THE MAIL STEAMER.
Rollo's explanation in respect to the mail steamer was correct. As has
before been stated in some one or other of the volumes of this series,
the northern coast of France is low, and the shore is shelving for
almost the whole extent of it, and there are scarcely any good harbors.
Immense sandy beaches extend along the coast, sloping so gradually
outward, that when the tide goes down the sands are left bare for miles
and miles towards the sea. The only way by which harbors can be made on
such a shore is to find some place where a creek or small river flows
into the sea, and then walling in the channel at the mouth of the creek,
so as to prevent it being choked up by sand. In this way a passage is
secured, by which, when the tide is high, pretty good sized vessels can
get in; but, after all that they can do in such a case, they cannot make
a harbor which can be entered at low tide. When the tide is out, nothing
is left between the two piers, which form the borders of the channel,
but muddy flats, with a small, sluggish stream, scarcely deep enough to
float a jolly boat, slowly meandering in the midst of them towards the
sea.
The harbor of California is such a harbor as this. Accordingly, in case
a steamer arrives there when the tide is down, there is no other way but
for her to anchor in the offing until it rises again; and the
passengers, if they wish to go ashore, must clamber down the side of the
vessel into a small boat, and be pulled ashore by the oarsmen. In smooth
weather this is very easily done. But in rough weather, when both
steamer and boat are pitching and tossing violently up and down upon the
waves, it is _not_ very easy or agreeable, especially for timid ladies.
After finishing their breakfast, Mr. George and Rollo went out, and they
rambled about the town until the time drew near for the sailing of the
boat. Then they went to the station for the luggage, and having engaged
a porter to take it to the boat, they followed him down to the pier till
they came to the place where the boat was lying. After seeing the trunk
put on board they went on board themselves. A short time afterwards Mr.
and Mrs. Parkman came.
The steamer, like all the others which ply between the coasts of France
and England, was quite small, and the passengers were very few. There
were only four or five ladies, and not far from the same number of
gentlemen. As the passage was only expected to occupy about two hours,
the passengers did not go below, but arranged themselves on seats upon
the deck--some along the sides of the deck by the bulwarks, and some
near the centre, around a sort of house built over the passage way which
led down into the cabin.
Soon after Mr. and Mrs. Parkman came on board, Mr. Parkman said to his
wife,--
"Now, Louise, my dear, you will be less likely to be sick if you get
some good place where you can take a reclining posture, and so remain
pretty still until we get over."
"O, I shall not be sick," said she. "I am not at all afraid."
So she began walking about the deck with an unconcerned and careless
air, as if she had been an old sailor.
Pretty soon Mr. George saw two other ladies coming, with their husbands,
over the plank. The countenances of these ladies were very pleasing, and
there was a quiet gentleness in their air and manner which impressed Mr.
George very strongly in their favor.
As soon as they reached the deck, and while their husbands were
attending to the disposal of the luggage, they began to look for seats.
"We will get into the most comfortable position we can," said one of
them, "and keep still till we get nearly across."
"Yes," said the other, "that will be the safest."
So they chose good seats near the companion way, and sat down there, and
their husbands brought them carpet bags to put their feet upon.
In about fifteen minutes after this the steamer put off from the pier,
and commenced her voyage. She very soon began to rise and fall over the
waves, with a short, uneasy motion, which was very disagreeable. The
passengers, however, all remained still in the places which they had
severally chosen,--some reading, others lying quiet with their eyes
closed, as if they were trying to go to sleep.
Mr. Parkman himself tried to do this, but his wife would not leave him
in peace. She came to him continually to inquire about this or that, or
to ask him to look at some vessel that was coming in sight, or at some
view on the shore. All this time the wind, and the consequent motion of
the steamer, increased. Scudding clouds were seen flitting across the
sky, from which there descended now and then misty showers of rain.
These clouds gradually became more frequent and more dense, until at
length the whole eastern sky was involved in one dense mass of
threatening vapor.
It began to grow dark, too. The specified time for sailing was four
o'clock; but there was a delay for the mails, and it was full half past
four before the steamer had left the pier. And now, before she began to
draw near the French coast, it was nearly half past six. At length the
coast began slowly to appear. Its outline was dimly discerned among the
misty clouds.
