The Buccaneer paced the deck of his old ship in a thoughtful manner.
Suddenly he stopped and addressed his captain. "Dogvane," he said, "I
have trusted you; beware lest you deceive me."
"Sir," said the captain, "the man who would deceive so good and great a
master would be base indeed."
"Is all this true that the other watch have said about my ships? Am I in
the wretched state they say? Where has gone all my money?"
"Master, allow not the idle shafts of the Port Watch to trouble you.
They are greedy of office, and to gain their ends, they magnify some
things and totally misrepresent others. Believe not what they said about
your ships and about your trade. Bloated armaments, sir, are a source of
danger; exciting the fear, jealousy, and suspicions of your neighbours;
draining your exchequer, and feeding like a foul canker upon the fair
flower of your industries. You are no longer a bold Buccaneer, sailing
the seas in search of plunder. You are no land stealer. The object of
your life is not now to carry fire and sword into your neighbour's
country. You are a respectable trader, peaceful and industrious, a
Christian, with religious principles to act up to."
"Yes, Master Dogvane; but there are those about, who, if I am not ready
to protect my own, will save me the trouble."
"Sir, it is not right to have so base an opinion of the world; but your
armaments are fully equal to all your needs."
"In this, Master Dogvane, I must perforce believe you. But how about
that rascal Bruin? He has committed depredations in the past. He is a
grasping fellow too, and I have my suspicions that there may be some
truth in what I hear. He may be casting sheep's eyes at my fair Indian
Princess."
"So long as they are only sheep's eyes, sir, where is the harm? The lamb
which is the forerunner of the sheep is the emblem of peace. Suspicion,
my master, is the attribute of either a base or weak mind, and is
unworthy of you. The Eastern Bandit I have always found a pious and
truthful man; only requiring to be known to be appreciated. Honest too,
as times go; but awkward when vexed."
We must leave the Buccaneer in the hands of his skilful captain and take
a turn ashore. The Port Watch having collected crowds of idlers
addressed them on the general depressed state of affairs, and they found
ready listeners. No one considers himself so well off but that he wants
something more. There was a general and continued cry out against the
foreign cheap-Jacks. The blackguards who take advantage of every breath
of discontent to preach their doctrine of universal plunder had merry
times, and their tongues wagged at the street corners, in the parks, and
other public places. These fellows had a following, for they held up
before the eyes of the poor a picture of plenty, while the criminals saw
in them instruments to help them on in their trade. The sound of their
many voices surged up like the angry roar of wild beasts in some distant
jungle.
But now all eyes were turned towards the old Ship of State, for a sight
was to be seen that had not been seen in the memory of living man
before. It was nothing more nor less than the portly form of the old
Buccaneer struggling with difficulty up the rigging, and behind him came
the lithesome form of old Dogvane; both of them were evidently bound for
the crow's nest, below which the legs of the look-out man could be seen
hanging like the legs of some huge stork.
There was a look of anxiety on the captain's face, as though he feared
the consequences of that climb up aloft. It might upset the gravity of
so portly an old gentleman as his master had grown to be, and he might
look at things with a temper somewhat clouded by anger. Then the
look-out man might be found asleep at his post. That some such thoughts
occupied old Dogvane's mind was evident, for, making some excuse, he
passed his master in the rigging and hurried to the top. The man in the
tub was so lost in his own meditations that he did not see the captain
enter; but a kick startled him, and he cried, "Look out!" "I am going
to," was Dogvane's reply. He then added: "Now, look alive, my hearty,
and show me the official slides."
The Buccaneer arrived in the top, puffing and blowing and quite
exhausted, for it was a stiff climb for one so stout. He was breathless,
and his face was as ruddy as the setting sun. As he sat swabbing
himself, as the sailors would say, he heard the murmurs of the crowd
down below on shore rising up. "What noise is that?" he asked of the
captain.
"That, sir, is the lowing of your many herds," was the reply. Dogvane
was a ready man.
Now, when the people on shore had recovered from their first surprise,
their tongues began to wag freely.
"At last!" cried one, "the old man is roused; now we shall see what
happens."
"Not much, my mate," cried a second, "don't you see old Dogvane is up
aloft too." Of course this was either a Port watchman, or one with Port
watch sympathies.
"It is a pity," cried a third, "that the old gentleman did not mount
aloft before and take a look round for himself; then he would have seen
how things were going on. For, drat my buttons if you can believe any of
these land lubbers below."
"Ah! it's all very well to talk," said another, "but the old gentleman
is not so active as he used to be. Prosperity has made him lazy too, and
good living has made him thick in the wind."
"There is life in the old man yet," cried another. And so it went on
through the crowd. Several levelled their telescopes at the mast head of
the old ship, and there were general regrets at the apparent absence of
the Buccaneer's old coxswain, for the people believed in him. There was
now what bid fair, at one time, to end in a general free fight between
partisans of the two watches, and of course the Ojabberaways were quite
ready to join in, for wherever heads were to be broken there they were
sure to be; but a peaceful turn was given to the affair by Random Jack
jumping upon an empty beer barrel and declaring, as he took off his
jacket, that he was ready to meet in single combat, any man double his
size of the Starboard Watch, and bid any one who liked to carry his
challenge on board, either to the cook or to Billy Cheeks, the burly
butcher.
"Listen to the lad!" the people cried and laughed; but no one took up
the challenge.
"Well, my mates," cried an old salt, "let us wait and see what comes of
it all. For my part I doubt much good, with old Dogvane up there too."
"What can he do, pray, if the old man takes a look for himself?" said
another.
"What can he do?" cried Random Jack. "Look here, my hearties; that is a
difficult question to answer when old Bill is concerned. For there is
little he can't do, and there is not a trick or a dodge that that old
fox is not up to. Why, he would get the weather side of the devil
himself. Now, listen to me, my lads. Ah! it's all very well for you
slavish followers of old Dogvane to put your tongues in your cheeks and
flout and jeer, but those laugh in the end who win, and my merriment is
yet to come. Now I will tell you what old Dogvane will do. He will make
our master look through the wrong end of the telescope, or he will put
in coloured lenses, or glasses with pictures painted on them, or he will
do something to deceive; and whatever he does his crew will swear it is
right, more especially the cook, the carpenter, and the burly butcher;
but I have my eyes upon them; and I will smoke them out yet."
People laughed out right at these bold words of the little middy's. Many
of the old salts said the boy would grow into no ordinary man, and that
if he lived he would achieve great things. This Random Jack fully
believed himself; and perseverance as is well known conquers all things.
It is only necessary to be constantly dinning into the ears of people
our own particular merits, and in time the most obstinate will give in
and take you at your own valuation. In no other way can very much of
the success we see in the world be accounted for.
If you are an impostor, the course of events may perhaps find you out,
but it is hard to overthrow even a humbug when once fully established,
and if he is knocked over he is sure to retain some of his followers and
believers, who will worship him as a martyr, and he may even finish up
by being canonized as a saint.