MURRAY'S HIGHLAND HOME--A VISIT FROM ADMIRAL TRITON--ADAIR AND HIS
NEPHEW APPEAR--MURRAY APPOINTED TO THE OPAL, ADAIR FIRST LIEUTENANT--
PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE--ADMIRAL TRITON AND MRS DEBORAH INVITE MRS
MURRAY TO STAY AT SOUTHSEA--THE OPAL AND HER CREW--A POETICAL
LIEUTENANT--PARTING BETWEEN MISS ROGERS AND ADAIR--THE OPAL SAILS FOR
THE EAST COAST OF AFRICA.
Alick Murray had not over-praised the Highland home of which he had so
often spoken when far away across the wide ocean. The house,
substantially built in a style suited to that clime, stood some way up
the side of a hill which rose abruptly from the waters of Loch Etive, on
the north side of which it was situated. To the west the hills were
comparatively low, the shores alternately widening and contracting, and
projecting in numerous promontories. The higher grounds were clothed
with heath and wood, while level spaces below were diversified by
cultivated fields. To the east of the house, up the loch, the scenery
assumed a character much more striking and grand. Far as the eye could
reach appeared a succession of lofty and barren mountains, rising sheer
out of the water, on the calm surface of which their fantastic forms
were reflected as in a mirror. Across the loch the lofty summit of Ben
Cruachan appeared towering to the sky. The scenery immediately
surrounding Murray's domain of Bercaldine was of extreme beauty. At
some little distance the hill, rising abruptly, was covered with oak,
ash, birch, and alder, producing a rich tone of colouring; the rowan and
hawthorn trees mingling their snowy blossoms or coral berries with the
foliage of the more gigantic natives of the forest, while the dark
purple heath, in tufted wreaths, and numerous wild-flowers, were
interspersed amid the rich sward and underwood along the shore beneath.
Behind the house were shrubberies and a well-cultivated kitchen-garden,
sheltered on either side by a thick belt of pines; while in front a
lawn, also protected by shrubberies from the keen winds which blew down
from the mountain heights, sloped towards the loch, with a gravel walk
leading to the landing-place. Murray had added a broad verandah to the
front of the house, to remind himself and Stella of Don Antonio's
residence in Trinidad, where they had first met. Indeed, in some of its
features, the scenery recalled to their memories the views they had
enjoyed in that lovely island; and though they confessed that Trinidad
carried off the palm of beauty, yet they both loved far better their own
Highland home.
It was a lovely summer day, and Stella was sitting in the verandah with
a small stranger, whom her faithful black maiden, Polly, had just placed
in her lap. She was fully employed in bestowing on him those marks of
affection which a loving mother delights in affording to her first-born.
Alick stood by her side, watching her and their child with looks of
fond pride. He had just come in from the garden, which it was one of
his chief occupations to tend, and had taken off his gardening gloves,
that he might pat his child's cheek and tickle its chin to make it coo
and smile. He might have been excused if he was proud of his boy, for
he was a noble little fellow,--a "braw chiel," as he was pronounced to
be by his grand-aunt, Mistress Tibbie Mactavish, who had presided at his
birth,--and likely to do no discredit to the name of Murray.
"The cutter ought to have been back by this time," said Alick at length,
looking at his watch; "Archie has had a fair tide from Oban, and a
leading wind up the loch. I hope that he has not managed to run the
_Stella_ ashore. Ben Snatchblock knows the coast, and he himself should
be pretty well acquainted with it."
"Perhaps Mr Adair did not arrive at the time expected, and Archie
would, of course, wait for him," observed Stella.
"That may be the case," said Alick, taking the telescope from a bracket
on the wall, and looking through it down the loch. "There is no sail in
sight like her, but I see a four-oared boat, which has just passed Bunaw
Ferry, pulling up the loch. Can Adair by any means have missed the
cutter, and be making his way alone to us?"
"Probably she contains a party of tourists on an excursion," said
Stella.
"She is, at all events, steering for Bercaldine," observed Murray; "if
she does not bring Paddy Adair, you will have the opportunity of
exhibiting the small Alick to some other visitor. I will go down to the
pier to receive him, whoever he is, with due honour." Saying this,
Murray, having bestowed a kiss on his wife's brow, and given another
tickle to his baby's chin, which produced an additional coo of delight,
hurried down to the landing-place, towards which the boat was rapidly
approaching. He had his telescope in his hand. He stopped on the way
to take another look through it.