Long before this time, however, Mrs. Parkman had become quite sick. She
first began to feel dizzy, and then she turned pale, and finally she
came and sat down by her husband, and leaned her head upon his shoulder.
She had been sitting in this posture for nearly half an hour, when at
length she seemed to feel better, and she raised her head again.
"Are we not nearly there?" said she.
"Yes," said her husband. "The lighthouse is right ahead, and the ends of
the piers. In ten minutes more we shall be going in between them, and
then all the trouble will be over."
Rollo and Mr. George were at this time near the bows. They had gone
there to look forward, in order to get as early a glimpse as possible
of the boats that they knew were to be expected to come out from the
pier as soon as the steamer should draw nigh.
"Here they come!" said Rollo, at length.
"Yes," said Mr. George. "I see them."
It was so nearly dark that the boats could not be seen distinctly.
Indeed there was not much to be discerned but a black moving mass,
slowly coming out from under the walls of the pier.
The steamer had now nearly reached the ground where she was to anchor,
and so the seamen on the forecastle took in the foresail, which had been
spread during the voyage, and the helmsman put down the helm. The head
of the steamer then slowly came round till it pointed in a direction
parallel to the shore. This carried the boats and the pier somewhat out
of view from the place where Mr. George and Rollo had been standing.
"Now we can see them better aft," said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "and they will board us aft too; so we had
better be there ready."
Accordingly Mr. George and Rollo went aft again, and approached the
gangway on the side where they supposed the boats would come.
In going there they passed round first on the other side of the entrance
to the cabin, where the two ladies were sitting that have already been
described. As they went by one of the gentlemen came to them and said,--
"Keep up your courage a few minutes longer. We are very near the pier.
In ten minutes we shall be in smooth water, and all will be over."
The ladies seemed much relieved and rejoiced to hear this, and then the
gentleman went with Mr. George and Rollo towards the gangway, in order
that they might make further observations. He was joined there a moment
afterwards by his companion. Now, these gentlemen, as it happened, knew
nothing about the plan of landing in boats. They had made no particular
inquiry at Dover in respect to the steamer that they had come in, but
took it for granted that she would go into the harbor as usual, and land
the passengers at the pier. Their attention had just been attracted to
the singular movement of the steamer, when Rollo and Mr. George came up.
"_What!_" said one of them, speaking with a tone of surprise, and
looking about eagerly over the water. "We are coming to, Mr. Waldo. What
can that mean?"
Just then the little fleet of boats, six or seven in number, began to
come into view from where the gentlemen stood. They were dimly seen at a
distance, and looked like long, black animals, slowly advancing over the
dark surface of the water, and struggling fearfully with the waves.
"What boats can those be?" said Mr. Waldo, beginning to look a little
alarmed.
He was alarmed not for himself, but for his wife, who was very frail and
delicate in health, and ill fitted to bear any unusual exposure.
"I am sure I cannot imagine," replied the other.
"It looks marvellously as if they were coming out for us," said Mr.
Waldo.
"Can it be possible, Mr. Albert, that we are to land in boats such a
night as this?" continued he.
"It looks like it," replied the other. "Yes, they are really coming
here."
The boats were now seen evidently advancing towards the steamer. They
came on in a line, struggling fearfully with the waves.
"They look like spectres of boats," said Mr. George to Rollo.
Mr. Albert now went round to the other side of the companion way, to the
place where the two ladies were sitting.
"Ladies," said he, "I am very sorry to say that we shall be obliged to
land in boats."
"In boats!" said the ladies, surprised.
"Yes," said Mr. Albert, "the tide is out, and I suppose we cannot go
into port. The steamer has come to, and the boats are coming
alongside."
The ladies looked out over the dark and stormy water with an emotion of
fear, but they did not say a word.
"There is no help for it," continued the gentleman; "and you have
nothing to do but to resign yourselves passively to whatever comes. If
we had known that this steamer would not go into port, we would not have
come in her; but now that we are here we must go through."
"Very well," said the ladies. "Let us know when the boat for us is
ready."
Mr. Albert then returned to the gangway, where Rollo and Mr. George were
standing. The foremost boat had come alongside, and the seamen were
throwing the mail bags into it. When the mails were all safely stowed in
the boat, some of the passengers that stood near by were called upon to
follow. Mr. George and Rollo, being near, were among those thus called
upon.
