“There shall be, in England, seven half-penny loaves sold for a penny.
The three-hooped pot shall have ten hoops; and I will make it felony to
drink small beer.”
—Jack Cade.
Had Alderman Van Beverout been a party in the preceding dialogue, he
could not have uttered words more apposite, than the exclamation with
which he first saluted the ears of those in the pavilion.
“Gales and climates!” exclaimed the merchant, entering with an open
letter in his hand. “Here are advices received, by way of Curaçoa, and
the coast of Africa, that the good ship Musk-Rat met with foul winds
off the Azores, which lengthened her passage home to seventeen
weeks—this is too much precious time wasted between markets, Captain
Cornelius Ludlow, and ’twill do discredit to the good character of the
ship, which has hitherto always maintained a sound reputation, never
needing more than the regular seven months to make the voyage home and
out again. If our vessels fall into this lazy train, we shall never get
a skin to Bristol, till it is past use. What have we here, niece?
Merchandise! and of a suspicious fabric!—who has the invoice of these
goods, and in what vessel were they shipped?”
“These are questions that may be better answered by their owner;”
returned la Belle, pointing gravely, and not without tremor in her
voice, towards the dealer in contraband, who, at the approach of the
Alderman, had shrunk back as far as possible from view.
Myndert cast an uneasy glance at the unmoved countenance of the
commander of the royal cruiser, after having bestowed a brief but
understanding look at the contents of the bale. “Captain Ludlow, the
chaser is chased!” he said. “After sailing about the Atlantic, for a
week or more, like a Jew broker’s clerk running up and down the Boom
Key at Rotterdam, to get off a consignment of damaged tea, we are
fairly caught ourselves! To what fall in prices, or change in the
sentiments of the Board of Trade, am I indebted for the honor of this
visit, Master a—a—a—gay dealer in green ladies and bright tissues?”
The confident and gallant manner of the free-trader had vanished. In
its place, there appeared a hesitating and embarrassed air, that the
individual was not wont to exhibit, blended with some apparent
indecision, on the subject of his reply.
“It is the business of those who hazard much, in order to minister to
the wants of life,” he said, after a pause that was sufficiently
expressive of the entire change in his demeanor, “to seek customers
where there is a reputation for liberality. I hope my boldness will be
overlooked, on account of its motive, and that you will aid the lady in
judging of the value of my articles, and of their reasonableness as to
price, with your own superior experience.”
Myndert was quite as much astonished, by this language, and the subdued
manner of the smuggler, as Ludlow himself. When he expected the
heaviest demand on his address, in order to check the usual forward and
reckless familiarity of Seadrift, in order that his connexion with the
‘Skimmer of the Seas’ might be as much as possible involved in
ambiguity, to his own amazement, he found his purpose more than aided
by the sudden and extraordinary respect with which he was treated.
Emboldened, and perhaps a little elevated in his own esteem, by this
unexpected deference, which the worthy Alderman, shrewd as he was in
common, did not fail, like other men, to impute to some inherent
quality of his own, he answered with a greater depth of voice, and a
more protecting air, than he might otherwise have deemed it prudent to
assume to one who had so frequently given him proofs of his own
fearless manner of viewing things.
“This is being more eager as a trader, than prudent as one who should
know the value of credit;” he said, making, at the same time, a lofty
gesture to betoken indulgence for so venial an error. “We must overlook
the mistake, Captain Ludlow; since, as the young man truly observes in
his defence, gain acquired in honest traffic is a commendable and
wholesome pursuit. One who appears as if he might not be ignorant of
the laws, should know that our virtuous Queen and her wise counsellors
have decided that Mother England can produce most that a colonist can
consume! Aye! and that she can consume, too, most that the colonist can
produce!”
“I pretend not to this ignorance, sir; but, in pursuing my humble
barter, I merely follow a principle of nature, by endeavoring to
provide for my own interests. We of the contraband do but play at
hazard with the authorities. When we pass the gauntlet unharmed, we
gain; and when we lose, the servants of the crown find their profit.
The stakes are equal, and the game should not be stigmatized as unfair.
