In a few minutes the great ship begun to breathe hard, as if tryin' to
git up strength for the move, and kinder shook itself, and gin a few
hoarse yells, and sot off, seemin' to kinder tremble all over with
eagerness to be gone. And so we sot sail, but ship and shore and
boundless water all looked beautiful and gay to me. What a change,
what a change from the feelin's I had felt; then the cold spectral
moonlight of loneliness rested on shore and Golden Gate, now the
bright sun of love and happiness gilded 'em with their glorious rays,
and I felt well. Well might Mr. Drummond say, "Love is the greatest
thing in the world." And as I looked on my precious pardner I
bethought fondly, no matter how little a man may weigh by the
steelyards, or how much a Arvilly may make light on him, if Love is
enthroned in his person he towers up bigger than the hull universe.
And so, filled with joy radiatin' from the presence of the best
beloved, and under the cloudless sunshine of that glorious day, I set
out on my Trip Abroad. Yes, I wuz once more embarked on that great
watery world that lays all round us and the continents, and we can't
help ourselves.
And the days follered one another along in Injin file, trampin'
silently and stiddily on, no matter where we be or what we do. So we
sailed on and on, the ship dashin' along at I don't know how many
knots an hour. Probably the knots would be enough if straightened out
to make a hull hank of yarn, and mebby more. Part of the time the
waves dashin' high. Mebby the Pacific waves are a little less
tumultous and high sweepin' than the Atlantic, a little more pacific
as it were, but they sway out dretful long, and dash up dretful high,
bearin' us along with 'em every time, up and down, down and up, and
part of the time our furniture and our stomachs would foller 'em and
sway, too, and act. The wind would soar along, chasin' after us, but
never quite ketchin' us; sometimes abaft, sometimes in the fo'castle,
whatever that may be.
And under uz wuz the great silent graveyard, the solemn, green aisles,
still and quiet, and no knowin' how soon we should be there, too,
surrounded by the riches of that lost world of them that go down in
ships, but not doin' us any good. Only a board or two and some paint
between us and destruction (but then I don't know as we are seperated
any time very fur from danger, earthquakes, tornados and such). And
good land! I would tell myself and Josiah, for that matter I've known
wimmen to fall right out of their chairs and break themselves all up
more or less, and fall often back steps and suller stairs and such.
But 'tennyrate I felt real riz up as I looked off on the heavin'
billers, and Faith sez to me, "Why should I fear since I sailed with
God." The seas, I am journeying, I told myself with Duty on one side
of me and on the other side Josiah, and the sun of Love over all. I
got along without any seasickness to speak of, but my pardner suffered
ontold agonies--or no, they wuzn't ontold, he told 'em all to me--yes,
indeed!
Tommy "wonnered" what made the big vessel sail on so fast, and what
made so much water, where it all come from, and where it wuz all goin'
to. And at night he would lay on his little shelf and "wonner" what
the wind wuz sayin'; one night he spoke out kinder in rhyme, sez he:
"Grandma, do you know what the wind is sayin?" And I sez:
"No, dear lamb; what is it sayin'?" It has sounded dretful, kinder
wild and skairful to me, and so it had to Josiah, I knew by the sithes
he had gin. Sez Tommy, it sez:
"Don't be afraid my little child,
God will take care of you all the while."
And I sez, "Thank you, Tommy, you've done me good." And I noticed that
Josiah seemed more contented and dropped off to sleep real sweet,
though he snored some. Sometimes Tommy would "wonner" what seasickness
wuz like, if it wuz any like measles, but didn't find out, for he
wuzn't sick a day, but wandered about the great ship, happy as a king,
making friends everywhere, though Robert Strong remained his chief
friend and helper. Dorothy wuz more beautiful than ever it seemed to
me, a shadow of paleness over her sweet face peeping out from the
white fur of her cunning little pink hood, makin' her look sweeter
than ever. There wuz two or three handsome young men on board who
appreciated her beauty, and I spoze the gold setting of her charming
youth. But Miss Meechim called on Robert Strong to help protect her,
which he did willingly enough, so fur as I could see, by payin' the
most devoted attention to her himself, supplying every real or fancied
want, reading to and with her, and walking up and down the deck with
her, she leanin' on his arm in slippery times.
