GETTING SETTLED.
The gentleman who had so kindly explained the pilot system to Rollo did
not return to the settee after having given the pilot the letter, but
went away, and for a few minutes Rollo and Jane were left alone. They
observed, too, that a great many of the passengers had disappeared, and
now there were very few about the deck. Rollo wondered where they had
gone. He soon received some light on the subject, by overhearing one
gentleman say to another, as they passed the settee on their
promenade,--
"Come, Charley, let us go down and get some lunch."
"They are going to lunch," said Rollo. "We will go too. I am beginning
to be hungry."
"So am I hungry," said Jane. "I did not think of it before; but I am,
and I have no doubt that Tiger is hungry too."
So Jane took up her cage, and then she and Rollo, walking along
together, followed the gentlemen who had said that they were going down
to lunch. They walked forward upon the promenade deck till they came to
the short flight of stairs, with the green rope balustrade, which led
down to the deck below. These stairs were so steep that the children
were obliged to proceed with great caution in descending them, in order
to get down in safety. They, however, at length succeeded; and then,
passing along where they saw that the gentlemen went who preceded them,
they entered into a long and narrow passage way, with doors leading to
state rooms on either hand. Following this passage way, they came at
length to a sort of entry or hall, which was lighted by a skylight
above. In the middle of this hall, and under the skylight, was a pretty
broad staircase, leading down to some lower portion of the ship. As the
men whom they were following went down these stairs, the children went
down too. When they got down, they found themselves in a perfect maze of
cabins, state rooms, and passage ways, the openings into which were
infinitely multiplied by the large and splendid mirrors with which the
walls were every where adorned.
"Put Tiger down there," said Rollo, pointing to a place near the end of
the sofa, "and we will bring her something to eat when we come from
lunch."
Jane was very anxious to take the kitten with her; but she knew that,
under the circumstances in which she was placed, it was proper that she
should follow implicitly all of Rollo's directions. So she put the cage
down, and then she and Rollo went on together through a door where the
gentlemen who had preceded them had gone.
They found themselves in another long and narrow passage way, which led
toward the forward part of the ship. The passage way was so narrow that
they could not walk together. So Rollo went first, and Jane came behind.
The vessel was rocking gently from the motion of the waves, and Jane had
to put her hands out once or twice, first to one side and then to the
other of the passage way, in order to steady herself as she passed
along. Presently they came to a place where they had to go up five or
six steps, and then to go immediately down again. It was the place where
the main shaft passed out from the engine to the paddle wheel. After
getting over this obstruction, they went on a a little farther, and then
came into a large dining saloon, where several long tables were spread,
and a great many passengers were seated, eating their luncheons.
There were a number of waiters in different parts of the room, standing
behind the guests at the tables; and one of these waiters, as soon as he
saw Rollo and Jane come in, went to them, and said that he would show
them where to sit. So they followed him, and he gave them a good seat at
one of the tables. As soon as the children were seated, the waiter said,
addressing Rollo,--
"Will you have soup?"
"Yes," said Rollo.
"And will the young lady take soup, too?" he asked again.
"Yes," said Rollo; "both of us."
While the waiter was gone to get the soup, Rollo and Jane had an
opportunity of looking around the room and observing how very different
it was in its fixtures and furniture from a dining room on land. Instead
of windows, there were only round holes in the sides of the ship, about
a foot in diameter. For a sash, there was only one round and exceedingly
thick and strong pane of glass, set in an iron frame, and opening
inwards, on massive hinges. On the side of this frame, opposite the
hinges, was a strong clamp and screw, by means of which the frame could
be screwed up very tight, in order to exclude the water in case of heavy
seas. The tables were fitted with a ledge all around the outside, to
keep the dishes from sliding off. Above each table, and suspended from
the ceiling, was a long shelf of beautiful wood, with racks and sockets
in it of every kind, for containing wineglasses, tumblers, decanters,
and such other things as would be wanted from time to time upon the
table. Every one of these glasses was in a place upon the shelf
expressly fitted to receive and retain it; so that it might be held
securely, and not allowed to fall, however great might be the motion of
the ship.
There were no chairs at the tables. The seats consisted of handsomely
cushioned settees, with substantial backs to them. It was upon one of
these settees, and near the end of it, that Rollo and Jane were seated.
When the soup was brought, the children ate it with great satisfaction.
They found it excellent; and, besides that, they had excellent
appetites. After the soup, the waiter brought them some roasted potatoes
and butter, and also some slices of cold roast beef. When the roast beef
came, Jane exclaimed to Rollo,--
"Ah! I am very glad to see that. It is just the thing for Tiger."
Then she turned round and said to the waiter,--
"Can I take a piece of this meat to give to my kitten?"
"Your kitten?" said the waiter. "Have you got a kitten on board?"
"Yes," said Jane.
"Where is she?" asked the waiter.
