“—Be patient, for the prize I’ll bring thee to,
Shall hoodwink this mischance—.”
Tempest.
The air, audacity, and language of the unknown mariner, had produced a
marked sensation among the passengers of the periagua. It was plain, by
the playfulness that lurked about the coal-black eye of la belle
Barbérie, that she had been amused by his sarcasms, though the boldness
of his manner had caused her to maintain the reserve which she believed
necessary to her sex and condition. The Patroon studied the countenance
of his mistress, and, though half offended by the freedom of the
intruder, he had believed it wisest to tolerate his liberties, as the
natural excesses of a spirit that had been lately released from the
monotony of a sea-life. The repose which usually reigned in the
countenance of the Alderman had been a little troubled; but he
succeeded in concealing his discontent from any impertinent
observation. When the chief actor in the foregoing scene, therefore,
saw fit to withdraw, the usual tranquillity was restored, and his
presence appeared to be forgotten.
An ebbing tide and a freshening breeze quickly carried the periagua
past the smaller islands of the bay and brought the cruiser called the
Coquette more distinctly into view. This vessel, a ship of twenty guns,
lay abreast of the hamlet on the shores of Staten Island, which was the
destination of the ferry-boat. Here was the usual anchorage of
outward-bound ships, which awaited a change of wind; and it was here,
that vessels then, as in our times, were subject to those examinations
and delays which are imposed for the safety of the inhabitants of the
city. The Coquette was alone, however; for the arrival of a trader,
from a distant port, was an event of unfrequent occurrence, at the
commencement of the eighteenth century.
The course of the periagua brought her within fifty feet of the
sloop-of-war. As the former approached, a movement of curiosity and
interest occurred among those she contained.
“Take more room for your milk-maid,” grumbled the Alderman, observing
that the schipper was willing to gratify his passengers, by running as
near as possible to the dark sides of the cruiser. “Seas and oceans! is
not York-bay wide enough, that you must brush the dust out of the
muzzles of the guns of yon lazy ship? If the Queen knew how her money
was eaten and drunk, by the idle knaves aboard her, she would send them
all to hunt for freebooters among the islands. Look at the land, Alida,
child, and you’ll think no more of the fright the gaping dunce is
giving thee; he only wishes to show his skill in steering.”
But the niece manifested none of the terror that the uncle was willing
to ascribe to her fears. Instead of turning pale, the color deepened on
her cheeks, as the periagua came dancing along, under the lee of the
cruiser; and if her respiration became quicker than usual, it was
scarcely produced by the agitation of alarm. The near sight of the tall
masts, and of the maze of cordage that hung nearly above their heads,
however, prevented the change from being noted. A hundred curious eyes
were already peeping at them, through the ports, or over the bulwarks
of the ship, when suddenly, an officer, who wore the undress of a naval
captain of that day, sprang into the main rigging of the cruiser, and
saluted the party in the periagua, by waving his hat, hurriedly, like
one who was agreeably taken by surprise.
“A fair sky and gentle breezes to each and all!” he cried with the
hearty manner of a seaman. “I kiss my hand to the fair Alida; and the
Alderman will take a sailor’s good wishes; Mr. Van Staats, I salute
you.”
“Aye,” muttered the burgher, “your idlers have nothing better to do,
than to make words answer for deeds. A lazy war and a distant enemy
make you seamen the lords of the land, Captain Ludlow.”
Alida blushed still deeper, hesitated, and then, by a movement that was
half involuntary, she waved her handkerchief. The young Patroon arose,
and answered the salutation by a courteous bow. By this time the
ferry-boat was nearly past the ship, and the scowl was quitting the
face of the Alderman, when the mariner of the India-shawl sprang to his
feet, and, in a moment, he stood again in the centre of their party.
“A pretty sea-boat, and a neat show aloft!” he said, as his
understanding eye scanned the rigging of the royal cruiser, taking the
tiller at the same time, with all his former indifference, from the
hands of the schipper. “Her Majesty should have good service from such
a racer, and no doubt the youth in her rigging is a man to get most out
of his craft. We’ll take another observation. Draw away your
head-sheet, boy.”
The stranger had put the helm a-lee, while speaking, and by the time
the order he had given was uttered, the quick-working boat was about,
and nearly filled on the other tack. In another minute, she was again
brushing along the side of the sloop-of-war. A common complaint against
this hardy interference with the regular duty of the boat, was about to
break out of the lips of the Alderman and the schipper, when he of the
India-shawl lifted his cap, and addressed the officer in the rigging,
with all the self-possession he had manifested in the intercourse with
those nearer his person.