"It is not Terence, but--who do you think?--our old friend, Admiral
Triton!" he shouted out, as he looked back to his wife; and then hurried
on to the landing-place, that he might be there before the admiral could
step ashore. In a few minutes he was receiving the old man's hearty
grasp of the hand, as he helped him out of the boat.
"I had long promised to pay a visit to some friends in the Highlands,
and I determined to make a trip a few miles farther and take you by
surprise, for I knew that I should be welcome at whatever time I might
arrive," said the admiral.
"Indeed you are, my dear sir," answered Murray; "most sincerely I say
it. We are flattered by your visit."
"Give me your arm, my boy, for I don't walk up hill as easily as I used
to do a few years back," said the admiral, leaning somewhat heavily on
the young commander as he stumped along with his timber toe. "Stay! by
the bye, I must dismiss my crew," he exclaimed, stopping short.
"Let them come up to the house first, admiral," said Murray; "they would
consider otherwise that we were forgetful of Highland hospitality at
Bercaldine. You will find your way up to the kitchen, my lads, by
yonder path," he added, turning round to the boatmen. "The cook will
have a snack for you before you pull back to Oban."
The men touched their bonnets, and gratefully grinned their assent to
the laird's proposal, as they tumbled out of the boat; while Murray
conducted Admiral Triton by the centre path, which led through the
grounds to the house.
Mrs Murray, having deposited the wee Alick in the arms of Polly, stood
ready to receive them.
"I am delighted to see you looking so bright and blooming, my dear Mrs
Murray!" exclaimed the old admiral, shaking her warmly by the hand; "it
shows that the Highland air agrees with you, notwithstanding your long
sojourn in the West Indies."
"Except in being more bracing, the climate differs but little from that
to which I was accustomed in the north of Ireland till I grew up; and I
was scarcely long enough in the West Indies to become acclimatised,"
answered Stella, and a shade passed over her countenance as she
recollected the trying scenes she had gone through during the time to
which the admiral referred.
He observed it, and changed the subject. "And so you are expecting to
see our old shipmate, Terence Adair?" he remarked, as he sat himself
down in a chair which Murray placed for him. "I shall be heartily glad
to shake him by the hand again, and to talk over old times. I haven't
forgot his making me carry his portmanteau for him, the rogue!" and the
admiral chuckled and laughed, and told Stella the story while he rubbed
his hands. "I made him pay, though. He thought he was going to do me
out of that, but I was too sharp for him. Ha! ha! ha!" and he laughed
till the tears ran down his cheeks. He was becoming more garrulous than
before--another sign of advancing age, which Murray was sorry to
observe. He told many of his old anecdotes, laughing as heartily at
them as ever. He was interrupted by the appearance of Polly, who had
been watching for an opportunity of introducing the baby, which she now
brought to its mamma.
The admiral started up on seeing it. "What! I hadn't heard of this
small stranger!" he exclaimed; "is it a boy or a girl? A fine little
creature, at all events! I congratulate you, my dear Mrs Murray, with
all my heart. A sailor's wife is all the better for a few small ones to
occupy her thoughts when her `guid mon,' as you call him in Scotland, is
away from home; though I suppose you have no intention of letting Murray
go to sea again just yet?"
"I hope not, indeed," answered Stella, turning pale at the thought.
"There are numberless officers who have nothing to do on shore, and he
has plenty to occupy him."
"But he ought to take a trip to sea, to prevent himself from growing
rusty," said the admiral. "We want the best officers to command Her
Majesty's ships, and he is among them. You will not contradict me on
that point?"
"I am sure he is," said Stella, with a sigh.
"Then, in case the Admiralty require his services, you will not dissuade
him from accepting an appointment?"
"Oh, admiral, are they going to send him to sea?" exclaimed Stella
suddenly.
"Not that I know of," answered the admiral. "I have not been let into
their secret intentions, and I don't wish to act the part of a bird of
ill-omen; though I confess that, were he to have the offer of a ship, I
should advise him to accept it."
Stella's lips quivered. She had thought herself very heroic, and that
she should be ready to sacrifice her husband for the good of his
country; but when it came to the point, she could not bear the idea of
parting from him.
