exultation.
"I have done a good night's work," he said. "By working on the fears of
the old curmudgeon I have made sure of a thousand dollars. He will be
lucky if this is the last money I get out of him. He little thinks that
I, too, have a revenge to wreak. He is not the only one that has been
scornfully rejected by Eleanor Codman. Now to bed, and to-morrow shall
see my work commenced."
VI.
CHARLIE AT HOME.
The tenement-house owned by Peter Manson was a three-story wooden
building, very much in need of paint. It was scarcely likely to be
pointed out by any one as one of the architectural ornaments of the
city. Years before it had fallen into Peter's hands at a small price,
and he had every year since realized from it in the way of rent a sum
equal to one half the purchase-money. No one who has lived in a city
can help knowing how much more proportionally the poor are compelled
to pay for their scanty and insufficient accommodations than the rich,
or those in moderate circumstances. No class of property is made to
pay a larger percentage than the wretched tenement-houses which seem
adapted to furnish as little accommodation as possible to those who are
compelled to occupy them.
The tenement-house in which Charlie and his mother lived was no better
than the average. It was the home of a large number of persons of
various occupations. Seamstresses, mechanics, washer-women, and many
others found a home under this one roof.
Mrs. Codman occupied a room on the third floor. As we enter the
room it is easy to see what a charm can be thrown around even the
humblest place by the presence of refinement and good taste. All the
appointments of the room, indeed, were of the cheapest description.
Probably the furniture did not exceed in cost that of the room
opposite. Yet there was a considerable difference in the appearance
of Mrs. Codman's room and that of Sally Price, who, if she had ever
possessed an organ of neatness, had lost it years ago.
The old-fashioned windows were washed as clean as water could make
them, so as to admit all the sunshine which could find its way over
the tall roof on the opposite side of the street. They were hung with
plain chintz curtains, separated in the middle and looped on either
side. The floor was quite clean as far as it could be seen. In the
centre was spread a floor-cloth some eight feet square, which relieved
its bareness. There was a small round table near the window, and a
small square work-table of no very costly material, in another part of
the room. On this was placed a rose-bush in a flower-pot. It had been
given to Charlie by an old gentleman who had taken a fancy to him. In
another quarter was a home-made lounge, the work of Charlie's hands. It
had originally been a wooden box, given him by a shopkeeper near by.
This box had been covered with calico stuffed with cotton, so that it
made quite a comfortable seat. It was used besides as a wood-box, its
legitimate province, but when the cover was closed it was nevertheless
a very respectable article of furniture. There were besides a few plain
wooden chairs, and a small rocking-chair for Mrs. Codman. Opening out
of the main room was a small bedroom, occupied by the mother, while
Charlie had a bed made up for him at night in the common sitting-room.
A few books--a very few--were piled upon the little table. They were
chiefly schoolbooks,--an arithmetic, a geography, and an atlas, over
which Charlie would generally spend a portion of every evening, and
occasionally a boy's book, lent him by his friend Edwin Bangs, who,
together with his brothers, had quite a large juvenile library.
Mrs. Codman is sitting by the window industriously engaged in
needle-work, and intent on accomplishing a certain amount before
nightfall. She was past thirty-five, yet, in spite of the trials which
have left their impress on her brow, she would readily be taken for
five years younger. She has drawn her chair to the window to make the
most of the rapidly fading daylight. As with swift fingers she plies
the glistening needle, and the sun touches her cheek with a beaming
glow, we can see that not only has she been beautiful, but is still so.
A hasty step is heard on the stairs, there is a stamping at the door,
and in rushes a bright, handsome boy, with rosy cheeks and dark hair.
The mother's face lights up with a bright smile as she turns to her
son, the only one she has left to love.
"You're a little later than usual, Charlie, are you not?"
"A little, mother. You see I didn't get a job till late, and then two
came together."
"What were they?"
"A gentleman wanted me to take his carpet-bag from the Maine depot, and
I had to carry it away up to Rutland Street."
"Did he go with you?"
"No; he had to go to his counting-room in State Street."
"Was he willing to trust you? Some boys might have made off with the
carpet-bag, and he would have never seen it again."
"He thought of that, but he said--and I think he's a real
gentleman--that he knew I was honest by my appearance, and he was
willing to trust me."
