There was a lively discussion going on now on board the old Ship of
State about the state of things in general. As to whether trade really
was depressed at home, and as to whether the Buccaneer's relations were
all as they should be abroad.
The Port watch, who wanted to get charge of the old ship, swore that
things were at sixes and sevens. Their part of the press gang took of
course the same view, while the Starboard watch, headed by Dogvane,
declared with great zeal and certainty that things were never better.
There was discontent even amongst the Starboard, or Dogvane's watch,
some of the hands, namely, the carpenter, the butcher, and the cook,
and, of course, the carpenter's mate, thinking that the old ship was out
of date, and much too slow for the times. The carpenter was for altering
her, and for cutting adrift the old hulk alongside. The cook was for
breaking the old ship up, and for building an entirely new one on lines
of his own. The new craft, he declared, would be a rapid sailer, very
easily managed and cheaply worked. These ideas grew and took root, and
were productive of certain fruit, as will be hereafter shown.
When the captain of the Port watch drew the Buccaneer's attention to the
general, as he said, unsatisfactory state of things, old Dogvane shut
one eye--not his weather one--that was always open. "It does you
credit," he said, "it does you credit; but bless you, my master isn't
going to be taken in, in that way. It is a trick, sir; just a party
trick," he said, turning to the Buccaneer, who with his cox'sn was
standing on the quarter-deck, wondering, as was his custom, whom he was
to believe.
The Port watch now began to abuse old Dogvane, and many of the long
shore hands freely damned him; but quite as many blessed him, and were
ready to crown him with laurels; but he was called by the Port watch a
double-dealing, sly, foxy, old fellow, who would commit any crime from
pitch-and-toss to manslaughter, though not a soul had ever seen him
indulging in either of these games.
The carpenter declared that the Buccaneer's people were doing a rattling
trade in boots, shoes, and watches, while woollen stuffs were all up.
What a carpenter could know about such things it would be difficult to
say. Had it been nails, or screws, it would have been quite a different
thing; but on board the old ship a want of knowledge never kept a tongue
quiet. Indeed, under the system of a square man for a round hole, how
could it be otherwise?
There was a lengthy and animated discussion on the matter, which Random
Jack, of whom mention has been made, took advantage of to scud up aloft
to the look-out tub. The shaking of the rigging woke up the man on duty,
who, from a matter of habit, sung out "All's well."
Random Jack declared it was nothing of the sort, and he accused the
look-out man of being asleep. Then the middy hailed the deck. "Below
there!" he cried, "I see clouds in the East." This was a safe thing to
say, for there were always clouds there of some sort. He added, "Dust
and smoke show there is a heavy storm there. I see, too, a city in
flames, and people are being massacred."
The Buccaneer turned upon old Dogvane, the captain of the watch on duty,
and asked him what all this meant. Dogvane was not in the least taken
aback, no good sailor ever is, so he said, "I cannot believe, sir, that
anything is going on in the East that should not be, because we have no
official information on the subject." It was a well known fact, that in
the Buccaneer's island, his official information was about the last that
was ever received. People often wondered what kind of an animal carried
his mail bags. Some said it must be a mule, or perhaps an ass.
Dogvane, to reassure his master, hailed the mast-head, and asked the
look-out man how the old ship was heading. This was the usual way of
asking for information. The man on duty in the tub immediately placed
his official eye to the telescope, while he firmly closed the other, and
answered that the distant horizon was quite clear. Then he added, "Some
people are so precious sharp that they stand a chance of cutting
themselves." This sarcasm was levelled at Random Jack, but he treated it
with a contempt that was peculiar to him.
When the little middy reached the deck he had a pretty tale to tell; but
the cook said it was a parcel of lies, that the other watch could
scarcely be believed on their oath, and this depravity very much
distressed him; for Pepper was an upright, and an honest man. Billy
Cheeks said that the young Tory Bantam, as he called him, was a deal too
fond of crowing, and that if he came within striking distance of his fly
flapper, he would take his meals standing for some considerable time.
The Ojabberaways on board were highly delighted at the prospect of a
row, for nothing they liked better than a free fight, and they were
always ready to join in any devilment that would cause the old gentleman
annoyance.
Dogvane, seeing how things were going, delivered himself of one of those
speeches, for which he was celebrated. Having hitched up his trousers
fore and aft, like the good sailor that he was, he said:
"All this stir, sir, is about nothing. As I said before it is just a
trick of the other side to shift watches. Clouds in the East? Of course
there are. It is the very place we generally look for them. I am
creditably informed that all our relations are for the most part
friendly, and taking into consideration how interfering and meddlesome
relations usually are, this must be considered highly satisfactory. At
home the bright sun of prosperity shines over all the land, while the
songs of a contented people rise up in a grand chorus to heaven." The
cook hearing this winked at the butcher, upon whose placid features
there was a smile of approval and self-satisfaction; but the good
impression left by the above beautiful language upon the mind of the
Buccaneer, was slightly clouded by a parting shot on the part of the
captain of the Port watch, who knew as well as Dogvane how to arouse
his master's suspicion. It could always be done by drawing attention to
what were said to be the ambitious designs of some old rival. Then our
Buccaneer from a state of indolent indifference, would often fly to the
opposite extreme and suffer something in the nature of a panic, under
the influence of which he would for the time being storm and rave. If he
could, he would make a scapegoat of some one. Perhaps he would kick his
watch on duty over the ship's side, and think to put all things straight
by lavishing his money upon every conceivable object. The fury of the
storm being over, he would again sink into his usual happy-go-lucky
state, and rest quietly until some one stirred him up again. As some
rusty old weathercock will not condescend to move for anything less than
a gale of wind, so it took a panic to rouse up this wealthy and
easy-going old gentleman.