“Has Her Majesty need of a man in her service who has seen, in his
time, more blue water than hard ground; or is there no empty berth in
so gallant a cruiser, for one who must do a seaman’s duty, or starve?”
The descendant of the king-hating Ludlows, as the Lord Cornbury had
styled the race of the commander of the Coquette, was quite as much
surprised by the appearance of him who put this question, as he was by
the coolness with which a mariner of ordinary condition presumed to
address an officer who bore so high a commission as his own. He had,
how ever, sufficient time to recollect in whose presence he stood, ere
he replied, for the stranger had again placed the helm a-lee, and
caused the foresail to be thrown aback;—a change that made the periagua
stationary.
“The Queen will always receive a bold mariner in her pay, if he come
prepared to serve with skill and fidelity,” he said; “as a proof of
which, let a rope be thrown the periagua; we shall treat more at our
ease under Her Majesty’s pennant. I shall be proud to entertain
Alderman Van Beverout, in the meantime: and a cutter will always be at
his command, when he shall have occasion to quit us.”
“Your land-loving Aldermen find their way from a Queen’s cruiser to the
shore, more easily than a seaman of twenty years’ experience;” returned
the other, without giving the burgher time to express his thanks for
the polite offer of the other. “You have gone through the Gibraltar
passage, without doubt, noble captain, being a gentleman that has got
so fine a boat under his orders?”
“Duty has taken me into the Italian seas, more than once,” answered
Ludlow, half disposed to resent this familiarity, though too anxious to
keep the periagua near, to quarrel with him who so evidently had
produced the unexpected pleasure.
“Then you know that, though a lady might fan a ship through the straits
eastward, it needs a Levant breeze to bring her out again. Her
Majesty’s pennants are long, and when they get foul around the limbs of
a thoroughly-bred sea-dog, it passes all his art to clear the jam. It
is most worthy of remark that the better the seaman, the less his power
to cast loose the knot!”
“If the pennant be so long, it may reach farther than you wish!—But a
bold volunteer has no occasion to dread a press.”
“I fear the berth I wish is filled,” returned the other, curling his
lip: “let draw the fore-sheet, lad; we will take our departure, leaving
the fly of the pennant well under our lee. Adieu, brave Captain; when
you have need of a thorough rover, and dream of stern-chases and wet
sails, think of him who visited your ship at her lazy moorings.”
Ludlow bit his lip, and though his fine face reddened to the temples,
he met the arch glance of Alida, and laughed. But he who had so hardily
braved the resentment of a man, powerful as the commander of a royal
cruiser in a British colony, appeared to understand the hazard of his
situation. The periagua whirled round on her heel, and the next minute
it was bending to the breeze, and dashing through the little waves
towards the shore. Three boats left the cruiser at the same moment.
One, which evidently contained her captain, advanced with the usual
dignified movement of a barge landing an officer of rank, but the
others were urged ahead with all the earnestness of a hot chase.
“Unless disposed to serve the Queen, you have not done well, my friend,
to brave one of her commanders at the muzzles of his guns.” observed
the Patroon, so soon as the state of the case became too evident to
doubt of the intentions of the man-of-war’s men.
“That Captain Ludlow would gladly take some of us out of this boat, by
fair means or by foul, is a fact clear as a bright star in a cloudless
night; and, well knowing a seaman’s duty to his superiors, I shall
leave him to his choice.”
“In which case you will shortly eat Her Majesty’s bread,” pithily
returned the Alderman.
“The food is unpalatable, and I reject it—and yet here is a boat, whose
crew seem determined to make one swallow worse fare.”
The unknown mariner ceased speaking, for the situation of the periagua,
was truly getting to be a little critical. At least so it seemed to the
less-instructed landsmen, who were witnesses of this unexpected
rencontre. As the ferry-boat had drawn in with the island, the wind
hauled more through the pass which communicates with the outer bay, and
it became necessary to heave about, twice, in order to fetch to
windward of the usual landing-place. The first of these manœuvres had
been executed, and as it necessarily changed their course, the
passengers saw that the cutter to which the stranger alluded was
enabled to get within-shore of them; or nearer to the wharf, where they
ought to land, than they were themselves. Instead of suffering himself
to be led off by a pursuit, that he knew might easily be rendered
useless, the officer who commanded this boat cheered his men, and
pulled swiftly to the point of debarkation. On the other hand, a second
cutter, which had already reached the line of the periagua’s course,
lay on its oars, and awaited its approach. The unknown mariner
manifested no intention to avoid the interview. He still held the
tiller, and as effectually commanded the little vessel as if his
authority were of a more regular character. The audacity and decision
of his air and conduct, aided by the consummate mariner in which he
worked the boat, might alone have achieved this momentary usurpation,
had not the general feeling against impressment been so much in his
favor.