"Quite complimentary, Charlie. How much did he pay you for your
trouble?"
"Half a dollar."
"Then you have done a good deal better than I have. I have been
working all day, and shall not realize more than twenty-five cents for
my labor."
"I wish you didn't have to work at all, mother."
"Thank you, Charlie; but I dare say I am happier for having something
to do. I wish I could get better pay for my work. But you haven't told
me what the other errand was. You said you had two."
"Yes," said Charlie, "I had just got back from Rutland Street, and had
bought two or three evening papers which I was going to try to sell,
when a man came up to me, and after looking at me for a minute or
two, asked me if I would take a little walk with him. He said he was
a stranger in Boston, and didn't know his way about much. He asked me
if I had lived here long, and what my name was. He told me he would
pay me if I would go around with him, and point out some of the public
buildings. He told me he would pay me at the rate of twenty-five cents
an hour for my time. I told him I had one or two papers to dispose of."
"'Never mind about them,' said he, 'I will take them off your hands.'
"'But they are alike,' said I.
"'Never mind,' he answered; so he paid me the full price for two
Journals and two Transcripts, and off we went."
"What sort of a person was he?"
"He was a stout man, over forty, and looked to me like a sailor. I
shouldn't wonder if he was an officer of some ship."
"Did you like his looks?"
"Why," said Charlie, hesitatingly, "not exactly; not so much as I did
of the other gentleman. There was something about his eye which I
didn't like. Still he acted up to his agreement, and paid me all he
promised."
"How long were you together?"
"About an hour and a half. We walked round the Common and the Public
Garden, went into the State House and the Public Library. However, he
didn't seem to care much about them. He seemed to take more interest
in me, somehow, and asked me a good many questions; whether I had any
parents living, and how long I had lived in the city. When I told him
you were born in Havana, he said he used to live there himself."
"Indeed!" said Mrs. Codman.
"He also told me that he might like to have me go round with him
again, and told me to call to-morrow at the Quincy House, where he is
stopping. But, mother, isn't it most time for supper? Here, just let me
set the table, if you are busy."
"Very well, Charlie; I shall be glad to have you do so, as I am in a
hurry to finish my sewing."
In the evening Charlie read to his mother while she sewed. Neither of
them suspected that it was the last evening they would spend together
for several months.
VII.
CAPTAIN BRACE.
Lying at one of the wharves was a ship of moderate size, evidently
fast getting ready for sea. The cargo had all been stowed away, and,
notwithstanding the confusion, it was easy even for a landsman to see
that the ship was about ready for departure.
The ship was the Bouncing Betsey, commanded by Captain Nathaniel Brace.
As to the peculiar name of the vessel, I can give no information
whether or not there was a real Bouncing Betsey after whom it was
named. The probability however is, that it was a purely ideal name, the
sound and alliterative character of which had commended it to the one
upon whom rested the selection of a name.
A few words now about Captain Brace, with whom we shall become better
acquainted by and by.
He was a short, stout, broad-shouldered man. He was no fresh-water
captain, but from the age of thirteen had been tossing about on the
ocean. It is my privilege to know many sea captains who do honor to
their calling, high-toned, gentlemanly, and intelligent men; not
learned in books, but possessing a wide range of general information.
I am sorry to say that Captain Brace was not a man of this class. He
had little education beyond what was required by his profession, and
was utterly lacking in refinement and courtesy. He was not an amiable
man, but rough, stormy, exacting, and dictatorial. The crew under his
command he looked upon as so many machines, whose duty it was to obey
him with scrupulous exactness, whatever might be the nature of his
requisitions. When he got into one of his fits of passion, he would
stamp and rave, kicking and striking this way and that with the most
reckless disregard of human lives and human feelings. In fact, he was
one of those pests of the merchant service, an unfeeling tyrant, who
did all in his power to degrade the profession which he had adopted,
and add to the hardships which lie in the path of the sailor.
