THE GOOD-NATURED SEAMEN--PIERRE LAMONT--DAVID'S EMPLOYMENT--THE
REPUBLICAN OFFICER.
No one seemed disposed to pay the slightest attention to the two boys.
The officers glanced at them superciliously. The captain, after taking
a few turns on deck, scowled on them as he passed on his way below.
They were left standing on the deck of the schooner, which went flying
on before the still increasing gale. They were wet and cold, and
grieving for the loss of their old friend, as well as very anxious about
the sorrow their absence would cause their relatives at home.
"I suppose the Frenchmen won't let us starve altogether," said David.
"The officers indeed don't seem inclined to treat us well, but perhaps
the men may be differently disposed. I propose that, having done what
we considered our duty, we go forward and throw ourselves upon their
kindness. Still, as I'm a quarter-deck officer, we ought to be treated
with respect by the officers. I'm sure, if we had picked up two French
midshipmen on board our frigate, we should have made regular pets of
them, and given them no cause to complain."
"But remember this is not a frigate," observed David; "I think it will
be wiser to put our dignity in our pockets, and make the best of things
as they are."
Still Harry held out for some little time; but at length the surly looks
of the officers, not to mention his hunger, made him yield to David's
suggestions, and they quietly worked their way forward. As soon as the
backs of the officers were turned the men came round them, and by the
expression of their countenances showed that they at least bore them no
ill-will. One or two, by signs, invited them below, and they were very
glad to escape from the cold autumn gale which was blowing through their
wet clothes. Although unable to communicate by words, the lads had no
difficulty in making their wishes known to the Frenchmen by signs. Some
dry clothes were quickly produced from the bag of a young seaman. As
soon as Harry and David had dressed themselves in these, some provisions
and a bottle of wine were brought to them, the Frenchmen standing round
looking on with great satisfaction while they discussed them.
"_Buvez, me amis_," said a stout good-natured looking seaman, pouring
out a glass of claret. The boys guessed by his signs clearly enough
what he said, and thanked him by nodding in return. They both felt
considerably better for their repast.
"If it wasn't for the loss of poor old Jefferies, I should not have
minded it at all," said David; "but for him to lose his life, and for us
to find ourselves little better than prisoners on board a Frenchman, is
very trying."
"As you remember, nearly his last words were, `Trust in God,'" remarked
Harry; "so let us go on trusting; he was a good old man, and is gone to
heaven I'm sure, so we ought not to mourn for him much. It would have
broken his heart to find himself on board this vessel."
"I wonder in what direction we are going?" said David.
"I will try and get a look at the compass when we go on deck again, but
we mustn't let the Frenchmen think we care anything about the matter,"
said Harry.
"What a pity it is we can't talk French a little! I wish we could thank
these kind, good-natured fellows, because really I am very grateful for
their kindness to us."
"At all events, we can do it by signs," said Harry, jumping up and
shaking the Frenchman by the hand who had given them the wine.
"Much obliged, monsieur; much obliged for your good dinner; the sausages
were excellent. We don't often taste such claret at sea as you gave
us."
Of course, though the Frenchman did not understand a word Harry had
said, yet he was evidently in the way of becoming a favourite among
them. When invited to return on deck they did not hesitate to do so,
for by keeping forward they were not recognised among the French crew.
In the evening they were again invited to join the mess of the men
below, which, if not quite in accordance with English notions, was not
quite the wretched fare on which Frenchmen are supposed to exist.
Indeed, it must be owned that the provisions were far better cooked and
made into more palatable messes than they would have been on board an
English vessel of the same character. At night they had a berth
allotted to them in a standing bed-place forward, into which they were
too glad to creep. Having thanked the God of mercy who had thus
preserved them, in a prayer which came from the very bottom of their
hearts, and asked for a blessing on all those they had left at home,
they lay down in their narrow berth, and stowed themselves away as well
as space would allow. They had reason to be thankful that they had
escaped the perils to which they had been exposed for so many nights on
the raft; and though their sleeping-place was very close and dark, it
had the advantage of being dry. They were very quickly fast asleep, in
spite of all the rolling and pitching of the vessel, as she dashed
forward across the stormy ocean. There was no danger of their being
pitched out. In spite of the groaning of the bulkheads, the whistling
of the wind through the rigging, the loud dash of the seas against the
vessel, and the numerous other loud wild sounds which are heard during a
gale at sea, the boys slept on till a gleam of daylight found its way
down to their narrow berth.