"Dear boy!" said Miss Meechim, "how lovely he is to me. He would much
rather spend his time with the men in the smoking and reading room,
but he has always been just so; let me express a wish and he flies to
execute it. He knows that I wouldn't have Dorothy marry for all the
world, and had it not been for his invaluable help I fear that she
would have fallen a prey to some man before this."
"She is a pretty girl," sez I, "pretty as a pink rosy."
"Yes," sez she, "she is a sweet girl and as good as she is beautiful."
[Illustration: There wuz the usual variety of people on the ship.--Page
84.]
There was the usual variety of people on the ship. The rich family
travelin' with children and servants and unlimited baggage; the party
of school girls with the slim talkative teacher in spectacles, tellin'
'em all the pints of interest, and stuffin' 'em with knowledge gradual
but constant; the stiddy goin' business men and the fashionable ones;
the married flirt and the newly married bride and husband, sheepish
lookin' but happy; old wimmen and young ones; young men and old ones;
the sick passenger confined to his bed, but devourin' more food than
any two well ones--seven meals a day have I seen carried into that
room by the steward, while a voice weak but onwaverin' would call for
more. There wuz a opera singer, a evangelist, an English nobleman, and
a party of colored singers who made the night beautiful sometimes with
their weird pathetic melodies.
There wuz two missionaries on board, one the Rev. Dr. Wessel, real
dignified actin' and lookin'--he wuz goin' out as a missionary to
China, and a young lady going out as a missionary to Africa,
Evangeline Noble--she wuz a member of some kind of a sisterhood, so
she wuz called Sister Evangeline. I sot a sight of store by her the
first time I laid eyes on her. Anybody could see that she wuz one of
the Lord's anointed, and like our cousin John Richard, who went out as
a missionary to Africa several years ago, she only wanted the Lord's
will pinted out to her to foller it to the death if necessary. Livin'
so nigh to the Kingdom as she did she couldn't help its breezes
fannin' her tired forehead occasionally, and the angels' songs and the
sound of the still waters from reachin' her soul. She had left a
luxurious home, all her loved ones, a host of friends, and wuz goin'
out to face certain hardships, and probable sickness and death amongst
a strange half savage people, and yet she had about the happiest face
I ever saw. His peace wuz writ down on her brow. Her Lord journeyed
with her and told her from day to day what he wanted her to do. After
we got well acquainted she told me that ever since her conversion
there were times when she became unconscious to things on earth, but
her soul seemed to be ketched up to some other realm, where He, who
wuz her constant helper and guide, told her what to do. I told Josiah
about it, and he sez:
"I'd ruther see that than hear on't. How can she be ketched up,
weighin' pretty nigh two hundred?"
Sez I, "Your views are material, Josiah. I said her soul wuz ketched
up."
"Oh, well, my soul and body has ginerally gone together where I've
went."
"I don't doubt that," sez I, "not at all. Spiritual things are
spiritually discerned."
"Well," sez he, "I've hearn a sight about such things as that, but I'd
ruther see 'em myself."
Well, it wuzn't but a day or two after that that he had a chance to
see if he had eyes. Sister Evangeline wuz settin' with Josiah and me
on the deck, and all of a sudden while she wuz talkin' to us about her
future life and work in Africa, her face took on a look as yourn would
if your attention had been suddenly arrested by a voice calling you.
She looked off over the water as if it wuzn't there, and I felt that
someone wuz talkin' to her we couldn't see--her face had jest that
look, and at last I hearn her murmur in a low voice:
"Yes, Master, I will go."