Would the rulers of the world once remove the unnecessary shackles they
impose on commerce, our calling would disappear, and the name of
free-trader would then belong to the richest and most esteemed houses.”
The Alderman drew a long, low whistle. Motioning to his companions to
be seated, he placed his own compact person in a chair, crossed his
legs with an air of self-complacency, and resumed the discourse.
“These are very pretty sentiments, Master—a—a—a—, you bear a worthy
name, no doubt, my ingenious commentator on commerce?”
“They call me Seadrift, when they spare a harsher term;” returned the
other, meekly declining to be seated.
“These are pretty sentiments, Master Seadrift, and they much become a
gentleman who lives by practical comments on the revenue-laws. This is
a wise world, Captain Cornelius Ludlow, and in it there are many men
whose heads are tilled, like bales of goods, with a general assortment
of ideas.—Hornbooks and primers! Here have Van Bummel, Schoenbroeck,
and Van der Donck, just sent me a very neatly-folded pamphlet, written
in good Leyden Dutch, to prove that trade is an exchange of what the
author calls equivalents, and that nations have nothing to do but to
throw open their ports, in order to make a millennium among the
merchants!”
“There are many ingenious men who entertain the same opinions;”
observed Ludlow, steady in his resolution to be merely a quiet observer
of all that passed.
“What cannot a cunning head devise, to spoil paper with! Trade is a
racer, gentlemen, and merchants the jockeys who ride. He who carries
most weight may lose; but then nature does not give all men the same
dimensions, and judges are as necessary to the struggles of the mart as
to those of the course. Go, mount your gelding, if you are lucky enough
to have one that has not been melted into a weasel by the heartless
blacks, and ride out to Harlaem Flats, on a fine October day, and
witness the manner in which the trial of speed is made. The rogues of
riders cut in here, and over there; now the whip and now the spur; and
though they start fair, which is more than can always be said of trade,
some one is sure to win. When it is neck and neck, then the neat is to
be gone over, until the best bottom gains the prize.”
“Why is it then that men of deep reflection so often think that
commerce flourishes most when least encumbered?”
“Why is one man born to make laws, and another to break them?—Does not
the horse run faster with his four legs free, than when in hopples? But
in trade, Master Seadrift, and Captain Cornelius Ludlow, each of us is
his own jockey; and putting the aid of custom-house laws out of the
question, just as nature has happened to make him. Fat or lean, big
bones or fine bones, he must get to the goal as well as he can.
Therefore your heavy weights call out for sandbags and belts, to make
all even. That the steed may be crushed with his load, is no proof that
his chance of winning will not be better by bringing all the riders to
the same level.”
“But to quit these similies,” continued Ludlow, “if trade be but an
exchange of equivalents——”
“Beggary and stoppages!” interrupted the Alderman, who was far more
dogmatical than courteous in argument. “This is the language of men who
have read all sorts of books, but legers. Here have advices from Tongue
and Twaddle, of London, which state the nett proceeds of a little
adventure, shipped by the brig Moose, that reached the river on the
16th of April, ultimo. The history of the whole transaction can be put
in a child’s muff—you are a discreet youth, Captain Cornelius; and as
to you, Master Seadrift, the affair is altogether out of your
line—therefore, as I was observing, here are the items, made out only a
fortnight since, in the shape of a memorandum;” while speaking, the
Alderman had placed his spectacles and drawn his tablets from a pocket.
Adjusting himself to the light, he continued: “Paid bill of Sand,
Furnace, and Glass, for beads, L. 3. 2. 6.—Package and box, 1.
10½—Shipping charges, and freight, 11. 4.—Insurance, averaged at, 1.
5.—Freight, charges, and commission of agent among Mohawks, L. 10.—Do.
do. do. of shipment and sale of furs, in England, L. 7. 2 Total of
costs and charges, L. 20. 18. 8½, all in sterling money. Note, sale of
furs, to Frost and Rich, nett avails, L. 196. 11. 3.—Balance, as per
contra, L. 175. 12. 5½.—a very satisfactory equivalent this, Master
Cornelius, to appear on the books of Tongue and Twaddle, where I stand
charged with the original investment of L. 20. 19. 8½! How much the
Empress of Germany may pay the firm of Frost and Rich for the articles,
does not appear.”