"_Mangez, mangez, mes amis_!" said a voice, which was recognised as that
of their kind friend of the previous evening. He had come, it appeared,
to summon them to breakfast, for the crew were employed below in
discussing that meal. Once on their feet, the boys found themselves
perfectly ready to join their French friends, and to do ample justice to
the food placed before them.
"If it were not for the dignity of the thing we should not be so badly
off, after all," said Harry; "but really I cannot quite get over the
skipper not treating us as officers, as he should have done."
The Frenchmen greeted them with kind smiles, and soon again reconciled
them to their wretched fate.
The gale now increased to a regular hurricane. The schooner ran before
it under a close-reefed fore-topsail, but even then the seas followed so
rapidly that there appeared great probability of their breaking on
board. Both officers and men either remained below, or, when necessity
compelled them to be on deck, kept close to the bulwarks, that they
might have something to catch hold of should an accident occur. Under
these circumstances no work was expected to be done; the boys were
therefore allowed to do just as they pleased. They wisely kept forward
among their friends the seamen. They had observed a boy about their own
age eyeing them occasionally as he passed sometimes with a dish from the
cook's caboose, or with various messages with which he seemed to be
generally employed; yet he had not hitherto spoken to them.
"I like his looks," said David; "I can't help fancying that he wants to
be friendly. Next time he passes us I will say something to him; or
see, I've got a knife in my pocket; I'll present it to him, it will show
our good-will."
"That will be very much like purchasing kindness," answered Harry.
In a few minutes after this the boy again came near.
"Here, garcon," said David, pulling out his knife as he spoke, "take
this, you may find it very useful."
"Merci," said the boy, "thank you--much obliged."
"What! do you speak English?" asked David.
"Very little, but I know what you say."
"Oh, we're so glad of that," exclaimed the two boys in the same breath.
"What is your name?" asked David.
"Pierre Lamont," answered the French boy.
"We shall be friends," said David. "You don't hate the English, I hope,
like the captain?"
"Oh no, no," answered Pierre, "I love the English; my poor mother was
English, but she is dead, and so is my father, but he was French."
"Then have you no one to look after you?" exclaimed David, in a tone of
commiseration.
"No, I am all alone in the world, no one to care for me," said Pierre.
"Are you happy here on board this ship?" asked Harry.
"Oh no, no. Sometimes I am pretty well off; but often our cruel men
order me about, and beat me with the rope's-end if I do not do quickly
what they command."
"You see, Harry," said David, "there's one on board this ship worse off
than we are. We have some dear friends on shore, and though they don't
know what has become of us, we hope that they are are safe, and that we
shall get back to them some day."
"Do you know where we're going, Pierre?" asked Harry. "I wanted to look
at the compass; but I'm afraid of going aft, lest I should meet the
captain."
"You are right to keep away from him," answered Pierre. "If he knew
even that I spoke English he would treat me worse than he does. But you
ask where are we going. I believe that we're bound out to the West
Indies to take as many English merchant-vessels as we can find."
"I thought we were going in that direction," answered David.
"But, Pierre, do you think if any of the English vessels are defended,
that the captain will make us fight against our own countrymen?"
"Oh, you may depend on that," said Pierre. "That is, you will be
employed in bringing up powder from below."
"What! shall we be turned into powder-monkeys?" exclaimed Harry, in a
tone of indignation. "That will be too bad."
"Is that what you call the boys who bring up the powder?"
"Yes, but only the smallest among the ship's crew are employed in that
work, and they should not treat officers in that way, even though we are
their enemies," exclaimed Harry, indignantly.
"That is the very reason the captain will take delight in giving you
such employment," said Pierre. "No one likes him on board. Even the
officers fear him; but he is said to be a very good seaman and a daring
character, so brave that he cares for nothing."
From this account of the captain the boys saw that they were not far
wrong in the opinion they had formed of him from his countenance and his
manner towards them. They resolved, therefore, to keep out of his way,
and to avoid irritating him if they could. While the gale continued he
had quite enough to do to look after the vessel without troubling
himself about them. Indeed, as far as they could judge, he had
forgotten that they were on board. Although the place below where they
sat with the men was close and dark in consequence of being battened
down, they spent much of their time there. Many of the men were
employed in various works. Several were making models of vessels in a
way few English seamen could have done. David proposed doing something
of the sort, to show the Frenchmen that he did not wish to be idle, and
that he felt himself at home among them. He asked Pierre to get him
some corks, and to set to work to make a model of a village church.
