of these waves
took her on the beam, she would go down like a stone.
"Yes, the brig is doing very handsomely. She has a fine run, more
like a schooner than a brig; and she meets the waves easily, and
rises to them as lightly as a feather. She is a beauty!
"If you are going to stay here, lad, you had better lash yourself;
for it is not safe, standing as you are."