THE NEW WOMAN IN SARGASSO.
The captain’s gig, which I had found in an excellent state of
preservation on one of the lower decks, was put in the hands of
one of the crew, who had some experience as a carpenter, and was
thoroughly refitted. I had the seats in the stern of the boat
covered with sea-grass cushions and the trim gig given a coat of the
fish-scale shellac, without and within. There were seats for six
oarsmen.
When the gig was finished and the oars fitted thereto, I selected
a boat’s crew with great care, choosing only the strongest and
homeliest young men from the ship’s company. When all was ready I had
the boat placed in the water one day when Donna Elenora was present
on the Caribas, and then informed the two ladies that the gig was at
their service, individually and collectively, whenever they chose
to use it. I knew enough of human nature to foresee that, after a
few visits together, the two ladies would disagree as to the proper
hour to make calls, and practically would never use the boat in each
other’s company. I must admit that I felt an emotion of satanic
delight in destroying all the traditions of the Sargassons at one
blow, and in thus boldly introducing what we in the English language
denominate “The Sociability of the Human Race.” Deep down in my heart
I felt that the Sargassons were right in theory and in practice.
Little as they knew of the great world that surrounded them, but
of which they formed a part, they had discovered that, almost
universally, friendships exist because of mutual interests, and
that the moment a preponderance of selfish benefit accrues to one
individual in excess of that attainable by the other, all cordiality
is dissipated.
Friendship is a mirage of Fogland! It vanishes when the sunlight of
self-interest beats upon it.
In every way I encouraged the propaganda that these good ladies had
set on foot. Day by day I saw them depart, filled with the enthusiasm
of their sacred mission. Naturally, the first visits were paid
nearest home, but the field of the propaganda was gradually extended
until their absence embraced the period between the rising and going
down of the sun.
For a few days I was told all that occurred, exactly what had been
said on each vessel, how the tea tasted with which they had been
regaled, and even the spiteful remarks that the women on the other
ships had made about their neighbors. But, prompted by Donna Elenora,
who unconsciously was more of a logician than Fidette, the leader
of the Great Cause soon ceased to tell me anything. In this she was
entirely within her own rights, and I found no fault.
The Kantoon of the Cormorant, however, was not so complacent, and
on the first refusal of his wife to tell him where she had been he
reasserted the majesty of man by locking her up in the sick bay and
putting her on a diet of dry seaweed and rainwater. He peremptorily
refused to allow Donna Elenora to again accompany Fidette, and the
splendid future of the good work seemed to be imperiled. It was in
vain that Fidette appealed to me to have her companion released. I
told her, candidly, that under the new order of things my influence
did not extend to a control of the women in the community; that,
however much liberty I might allow the gentle sex, I could not
abolish the marriage relation or create any ex-post facto regulation
that would abrogate the control that the husband was admitted to have
over the conduct of the wife at the time the contract was made.
This didn’t satisfy Fidette. Her estimate of man was no better than
before. I was really charmed with the manner in which she stamped her
little foot on the deck and said:
“Just wait till we control Sargasso and its myriad ships. We’ll
crucify such a man as Elenora’s husband!”
This was perfectly delightful to me.
I learned from time to time that the social conditions on the ships
that had been visited by the two priestesses of emancipation were
quite the same as on board the Cormorant. The custom of giving teas
to the visiting wives and daughters of the Kantoons had already
practically destroyed one of the most sacred ordinances of the
Sargassons forbidding the presence of fire on any ship. This offense,
for which any man in the crew would have been instantly punished with
death, was now committed by the ladies of Sargasso with impunity.
Another circumstances that I noticed in the line of independence was
that they began bartering their jewels among each other, and the
greater part of the personal property that had been the pride of the
Sargasson people bid fair to drift into the hands of a few women who
were shrewder and more skilled in the arts of barter than the others.
I foresaw that this would lead to no end of trouble. Fidette was
the superior of any woman in striking a bargain, and she did not,
therefore, suffer especially at the hands of the shrewdest of her sex.
The catastrophe that I had feared came in a most startling and
unexpected way.
Five months had been devoted to “ameliorating the condition of the
Sargasson women.” Her cares had been lightened to such an extent
that she knew nothing about her own household as a rule, but was
thoroughly acquainted with every detail regarding the affairs of her
neighbors. She had begun to observe and comment upon the dress and
the personal adornment of her best friends. She had taken to staining
her cheeks with the juice of the ogalla berry--not to render her more
beautiful and attractive to her husband, but to rouse the envy of her
own sex.
Covetousness, a vice that had been unknown among these people
previously, made its appearance, and some of the women devoted
all their time to plotting how they might secure the most highly
prized heirlooms that their friends possessed. Already several very
scandalous charges have been made to the Chief Kantoon, involving
undue influence and insinuating theft.
But the climax was reached one dark night, when the Sacred Light was
flashed high into a sky of inky blackness. No intimation whatever
as to the cause of its sudden appearance had been received over the
sea-root telegraph, and I have no doubt that on every ship, as on
the Caribas, the deepest suspense was felt while the awful import of
the glowing message in the sky was being slowly deciphered. With a
movement, regular as the swinging of a pendulum, the searchlight was
thrown east or west, north or south, southeast or northwest, until
enough of the message had been imparted to enable every Sargasson to
guess the rest.
I was not familiar enough in reading the signals of the Sacred Light
to grasp the startling intelligence it conveyed. Fidette and my first
officer, who stood near me, threw themselves upon their faces on the
deck, exhibiting signs of abject terror. In vain I shook the first
mate; then I strove to raise my wife to her feet.
Taking Fidette in my arms, I was about to carry her to her cabin,
when I detected members of the crew dropping overboard from various
parts of the ship. One sailor rushed past me, and threw himself
headlong into the sea. These acts of my men filled me with
consternation. Before my eyes members of my crew were drowning
themselves because of the information that the Sacred Light had
flashed to them!
Carrying Fidette to her cabin, I placed her on the sofa, applied to
her nostrils a bottle of strong salts that had been in my locker,
and she soon revived. I could hear the men rushing about the deck
in the utmost confusion. I was still completely mystified. My only
hope was an explanation from Fidette. The light in the cabin was
furnished by a large piece of rotten wood, suspended from the ceiling
by a cord. It was the fox-fire familiar to all woodsmen. By the aid
of this light I saw Fidette’s eyes slowly open, but in them was a
look of fear and mental distress, such as I never saw exhibited by
a human being. I spoke to her again and again. I entreated for an
explanation. Suddenly she roused herself and sat bolt upright. She
appeared oblivious of my presence. She allowed me to take her hand,
but appeared unconscious of passionate and sympathetic words. Finally
her lips moved, and she fairly screamed in a tone of agony and
remorse:
“We are lost!”
“Lost!” I exclaimed; “what has happened, my darling? What calamity
can overcome us? I am here to protect you. I can defend you against
the entire power of the Sargasson people--at least, I can do so as
long as there is life in me. Speak, sweet one. Do speak!”
“Oh, we are lost!” and the poor, little creature burst into a
hysterical fit of weeping. To no effect did I fold her in my arms and
hold her cheek close to mine, and, somewhat rudely, perhaps, brushed
the long, floating hair from her cold brow. She would explain no
further.