"Yes, I'm Eric's brother," said Fritz, grasping the huge paw of the
other, and shaking hands cordially,--"Fritz Dort, at your service. I'm
only too glad to have the pleasure of personally thanking you, on my own
and my mother's behalf, for your bravery in saving my poor brother here
from a watery grave, as well as for all your kindness to him afterwards!
He has told me about you, captain, and how you rescued him at sea,
besides treating him so very handsomely afterwards."
"Avast there!" roared out the Yankee skipper in a voice which was as
loud as if he were hailing the maintop from his own quarter-deck, albeit
it had a genial, cheery tone and there was a good-natured expression on
his jolly, weather-beaten face. "Stow all thet fine lingo, my hearty!
I only did for the b'y, mister, no more'n any other sailor would hev
done fur a shepmate in distress; though, I reckon I wer powerful glad I
overhauled thet there jolly-boat in time to save him, afore starvation
an' the sun hed done their work on him. I opine another day's exposure
would hev settled the b'y's hash; yes, sir, I du!"
"I've no doubt of that," said Fritz kindly. "From what he says, you
must have picked him up just in the nick of time."
"Yes, sirree, you bet on thet," responded the skipper. "Six hours more
driftin' about in thet boat, with the sun a-broilin' his brain-box an'
his wits wool-gatherin' in delirimums, would ha' flummuxed him to a
haar, I guess. He wer so mad when we got him aboard thet he took me fur
his gran'mother, Lorry sunthin' or other--I'm durned if I ken kinder
rec'lect the name!"
"So he tells me," said Fritz, laughing at the idea of old Lorischen
being mistaken for the broad-shouldered, red-faced, whaling captain.
The old nurse, who was very particular about her personal appearance,
would have had a fit at the bare supposition, much less at such an
allusion to her age as would have supposed her ancient enough to be
Eric's grandmother!
"Never mind, mister," continued the skipper, giving Eric a hearty slap
on the back, which made the lad wince although he smiled at what the
worthy sailor intended for a little friendly attention. "He's all right
now, the b'y is--ain't you, my bully, hey?"
"Yes; all right, captain, all right, sir, thanks to you," replied Eric.
"Thet's your sort," said the skipper exultantly. "We've coddled him up
an' made a man of him ag'in, we hev, sirree. Jerusalem, mister, you
wouldn't know him ag'in for the skillagalee young shaver we h'isted
aboard! An', what is more, mister, look here, we've made a sailor of
the b'y since he's been along of us in the _Pilot's Bride_--none of your
lazy, good-for-nothin' idlers; but, a reg'ler downeaster cat block,
clear grit an' no mistake, a sailor every inch of him, yes, sir!"
"I should have thought he had seen enough of the sea, eh?" said Fritz,
turning to Eric with a smile.
"Thunder, mister!" exclaimed the Yankee skipper indignantly. "What d'ye
mean with your `'nough of the sea,' when he's only jest cut his eye-
teeth an' taken to larnin'? Why, mister, it would be a sin to let thet
b'y turn his hand to anythin' else, fur he's a born sailor to the very
backbone!"
"What say you, Eric?" said Fritz to his brother.
"Oh, I'm with the captain," replied he. "I always loved the sea, and
the wreck of the old _Gustav Barentz_ has not altered my thinking about
it just the same. I don't believe I could ever settle down to a shore
life now! I have learnt a lot of seamanship, too, with Captain Brown;
and he says, that if I will go with him on his next whaling voyage,
he'll make me third mate of the _Pilot's Bride_."
"Jest so, my young cock shaver," said that gentleman; "an' what old Job
Brown sez, why I guess he'll stick to! You rec'lect what I told you
'bout wages, hey? We whalin' men don't gen'rally give a fixed sum, as
we go shares in the vally o' the venture; but, if yer brother haar likes
it better, I'll give you twenty dollars a month, besides yer keep an'
mess money, thaar!"
"I'm sure, Captain Brown, that is a very generous offer," replied Fritz,
acting as spokesman for his brother; "still, I hardly think my poor
mother would like his being away for so long a time as your voyage would
last."
"We'll be away, I reckon, fur a twelvemonth, countin' from next month,
when we'll start--thet is if my shep's ready for the v'y'ge, as I kinder
guess she'll be, with me to look arter her an' see the longshore men
don't lose time over the job," interrupted the skipper. "Say now, she
sails latter end o' July, so as to git down to the Forties afore
October, or tharabouts; waall, I guess we'll cast anchor in Narraganset
Bay ag'in 'fore next fall--will that du for you, mister, hey?"
"You see," explained Fritz, "my poor mother thinks him dead; and, of
course, after she gets the letter he tells me he has just sent home, it
will be as bad as a second death to her to know that he has now started
on another voyage without returning to see her first! Besides that,
I've read and heard that whaling life is terribly dangerous--isn't it?"
"Not a bit of it," said the skipper bluntly, in sea-dog fashion. "I
reckon it's nary half so dangerous as sailin' back'ards an' for'ards
across the herrin' pond 'twixt Noo Yark an' your old Eu-rope in one o'
them ocean steamers, thet are thought so safe, whar you run the risk o'
bustin' yer biler an' gettin' blown up, or else smashin' yer screw-shaft
an' goin' down to Davy Jones' locker! Why, thaar ain't a quarter the
per'l 'bout it, much less half, as I sed jest naow! You jest ax my
friend haar, whom you seem to hev known afore. Say, Nat, what d'ye
think o' whalin' life?"