“Nor does it appear that more was got for your beads, in the Mohawk
country, than they were valued at there, or was paid for the skins than
they were worth where they were produced.”
“Whe—w—w—w!” whistled the merchant, as he returned the tablets to his
pocket.
“One would think that thou hadst been studying the Leyden pamphleteer,
son of my old friend! If the savage thinks so little of his skins, and
so much of my beads, I shall never take, the pains to set him right;
else, always by permission of the Board of Trade, we shall see him, one
day, turning his bark canoe into a good ship, and going in quest of his
own ornaments. Enterprise and voyages! Who knows but that the rogue
would see fit to stop at London, even; in which case the Mother Country
might lose the profit of the sale at Vienna, and the Mohawk set up his
carriage, on the difference in the value of markets! Thus, you see, in
order to run a fair race, the horses must start even, carry equal
weights, and, after all, one commonly wins. Your metaphysics are no
better than so much philosophical gold leaf, which a cunning reasoner
beats out into a sheet as large as the broadest American lake, to make
dunces believe the earth can be transmuted into the precious material;
while a plain practical man puts the value of the metal into his
pocket, in good current coin.”
“And yet I hear you complain that Parliament has legislated more than
is good for trade, and speak in a manner of the proceedings at home,
that, you will excuse me for saying, would better become a Hollander
than a subject of the crown.”
“Have I not told you, that the horse will run faster without a rider,
than with a pack-saddle on his back? Give your own jockey as little,
and your adversary’s as much weight as you can, if you wish to win. I
complain of the borough-men, because they make laws for us, and not for
themselves. As I often tell my worthy friend, Alderman Gulp, eating is
good for life, but a surfeit makes a will necessary.”
“From all which I infer, that the opinions of your Leyden correspondent
are not those of Mr. Van Beverout.”
The Alderman laid a finger on his nose, and looked at his companions,
for a moment, without answering.
“Those Leydeners are a sagacious breed! If the United Provinces had but
ground to stand on, they would, like the philosopher who boasted of his
lever, move the world! The sly rogues think that the Amsterdammers have
naturally an easy seat, and they wish to persuade all others to ride
bare-back. I shall send the pamphlet up into the Indian country, and
pay some scholar to have it translated into the Mohawk tongue, in order
that the famous chief Schendoh, when the missionaries shall have taught
him to read, may entertain right views of equivalents! I am not certain
that I may not make the worthy divines a present, to help the good
fruits to ripen.”
The Alderman leered round upon his auditors, and, folding his hands
meekly on his breast, he appeared to leave his eloquence to work its
own effects.
“These opinions favor but little the occupation of the—the
gentleman—who now honors us with his company,” said Ludlow, regarding
the gay-looking smuggler with an eye that showed how much he was
embarrassed to find a suitable appellation for one whose appearance was
so much at variance with his pursuits. “If restrictions are necessary
to commerce, the lawless trader is surely left without an excuse for
his calling.”
