THE FRENCHMAN IN BERMUDA
"Bon voyage, Mr. Rubumper," said Captain Chanter, as the Frenchman was
about to descend the accommodation ladder. "I know French enough to say
that."
"Thank you, Captain."
"I hope you will make a success of the enterprise, Mr. Passford," the
commander added to the other member of the expedition.
"I shall do the best I can to make it so," answered Christy, as he
followed his companion down the accommodation ladder.
The detective shoved the boat off, and both of the voyagers took the
oars to get the craft clear of the ship, which was accomplished in a few
minutes. Then the Frenchman stepped the mast, which had been carefully
adjusted on board of the ship, while Christy rigged out the shifting
bowsprit. In half an hour they had placed the spars and bent on the
sail, for everything had been prepared for expeditious work. The sails
filled, and the skipper took his place at the long tiller.
"We are all right now, Christophe," said the detective.
"I should say that we were, Monsieur Rubempré," replied the acting
servant. "We have ten miles to make: with this breeze, how long will it
take for this boat to do it?"
"If she sails as well as mine did, she will make it in two hours."
The craft was about twenty feet long, and was sharp at both ends. She
had a cuddy forward, which was large enough to accommodate both of her
crew in a reclining posture. It had been furnished with a couple of
berthsacks, and with several blankets. The provisions and water had been
placed in it, as well as a couple of lanterns, ready for use if occasion
should require.
It was a summer sea in this latitude, with a very steady breeze from the
westward. The overcoats they wore were hardly necessary, and they had
put them on mainly to conceal their changed garments from the crew of
the ship, who could only conjecture what the expedition meant.
"You are a younger man than I am, Christophe, and you have slept only a
couple of hours to-night," said M. Rubempré, as soon as the Eleuthera
was well under way; and the remark was called forth by a long gape on
the part of the younger person. "You can turn in and sleep a couple of
hours more just as well as not, for there is nothing whatever for you to
do. We may have to make a long day of it to-morrow."
"I am accustomed to doing without my sleep at times," replied
Christophe, which was his first name, according to the French
orthography, and was pronounced in two syllables.
"Of course you have, when your duty required you to be on deck; but
there is not the least need of doing so now."
The lieutenant complied with the advice of the skipper, and in five
minutes more he was sound asleep. The Bahama boat, with a Bahama name,
rose and fell on the long rolling seas, which were very gentle in their
motion, and made very good progress through the water. The light could
be plainly seen in its lofty position, and the detective steered for it
over an hour, and then kept it a little on the starboard hand; for the
opening in the outer reef through which he intended to pass was two
miles to the westward of the high tower. He had correctly estimated the
speed of the boat, for the faint light of the dawn of day began to
appear in the east when he was able clearly to discern the outline of
the hills on the most southern of the islands.
Although it was still quite dark, the Frenchman continued on his course
very confidently. The reefs extended out two miles from the main shore;
but the navigator was so familiar with the locality that they did not
trouble him. Bearing about north-west from the light was Wreck Hill, one
hundred and fifty feet high, which assisted him in keeping his course.
As he approached the mainland he made out the fort, and steering
directly for it, passed safely through Hogfish Cut.
When he was within half a mile of this fort, he headed the boat to the
north-west. It was still eighteen miles to Hamilton, the capital of the
islands; but he had a fair wind, and the boat made about five miles an
hour. Christy still slept, and the skipper did not wake him. It was
daylight when he was abreast of Wreck Hill, and there was no further
difficulty in the navigation. It was half-past eight when he ran up to
a pier where he had kept his boat in former days. There were plenty of
just such crafts as the Eleuthera, and no attention was paid to her as
she passed along the Front-street docks. The pier at which he made his
landing was in a retired locality. He lowered the sails, and had made
everything snug on board before he called his companion.
"Half-past eight, Christophe," said he at the door of the cuddy.
"Half-past eight!" exclaimed Christy, springing out of his berth on the
floor. "Where are we now, M. Rubempré?"
"We are in Hamilton harbor; and if you will come out of the cuddy, you
will find yourself in the midst of flowers and green trees," replied the
skipper with a smile.
"I must have slept six hours," said Christy, rubbing his eyes as he
crawled out of the cuddy.
The scenery around him was certainly very beautiful, and he gazed upon
it in silence for a few minutes. It seemed to him just as though he had
waked in fairyland. He had cruised in the vicinity of the islands, but
he had never been very near the shore before. Though he had been in
Alabama, and seen the shores of the Gulf States, he had never beheld any
region that seemed so lovely to him. He had been on shore at Nassau, but
only on the wharves, and had hardly seen the beauties of the island.
"Why didn't you call me before, M. Rubempré?" asked he, when he had
taken in the view from the pier.