“The devil’s fangs!” grumbled the schipper. If you should keep the
Milk-Maid away, we shall lose a little in distance, though I think the
man-of-war’s men will be puzzled to catch her, with a flowing sheet!”
“The Queen has sent a message by the gentleman,” the mariner rejoined:
“it would be unmannerly to refuse to hear it.”
“Heave-to, the periagua!” shouted the young officer, in the cutter. “In
Her Majesty’s name, I command you, obey.”
“God bless the royal lady!” returned he of the foul anchors and gay
shawl, while the swift ferry-boat continued to dash ahead. “We owe her
duty, and are glad to see so proper a gentleman employed in her
behalf.”
By this time the boats were fifty feet asunder. No sooner was there
room, than the periagua once more flew round, and commenced anew its
course, dashing in again towards the shore. It was necessary, however,
to venture within an oar’s-length of the cutter, or to keep away,—a
loss of ground to which he who controlled her movements showed no
disposition to submit. The officer arose, and, as the periagua drew
near, it was evident his hand held a pistol, though he seemed reluctant
to exhibit the weapon. The mariner stepped aside, in a manner to offer
a full view of all in his group, as he sarcastically observed—
“Choose your object, sir; in such a party, a man of sentiment may have
a preference.”
The young man colored, as much with shame at, the degrading duty he had
been commissioned to perform, as with vexation at his failure.
Recovering his self-composure, however, he lifted his hat to la belle
Barbérie, and the periagua dashed on, in triumph. Still the leading
cutter was near the shore, where it soon arrived, the crew lying on
their oars at the end of the wharf, in evident expectation of the
arrival of the ferry-boat. At this sight, the schipper shook his head,
and looked up in the bold face of his passenger, in a manner to betray
how much his mind misgave the result. But the tail mariner maintained
his coolness, and began to make merry allusions to the service which he
had braved with so much temerity, and from which no one believed he was
yet likely to escape. By the former manœuvres, the periagua had gained
a position well to windward of the wharf; and she was now steered close
upon the wind, directly for the shore. Against the consequences of a
perseverance in this course, however, the schipper saw fit to
remonstrate.
“Shipwrecks and rocky bottoms!” exclaimed the alarmed waterman. “A
Holland galliot would go to pieces, if you should run her in among
those stepping-stones, with this breeze! No honest boatman loves to see
a man stowed in a cruiser’s hold, like a thief caged in his prison; but
when it comes to breaking the nose of the Milk-Maid, it is asking too
much of her owner, to stand by and look on.”
“There shall not be a dimple of her lovely countenance deranged,”
answered his cool passenger. “Now, lower away your sails, and we’ll run
along the shore, down to yon wharf. ’Twould be an ungallant act to
treat the dairy-girl with so little ceremony, gentlemen, after the
lively foot and quick evolutions she has shown in our behalf. The best
dancer in the island could not have better played her part, though
jigging under the music of a three-stringed fiddle!”
By this time the sails were lowered, and the periagua was gliding down
towards the place of landing, running always at the distance of some
fifty feet from the shore.
“Every craft has its allotted time, like a mortal,” continued the
inexplicable mariner of the India-shawl. “If she is to die a sudden
death, there is your beam-end and stern-way, which takes her into the
grave without funeral service, or parish prayers; your dropsy is being
water-logged; gout and rheumatism kill like a broken back and loose
joints; indigestion is a shifting cargo, with guns adrift; the gallows
is a bottomry-bond, with lawyers’ fees; while fire, drowning, death by
religious melancholy, and suicide, are a careless gunner, sunken rocks,
false lights, and a lubberly captain.”
Ere any were apprized of his intention, this singular being then sprang
from the boat on the cap of a little rock, over which the waves were
washing, whence he bounded, from stone to stone, by vigorous efforts,
till he fairly leaped to land. In another minute, he was lost to view,
among the dwellings of the hamlet.
The arrival of the periagua, which immediately after reached the wharf,
the disappointment of the cutter’s crew, and the return of both the
boats to their ship, succeeded as matters of course.