“I as much admire your discretion in practice, as the justice of your
sentiments in theory, Captain Ludlow;” returned the Alderman. “In a
rencontre on the high seas, it would be your duty to render captive the
brigantine of this person; but, in what may be called the privacy of
domestic retirement, you are content to ease your mind in moralities! I
feel it my duty, too, to speak on this point, and shall take so
favorable an occasion, when all is pacific, to disburthen myself of
some sentiments that suggest themselves, very naturally, under the
circumstances.” Myndert then turned himself towards the dealer in
contraband, and continued, much in the manner of a city magistrate,
reading a lesson of propriety to some disturber of the peace of
society. “You appear here, Master Seadrift,” he said, “under what, to
borrow a figure from your profession, may be called false colors. You
bear the countenance of one who might be a useful subject, and yet are
you suspected of being addicted to certain practices which—I will not
say they are dishonest, or even discreditable—for on that head the
opinions of men are much divided, but which certainly have no tendency
to assist Her Majesty, in bringing her wars to a glorious issue, by
securing to her European dominions that monopoly of trade, by which it
is her greatest desire to ease us of the colonies of looking any
further after our particular interests, than beyond the doors of her
own custom-houses. This is an indiscretion, to give the act its
gentlest appellation; and I regret to add, it is accompanied by certain
circumstances which rather heighten than lessen the delinquency.” The
Alderman paused a moment, to observe the effect of his admonition, and
to judge, by the eye of the free-trader, how much farther he might push
his artifice; but perceiving, to his own surprise, that the other bent
his face to the floor, and stood like one rebuked, he took courage to
proceed. “You have introduced into this portion of my dwelling, which
is exclusively inhabited by my niece, who is neither of a sex nor of
years to be legally arraigned for any oversight of this nature,
sundries of which it is the pleasure of the Queen’s advisers that her
subjects in the colonies should not know the use, since, in the nature
of fabrications, they cannot be submitted to the supervising care of
the ingenious artisans of the mother island. Woman, Master Seadrift, is
a creature liable to the influence of temptation, and in few things is
she weaker than in her efforts to resist the allurements of articles
which may aid in adorning her person. My niece, the daughter of Etienne
Barbérie, may also have an hereditary weakness on this head, since the
females of France study these inventions more than those of some other
countries. It is not my intention, however, to manifest any
unreasonable severity; since, if old Etienne has communicated any
hereditary feebleness on the subject of fancy, he has also left his
daughter the means of paying for it. Hand in your account, therefore,
and the debt shall be discharged, if debt has been incurred. And this
brings me to the last and the gravest of your offences.
“Capital is no doubt the foundation on which a merchant builds his
edifice of character,” continued Myndert, after taking another jealous
survey of the countenance of him he addressed; “but credit is the
ornament of its front. This is a corner-stone; that the pilasters and
carvings, by which the building is rendered pleasant; sometimes, when
age has undermined the basement, it is the columns on which the
superstructure rests, or even the roof by which the occupant is
sheltered. It renders the rich man safe, the dealer of moderate means
active and respectable, and it causes even the poor man to hold up his
head in hope: though I admit that buyer and seller need both be wary,
when it stands unsupported by any substantial base. This being the
value of credit, Master Seadrift, none should assail it without
sufficient cause, for its quality is of a nature too tender for rude
treatment. I learned, when a youth, in my travels in Holland, through
which country, by means of the Trekschuyts, I passed with sufficient
deliberation to profit by what was seen, the importance of avoiding, on
all occasions, bringing credit into disrepute. As one event that
occurred offers an apposite parallel to what I have now to advance, I
shall make a tender of the facts in the way of illustration. The
circumstances show the awful uncertainty of things in this transitory
life, Captain Ludlow, and forewarn the most vigorous and youthful, that
the strong of arm may be cut down, in his pride, like the tender plant
of the fields! The banking-house of Van Gelt and Van Stopper, in
Amsterdam, had dealt largely in securities issued by the Emperor for
the support of his wars. It happened, at the time, that Fortune had
favored the Ottoman, who was then pressing the city of Belgrade, with
some prospects of success. Well, sirs, a headstrong and ill-advised
laundress had taken possession of an elevated terrace in the centre of
the town, in order to dry her clothes. This woman was in the act of
commencing the distribution of her linens and muslins, with the break
of day, when the Mussulmans awoke the garrison by a rude assault. Some,
who had been posted in a position that permitted of retreat, having
seen certain bundles of crimson, and green, and yellow, on an elevated
parapet, mistook them for the heads of so many Turks; and they spread
the report, far and near, that a countless band of the Infidels, led on
by a vast number of sherriffes in green turbans, had gained the heart
of the place, before they were induced to retire. The rumor soon took
the shape of a circumstantial detail, and, having reached Amsterdam, it
caused the funds of the Imperialists to look down. There was much
question, on the Exchange, concerning the probable loss of Van Gelt and
Van Stopper in consequence. Just as speculation was at its greatest
height on this head, the monkey of a Savoyard escaped from its string,
and concealed himself in a nut-shop, a few doors distant from the
banking-house of the firm, where a crowd of Jew boys collected to
witness its antics. Men of reflection, seeing what they mistook for a
demonstration on the part of the children of the Israelites, began to
feel uneasiness for their own property. Drafts multiplied; and the
worthy bankers, in order to prove their solidity, disdained to shut
their doors at the usual hour. Money was paid throughout the night; and
before noon, on the following day, Van Gelt had cut his throat, in a
summer-house that stood on the banks of the Utrecht canal; and Van
Stopper was seen smoking a pipe, among strong boxes that were entirely
empty. At two o’clock, the post brought the intelligence that the
Mussulmans were repulsed, and that the laundress was hanged; though I
never knew exactly for what crime, as she certainly was not a debtor of
the unhappy firm. These are some of the warning events of life,
gentlemen; and as I feel sure of addressing those who are capable of
making the application, I shall now conclude by advising all who hear
me to great discretion of speech on every matter connected with
commercial character.”