"I left her in the cabin," said Jane, "by the end of a sofa. She is in
her cage."
The waiter smiled to hear this statement. Jane had been, in fact, a
little afraid to ask for meat for her kitten, supposing it possible that
the waiter might think that she ought not to have brought a kitten on
board. But the truth was, the waiter was very glad to hear of it. He was
glad for two reasons. In the first place, the monotony and dulness of
sea life are so great, that those who live in ships are usually glad to
have any thing occur that is extraordinary or novel. Then, besides, he
knew that it was customary with passengers, when they gave the waiters
any unusual trouble, to compensate them for it fully when they reached
the end of the voyage; and he presumed, therefore, that if he had a
kitten to take care of, as well as the children themselves, their
father, whom he had no doubt was on board would remember it in his fee.
So, when Jane told him where the kitten was, he said he would go and
bring her out into the dining saloon, and give her some of the meat
there, as soon as the passengers had finished their luncheon, so that he
could be spared from the table.
Accordingly, when the proper time arrived, the waiter went aft, to the
cabin, and very soon returned, bringing the cage with him.
He seemed quite pleased with his charge; and several of the passengers,
who met him as they were going out of the saloon, stopped a moment to
see what he had got in the cage, and Jane was much gratified at hearing
one of them say,--
"What a pretty kitten! Whose is it, waiter?"
The waiter put the cage down upon a side table, and then carried a plate
of meat to the place, and put it in the cage. Jane and Rollo went to
see. While the kitten was eating her meat, the waiter said that he would
go and get some milk for her. He accordingly went away again; but he
soon returned, bringing a little milk with him in a saucer. The kitten,
having by this time finished eating her meat, set herself eagerly at the
work of lapping up the milk, which she did with an air of great
satisfaction.
"There!" said the waiter, "bring her out here whenever she is hungry,
and I will always have something for her. When you come at meal times,
you will see me at the table. If you come at any other time, and you
don't see me, ask for Alfred. My name is Alfred."
Jane and Rollo both said to Alfred that they were very much obliged to
him, and then, observing that nearly all the passengers had left the
dining saloon and had returned to the cabin, they determined to go too.
So they went back through the same passage way by which they had come.
There were two principal cabins in the ship, the ladies' cabin and the
gentlemen's cabin. The ladies' cabin was nearest to the dining saloon,
the gentlemen's cabin being beyond. A number of ladies and gentlemen
turned into the ladies' cabin, and so Rollo and Jane followed them. They
found themselves, when they had entered, in quite a considerable
apartment, with sofas and mirrors all around the sides of it, and a
great deal of rich carving in the panels and ceiling. Several splendid
lamps, too, were suspended in different places, so hung that they could
move freely in every direction, when the ship was rolling from side to
side in rough seas. Rollo and Jane took their seats upon one of the
sofas.
"Well, Rollo," said Jane, "I don't know what we are going to do next."
"Nor I," said Rollo; "but we can sit here a little while, and perhaps
somebody will come and speak to us. It must be right for us to sit here,
for other ladies and gentlemen are sitting in this cabin."
Jane looked about the cabin on the different sofas to see if there were
any persons there that she had ever seen before. But there were none.
Among the persons in the cabin, there were two who particularly
attracted Jane's attention. They were young ladies of, perhaps, eighteen
or twenty years of age, but they were remarkably different from each
other in appearance. One was very beautiful indeed. Her hair was
elegantly arranged in curls upon her neck, and she was dressed quite
fashionably. Her countenance, too, beamed with an expression of
animation and happiness.
The other young lady, who sat upon the other end of the same sofa, was
very plain in her appearance, and was plainly dressed. Her countenance,
too, had a sober and thoughtful expression which was almost stern, and
made Jane feel quite disposed to be afraid of her. The beautiful girl
she liked very much.
While the children were sitting thus upon the sofa, waiting to see what
was next going to happen to them, several persons passed along that way,
taking a greater or less degree of notice of them as they passed. Some
merely stared at them, as if wondering how they came there, and what
they were doing. One lady looked kindly at them, but did not speak.
Another lady, apparently about forty years of age, walked by them with a
haughty air, talking all the time with a gentleman who was with her.
Jane heard her say to the gentleman, as soon as she had passed them,--
"What a quantity of children we have on board this ship! I hate children
on board ship, they are so noisy and troublesome."
Jane did not say any thing in reply to this, but she thought that she
and Rollo, at least, did not deserve such censures, for they had
certainly not been noisy or troublesome.
Presently Jane saw the beautiful girl, who has been already spoken of,
rise and come toward them. She was very glad to see this, for now,
thought she, we have a friend coming. The young lady came walking along
carelessly toward them, and when she came near she looked at them a
moment, and then said, in a pert and forward manner,--
"What are you sitting here for, children, so long, all alone? Where is
your father?"
"My father is in Liverpool, I suppose," said Rollo.