Alick had gone round to see that the boat's crew were attended to. On
coming back, he took another glance through his telescope down the loch.
"Here comes the _Stella_; we shall soon have Terence Adair with us!" he
exclaimed.
"What brought him home?" asked the admiral. "Surely he went out with
Jack Rogers to India?"
"He got an ugly wound in cutting out a piratical junk in the Indian
seas," said Murray. "It was a near thing for him, and the doctors
insisted on his returning home as the only chance of saving his life; so
he wrote me word in a few lines. But he is not much addicted to
letter-writing; I, therefore, know no particulars. He will give us the
account when he arrives."
Murray stood watching the cutter, while the admiral continued talking to
Stella. The little craft, a vessel of about twelve tons, had been built
by the young commander soon after he settled at Bercaldine. What naval
officer, who has the means in his power, would fail of possessing a
vessel of some sort? She was not only a pleasure-yacht, but was useful
as a despatch-boat to bring the necessary stores for the house from
Oban, and served also for fishing in summer and for wild-fowl shooting
in winter. She was a trim yacht, notwithstanding her multifarious
employments. Ben Snatchblock, who acted as master, with a stout lad as
his crew, was justly proud of her. He boasted that nothing under canvas
could beat her, either on a wind or going free, and that in heavy
weather she was as lively as a duck. Not a better seaboat could be
found between the mainland and the Hebrides. Indeed, she had often been
pretty severely tried; and on one occasion Murray had had the
satisfaction of preserving the crew of a wreck on a dangerous reef, when
no other craft was at hand to render them assistance. He had, of
course, named his yacht the _Stella_; for what other name could he have
thought of giving her? He now watched her with the interest which every
seaman feels for the vessel he owns, as, close-hauled, she stood up the
loch. Now a breeze headed her, and she had to make a couple of tacks or
more to weather a point. Now she met a baffling wind, and it seemed
impossible that she would do it. "Keep her close, Archie!" exclaimed
Murray, as if addressing his cousin; "now keep her full again and shoot
her up round the point. That will do it, lad. Capital! Another tack
and you will have the wind off the shore; that is only a flaw. Put her
about again. With two more tacks you will do it."
The breeze freshening and proving steady, in a short time the _Stella_
was near enough to enable Murray to distinguish Terence Adair and
another person, in addition to those who had gone away in the yacht. As
the jib and foresail were taken off her, she shot up to the buoy.
Murray hastened down to the landing-place, in time to meet Adair and the
stranger, whom Archie pulled on shore in the punt.
Adair sprang to land with much more agility than the old admiral had
exhibited, and was warmly greeted by Murray. "As you told me that
Archie was staying with you, I brought that broth of a boy, my nephew,
Gerald Desmond, to bear him company and to help keep him out of
mischief," exclaimed Adair, turning round and pointing to his nephew,
who hung back till his uncle had offered some explanation as to the
cause of his appearance uninvited.
"Desmond, you have grown such a strapping fellow that I didn't recognise
you," said Murray, putting out his hand. "You are welcome to
Bercaldine, and we can easily stow you away in some odd corner or other,
notwithstanding your inches. Will you come up to the house with us, or
will you wait for Archie?"
"I will wait for Archie, sir, thank you," answered Gerald; and Murray
and Adair walked on.
"We have had sad times at Ballymacree," said the latter, speaking in a
much graver tone than usual for him. "Gerald only arrived a couple of
weeks ago. Although he has grown so much, the climate of the China seas
has played havoc with his constitution, and I didn't like to leave him
in a house of mourning. His mother died while he was away, and my poor
sister Kathleen caught cold, and went off in a rapid consumption a few
days after he arrived."
"Your sister Kathleen! to whom Rogers was engaged!" exclaimed Murray; "I
am truly sorry to hear it. What a blow for him, too, poor fellow! You
said nothing about this in your letter, though I saw that you were in
mourning."
"Faith, I hadn't the heart to do so," answered Terence. "I knew that
I'd have to tell you all about it, and so I thought it better just to
ask the question whether I might come and see you, without saying more,
knowing very surely what your answer would be, if I didn't get it--which
I didn't, seeing I left home before it arrived; but I suppose it's all
right, as Archie said that you were expecting me?"
"Of course, my dear fellow," said Murray. "Poor Jack! Have you written
to him?"