When Myndert ceased speaking, he threw another glance around him, in
order to note the effect his words had produced, and more particularly
to ascertain whether he had not drawn a draft on the forbearance of the
free-trader, which might still meet with a protest. He was at a loss to
account for the marked and unusual deference with which he was treated,
by one who, while he was never coarse, seldom exhibited much
complaisance for the opinions of a man he was in the habit of meeting
so familiarly, on matters of pecuniary interest. During the whole of
the foregoing harangue, the young mariner of the brigantine had
maintained the same attitude of modest attention; and when his eyes
were permitted to rise, it was only to steal uneasy looks at the face
of Alida. La belle Barbérie had also listened to her uncle’s eloquence,
with a more thoughtful air than common. She met the occasional glances
of the dealer in contraband, with answering sympathy; and, in short,
the most indifferent observer of their deportment might have seen that
circumstances had created between them a confidence and intelligence
which, if it were not absolutely of the most tender, was unequivocally
of the most intimate, character. All this Ludlow plainly saw, though
the burgher had been too much engrossed with the ideas he had so
complacently dealt out, to note the fact.
“Now that my mind is so well stored with maxims on commerce, which I
shall esteem as so many commentaries on the instructions of my Lords of
the Admiralty,” observed the Captain, after a brief interval of
silence, “it may be permitted to turn our attention to things less
metaphysical. The present occasion is favorable to inquire after the
fate of the shipmate we lost in the last cruise; and it ought not to be
neglected.”
“You speak truth, Mr. Cornelius—The Patroon of Kinderhook is not a man
to fall into the sea, like an anker of forbidden liquor, and no
questions asked. Leave this matter to my discretion, sir; and trust me,
the tenants of the third best estate in the colony shall not long be
without tidings of their landlord. If you will accompany Master
Seadrift into the other part of the villa for a reasonable time, I
shall possess myself of all the facts that are at all pertinent to the
right understanding of the case.”
The commander of the royal cruiser, and the young mariner of the
brigantine, appeared to think that a compliance with this invitation
would bring about a singular association. The hesitation of the latter,
however, was far the most visible, since Ludlow had coolly determined
to maintain his neutral character, until a proper moment to act, as a
faithful servitor of his royal mistress, should arrive. He knew, or
firmly believed, that the Water-Witch again lay in the Cove, concealed
by the shadows of the surrounding wood; and as he had once before
suffered by the superior address of the smugglers, he was now resolved
to act with so much caution, as to enable him to return to his ship in
time to proceed against her with decision, and, as he hoped, with
effect. In addition to this motive for artifice, there was that in the
manner and language of the contraband dealer to place him altogether
above the ordinary men of his pursuit, and indeed to create in his
favor a certain degree of interest, which the officer of the crown was
compelled to admit. He therefore bowed with sufficient courtesy, and
professed his readiness to follow the suggestions of the Alderman.
“We have met on neutral ground, Master Seadrift,” said Ludlow to his
gay companion, as they quitted the saloon of la Cour des Fées; “and
though bent on different objects, we may discourse amicably of the
past. The ‘Skimmer of the Seas’ has a reputation in his way, that
almost raises him to the level of a seaman distinguished in a better
service. I will ever testify to his skill and coolness as a mariner,
however much I may lament that those fine qualities have received so
unhappy a direction.”