And most immegiately her soul seemed to come back from somewhere, and
she sez to me:
"I am told that there is a poor woman amongst the steerage passengers
that needs me." And she riz right up and started, like Paul, not
disobedient to the Heavenly vision, not for a minute. She told me
afterward that she found a woman with a newly-born child almost dying
for want of help. She was alone and friendless, and if Sister
Evangeline hadn't reached her just as she did they would both have
died. She wuz a trained nurse, and saved both their lives, and she wuz
as good as she could be to 'em till we reached port, where the woman's
husband wuz to meet her.
Josiah acted stunted when I told him, but sez weakly, "I believe she
hearn the woman holler."
And I sez, "She wuz fainted away, how could she holler?"
And he sez, "It must be a heavy faint that will keep a woman from
talkin'."
The other missionary, Elder Wessel, I didn't set quite so much store
by. His only child Lucia wuz on board going out to China with a rich
tea merchant's family as a governess for their little daughter, and
some one told me that one reason that Elder Wessel hearn such a loud
call to go as a missionary to China was because Lucia wuz goin'
there.
Now, there wuz a young chap over in Loontown who had tried doctorin'
for a year or two and didn't make much by it, and he thought he see a
sign up in the heavens, G. P., and he gin out that he had had a call
"go preach," and went to preachin', and he didn't make so well by that
as he did by his doctorin', and then he gin out that he had made a
mistake in readin' the letters; instead of goin' to preach they meant
"give pills," so he went back to his doctorin' agin, and is doin'
first rate. That wuzn't a call.
But to resoom. Elder Wessel jest worshipped this daughter, and thought
she wuz the sweetest, dearest girl in the world. And she wuz a pretty
girl with soft, bright innocent eyes. She wuz educated in a convent,
and had the sweet, gentle manners and onworldly look that so many
convent-bred girls have. She and Aronette struck up a warm friendship,
though her pa wouldn't have allowed it I spoze if he hadn't seen how
much store we all sot by Aronette.
We got real well acquainted with Elder Wessel and Lucia; and her proud
pa wuz never tired of singin' her praises or ruther chantin' 'em--he
wuz too dignified to sing. Arvilly loved to talk with him, though
their idees wuz about as congenial as ile and water. He wuz real mild
and conservative, always drinked moderate and always had wine on his
table, and approved of the canteen and saloon, which he extolled as
the Poor Man's Club. He thought that the government wuz jest right,
the big trusts and license laws jest as they should be.
Arvilly dearly loved to send sharp arrows of sarkasm and argument
through his coat armor of dignified complacency and self-esteem, for
truly his idees wuz to her like a red rag to a bull.
Miss Meechim kinder looked down on Arvilly, and I guess Arvilly looked
down on her. You know it happens so sometimes--two folks will feel
real above each other, though it stands to reason that one of 'em must
be mistook. Miss Meechim thought she wuz more genteel than Arvilly,
and was worth more, and I guess she had had better advantages. And
Arvilly thought she knew more than Miss Meechim, and I guess mebby she
did. Miss Meechim thought she wuz jest right herself, she thought her
native land wuz jest right and all its laws and customs, and naterally
she looked down dretfully on all foreigners. She and Arvilly had lots
of little spats about matters and things, though Miss Meechim wuz so
genteel that she kep' her dignity most of the time, though Arvilly gin
it severe raps anon or oftener.
But one tie seemed to unite 'em a little--they wuz real congenial on
the subject of man. They both seemed to cherish an inherent aversion
to that sect of which my pardner is an ornament, and had a strong
settled dislike to matrimony; broken once by Arvilly, as a sailor may
break his habit of sea-faring life by livin' on shore a spell, but
still keepin' up his love for the sea.
But of their talks together and Arvilly's arguments with Elder Wessel
more anon and bime by. Arvilly stood up aginst the sea-sickness as she
would aginst a obstinate subscriber, and finally brought the sickness
to terms as she would the buyer, on the third day, and appeared pale
but triumphant, with a subscription book in her hand and the words of
her prospectus dribblin' from her lips. She had ordered a trunkful to
sell on sight, but Arvilly will never git over what she has went
through, never.