"No, but Kathleen did, while she had strength to hold a pen; and her
mother put in a few words to tell him that all was over. On my life, I
couldn't have done it. Things have gone badly, too, at Ballymacree in
other respects. The old place must go, after all; and it will break my
father's heart, I am very certain. If we had had a good rattling war,
and I had picked up lots of prize-money, I might have saved it. But
that is not to be thought of. And then, my dear Murray, a little
private affair of my own, which has put me out sadly. I wrote, when I
first came home, to Lady Rogers, asking leave to pay a visit at
Halliburton Hall. I got an answer from Sir John, very kind and very
polite. At the same time, he gave me to understand that he considered
it better I should not make my appearance there; in other words, that I
wasn't wanted. I fancied that Lucy had begun to care for me, and so
Jack thought, I suspect, from what he said when I confessed to him that
I was over head and ears in love with his sweet little sister, and had
for her sake kept my heart intact, notwithstanding the fascinations of
all the charming creatures we met with in the West Indies. So in truth,
Murray, I am about as miserable a fellow as any in the three kingdoms
just now."
"I am very sorry to hear what you tell me," answered Alick. "We will do
our best to cheer you up; and our old friend, Admiral Triton, who
arrived a couple of hours ago, will, I am very sure, lend a hand in the
good work."
Terence, having unloaded his heart of his griefs, had considerably
regained his usual spirits by the time he had got up to the house, and
had shaken hands with Stella and the admiral. While he was talking to
the latter, Murray hinted to his wife not to ask questions about his
family or the Rogers', telling her briefly what had occurred. The
admiral immediately attacked Terence about the old story of the
portmanteau, and that led him into a whole series of yarns, laughing so
heartily himself at them, that Adair was compelled to laugh also.
"You must give me a cruise in the _Stella_ to-morrow, Murray," he said;
"she will be far the best style of locomotion for me, for these
mountains of yours don't suit me--and yet I should like to see something
of the magnificent scenery surrounding you." The proposal was at once
agreed to, and Stella said that she should like to go also.
Archie and Desmond now arrived, and paid their respects to the admiral.
Desmond was introduced in due form to the young heir of Bercaldine.
"Faith, Mrs Murray, he'll be after making a fine young midshipman one
of these days," said Gerald, patting the baby's cheek. "Won't you just
let Archie and me take him to sea with us next time we go afloat? We'll
watch over him as carefully as any she-nurse can do on shore, and teach
him all manner of tricks."
"I daresay you would," said Stella, laughing. "His nautical experiences
must be confined at present to a cruise on board the yacht now and then
in fine weather, though I don't forget the good care you took of Master
Spider on board the _Supplejack_. By the bye, what became of your pet,
may I ask?"
"Tom Rogers and I took him with us on board the _Niobe_. He was making
immense strides in civilisation, having taken to sleeping in a hammock
under bedclothes, and learned to drink tea in a teacup, when he was lost
at sea in a gale of wind rounding the Cape. Tom tried to write a poem
to his memory, but broke down, declaring that his feelings overcame him;
though in truth he couldn't manage to make even the two first lines
rhyme, so that that might have had something to do in the matter."
While Gerald was rattling on, Archie produced the letter-bag, which he
had hitherto forgotten to give to Commander Murray. It contained
several letters for him, as also others forwarded by his navy agent to
Lieutenant Adair. Among them were two long, official-looking
despatches, with the words, "On Her Majesty's Service," printed outside.
Murray looked somewhat grave as he read his; at the same time, an
expression arising from gratified pride appeared on his countenance.
Terence tore his letter open. "They don't intend to let me rest on
shore, at all events. I expected to have my promotion, however; but
instead, their lordships send me off to sea again. I am appointed to
the _Opal_, just commissioned at Portsmouth, as first lieutenant. I
ought to be highly flattered; and, Desmond, my boy, you are to go with
me."
"The best thing that could happen to you; I congratulate you," said the
admiral. "And what news does your despatch contain?" he continued, to
Murray. Without answering, Alick put the letter into the admiral's
hands, and, taking his wife's arm, led her into the garden, where they
were concealed from sight by the shrubbery.