“This is speaking with a becoming reservation for the rights of the
crown, and with meet respect for the Barons of the Exchequer!” retorted
Seadrift, whose former, and we may say natural, spirit seemed to
return, as he left the presence of the burgher. “We follow the pursuit,
Captain Ludlow, in which accident has cast our fortunes. You serve a
Queen you never saw, and a nation who will use you in her need and
despise you in her prosperity; and I serve myself. Let reason decide
between us.”
“I admire this frankness, sir, and have hopes of a better understanding
between us, now that you have done with the mystifications of your
sea-green woman. The farce has been well enacted; though, with the
exception of Oloff Van Staats and those enlightened spirits you lead
about the ocean, it has not made many converts to necromancy.”
The free-trader permitted his handsome mouth to relax in a smile.
“We have our mistress, too,” he said; “but she exacts no tribute. All
that is gained goes to enrich her subjects, while all that she knows is
cheerfully imparted for their use. If we are obedient, it is because we
have experienced her justice and wisdom I hope Queen Anne deals as
kindly by those who risk life and limb in her cause?”
“Is it part of the policy of her you follow, to reveal the fate of the
Patroon; for though rivals in one dear object—or rather I should say,
once rivals in that object—I cannot see a guest quit my ship with so
little ceremony, without an interest in his welfare.”
“You make a just distinction,” returned Seadrift, smiling still more
meaningly—“Once rivals is indeed the better expression. Mr. Van Staats
is a brave man, however ignorant he may be of the seaman’s art. One who
has showed so much spirit will be certain of protection from personal
injury, in the care of the ‘Skimmer of the Seas.’”
“I do not constitute myself the keeper of Mr. Van Staats; still, as the
commander of the ship whence he has been—what shall I term the manner
of his abduction?—for I would not willingly use, at this moment, a term
that may prove disagreeable—”
“Speak freely, sir, and fear not to offend. We of the brigantine are
accustomed to divers epithets that might startle less practised ears.
We are not to learn, at this late hour, that, in order to become
respectable, roguery must have the sanction of government. You were
pleased, Captain Ludlow, to name the mystifications of the Water-Witch;
but you seem indifferent to those that are hourly practised near you in
the world, and which, without the pleasantry of this of ours, have not
half its innocence.”
“There is little novelty in the expedient of seeking to justify the
delinquency of individuals, by the failings of society.”
“I confess it is rather just than original. Triteness and Truth appear
to be sisters! And yet do we find ourselves driven to this apology,
since the refinement of us of the brigantine has not yet attained to
the point of understanding all the excellence of novelty in morals.”
“I believe there is a mandate of sufficient antiquity, which bids us to
render unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s.”
“A mandate which our modern Cæsars have most liberally construed! I am
a poor casuist, sir; nor do I think the loyal commander of the Coquette
would wish to uphold all that sophistry can invent on such a subject.
If we begin with potentates, for instance, we shall find the Most
Christian King bent on appropriating as many of his neighbors’ goods to
his own use, as ambition, under the name of glory, can covet; the Most
Catholic, covering with the mantle of his Catholicity, a greater
multitude of enormities on this very continent, than even charity
itself could conceal; and our own gracious Sovereign, whose virtues and
whose mildness are celebrated in verse and prose, causing rivers of
blood to run, in order that the little island over which she rules may
swell out, like the frog in the fable, to dimensions that nature has
denied, and which will one day inflict the unfortunate death that
befell the ambitious inhabitant of the pool. The gallows awaits the
pickpocket; but your robber under a pennant is dubbed a knight! The man
who amasses wealth by gainful industry is ashamed of his origin; while
he who has stolen from churches, laid villages under contribution, and
cut throats by thousands, to divide the spoils of a galleon or a
military chest, has gained gold on the highway of glory! Europe has
reached an exceeding pass of civilization, it may not be denied; but
before society inflicts so severe censure on the acts of individuals,
notwithstanding the triteness of the opinion, I must say it is bound to
look more closely to the example it sets, in its collective character.”
“These are points on which our difference of opinion is likely to be
lasting;” said Ludlow, assuming the severe air of one who had the world
on his side. “We will defer the discussion to a moment of greater
leisure, sir. Am I to learn more of Mr. Van Staats, or is the question
of his fate to become the subject of a serious official inquiry?”