"Because I thought your sleep would do you more good than the view of
the shore, which you will have plenty of opportunities to see before we
leave," replied the detective. "But we must begin our work, for we have
no time to lose. I arranged with Captain Chantor to pick us up to-morrow
night at about the point where we embarked in the boat. In the mean time
he will sail around the islands, though the Chateaugay will not come
near enough to be seen from the shore."
"What will you do with the boat while we are absent?"
"Leave it where it is."
While they were talking, an old negro came down the pier, and very
politely saluted the strangers. He appeared to come from a small house a
short distance from the shore, and passed along to a boat which lay near
the Eleuthera.
"Is that your boat?" asked the detective, calling him back.
"Yes, sir; I am a fisherman, though I've got the rheumatism, and don't
go out much; but I have to go to-day, for we have nothing to eat in the
house," replied the negro, whose language was very good.
"What is your name?"
"Joseph, sir."
"Do you speak French?"
"Oh, no, sir!" exclaimed Joseph. "I don't speak anything but plain
English; but I used to work sometimes for a French gentleman that kept a
boat at this pier, six or seven years ago."
"What was his came?" asked the detective, who had had a suspicion from
the first that he knew the man, though he had changed a great deal as he
grew older.
"Mounseer Gillflower," replied Joseph; "and he was very kind to me."
"I am a Frenchman, Joseph; and, if you don't want to go fishing, I will
employ you to take care of my boat, and carry my valise to a hotel,"
continued the detective, as he handed an English sovereign to him, for
he had taken care to provide himself with a store of them in New York.
"Thank you, sir; but I can't change this piece," protested Joseph very
sadly.
"I don't want you to change it; keep the whole of it."
"God bless you forever and ever, Mounseer!" exclaimed the fisherman.
"I haven't had a sovereign before since Mounseer Gillflower was here.
I am a very poor man, and I can't get any work on shore."
Probably, like the rest of his class, he was not inclined to work while
he had any money. He promised to take good care of the Eleuthera, and he
asked no troublesome questions. The detective gave his name, and ordered
Christophe, calling him by his name, to bring the valises on shore. Then
the Frenchman locked the door of the cuddy, for they left their
overcoats there, as they had no use for them.
"To what hotel shall I carry the valises?" asked Joseph.
"To the Atlantic; that will be the most convenient for us. Do you know
anything about these vessels in the harbor, Joseph?"
"Not much, Mounseer Roobump; but they say the two steamers near the
island are going to run the blockade into the States; but I don't know.
They say a Confederate man-of-war came into St. George's harbor
yesterday; but I haven't seen her, and I don't know whether it's true or
not."
"What is her name?" asked the detective, who from the beginning had
broken up his English, and imparted a strong French accent to it.
"I did not hear any one mention her name, Mounseer. That vessel this
side of the island is the mail steamer from New York; she got in
yesterday," continued Joseph.
"That is important; if the Dornoch is the Confederate man-of-war that
arrived at St. George's yesterday, this steamer brought letters from
Davis to her captain," said the Frenchman to Christy, in French.
"But Davis could not have learned that the Ionian had been captured
before the mail steamer left New York," added Christy, in the same
language.
"No matter for that, Christophe. I did not resign my place at Davis's
warehouse till the morning we sailed; and I have his letter to the
captain of the Dornoch with my other papers on board of the Chateaugay,
and I know that was the only letter written to him. As he has no
information in regard to the Ionian, he will not wait for her."
"I remember; you showed me the letter."
Joseph listened with a show of wonder on his face to this conversation
which he could not understand. The detective directed him to carry the
two valises to the hotel named; but Christy interposed in French, and
insisted that it would look better for him to carry his own valise, and
the point was yielded. The Atlantic Hotel was on Front Street, the
harbor being on one side of it. A couple of rooms were assigned to them,
one of them quite small, which was taken by Christy, in order to keep up
appearances.
M. Rubempré registered his name, putting "and servant" after it, Paris,
and spoke even worse English than he had used to Joseph. Breakfast had
been ordered, but Christy, being only a servant, had to take his meal at
a side table. The detective was not dressed like a gentleman, and the
landlord seemed to have some doubts about his ability to pay his bills,
though he had baggage. He was not treated with anything like deference,
and he saw the difficulty. After breakfast he took a handful of English
gold from his pocket, and asked the landlord to change one of the coins
for smaller money. Mine host bowed low to him after this exhibition.
"I want to see the American consul," said M. Rubempré, in his own
language.
"I will go with you, but I think I will not see him, for he may take it
into his head that I am not a Frenchman," added Christy.
"You can come with me, and stay outside."
When they reached the consulate, which was on the same street as the
hotel, they found about a dozen sailors in front of the building. They
were a very rough and hard-looking set of men. They appeared to be
considerably excited about something, and to be bent on violence in some
direction; but the strangers could make nothing of the talk they heard,
though "the bloody spy" was an expression frequently used.