In my rambles about Sonora and its vicinity, when seeking amusement, on
what is called the "first day of the week." I was generally accompanied
by Stormy Jack.
During my early acquaintance with the old sailor, I was too young to
have formed a correct opinion of his character; and my respect for him,
was based entirely upon instinct.
Now that I was older, and possessed of a more mature judgment, that
respect--instead of having diminished--had increased to such a degree,
as to deserve the name of admiration. I could not help admiring his
many good qualities. He loved truth; and spoke it whenever he said
anything. He was frank, honest, sociable, and generous. He had an
abhorrence of all that was mean--combined with a genuine love for fair
play and even-handed justice of every kind. He was in the habit of
expressing his opinions so frankly, that, on the slightest acquaintance,
every honest man became his friend, and every dishonest one his enemy.
Stormy was, in truth, one of nature's noblemen--such a one as is seldom
met with, and never forgotten. He was instinctively a gentleman; and
the many long years in which he had been associated, with those who are
thought to be lowest in the scale of civilisation, had not overcome his
natural inclination.
Stormy was strong on all points but one; and that was, in the resisting
his appetite for strong drink. To this he too often yielded.
"Do not think, Rowley," said he one evening, when I chanced to allude to
this subject, "that I can't keep from thinking, if I tried. I never
drank when I was young: for I had some hope and ambition then; and I
could see the silliness of giving way to such a habit. It is only since
I have become old Stormy Jack, and too old for my bad habits to be of
any consequence to myself, or any one else. No, Rowley, it don't
signify much now, how often I get drunk--either in my mind or legs.
When I was young, like you, I had no one to teach me manners--except the
world; and it did larn me some. Wherever I went, every one appeared to
think it was their business to teach me manners; and the way they went
about it, was not always very gentle. I've seen hard times in this
world, Rowley, my lad."
"I have no doubt of it, Stormy," said I, "for you have that appearance.
You look as though, man, fate, and time had all used you roughly."
"And so they have. I've nobody to thank for anything, unless it is the
Almighty, for having given me health and strength to out-live what I
have passed through; and I'm not sartin that I should be thankful for
that. If you like, Rowley, I'll tell you something of my history; and
it'll give you an idea of the way the world has used me."
"I should like it much."
"Here goes then! The first thing I can remember, is a father who used
to get drunk in the legs; and the second, a mother who would as often
get drunk in the head.
"As my father, when intoxicated, could not stand on his feet, nor move
from the place in which he chanced to be, my mother would take advantage
of his helplessness; and used to teach him manners, in a way that always
kept his countenance covered with scratches, cuts, and bruises. I may
add, that she served myself in a very similar manner. If ever either my
father, or I, were seen in the streets without a fresh wound on our
faces, the neighbours knew that there was no money in the house, or
anything that would be received at a pawn shop for so much as sixpence.
The soundness of our skins would prove the scarcity of cash in my
father's establishment; or as they say here in Californy, that we were
`hard up.'
"About the time I was thirteen years of age, my parents discovered that
they could no longer maintain themselves, much less me; and they sought,
and found, a home in the work-house--whither I was taken along with
them.
"Both died in the work-house the year after entering it; and I was
apprenticed, or I might say hired out, to a baker.
"In this situation, I had a world of work to do. I had to sit up all
night, helping the journeymen to make the bread; and then I had to go
out for two or three hours every morning--with a heavy basket of loaves
on my head, to be delivered to the customers living here and there. In
addition to this hard work, I was nearly starved. The only time I could
get enough to eat, was when I was out on my rounds with the bread, when
I could steal a little scrap from each loaf--in such a way that the
morsel wouldn't be missed.
"I've not yet told you, that my native place is London; and if you know
anything of that city, you may have some idea of the life I lived when a
child, with two miserable, poor, and drunken parents.
"Well, I staid with the baker above two years; and though I was nearly
killed with hard work and want of food--as well as sleep--that, perhaps,
wasn't the most unhappy part of my life. There was a worse time in
store for me.
"The baker and his wife, who owned and ill-treated me, had a little girl
in the house--a slavey they had taken from the same work-house from
which they had fetched me. This girl wasn't treated any better than I
was; and the only happy moments either of us ever had, were when we
could be together, and freely express our opinions of our master and
mistress--both of whom behaved equally bad to us--if anything, the woman
the worst. The girl and I used to encourage each other with hopes of
better times.
"I had seen many little girls in the streets, dressed very fine, and
looking clean, well-fed, and happy; and some of them I thought very
beautiful. But none of them appeared so beautiful, as the one who was
being worked and starved to death in the same house with myself--though
her dress was nothing but a lot of dirty rags.
"By the time I had got to be sixteen years of age, I was too much of a
man to stand the ill-usage of the baker and his wife any longer; and I
determined to run away.
"I did not like to leave behind me my companion in misery; but as I
thought, that, in a few weeks I should make a little fortune, and be
able to find her a better home, we became reconciled to the idea of
parting with one another.
