The mortification of M. T. Pate at having been compelled to leave the
Brazilian Empire as an absconding debtor was intense, and he was now
teased and tormented by his comrades in the most unmerciful manner.
They told him that as soon as his ruthless creditor discovered his
flight he would apply to the Emperor for redress, who would dispatch a
swift-sailing man-of-war to capture him; and that he would be carried
back and imprisoned in the calaboose until he had paid the last dump of
the debt. Whenever a sail hove in sight, some one would cry out, "There
comes the Brazilian vessel in pursuit of Pate;" when all would advise
him to secrete himself in the hold of the ship, and said that they would
inform the captain of the man-of-war that he had unfortunately fallen
overboard when off Cape Frio.
He was so worried by these pitiless jokes that he became misanthropic,
and finally refused to associate with any of the passengers. He would
leave the cabin, where at night there were usually much fun and
merriment, and where he was sure to be the butt of some cruel jest, and,
going upon deck, would seat himself upon a stool and brood in solitude
over his misery, until he was in a sound sleep.
One night there was a dead calm upon the waters, and not a sound was
heard except the flapping of a sail as the ship rolled over a wave, or
the monotonous notes which proceeded from the perforations in the nasal
protuberance of the melancholy Pate, who had fallen asleep as he sat on
his stool. But suddenly there is an unnatural noise, and a frightful
fluttering overhead, and down it comes--a ghostlike creature!--long,
lean, and spectral!--with two gigantic wings beating wildly about! With
a chorus of strange cries it tumbles upon deck, upsetting the unlucky
Pate, who with a loud yell of terror, rolls over and over into the
scupper; while Peter and Paul, headed by Old Nick, rush thither and
mingle with a crowd of passengers who come from the cabin. And there
they behold poor Pate lying on his back in the scupper, and yelling
"murder," with the strength of his lungs; while over him stands Moses,
glorying in his achievement. He had espied a booby-bird roosting upon
the mainyard, and with a catlike step crept up and effected its capture.
And thus the sudden and unexpected descent of the two boobies upon the
deck was the cause of all this commotion. The position of Pate, as he
lay on his back in the scupper, bawling "murder!" with the booby beating
him with its wing, was exceedingly ludicrous. He was now teased until he
was driven to the border of desperation. Tom Seddon had, with
thoughtless levity, revealed the existence of the Mystic Brotherhood,
and made known the fact that M. T. Pate was the Noble Grand Gander of
the order. After this revelation there was no more peace for poor Pate
on board the ship. At the table some one would call out in a loud voice
and inquire if the Noble Grand Gander would be helped to a piece of the
duff, when there would be a general roar of laughter. In the morning,
when he came from his bunk, many would inquire, with mock respect, after
the health of the Noble Grand Gander. And now, in the unfortunate affair
with the booby, the passengers generally expressed their profound regret
that the great American Gander had been overthrown by a Brazilian booby.
In the mean while the ship sailed on; the weather gradually grew colder,
and the three curious spots in the heavens, called the Clouds of
Magellan, were visible at night, and indicated an approximation to the
coast of Patagonia.
The Professor had a sympathy for Pate, and would sometimes endeavor to
alleviate his sufferings by cheerful conversation. They were one day
standing on deck conversing about the Clouds of Magellan, and the
Professor was suggesting the propriety of sending up an artist in a
balloon to paint them red, white, and blue, so that the American colors
might hang over these regions in anticipation of their annexation to the
great republic, when they heard the voice of Moses exclaiming,--
"Look yonder!"
"What is it?" said Pate, pointing to an enormous creature sailing
through the air and coming towards the ship.
"It is one of the Clouds of Magellan riding on the back of Old Boreas,"
said the Professor.
"No," cried Tom Seddon, "it is the gigantic ghost of the poor booby
coming to haunt Moses for the deep damnation of his taking off."
The optical orbs of Moses expanded wider and wider, as the form of the
winged monster loomed larger and larger, until, with a flap of its
tremendous pinions, it came alongside, and, after several times sweeping
around the ship, finally settled down on the water in the wake.
The Professor having ascertained that this object, on which Moses was
gazing with wonder and awe, was an albatross, attached a piece of pork
to a line and threw it overboard, with an invitation to the stranger to
lay hold, so that he might hoist him on board. The gigantic bird eagerly
accepted the invitation, and snatching the delicious morsel in his beak,
held on with a pertinacity which indicated his appreciation of the
prize. And now he was seen to stretch out his neck with an extraordinary
projection, and his huge body following it at a run, beating the water
with two enormous wings, over the poop he came, with a tremendous
fluttering, and down on the deck, where he stood like a prodigious
goose, wholly unable to define his position.