"Wait a moment," said Mr. George to Rollo, in a low tone. "Let a few of
the others go first, that we may see how they manage it."
It proved to be rather difficult to manage it; for both the steamer and
the boat were rocking and tossing violently on the waves, and as their
respective motions did not at all correspond, they thumped against each
other continually, as the boat rose and fell up and down the side of
the steamer in a fearful manner. It was dark too, and the wind was
blowing fresh, which added to the frightfulness of the scene.
A crowd of people stood about the gangway. Some of these people were
passengers waiting to go down, and others, officers of the ship, to help
them. The seamen in the boat below were all on the alert too, some
employed in keeping the boat off from the side of the ship, in order to
prevent her being stove or swamped, while others stood on each side of
the place where the passengers were to descend, with uplifted arms,
ready to seize and hold them when they came down.
There was a little flight of steps hanging down the side of the steamer,
with ropes on each side of it in lieu of a balustrade. The passenger who
was to embark was directed to turn round and begin to go down these
steps backward, and then, when the sea lifted the boat so that the
seamen on board could seize hold of him, they all cried out
vociferously, "LET GO!" and at the same moment a strong sailor grasped
him around the waist, brought him down into the bottom of the boat in a
very safe, though extremely unceremonious manner.
After several gentlemen and one lady had thus been put into the boat,
amid a great deal of calling and shouting, and many exclamations of
surprise and terror, the officer at the gangway turned to Mr. George,
saying,--
"Come, sir!"
There was no time to stop to talk; so Mr. George stepped forward, saying
to Rollo as he went, "Come right on directly after me;" and in a moment
more he was seized by the man, and whirled down into the boat, he
scarcely knew how. Immediately after he was in, there came some
unusually heavy seas, and the steamer and the boat thumped together so
violently that all the efforts of the seamen seemed to be required to
keep them apart.
"Push off!" said the officer.
"Here, stop! I want to go first," exclaimed Rollo.
"No more in this boat," said the officer. "Push off!"
"Never mind," said Rollo, calling out to Mr. George, "I'll come by and
by."
"All right," said Mr. George.
By this time the boat had got clear of the steamer, and she now began to
move slowly onward, rising and falling on the waves, and struggling
violently to make her way.
"I am glad they did not let me go," said Rollo. "I would rather stay
and see the rest go first."
Another boat was now seen approaching, and Rollo stepped back a little
to make way for the people that were to go in it, when he heard Mrs.
Parkman's voice, in tones of great anxiety and terror, saying to her
husband,--
"I cannot go ashore in a boat in that way, William. I cannot possibly,
and I will not!"
"Why, Louise," said her husband, "what else can we do?"
"I'll wait till the steamer goes into port, if I have to wait till
midnight," replied Mrs. Parkman positively. "It is a shame! Such
disgraceful management! Could not they find out how the tide would be
here before they left Dover?"
"Yes," replied Mr. Parkman. "Of course they knew perfectly well how the
tide would be."
"Then why did not they leave at such an hour as to make it right for
landing here?"
"There _are_ boats every day," said Mr. Parkman, "which leave at the
right time for that, and most passengers take them. But the mails must
come across at regular hours, whether the tide serves or not, and boats
must come to bring the mails, and they, of course, allow passengers to
come in these boats too, if they choose. We surely cannot complain of
that."
"Then they ought to have told us how it was," said Mrs. Parkman. "I
think it is a shameful deception, to bring us over in this way, and not
let us know any thing about it."
"But they did tell us," said Mr. Parkman. "Do not you recollect that the
porter at the station told us that this was a mail boat, and that it
would not be pleasant for a lady."
"But I did not know," persisted Mrs. Parkman, "that he meant that we
should have to land in this way. He did not tell us any thing about
that."
"He told us that it was a mail boat, and he meant by that to tell us
that we could not land at the pier. It is true, we did not understand
him fully, but that is because we come from a great distance, and do not
understand the customs of the country. That is our misfortune. It was
not the porter's fault."
"I don't think so at all," said Mrs. Parkman. "And you always take part
against me in such things, and I think it is really unkind."