As the days went on the big ship seemed more and more to us like a
world, or ruther a new sort of a planet we wuz inhabitin'--it kinder
seemed to be the centre of the universe. I overheard a woman say one
day how monotonous the life wuz. But I thought to myself, mebby her
mind wuz kinder monotonous--some be, you know, made so in the first
on't; I found plenty enough to interest me, and so Josiah did.
There wuz a big library where you could keep company with the great
minds of the past and present. A music room where most always some of
the best music wuz to be hearn, for of course there wuz lots of
musicians on board, there always is. And for them that wanted it,
there wuz a smokin' room, though Josiah or I didn't have any use for
it, never havin' smoked anything but a little mullen and catnip once
or twice for tizik. And there wuz a billiard room for them that
patronized Bill, though I never did nor Josiah, but wuz willin' that
folks should act out their own naters. I spoze they played cards
there, too. But Josiah and I didn't know one card from another; I
couldn't tell Jack from the King to save my life.
We stayed in the music room quite a good deal and once or twice Josiah
expressed the wish that he had brought along his accordeon.
And he sez: "It don't seem right to take all this pleasure and not
give back anything in return."
But I sez, "I guess they'll git along without hearin' that accordeon."
"I might sing sunthin', I spose," sez he. "I could put on my dressin'
gown and belt it down with the tossels and appear as a singer, and
sing a silo."
That wuz the evenin' after Dorothy, in a thin, white dress, a little
low in the neck and short sleeves, had stood up and sung a lovely
piece, or that is I 'spoze it wuz lovely, it wuz in some foreign
tongue, but it sounded first rate, as sweet as the song of a robin or
medder lark--you know how we all like to hear them, though we can't
quite understand robin and lark language. It wuz kinder good in
Josiah to want to give pleasure in return for what he had had, but I
argyed him into thinkin' that he and I would give more pleasure as a
congregation than as speakers or singers. For after I had vetoed the
singin' that good man proposed that he should speak a piece. Sez he,
"I could tell most the hull of the American Taxation."
And I sez, "I wouldn't harrer up the minds of the rich men on board
with thoughts of taxes," sez I, "when lots of 'em are goin' away to
get rid on 'em."
"Well," sez he, "I could tell the hull of Robert Kidd."
And I sez, "Well, I wouldn't harrer up their feelin's talkin' about
hullsale stealin'; they have enough of that to hum in the big
cities."
So gradual I got him off from the idee.
There wuz one little boy about Tommy's age and a sister a little older
I felt real sorry for, they looked so queer, and their ma, a thin,
wirey, nervous lookin' woman brooded over 'em like a settin' hen over
her eggs. They wuz dressed well, but dretful bulged out and swollen
lookin', and I sez to their ma one day:
"Are your children dropsical?"
And she sez, "Oh, no, their health is good. The swellin's you see are
life preservers." She said that she kep' one on their stomachs night
and day.
Well, I knew that they would be handy in a shipwreck, but it made 'em
look queer, queer as a dog.
And now whilst the passengers are all settin' or standin' on their own
forts and tendin' to their own bizness, and the big ship ploughin' its
big liquid furrow on the water I may as well tell what Arvilly went
through. I spoze the reader is anxious to know the petickulers of how
she come to be in the Cuban army and desert from it. The reason of her
bein' in the army at all, her husband enlisted durin' the struggle for
Cuban independence, and Arvilly jest worshippin' the ground he walked
on, and thinkin' the world wuz a blank to her where he wuz not, after
the last care he left her wuz removed, and always havin' done as she
wuz a mind to as fur as she could, she dressed herself up in a suit of
his clothes and enlisted onbeknown to him, so's to be near to him if
he got woonded, and 'tennyrate to breathe the same air he did and
sleep under the same stars. She adored him.