The creature walked the deck with a curious stare, until coming in
proximity to M. T. Pate, it stopped and gazed in his face, when some
wicked wag cried out,--
"Put a saddle and bridle on him, Mr. Pate."
"By all means," cried another passenger; "and if the Brazilian
man-of-war should overhaul the vessel, you can ride away on the back of
your winged courser and easily effect your escape."
These suggestions so irritated Pate that he suddenly seized a handspike
and dealt the albatross a blow, the lethal effects of which laid it a
lifeless corpse at his feet. There was a loud hurrah for the Noble Grand
Gander, and Pate, boiling with indignation, walked forward and leaned
against the forecastle.
He was now sternly denounced by Old Nick, who told him, in emphatic
terms, that he would never have any more good luck as long as he lived;
and Peter and Paul coincided with him in the prediction. Not many
moments elapsed before these vaticinations of ill fortune began to be
verified. Neptune, with indignation, had beheld the murderous deed, and
prepared a fitting punishment. He sent a huge wave, which broke over the
bow with a crash. The sailors saw it coming and sprang into the rigging;
while the assassin of the albatross was knocked off his feet and went
wallowing into the scupper. Amidst loud and boisterous laughter, M. T.
Pate hurried into the cabin with a stream of salt-water flowing from the
tail of his coat; while a number of voices commenced singing,--
"A life on the ocean wave,
A home on the rolling deep," etc.
A few days subsequent to these events, they came in sight of Tierra del
Fuego; and as the ship ran down within a league of the shore, there was
a suggestion that the officers had determined to leave the slayer of the
albatross on this desolate coast; being afraid to venture round the Horn
with such a Jonah on board. The Professor told Pate to pay no attention
to these remarks, as the captain had a cousin who had emigrated to this
part of the world and opened a hotel, and he was going to take the
passengers on shore and give a "general treat." But the ship stood away
to the south, and, followed by clouds of Cape pigeons and albatrosses,
went rolling around the Horn, and after a rough controversy with old
ocean, which lasted for several weeks, eventually came in sight of the
Island of Juan Fernandez.
Several of the passengers expressed an opinion that the captain would
now put Pate on shore, and said that he would have to live here in
solitude and clad in goats' skins like Alexander Selkirk. But the vessel
sailed on, and the peaks of the famous island were soon hid behind the
horizon; and this was their last sight of _terra firma_ until they
beheld the tops of the Andes, and soon afterwards entered the harbor of
Callao.
"There was a scene of revelry by night" in the cabin, like that which
had preceded their landing on Brazilian soil. The Professor, with Toney
and Tom, remained on deck until the sounds of conviviality had ceased,
and then proceeded to "turn in."
"What is this?" said Tom Seddon, coming in contact with a huge head
hanging over the side of a hammock.
"It is a remarkable case of suspended animation," said the Professor.
"Hercules has again become wonderfully elevated," said Toney.
"And has turned Wiggins out of his hammock," said Tom.
"Old Grizzly and M. T. Pate seem to prefer the floor," said Toney,
pointing to the two individuals named, who were lying supinely on their
backs by the side of a sea-chest under the hammock.
"Hercules seems to be hovering over them like a benignant spirit with
the most benevolent intentions," said the Professor; and he and his two
friends passed on, and, stowing themselves away in their bunks, were
awaiting the approach of "tired nature's sweet restorer," when a hideous
howl, like the outcry of a wounded dragon, rang through the cabin. A
score of startled passengers leaped hurriedly up, and rushing forward
beheld the catastrophe. Hercules had pitched headforemost from his
hammock, and precipitating himself first on the sea-chest, had rolled
over, and covered with his huge body the prostrated forms of Old Grizzly
and M. T. Pate.
Unable to account for his sudden descent, and wholly confounded by his
fall, he was giving utterance to his emotions in a succession of
diabolical howls.
Old Grizzly slowly arose, and assuming a sitting posture, growled out
his decided disapprobation of such proceedings, while M. T. Pate was
writhing and wriggling under his heavy burden, and uttering piteous
groans.
"Pate is like old John Bunyan's poor pilgrim," said Tom Seddon.
"Groaning under his load of sin," said Toney.
"Let us shrive him," said the Professor. And he and Toney seized Pate
by the legs, and, pulling vigorously, succeeded in relieving him from
the immense load of iniquity which rested upon him.