The employers of Captain Brace were far from being aware of the
extent to which he carried the severity of his discipline; brutality,
indeed, would be the more appropriate word. They supposed him to be
a strict commander, who liked to preserve a proper subordination in
those under his command, and this they were disposed to commend rather
than to complain of, more especially as the captain was master of his
profession, and had usually made quick and profitable voyages. This, as
may be supposed, was enough to cover a great many defects in the eyes
of those whose pecuniary interest he subserved, even if the captain had
not been shrewd enough to conceal his more disagreeable traits when on
shore, under an affectation of bluff frankness.
There was a time when there were many captains in the service no better
than the one we have just sketched, but both in the naval and merchant
service there has undoubtedly been a great improvement within a few
years.
Without dwelling further on the personal characteristics of Captain
Brace, with whom we shall have abundant opportunity to become
acquainted, since we purpose going to sea with him on his approaching
voyage, we introduce him pacing the deck of his vessel with a short
black pipe in his mouth, on the very morning he intends to sail.
"Where is Mr. Randall? has he come on board?" he inquired, turning to
the second mate.
"No, sir; I have not seen him this morning," was the reply.
"When he comes on board tell him I wish to see him immediately."
"Very well, sir."
The captain went to his cabin, and about five minutes later the
individual after whom he inquired came aboard. We recognize in him an
old acquaintance; no other than the nocturnal visitor who excited such
fearful apprehensions in the mind of old Peter Manson the miser.
"Where is Captain Brace, Mr. Bigelow?" he inquired of the second mate.
"In the cabin, Mr. Randall. He wishes to see you."
"And I wish to see him, so we can suit each other's convenience. How
long since did he ask for me?"
"Only two or three minutes. He has just gone below."
"Then he hasn't had long to wait."
With these words he hastened to the cabin, where he found the captain
waiting for him.
The subject on which the captain wished to see his first mate was
purely of a professional and technical character, and will not be
likely to interest the reader, and so will be passed over.
When this preliminary matter was disposed of, Randall, with a little
hesitation, remarked: "I have a little favor to ask of you, Captain
Brace."
"Very well, sir; let me know what it is, and if I can conveniently
grant it I will."
"The boy who had engaged to go with us has backed out, having heard
some ridiculous stories about your severity and----"
The captain's brow grew dark with anger as he said:
"The young rascal! I should like to overhaul him! I'd show him what it
is to see service!"
There is very little doubt that the captain would have kept his word.
Randall took care not to inform his superior officer that he had
privately communicated to the mother of the boy intelligence of his
severity, not from any motives of humanity, but simply because his
going would have interfered with his own plans in respect to Charlie.
"We shall not have much time to hunt up a boy if we sail at three
o'clock," said the captain. "I don't see but we must go without one."
"I think I can supply you with one, Captain Brace."
"Ha! who is it?"
"It's a nephew of mine, and the favor I spoke of was that you should
take him in place of the boy we have missed of."
"Humph!" said the captain, "there is one objection I have to taking
relations of the officers. You are expected to be tender of them, and
not order them about as roughly as the rest."
"There won't be any trouble of that sort in this case, Captain Brace,
you may be very sure," said the mate. "Although the boy is my nephew I
don't feel any very extraordinary affection for him."
"I should think not," said the captain, with a grim smile, "from your
efforts to get him a place on board this ship. You're not any more
gentle with boys than I am."
"The fact is, Captain Brace," said Randall, with a smile which evinced
a thorough understanding of the captain's meaning; "the fact is, the
boy is unruly, and they can't do much for him at home, and I thought it
might be well for him to try a voyage or two, _for the benefit of his
health_!"
The mate smiled, and as it was such a joke as the captain could
appreciate, he smiled too.
"Very well, Mr. Randall; if such are your views I have no objection to
his coming on board."
"I had fears," continued the mate, "that his unruly temper would
interfere with his usefulness at home. I felt pretty sure we could soon
cure him of that."
"_Kill or cure_, that is my motto," said the captain.
"Sometimes both," thought Randall, remembering one boy in a previous
voyage who had languished and died under the cruel treatment he
experienced on board.
"Does the boy know he is to go with us?" inquired the captain.
"Bless you, no; not he! He'd make a fuss if he did."
"How do you intend to get him on board, then?"
"I shall invite him to come and see the vessel, and when he is down
below I can take care that he stays there till we are fairly at sea."
"A good plan. What is the youngster's name, Mr. Randall?"
"Jack Randall; named after me."
