DR. FERROLAN'S EXPLANATION OF THE WRECK
With the rising of the sun the gale had broken, and by the time the party
in the cabin left the table, the north-east monsoon was soothing the ocean
with its gentle blast. The angry sea was rapidly becoming good-natured
again, though the waves were still high enough to give the ship an uneasy
motion. But all the party, and no less the trio added to their number, had
their sea-legs on, and no reasonable motion disturbed any of them.
The two engineers from the wreck of the Travancore had been as carefully
looked after as the strangers in the main cabin. They had been supplied
with clothing, and they had breakfasted in the mess-room on the best the
larder afforded. The third person brought in by the second cutter was the
Hindu cook of the wrecked steamer; but he spoke English very well, and had
been otherwise Europeanized. He had been turned over to Baldy Bickling, the
second cook of the ship, who had clothed and fed him, and seemed to be
unable to do enough for him.
The three gentlemen in the cabin were as sociable as could be desired; and
though it was Sunday morning, the scene at the tables had been very
animated.
When the meal was finished, the guests at their own request were shown over
the ship; and they were not at all reserved in the expression of their
admiration at the elegance with which she had been fitted up, and not less
at the convenience of all the arrangements.
Lord Tremlyn was particularly interested in the educational feature of the
Guardian-Mother, as Captain Ringgold explained his pet scheme in the
library, or study, abaft the state-cabin, as it was called on the plan of
the vessel prepared by the gentleman for whom she had been built. The
guests looked at the titles of the books, considerable additions to which
had been made at Cairo, Alexandria, and elsewhere.
"This is not a library of romances," said his lordship with a smile, as he
took in the encyclopædias, books of travel, scientific treatises, and
geographical works.
"No, sir; they cover a broad range of useful information," replied the
commander. "Those of our company who are disposed to read novels supply
themselves with that kind of literature. Quite a number of them are
lecturers"--
"Lecturers!" exclaimed the distinguished guest. "Then a large number of
your passengers must be scientific people."
"Not at all, sir; the large majority of them are men and women of good
education, and Professor Giroud is a learned Frenchman who has been a
lecturer at various colleges and schools. Dr. Hawkes is a leading member of
his profession, and is sometimes a lecturer in various medical and surgical
institutions in New York. Both of these gentlemen are making this voyage to
regain their health, injured by over-work."
"You are fortunate in having such men on board," added his lordship.
"But most of our lecturers are persons of fair education, and only three of
them have been graduated from the university. We assign subjects to them
some time in advance, and they prepare themselves for the occasion. This
gives the unprofessional people an interest in the exercises they would not
otherwise have. For example, Mr. Woolridge"--
"I beg pardon, but he is the father of the beautiful young lady who was
seated at the table next to Mr. Belgrave, is he not?" interposed Lord
Tremlyn.
"The same, sir. At first he considered the lectures a bore; and doubtless
they were such to him, for he had been a sporting-man and a yachtsman,
though he has since abandoned the races. But I gave him as a subject the
horses and other animals of Egypt. He did very well with it in his peculiar
way; and since that he is one of the most interested in the lectures,--or
perhaps I had better call them simply talks," added the commander.
"Then this voyage will create a new taste for him."
"I have no doubt of it. He is a Fifth Avenue millionaire, and he is able to
cultivate any taste he may acquire. Mr. Belgrave is one of our most useful
speakers, for he studies his subjects very faithfully. He is a devoted
student, speaks French fluently, and gets along very well with Spanish.
This voyage is a college course for him."
"Do your ladies take an interest in these lectures, Captain Ringgold?"
"All of them, though I have assigned a subject to only one of them. They
all manifest their interest by asking questions. Like myself, Mrs. Belgrave
and Mrs. Blossom are Methodists, while the Woolridge family are
Episcopalians, though none of us are bigoted. The sisters of my church are
very favorable to religious topics, such as were suggested on the Nile; and
when we were near the land of Goshen and the Sinai peninsula Mrs. Belgrave
spoke to us in this connection. Mrs. Blossom is one of the "salt of the
earth," a very good woman, very religious, and her studies have been
confined to the Bible and her denominational newspapers. Her education was
neglected, and she is rather tonguey, so that she asks curious questions;
but we all esteem her very highly, though her American peculiarities may
seem very odd to you."
"I have known similar people in England, and your description of her leads
me to respect the lady," replied the titled gentleman, who appeared to be
very democratic so far as homely merit was concerned.
Dr. Hawkes had taken his professional brother in charge, and Louis, Sir
Modava, as the commander had Lord Tremlyn, and they were showing them over
the ship. We need not follow them or repeat their explanations; but they
finally reached the promenade deck, where all the officers were presented
to the guests of the steamer. At Conference Hall the three couples met, and
the lectures were again commented upon; for this subject was uppermost in
the mind of the commander.
"Do you have a lecture to-day, Captain Ringgold?" asked his lordship.
"No, sir; this is Sunday, and we keep the Sabbath in a reasonable manner,
and the conference is usually omitted on this day, though when the subject
is appropriate for the day the lecture is given. The professor is a Roman
Catholic; but we have not had the slightest friction in regard to any man's
creed. The owner and voyager in our consort, the white ship abreast of us,
whose boat picked up five men of your ship's company, is a Mohammedan,
though the captain and his wife are Congregationalists. We have a religious
service on board at eleven o'clock, to which your party are invited, though
no umbrage will be taken if you prefer to absent yourselves."
"I shall certainly attend," replied his lordship; and his companions said
the same. "Have you a chaplain?"
"We have not, and I am obliged to act in that capacity for the want of a
better," replied the captain. "We Methodists are all trained to 'speak in
meeting,' whether we have the gift or not."