"Safe as the National Bank, I guess, Job," promptly responded the
individual addressed, Fritz's acquaintance the "deck hand," whose full
name he now learnt was Nathaniel Washington Slater--usually addressed as
"Nathaniel W Slater," or called familiarly "Nat" by his friends!
"Thaar!" exclaimed the skipper, "what more d'ye want than thet, hey?
You see, mister, the _Pilot's Bride_ don't do whalin' up in Baffin's Bay
an' further north, whar I'll allow the fishin' is a bit risky. We only
makes reg'ler trips once a year to the Southern Ocean, callin' in on our
way at Saint Helena an' the Cape o' Good Hope. Thaar, I guess, we meets
a fleet of schooners thet do all the fishin' fur us 'mongst the islands.
We fetch 'em out grub, an' sich-like notions, an' take in return all
the ile an' skins they've got to bring home. In course, sometimes, we
strike a fish on our own 'count; but, we don't make a trade of it, 'cept
the black fins comes under our noses, so to speak! The b'y'll run no
risk, you bet, if you're skeart about him."
"No, not a bit, mister," corroborated Nat; "and it's a downright capital
openin' for him, I guess, too. Why, there are scores of people would
give something handsome as a premium to get the cap'en to take their
sons along o' him!"
"Thet's a fact," said the skipper; "though I reckon I don't kinder like
to be bothered with b'ys--'specially sich as are mother's darlin's.
They're gen'rally powerful sassy, or else white-livered do-nuthins!
I've taken a fancy to this lad, howbeit; an' thet's the reason I wants
fur to hev him with me."
"Besides, Fritz," put in Eric, who had refrained from speaking as yet
throughout the conversation, although so interested in it, "you must
recollect what a sum mother paid for my outfit? Well, I have lost every
stitch of it, and shall not get the slightest return from the owners for
what went down in the _Gustav Barentz_--merchant sailors have to run the
risk of all such casualties, you know! Now, I should not like to go
back on mother's hands again, like a bad penny, with nothing to bless
myself with; but, here's a capital chance for me. As Captain Brown
says, I shall return in a year, and then my wages would be something
handsome to take home to mutterchen, even if I then gave up the sea."
"Did you tell mother of this in your letter?" asked Fritz.
"Certainly; for, of course, I did not expect to see you here. I told
her that I had almost pledged my word with Captain Brown to go with him,
even if it were only to pay him for what he had already done for me, in
advancing me money to buy clothes and other necessaries, for I hadn't a
rag on when he rescued me, as well as promising to keep me here till the
vessel is ready to start again on her next voyage. Why, Fritz, he's so
kind, that he actually offered to pay my passage home, if I were bent on
seeing mother first before deciding about his offer!"
"That settles it then, Eric, for mother will be certain to say that the
right thing to do will be to pay your debts first; in addition to which,
knowing I am now out here, she will not expect you to return yet.
Really, Captain Brown," added Fritz, turning to the skipper, who
appeared to be anxiously awaiting the result of the colloquy between the
two brothers, "I'm quite at a loss to express my gratitude to you, both
on my brother's and my own behalf! I hope you will not think me
lukewarm in the matter, from my taking so long to make up my mind?"
"Sartenly not, sirree," said the Yankee skipper with emphasis, as he
gripped Fritz's hand again. "Sartenly not, sirree. Bizness is bizness,
an' pleasure's another kind o' notion altogether! I only gev' the b'y
an invitation, thet's all, I reckon!"
"An invitation which he now accepts with thanks," replied Fritz. "Eh,
Eric?" he added, turning to the lad, who was looking at Captain Brown
with a face as beaming as his own.
"Of course I will," answered Eric, without a moment's hesitation. "I
should be a donkey to refuse such an offer."
"Waall," drawled out the skipper in high good humour, "I'm raal glad to
hear you say thet so. You won't repent j'inin' me, I ken tell you, nor
regret slingin' yer hammock aboard the _Pilot's Bride_!"
He then proceeded to wring Eric's hand as cordially, and forcibly too,
in his big fist as he had done his brother's.
"Now thet's all settled an' fixed up slick," said Captain Brown, when he
had finished hand-shaking, passing on the friendly civility to Mr Nat
Slater. "I guess we'd better hev a liquor-up to seal the barg'in; an'
when thet's done, if you've got nuthin' better to du, I reckon you'd
better come along o' me to my little shanty at the head of the bay--your
brother's ben made welcome thaar already."
"You are very kind," replied Fritz, to whom this courteous speech was
addressed; "but this gentleman here," indicating Nat, "was just going to
show me a boarding-house where I can put up at. He has also promised to
introduce me to some shipping firm where I can get work."
"Out o' collar, then?" asked the skipper, with deep interest.
"Yes," answered Fritz. "I could get no employment in New York, and that
is what made me come up here, so providentially as it has now turned
out."
"Waall, come home along o' me, anyhow, till you find sunthin' to put yer
hand to," said the other kindly. "My folks'll make you downright
welcome, you bet, mister."
"Thank you, I will," replied Fritz, accepting the kind invitation in the
same spirit in which it was offered; and presently the two brothers,
reunited so strangely, were on their way, in company with the good-
hearted skipper to his "shanty," as he called it, on Narraganset Bay--a
comfortable, old-fashioned house, as Fritz presently found out,
commanding a fine view of the Providence river on one hand, and of the
wide Atlantic, rolling away into the illimitable distance, on the other.
"Nat" declined to accompany the party, on the plea of an engagement He
made an appointment, however, with Fritz for the morrow, promising then
to introduce him to some business men, who, he said, would probably find
the young German employment; after which he took leave of the Yankee
skipper and the two brothers, with a brief parting, "So long!"