This, with the aid of some pins, he rapidly accomplished with a file
which he borrowed from one of the men, and he drew down the warm
commendations of his companions, who were especially well disposed to
appreciate such efforts. He accordingly presented it to his stout
friend, Jacques Rossillion, the good-natured seaman who had from the
first taken an interest in him.
Thus several days passed away till the gale abated, the sea went down,
and sail was once more made on the schooner. Harry had been perhaps
unwisely anxious to put on his own uniform again, which was now
thoroughly dry and fit to wear. Pierre advised him not to appear before
the captain in it. "Still it's my proper dress," answered Harry, who,
like many midshipmen, was very tenacious on that subject. The gale,
which had been in their favour, had carried them a long way towards
their destination, as they judged by the warmth of the atmosphere and
the tropical appearance of the sea. The officers as usual paced the
quarter-deck, and the men congregated together forward. A monkey, which
had hitherto stowed himself away somewhere out of sight, was among the
occupants of the deck. To an English crew a monkey is a great
acquisition, but a French ship's company can scarcely get on without
one. When they are inclined to play pranks he is always at their
service, and woe betide the unhappy small boy of a ship's company on
whose muster-roll a monkey is not to be found! as he has to endure what
the four-handed animal would otherwise have to go through.
On looking over the side Harry observed a black fin gliding along at the
same rate as the schooner. "Look there, David; did you ever see a
regular shark before?" he said. "If anybody was to fall overboard that
fellow would snap him in two in half a second. The best swimmer would
have but a poor chance unless he was well prepared. I have heard of a
sailor attacking a shark with a knife in his hand, and cutting him up;
but a man only with iron nerves and great presence of mind and a good
swimmer could ever make the attempt." While they were speaking the
captain appeared on deck. "Here, you boys, come aft," he shouted.
"What, do you think you are to pass away your time in idleness, and get
fed and grow fat? You are very much mistaken if you think any such
thing. Take each of you a tar-bucket, and go and black down the rigging
from the fore-topmast head." Poor Harry looked at his uniform; it had
endured the wetting, but it would be spoiled in a few minutes by the
operation which he was ordered to perform. He saw that it would not do
to disobey the captain's orders. If they had time to find Pierre they
might borrow some frocks and canvas trousers.
"I say what I mean," shouted the captain; "and off with you at once--one
taking the starboard, and one the larboard rigging. What, you don't
like to spoil your clothes, I see. I was not allowed any clothes to
spoil when I was in an English prison."
"Surely you will let us borrow some frocks, sir," answered David.
"Though we are gentlemen, and unaccustomed to such work, we are willing
to obey you, only we don't want to spoil our clothes."
"Aloft, I say, or overboard you go. There's a fellow alongside ready to
breakfast off you, if you are anxious to feed him." The little
Frenchman looked so fierce that the boys really believed he was in
earnest.
"It can't be helped," said David. "You must tell me what to do, for I
never blacked down rigging even on board the yacht."
"Just secure the bucket as you descend, and take care not to let the tar
drop from the brush on deck. It's not the difficulty of the thing, but
it is very derogatory."
Seeing that there was no use in further expostulation, the boys took
each of them a bucket as they were ordered, and ascended, one on one
side, and one on the other, of the fore-rigging, and having reached the
masthead Harry secured his bucket, and showed David how to secure his.
The operation, besides being a very dirty one, was tedious, as each rope
had to be gone carefully round with the tar. Often they made melancholy
faces at each other as they gradually descended, but neither the captain
nor officers showed the slightest commiseration, only watching
apparently to see that the work was effectually performed. While the
captain remained on deck the crew took no notice of them. This was,
however, evidently done in kindness. At length the work was over, and,
seeing the captain on deck, they thought the best way was to go aft and
report what they had done. "Very well," said the captain; "tomorrow you
will black down the main-rigging; in the meantime I want to see a polish
put upon those brass stanchions, and the swivel guns are not so bright
as they should be. I shall have work for you in my cabin, too, by and
by. You are young English gentlemen, I understand. You may consider it
a privilege to have to serve a poor republican seaman, who has worked
his way up from before the mast."
"We will do our best to obey you, sir," answered David, who wisely
wished to conciliate the man, in spite of his surly manners. He
remembered that "a soft answer turneth away wrath."