"Well, your mother, then," said the young lady, "or whoever has the care
of you?"
"My mother is in Liverpool, too," said Rollo "and there is nobody who
has the care of us on board this ship."
"Why, you are not going to cross the Atlantic all by yourselves, are
you?" said the young lady, in a tone of great astonishment.
"Yes," said Rollo, "unless we find somebody to be kind enough to help
us."
"La! how queer!" said the young lady. "I am sure I'm glad enough that I
am not in your places."
So saying, the beautiful young lady walked on.
All the beauty, however, which she had before possessed in Jane's eyes
was entirely dissipated by this heartless behavior. Both Jane and Rollo,
for all the rest of the voyage, thought her one of the ugliest girls
they had ever seen.
It was some minutes after this before any other person approached the
children. Jane observed, however, that the other young lady--the one who
had appeared to her so plain--looked frequently toward her and Rollo,
with an expression of interest and kindness upon her countenance. At
length she rose from her seat, and came across the cabin, and sat down
by Jane's side.
"May I come and sit by you?" said she to Jane. "You seem to be all
alone."
"Yes," said Jane; "we don't know any body in this ship."
"Not any body?" said the young lady. "Then you may know me. My name is
Maria. But your father and mother are on board the ship, are they not?"
"No," said Rollo. "There is not any body on board this ship that belongs
to us."
Maria seemed very much astonished at hearing this, and she asked the
children how it happened that they were sent across the Atlantic alone.
Upon which Rollo, in a very clear and lucid manner, explained all the
circumstances of the case to her. He told her about his father being
sick in England, and about his having sent for him and Jane to go to
England and meet him there. He also explained what Mr. George's plan had
been for providing them with a protector on the voyage, and how it had
been defeated by the accident of the loss of the trunk. He also told her
how narrowly they had escaped having the trunk itself left behind. He
ended by saying that there were several of his father's friends on
board, only he did not know of any way by which he could find out who
they were.
"Never mind that," said Maria. "I will take care of you. You need not
be at all afraid; you will get along very well. Have you got any state
room?"
"No," said Rollo.
"Well, I will go and find the chambermaid, and she will get you one.
Then we will have your trunk sent to it, and you will feel quite at home
there."
So Maria went away, and presently returned with one of the chambermaids.
When the chambermaid learned that there were two children on board
without any one to take care of them, she was very much interested in
their case. Rollo heard her say to Maria, as they came up together
toward the sofa where the children were sitting,--
"O, yes, I will find them a state room, if they have not got one
already. Children," she added, when she came near, "are you sure you
have not got any state room?"
"Yes," said Rollo. "I did not know where the captain's office was."
"O, you don't go to the captain's office," said the chambermaid. "They
pay for the passage and get the tickets in Wall Street."
"Perhaps this is it, then," said Rollo. And so saying, he took out his
wallet, and there, from one of the inner compartments, where his uncle
George had placed it away very carefully, he produced a paper. The
chambermaid opened it, saying, "Yes, this is all right. Berths sixteen
and eighteen. Come with me, and I'll show you where they are."
So the two children, accompanied by Maria, followed the chambermaid, who
led the way across the cabin, and there, entering a passage way, she
opened a door, by means of a beautiful porcelain knob which was upon it.
They all went in. They found themselves in a small room, no bigger than
a large closet, but they saw at a glance that it was very beautifully
finished and furnished. On the front side was a round window like those
they had seen in the dining saloon. Under this window was a couch, with
a pillow at the head of it. On the back side were two berths, one above
the other, with very pretty curtains before them.
"There!" said the chambermaid, "sixteen. That lower berth is yours."
"And whose is the upper berth?" asked Maria.
"That is not taken, I think," said the chambermaid.
"Then I will take it," said Maria. "I will come into this state room,
and then I can look after Jennie all the time. But where is Rollo's
berth?"
"In the next state room," said the chambermaid.
So saying, she opened a door in the end of the room, and found another
state room communicating with the first, where she pointed out Rollo's
berth. There was another entrance to Rollo's state room from the passage
leading into the cabin, on the farther side of it.
"There," said the chambermaid, "now you can settle yourselves here as
soon as you please. Nobody can come in here to trouble you, for you have
these little rooms all to yourselves. I'll go and find a porter, and get
him to look up your trunk and send it in."
So Rollo went into his state room, and Jane sat down upon the couch in
hers, by the side of Maria, looking very much pleased. She opened the
door of the cage, and let the kitten out. The kitten walked all about
the room, examining every thing with great attention. She jumped up upon
the marble washstand, and from that she contrived to get into the round
window, where she stood for a few minutes looking out very attentively
over the wide sea. Not knowing, however, what to make of so
extraordinary a prospect, she presently jumped down again, and,
selecting a smooth place at the foot of the couch, she curled herself up
into a ring upon the soft covering of it, and went to sleep.