It must be remembered that Arvilly had never loved a single thing till
she fell in love with this man, her folks dyin' off and leavin' her to
come up the best she could, and imposed upon and looked down upon on
every side, and workin' hard for a livin', and after she got old
enough to read and understand, bein' smart as a whip and one of the
firmest lovers of justice and fair play that ever wuz born, she become
such a firm believer in wimmen's rights that she got enemies that way.
Well, you know right when she started for the World's Fair, helpin'
herself along by sellin' the book, "The Wild, Wicked, and Warlike
Deeds of Men" (which she said she felt wuz her duty to promulgate to
wimmen to keep 'em from marryin' and makin' fools of themselves).
Well, right there, some like Paul on his way to Jerusalem breathin'
vengeance against his Lord, a great light struck him down in the road,
so with Arvilly, the great light of Love stopped her in her career,
she dropped her book, married the man she loved and who loved her, and
lived happy as a queen till the Cuban war broke out.
Her husband wuz a good man, not the smartest in the world, but a good,
honest God-fearin' man, who had had a hard time to get along, but
always tried to do jest right, and who hailed Arvilly's bright
intellect and practical good sense and household knowledge as a
welcome relief from incompetence in hired girl form in the kitchen.
His first wife died when his little girl wuz born, and she wuz about
seven when Arvilly married her pa. Well, he bein' jest what he
wuz--conscientious, God-fearin' and havin' hearn his minister preach
powerful sermons on this bein' a war of God aginst the Devil,
enlightenment and Christianity aginst ignorance and barbarism, America
aginst Spain--he got all fired up with the sense of what wuz his duty
to do, and when his mind wuz made up to that no man or woman could
turn him. Arvilly might have just as well spent her tears and
entreaties on her soapstun. No, go he must and go he would. But like
the good man he wuz, he made everything just as comfortable as he
could for her and his little daughter, a pretty creeter that Arvilly
too loved dearly. And then he bid 'em a sad adoo, for he loved 'em
well, and Arvilly had made his home a comfortable and happy one. But
he choked back his tears, tried to smile on 'em with his tremblin'
lips, held 'em both long in his strong arms, onclosed 'em, and they
wuz bereft. Well, Arvilly held the weeping little girl in her arms,
bent over her with white face and dry eyes, for his sake endured the
long days and longer nights alone with the child, for his sake taking
good care of her, wondering at the blow that had fell upon her,
wondering that if in the future she could be so blest agin as to have
a home, for love is the soul of the home, and she felt homeless.
Well, she watched and worked, takin' good care of the little one, but
bolts and bars can't keep out death; Arvilly's arms, though she wuz
strong boneded, couldn't. Diphtheria wuz round, little Annie took it;
in one week Arvilly wuz indeed alone, and when the sod lay between her
and what little likeness of her husband had shone through the child's
pretty face, Arvilly formed a strange resolution, but not so strange
but what wimmen have formed it before, and probably will agin till
God's truth shall shine on a dark world and be listened to, and wars
shall be no more. She made up her mind to foller the man she loved, to
enlist. She wuz always a masculine lookin' creeter, big, raw boneded,
and when she cut off her hair and parted it on one side in a man's way
and put on a suit of her husband's clothes she looked as much, or more
like a man than she had ever looked like a woman. She locked the
doors of her home till the cruel war should be ended, and he whose
love made her home should return. Till then, if indeed it should ever
be, she left her happiness there in the empty, silent rooms and
sallied off. She had disposed of her stock and things like that, folks
not bein' surprised at it, bein' she wuz alone, but all to once she
disappeared, utterly and entirely, nobody hearn of her and folks
thought that mebby she had wandered off in her grief and put an end to
her life. Not one word wuz hearn of her until lo and behold! the
strange news come, Arvilly's husband wuz killed in a drunken brawl in
a licensed Canteen down in Cuba and Arvilly had deserted from the
army, and of course bein' a woman they couldn't touch her for it. That
wuz the first we ever knowed that she wuz in the army.