"Humph! hope he'll do credit to the name," said the captain, grimly. "I
leave in your hands all the steps necessary to securing him. Remember,
if you please, that we shall sail at three."
"I will be on board before that time, sir, and bring my nephew with me."
"Very well, sir."
Of course the reader has conjectured that the Jack Randall, the mate's
nephew, spoken of above, is no other than our young hero, Charlie
Codman.
Poor boy! little does he dream of the plot that is being formed against
him.
VIII.
THE BLUE CHEST.
On leaving the Bouncing Betsey, Mr. John Randall, the estimable mate of
that vessel, bent his steps towards a shop devoted to sailors' clothing
ready-made, with a large variety of other articles such as seamen are
accustomed to require.
It was a shop of very good dimensions, but low studded and rather dark,
the windows, which were few, being in part covered up by articles hung
in front of them.
The proprietor of this establishment was Moses Mellen, a little Jew,
with a countenance clearly indicating his Israelitish descent. His
small black eyes sparkled with the greed of gain, and he had a long,
hooked nose like the beak of a bird, which would not have been
considered too small an appendage for a face of twice the size. He had
one qualification for a successful trader--he seldom or never forgot a
face which he had once seen.
Rubbing his hands with a great show of cordiality, and with his face
wreathed in smiles, the instant he espied Randall he hastened to meet
him.
"Delighted to see you, Mr. Randall," he exclaimed; "perhaps I ought to
say Captain Randall."
"Not yet."
"Ah well, that will come soon. I hope you have had a prosperous voyage."
"Tolerably so, Mr. Mellen."
"Have you just arrived in the city, or have you been here for some
time?"
"Three weeks only, and now I am off again. We sailors don't have a
chance to stop long on dry land, Mr. Mellen."
"Not if they are such capital sailors as my friend, Mr. Randall. But
where are you bound this time?"
"Probably to Valparaiso."
"Anywhere else?"
"Perhaps so. We may go to the Indies or Sandwich Islands before we
return."
"A long voyage,--you will need to be fitted out before you
start,--don't you want something in my line? I sha'n't want much profit
out of an old friend like you."
This, by the way, was what Moses said to pretty much all his customers.
"I shall want a few things. I will pick them out now."
"This way, then."
Randall followed the proprietor to the back of the store, where he
selected a variety of articles, which he ordered sent on board the
Bouncing Betsey immediately.
"Now," said the mate, after his own purchases were completed, "I shall
require a small outfit for a boy who is going out with us."
"If you had brought him with you we could have furnished him at short
order."
"There was one little difficulty in the way of my doing that."
"Eh?"
"He doesn't know he is going."
"Ah ha!" said the Jewish dealer, putting one scraggy finger to the side
of his nose with a knowing look; "that's it, is it?"
"I see you comprehend. Now tell me what shall we do about fitting him?"
"If I could only see him----"
"You could judge by your eye what would be likely to fit him. Is that
what you would say?"
"Precisely."
"And how long would you require to look at him?"
"Two minutes would answer."
"Very well; I will call with the boy in the course of an hour or two.
By the way, I shall want a small chest to put the articles in. You keep
them, of course?"
"A great variety."
"I dare say you will suit me. A very plain one will answer. Have your
bill made out for the other articles, and I will discharge it."
With a profusion of bows and thanks, the trader dismissed his customer.
The mate now betook himself to the hotel where he had engaged Charlie
to meet him at eleven o'clock. Charlie, who was always punctual to his
appointments, had already arrived, and was looking over a newspaper in
the reading-room.
"So you are on hand, my boy," said Randall, in a friendly manner.
"Yes, sir."
"I am glad to find you punctual. Are you ready to set out?"
"Yes, sir, quite ready."
Rather to keep up the boy's delusion as to his designs, Randall
suffered Charlie to guide him to one or two places of public interest,
with which he was already more familiar than his guide, and then
suddenly proposed that they should go down to the wharves.
"You must know, my lad," said he, "that I am a sailor."
"I thought so, sir."
"What made you think so?"
"I don't know, sir; but I can generally tell a sailor."