At the appointed time the gong was sounded for divine service, and four
whistles were given, that all on board might hear the call. Chairs had been
provided for the guests, and all the party were seated when six bells
struck. The two engineers of the Travancore were seated on the platform
with, the cook, and all the officers and seamen who could be spared stood
within hearing.
Most of the party were provided with tune-books, and the captain gave out
"The Life-Boat." Books were passed to the strangers, and the commander led
off in the singing. Lord Tremlyn and Dr. Ferrolan joined in with vigorous
bass voices. Captain Ringgold then followed with an extemporaneous prayer,
in which he poured forth his thanks to the God who rules the sea and the
land for the mercy that had spared their brothers from other lands from the
mighty power of the raging billows. Instead of reading a printed sermon as
usual, he gave an impromptu address relating to the event of the early
morning. Its bearing was very religious, and it was as eloquent as it was
homely compared with studied discourses.
After the singing of "Nearer, my God, to thee," the service closed; but the
people were invited to keep their seats. Without any explanation of what
was to follow, the captain introduced Lord Tremlyn.
"Mr. Commander, and ladies and gentlemen, I am utterly unable to express my
high appreciation of the religious service in which we have all assisted.
It went to my heart, and I am sure we who have been saved from perishing in
the stormy billows joined heartily with him who officiated in giving thanks
to God for our preservation," his lordship began.
"We are all profoundly impressed by the kindness, the unbounded
hospitality, which have been extended to us in our unfortunate, I may say
our forlorn, condition; and I am sure that not one of us, from the amateur
captain of the Travancore, to the coolies who were saved by the Blanche,
will ever cease to bless the commander, the officers, the crew, and the
passengers of the Guardian-Mother for the overwhelming kindness and care
they have all bestowed upon us. Though we are not at the festive board, I
venture to propose to you the health of Captain Ringgold, as the
representative of all to whom we are so gratefully indebted."
"For he's a jolly good fellow!
For he's a jolly good fellow!
For he's a jolly good fellow!
So say we all of us!"
To the astonishment, and perhaps to the disgust, of the two Methodist
ladies, Dr. Ferrolan struck up this refrain, singing with a vigor which
proved his earnestness. Sir Modava, the engineers, and the cook immediately
joined in with him. Dr. Hawkes, Uncle Moses, Mr. Woolridge, and others,
because they approved the sentiment of the words, struck in at the second
line, and it became a full chorus before the last line was reached.
It is an English custom to follow a toast to a distinguished personage with
this refrain, as expressive of the sentiments of the company; and though it
was not adapted to Sunday use, it was sincere and heartfelt on the part of
all who sang it. Captain Ringgold rose and bowed his thanks, and Lord
Tremlyn spoke again:--
"It is very natural that you should desire to know something about the
guests who have been so fortuitously cast into your kindly embrace, and
especially in regard to the calamity which has made us the recipients of
your generous hospitality; and Captain Ringgold gives us this opportunity
to gratify your reasonable curiosity. I am no orator, like my brother, the
commander of the Guardian-Mother, and I shall call upon my friend and
secretary, who has been travelling with me in India for his health, to give
you the desired information." Though it was Sunday, even the commander
joined in the applause that greeted the doctor when he mounted the rostrum.
"Mr. Commander, and ladies and gentlemen, I beg to inform you that my Lord
Tremlyn is quite as capable of speaking for himself as I am for him; but as
I am called upon to make this explanation, I shall do so with pleasure. I
have the honor to be the secretary of the Right Honorable Viscount Tremlyn,
the son of the noble earl who is Secretary of State for India. He has been
on a mission in the interests of his father to obtain certain information,
though he holds no official position.
"Sir Modava Rao has held several official positions in India, and is
perhaps more familiar with the country and its British and native
governments than any other man. He has been travelling with Lord Tremlyn,
to assist him in obtaining the information connected with his unofficial
mission. My lord has completed the work assigned to him; but the viceroy
wished him to visit the Imam of Muscat unofficially for a certain purpose I
am not at liberty to state.
"In a small steam-yacht owned by Sir Modava, the most devoted friend of his
lordship, in which he had been all around the peninsula, and up several of
its rivers, we embarked for Muscat, and safely reached that country. Then
the viscount decided to proceed to Aden, where he had important business;
for he intended to return to England by the Euphrates route, in order to
inform himself in regard to the navigation of the river. We sailed for
Aden, believing we should have the calm and pleasant weather of the
north-east monsoon.
"Yesterday we encountered the gale from the south-west, which was very
unusual. But the Travancore was an able seaboat, and we went along very
well until we were run into by a steamer in the darkness and mist early
this morning. The side of the little steamer was stove in, and she began to
fill. We put on our life-preservers, and prepared for the worst. We
stretched a life-line fore and aft, and listened to the gurgling waters
below deck. Suddenly, when she was partly filled with water, she capsized.
We clung to the life-line, which unhitched forward.
"Of course we expected she would go down; but she did not for several
hours. We had our life-preservers on, and we made fast the lines forward,
which saved us from being washed off the bottom of the vessel. I had a
revolver in my pocket, and when I saw the port light of your steamer, I
fired it, and we all shouted at the top of our lungs.
"We could hear the air and the water bubbling and hissing under us at
times, and it was understood that the confined air above the water in the
hull had kept her afloat. But this air had all escaped as the
Guardian-mother approached us, and with no warning she went to the bottom.
We were floated by our life-preservers till your boats picked us up, though
we were fearfully shaken and tossed about by the waves. Our gallant
saviours know how we were rescued--all honor and glory to them!"
The doctor finished his explanation and took his seat.