All this conversation went on in an under tone; but though there was a
great deal of noise and confusion on every side, Rollo could hear it
all. While he was listening to it,--or rather while he was _hearing_ it,
for he took no pains to listen,--the gentleman who had been talking
with Mr. Waldo, and whom the latter had called Mr. Albert, went round to
the two ladies who were waiting to be called, and said,--
"Now, ladies, the boat is ready. Follow me. Say nothing, but do just as
you are told, and all will go well."
[Illustration: LANDING FROM THE MAIL BOAT.]
So the ladies came one after the other in among the crowd that gathered
around the gangway, and there, before they could bring their faculties
at all to comprehend any thing distinctly amid the bewildering
confusion of the scene, they found their bags and shawls taken away from
them, and they themselves turned round and gently forced to back down
the steps of the ladder over the boiling surges, when, in a moment more,
amid loud shouts of "LET GO!" they were seized by the sailors in the
boat, and down they went, they knew not how, for a distance of many feet
into the stern of the boat, where they suddenly found themselves seated,
while the boat itself was rocking violently to and fro, and thumping
against the side of the steamer in a frightful manner.
The officer, who had charge of the debarkation on the deck of the
steamer above, immediately called to Mrs. Parkman.
"Come, madam!" said he.
"No," said she, "I can't possibly go ashore in that way."
"Then you will have to stay on board all night."
"Well, I'd rather stay on board all night," said she.
"And you will have to go back to Dover, madam," continued the officer,
speaking in a very stern and hurried manner, "for the steamer is not
going into the pier at all."
Then immediately turning to Rollo, he said, "Come, young man!"
So Rollo marched up to the gangway, and was in a moment whirled down
into the boat, as the others had been. Immediately afterwards the boat
pushed off, and the sailors began to row, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Parkman
on board the steamer. How they were to get to the shore Rollo did not
know.
Rollo began to look about over the water. It had become almost entirely
dark, and though the moon, which was full, had, as it happened, broken
out through the clouds a short time before, when they were getting into
the boats, she had now become obscured again, and every thing seemed
enveloped in deep gloom. Still Rollo could see at a short distance
before him the other boats slowly making their way over the wild and
stormy water. He could also see the ends of the piers dimly defined in
the misty air, and the tall lighthouse beyond, with a bright light
burning in the lantern at the top of it.
"We shall only be a few minutes, now," said one of the gentlemen. "It is
not far to the piers."
The boat went on, pitching and tossing over the waves, with her head
towards the piers. The pilot who steered the boat called out continually
to the oarsmen, and the oarsmen shouted back to him; but nobody could
understand such sailor language as they used. At length, on looking
forward again, Rollo saw that the boats before him, instead of going on
in a line towards the land, were slowly scattering in all directions,
and that their own boat, instead of heading towards the pier as at
first, gradually turned round, and seemed to be going along in a
direction parallel to the coast, as the steamer had done.
"What!" exclaimed Mr. Albert, on observing this, "we are not going
towards the piers. Where can we be going?"
The other gentleman shook his head, and said he did not know.
The ladies remained quietly in their places. There was evidently nothing
for them to do, and so they concluded, very sensibly, to do nothing.
The boat slowly turned her head round, all the time pitching and tossing
violently on the billows, until finally she was directed almost towards
the steamer again.
"What can be the matter?" asked one of the gentlemen, addressing the
other. "We are not heading towards the shore." Then turning towards the
pilot, he said to him,--
"What is the matter? Why cannot we go in?"
The pilot, who spoke English very imperfectly, answered, "It is a bar.
The water is not enough."
"There is a bar," said the gentleman, "outside the entrance to the
harbor, and the water is not deep enough even for these boats to go
over. We can see it."
Rollo and the others looked in the direction where the gentleman
pointed, and he could see a long, white line formed by the breakers on
the bar, extending each way as far as the eye could reach along the
shore. Beyond were to be dimly seen the heads of the piers, and a low
line of the coast on either hand, with the lighthouse beyond, towering
high into the air, and a bright and steady light beaming from the summit
of it.
"I hope the tide is not going _down_," said the gentleman, "for in that
case we may have to wait here half the night."
"Is the tide going down, or coming up?" he said, turning again to the
pilot.
"It will come up. The tide will come up," answered the pilot.
"What does he say?" asked one of the ladies in a whisper.
"He says that the tide will come up," replied the gentleman. "Whether he
means it is coming up now, or that it will come up some time or other, I
do not know. We have nothing to do but to remain quiet, and await the
result."