"Perhaps I haven't got my sea-legs off. However, as I was saying, I am
an officer on board a ship lying at the wharf, and I have just thought
of a bundle I want brought from the ship. If you will go with me and
fetch it, I will pay you at the same rate I promised you for going
about with me."
Of course Charlie had no objections. In fact, although he had been on
board ships at the wharf, he had never been in company with an officer,
and he thought it possible his companion might be willing to explain to
him the use of some parts which he did not yet understand. Accordingly
he gave a ready assent to the mate's proposition, and together they
took their way to Long Wharf, at which the ship was lying.
The shop kept by the Jew was, as a matter of convenience and policy,
located near the wharves. It was not a general clothing-store, but
specially designed to supply seamen with outfits.
"I have a little errand here," said Randall, pausing before the shop of
Moses Mellen.
"I can stop outside," said Charlie.
"You had better come in. You will see where we sailors get our
clothing."
Not suspecting any sinister design in this invitation, Charlie
accepted it without more ado, and followed Randall in. He looked about
him with some curiosity, not observing that he too was an object of
attention to the Jewish dealer, whose quick eye detected their entrance.
He went forward to meet Randall.
"You see the boy, do you?" asked the mate, in a low voice.
"Is that the one?"
"Yes. Do you think you will be able to fit him?"
"No doubt about it, though he is a little smaller than the boys we
usually fit out."
"Never mind if the clothes are a little large. He'll be sure to grow to
them, and a precise fit isn't quite so important on the quarter-deck as
it might be on Washington Street. We are not fashionable on board the
Betsey, Mr. Mellen."
The dealer laughed, showing some yellowish tusks, which were evidently
not supplied by the dentist.
"Have you made out my bill?"
"Here it is."
"While I am looking over it, will you pick out such clothes as the boy
will need?"
Darting a hasty glance at Charlie, to make sure of his size, the dealer
hurried to the rear of the shop, and commenced selecting articles which
he laid away in a small blue chest.
The task was soon completed, and again he came out to the front part of
the store.
"All ready!" he said, in a low voice to Randall.
"You have been quick. Here is the amount of your bill. As to the chest,
you may send it on board the Bouncing Betsey without any unnecessary
delay."
"It shall be done, Mr. Randall. Have you no further commands for us?"
"I believe not, to-day."
"You will remember our shop when you are round again?"
"I won't forget you."
"You needn't accompany me to the door, nor allude to my voyage," said
Randall, in a low voice, to the dealer. "Remember, I have _him_ with
me."
Moses winked in a manner which by no means improved the expression of
his not very agreeable features.
"Now, my lad," said Randall, "we'll go on board the vessel. Have you
ever been on board a ship?"
"Yes, sir, a good many times by myself, but I never had any one to tell
me the different parts."
"I'll promise, then," said the mate, in a tone whose significance was
lost upon our hero at the time, though he afterwards recalled it, "that
you shall know more about a vessel before you leave this one."
"I thank you," said Charlie, considering the offer a kind one.
They ascended the ladder and jumped upon the deck of the vessel, which,
though Charlie knew it not, was to be his home for many a weary day.
IX.
ON BOARD.
At the close of the last chapter we had got our hero fairly on board
the Bouncing Betsey, on what he supposed to be a brief visit, but
which his companion had resolved should be far otherwise.
Randall did not at first undeceive his youthful attendant. He felt
that it would hardly be polite, as the ship was lying at the wharf
surrounded by other vessels, and the disturbance and vigorous
resistance which Charlie would be apt to make when told what was in
store for him might attract a degree of attention which might prove
fatal to his plans.
They had scarcely set their feet upon deck, when they encountered
Captain Brace.
The mate glanced significantly at the boy by his side, and carelessly
put his finger to his lips in token of silence, at the same time
saying, "A lad whom I have promised to initiate into some of the
mysteries of seamanship."
"He may find the knowledge useful to him some time," said the captain,
with a grim smile. "Do you think you should like going to sea, my lad?"
"No, sir," returned Charlie, promptly, "I don't think I should."
"Why not?"
"I should get tired of seeing the sea all the time."
"You would get used to it."
"I never should like it so well as the land. Besides, I should not like
to leave my mother."
"Well, my lad, if you should ever change your mind," said the captain,
with a wicked glance at Randall, "I hope you'll give me the first offer
of your services."