"One morning I bade her good-bye; and started off with the basket of
bread on my head to go my rounds.
"When I had nearly completed the delivery, and had left with different
customers all but the last loaf, I set down the basket, took this loaf
under my arm, and was free.
"I went straight to the docks to look out for something; and, before the
day was over, I found a situation aboard a schooner in the coal trade--
that was about to sail for Newcastle.
"The skipper of this vessel was also its owner; and himself and his
family used it as their regular home.
"I was determined to please this man--not only by doing my duty, but as
much more as I could. I succeeded in gaining his good will.
"We went to Newcastle, took in a cargo; and by the time we reached
London again, the skipper would not have been willing to part with me,
had I desired to leave him. When we got back to London, he gave me
liberty to come ashore; and made me a present of half-a-crown, to spend
as I liked.
"It was the largest sum of money I had ever owned; and, with it in my
possession, I thought that the time when I might take my little fellow
servant away from the hard life she was leading, could not be far away.
I determined not to spend one penny of the money upon myself; but to go
ashore at once, and make a bold push towards getting the girl away from
the place where she was staying.
"I told the skipper all about her--what sort of a home I had left her
in--and the cruelties she was still likely to be enduring.
"He talked to his wife; and after they had asked me a good many
questions: as to whether the girl was well-behaved, and used no bad
language--they told me that I might bring her aboard the vessel then
lying in the river; and that she might look after the three children,
and do anything else to make herself useful.
"I started off on my errand, in better spirits than I had ever been in
before. I was afraid to go near the baker's house, for fear I should be
seen from the shop and might have trouble in getting away again: for I
had been regularly bound as his apprentice. So I watched the
public-house--where I knew the girl would be sure to come for the supper
beer in the evening.
"After I had been looking out for about half an hour, she came, looking
more beautiful, more ragged and dirty, than when I had last seen her,
four weeks before.
"`Come on, Ann!' I cried. (Ann was her name.) `Come on! Fling away
your jug, and follow me!'
"I ran up to her, while I was speaking.
"She dropped the jug--not because I had told her to do so--but from the
excitement of her surprise at seeing me. It fell out of her hands on
the pavement; and was broken to pieces.
"`Follow me,' said I, `I've another home for you.'
"She gave one glance at the broken jug; and probably thought of her
mistress, and the beating she would be sure to get, should she go home
without the jug and the supper beer. That thought decided her. She
then took my hand; and we started off towards the river.
"I am going to cut my story short," said Stormy, after a pause--during
which he seemed to suffer from some painful reflection. "For nine years
I worked for that girl. Part of the time I was getting good wages--as
the second mate of a large ship, running to Charleston, in the United
States; and all of my money was spent in keeping Ann in a good home, and
in having her taught to read and write, and behave herself like a lady.
"To deny myself every comfort, for the sake of saving money for her, was
my greatest pleasure. I have often crossed the Atlantic without proper
clothing; so that Ann might be placed beyond the danger of want, while I
was gone.
"During these nine years, I drank no grog, nor liquor of any kind. I
would not even take a glass at the expense of any of my messmates,
because I would be expected to stand a glass in return; and there was
more pleasure in saving the money for Ann, than in spending it on what
could only injure me. I have often walked the cold wet decks with my
feet freezing for the want of a pair of socks and good boots--because
these things would cost money: and all that I could make I wished to
spend only for the benefit of Ann, who was always in my thoughts--the
idol of my soul.
"While making my voyages across the Atlantic, I got some of my
companions to learn me to read and write a little. I worked very hard
at this, when I could find time. There were two reasons for my wishing
to be able to write: the first, because I had some desire to learn on my
own account; and the other reason was, that when I should marry Ann, I
did not wish her to have a husband who could not write his own name.
"When I had got to be about twenty-three years of age, I began to think
of getting married. I was earning good wages; and had saved enough
money to furnish a little house for Ann. Just about that time, however,
I noticed she had begun to treat me with a little coldness. I had been
so very saving of my money, that I always went rather shabbily dressed;
and I at first thought that she might be a little ashamed of my
appearance. I knew that this would not be right on her part; but I also
knew that women have got vanity; and that they cannot help a feeling of
that kind. I could not think that it was possible for Ann not to love
me--after the many sacrifices I had made for her--for I deserved her
love, and had fairly earned it. I thought that if there was a man
worthy of being loved by her, and having her for his wife, I was that
man, for I had done all that I was able to gain her good will; and no
one can do more. I was under the belief, too, that she loved me: for
she had many a time told me so. You may imagine, then, how I was taken
aback, when one time that I returned from a voyage to give her all the
money I had earned, I found that she treated me very coldly; and that
every day she grew colder and colder, and seemed as if she only wanted
to get clear of my company."
At this interesting crisis of his story, Stormy was interrupted by the
entrance of two of our mining neighbours, who came into our tent to have
a quiet game of "uker" along with us.
Volume One, Chapter XXVII.