The clouds had been for some time growing darker and darker, and now it
began to rain. So the gentlemen took out their umbrellas and spread
them, and the party huddled together in the bottom of the boat, and
sheltered themselves there as well as they could from the wind and rain.
They invited Rollo to come under the umbrellas too, but he said that the
rain would not hurt his cap, and he preferred to sit where he could look
out and see what they would do.
"Very well," said one of the gentlemen. "Tell us, from time to time, how
we get along."
So Rollo watched the manoeuvring of the boat, and reported, from time
to time, the progress that she was making. It was not very easy for him
to make himself heard, on account of the noise of the winds and waves,
and the continual vociferations of the pilot and the seamen.
"We are headed now," said he, "right away from the shore. We are pointed
towards the steamer. I can just see her, working up and down in the
offing.
"Now the men are backing water," he continued. "We are going stern
foremost towards the bar. I believe they are going to try to back her
over."
The boat now rapidly approached the line of breakers, moving stern
foremost. The roar of the surf sounded nearer and nearer. At length the
ladies and gentlemen under the umbrellas looked out, and they saw
themselves in the midst of rolling billows of foam, on which the boat
rose and fell like a bubble. Presently they could feel her thump upon
the bottom. The next wave lifted her up and carried her towards the
shore, and then subsiding, brought her down again with another thump
upon the sand. The pilot shouted out new orders to the seamen. They
immediately began to pull forward with their oars. He had found that the
water was yet too shallow on the bar, and that it would be impossible to
pass over. So the sailors were pulling the boat out to sea again.
The ladies were, of course, somewhat alarmed while the boat was thumping
on the bar, and the boiling surges were roaring so frightfully around
them; but they said nothing. They knew that they had nothing to do, and
so they remained quiet.
"We are clear of the bar, now," said Rollo, continuing his report. "I
can see the breakers in a long line before us, but we are clear of them.
Now the sailors are getting out the anchor. I can see a number of the
other boats that are at anchor already."
The anchor, or rather the grapnel which served as an anchor, was now
thrown overboard, and the boat came to, head to the wind. There she
lay, pitching and tossing very uneasily on the sea. The other boats were
seen lying in similar situations at different distances. One was very
near; so near, that instead of anchoring herself, the seamen threw a
rope from her on board the boat where Rollo was, and so held on by her,
instead of anchoring herself. In this situation the whole fleet of boats
remained for nearly an hour. Rollo kept a good lookout all the time,
watching for the first indications of any attempt to move.
At length he heard a fresh command given by the pilot, in language that
he could not understand; but the sailors at the bows immediately began
to take in the anchor.
"They are raising the anchor," said he. "Now we are going to try it
again. There is one boat gone already. She is just coming to the bar.
She is now just in the breakers. I can see the white foam all around
her. She is going in. Now she is over. I can see the whole line of foam
this side of her. Our boat will be there very soon."
In a very few minutes more the boat entered the surf, and soon began to
thump as before at every rise and fall of the seas. But as each
successive wave came up, she was lifted and carried farther over the
bar, and at last came to deep water on the other side.
"It is all over now," said one of the gentlemen, "and, besides, it has
stopped raining." So he rose from his place and shut the umbrella. The
ladies looked around, and to their great joy saw that they were just
entering between the ends of the piers. The passage way was not very
wide, and the piers rose like high walls on each side of it; but the
water was calm and smooth within, and the boats glided along one after
another in a row, in a very calm and peaceful manner. At length they
reached the landing stairs, which were built curiously within the pier,
among the piles and timbers, and there they all safely disembarked.
On reaching the top of the stairs, Rollo found Mr. George waiting for
him.
"Uncle George," said Rollo, "here I am."
"Have you had a good time?" asked Mr. George.
"Yes," said Rollo, "excellent."
"And what became of Mr. and Mrs. Parkman?"
"I don't know," said Rollo; "I left them on board the steamer. She
declared that she would not come in a small boat."
"You and I," said Mr. George, "will go off to-morrow morning by the
first train, and go straight to Holland as fast as we can, so as to get
out of their way."
"Well," said Rollo. "Though I don't care much about it either way."
Mr. George, however, carried his plan into effect. The next day they
went to Antwerp; and on the day following they crossed the Belgian
frontier, and entered Holland.
[Illustration]