“The Patroon of Kinderhook is a bold boarder!” returned the
free-trader, laughing. “He has carried the residence of the lady of the
brigantine by a coup-de-main; and he reposes on his laurels! We of the
contraband are merrier in our privacy than is thought, and those who
join our mess seldom wish to quit it.”
“There may be occasion to look further into its mysteries—until when, I
wish you adieu.”
“Hold!” gaily cried the other, observing that Ludlow was about to quit
the room—“Let the time of our uncertainty be short, I pray thee. Our
mistress is like the insect, which takes the color of the leaf on which
it dwells. You have seen her in her sea-green robe, which she never
fails to wear when roving over the soundings of your American coast:
but in the deep waters, her mantle vies with the blue of the ocean’s
depths. Symptoms of a change, which always denote an intended excursion
far beyond the influence of the land, have been seen!”
“Harkee, Master Seadrift! This foolery may do while you possess the
power to maintain it. But remember, that though the law only punishes
the illegal trader by confiscation of his goods when taken, it punishes
the kidnapper with personal pains, and sometimes with—death!—And,
more—remember that the line which divides smuggling from piracy is
easily past, while the return becomes impossible.”
“For this generous counsel, in my mistress’s name I thank thee;” the
gay mariner replied, bowing with a gravity that rather heightened than
concealed his irony—“Your Coquette is broad in the reach of her booms,
and swift on the water, Captain Ludlow, but let her be capricious,
wilful, deceitful, nay powerful, as she may, she shall find a woman in
the brigantine equal to all her arts, and far superior to all her
threats!”
With this prophetic warning on the part of the Queen’s officer, and
cool reply on that of the dealer in contraband, the two sailors
separated. The latter took a book, and threw himself into a chair, with
a well-maintained indifference; while the other left the house, in a
haste that was not disguised.
In the meantime, the interview between Alderman Van Beverout and his
niece still continued. Minute passed after minute, and yet there was no
summons to the pavilion. The gay young seaman of the brigantine had
continued his studies for some time after the disappearance of Ludlow,
and he now evidently awaited an intimation that his presence was
required in la Cour des Fées. During these moments of anxiety, the air
of the free-trader was sorrowful rather than impatient; and when a
footstep was heard at the door of the room, he betrayed symptoms of
strong and uncontrollable agitation. It was the female attendant of
Alida, who entered, presented a slip of paper, and retired. The eager
expectant read the following words, hastily written in pencil:—
“I have evaded all his questions, and he is more than half-disposed to
believe in necromancy. This is not the moment to confess the truth, for
he is not in a condition to hear it, being already much disturbed by
the uncertainty of what may follow the appearance of the brigantine on
the coast, and so near his own villa. But, be assured, he shall and
will acknowledge claims that I know how to support, and which, should I
fail of establishing, he would not dare to refuse to the redoubtable
‘Skimmer of the Seas.’ Come hither, the moment you hear his foot in the
passage.”
The last injunction was soon obeyed. The Alderman entered by one door,
as the active fugitive retreated by another; and where the weary
burgher expected to see his guests, he found an empty apartment. This
last circumstance, however, gave Myndert Van Beverout but little
surprise and no concern, as would appear by the indifference with which
he noted the circumstance.
“Vagaries and womanhood!” thought, rather than muttered, the Alderman.
“The jade turns like a fox in his tracks, and it would be easier to
convict a merchant who values his reputation, of a false invoice, than
this minx of nineteen of an indiscretion! There is so much of old
Etienne and his Norman blood in her eye, that one does not like to
provoke extremities; but here, when I expected Van Staats had profited
by his opportunity, the girl looks like a nun, at the mention of his
name. The Patroon is no Cupid, we must allow; or, in a week at sea, he
would have won the heart of a mermaid!—Aye—and here are more
perplexities, by the return of the Skimmer and his brig, and the
notions that young Ludlow has of his duty. Life and mortality! One must
quit trade, at some time or other, and begin to close the books of
life. I must seriously think of striking a final balance. If the
sum-total was a little more in my favor it should be gladly done
to-morrow!”