"It will be a blow to her," said the admiral, as he glanced over the
official document; "still it is flattering to Murray, and, unless he has
resolved to give up the service altogether, I could not wish him better
luck. You and your old shipmate are not to be parted, Adair. He is
appointed to the command of the _Opal_, and I have a notion that she
will be stationed at the Cape, and probably sent to the East Coast of
Africa, where there is work to be done, and prize-money to be picked up,
not to be got every day in these piping times of peace. It is no easy
matter, however, to catch those slippery Arab slavers, so you mustn't
count your hens before they are hatched. Still, the _Opal_ is a fast
craft, and if any man can do what is to be done, Murray will do it."
"At all events, I am delighted to hear that I am to serve with him. I
was anxious to be off to sea as soon as possible, and it makes amends to
me for my disappointment in not getting my promotion."
"I say, Archie, I suppose that you will be appointed to the same craft?"
exclaimed Desmond.
"Nae doot about it, mon," answered Archie; "I've a notion it's the doing
of our cousin, Admiral McAlpine, who returned home not long ago from the
West Indies, and would of course have been looking after our interests,
for he is a very kind man."
"I suspect that Mrs Murray considers it a very cruel kindness,"
observed the admiral; "but every sailor's wife must be prepared to be
parted from her husband, and to make the most of him when he is on
shore."
"He is a lucky fellow who has got a wife to be parted from," said
Terence, thinking of Lucy; "at all events, when he is away, he can look
forward to the happiness of being again united to her, instead of having
to come home, as is the lot of some of us, without anyone who cares for
him to give him a welcome; so the favours of Heaven are very fairly
divided, and in my opinion Murray has the best of it, though it may give
him and his wife a severe pang to part from each other."
"Here they come, and we shall learn how they have settled the matter,"
observed the admiral; "but as duty has ever been my friend Murray's
guiding star, I am very sure that he will not allow his inclination to
prevent him from acting as he thinks right, and, unless I am mistaken as
to his wife's character, she will not utter a word to prevent him."
No one would have supposed from the countenances of Alick and Stella how
much their hearts were agitated. "I am sorry, admiral, we must give up
our projected cruise for to-morrow, and cut yours and Adair's visit
short, as we shall have much to do in preparing to leave Bercaldine,
though I must beg you to stay as long as we remain," said Alick, quite
calmly. "We must treat you without ceremony; and I know, Adair, that
you and Desmond will lend a hand in setting things in order for our
departure."
"Then you have made your mind up to accept the command of the _Opal_,"
said the admiral. "I said it would be so; I was sure of it. I must
compliment Mrs Murray, for there are some wives, who don't love their
husbands a jot the better, who would have turned the scale the other
way. Duty, my lads, duty should carry everything before it," continued
the admiral, turning to the midshipmen. "Learn a lesson from your
superiors, and never let anything induce you to swerve from duty!"
Murray, of course, had an immense amount of work to get through. It was
at once settled that Stella should accompany him to Portsmouth, and
should take up her residence in the neighbourhood during his absence.
Bercaldine was to be let, and a tenant had to be found, arrangements
made with the factor and grieve, and other retainers; various articles
to be stored up, and others to be carried with them; the _Stella_ to be
laid up, and the horses to be sold.
A couple of days thus passed rapidly away, and, all working with a will,
the party were ready to start. The rays of the sun, just rising above
the lofty summits of the hills, glanced down the loch as they assembled
on the landing-place with their dependents, and every cotter on the
estate from far and near, who had come to bid them farewell. Many a
tear was shed by the females of the family, as Mrs Murray, the baby and
Polly, with the gentlemen of the party, embarked on board the _Stella_,
which was to convey them to Oban. The men waved their bonnets, and
uttered a prayer in Gaelic that the laird and his good wife and the
"bairn" might be brought back to them in safety.
Sail was made, and the little craft glided away from her moorings with a
fair breeze down the loch. Mrs Murray looked with fond regret at the
lovely home she was leaving, though no longer the home it had been to
her without her husband. The admiral, of course, did his best to keep
up her spirits, and whatever Alick might have felt, he was as cheerful
as if they were merely making a day's excursion. The scenery around the
home he loved so well looked even more attractive than ever. On the
port hand Ben Cruachan rose proudly amid the assemblage of craggy
heights which extended to the eastward along the shores of the loch.
The ruins of Ardchattan Priory, covered with luxuriant ivy, and
o'er-canopied by lofty trees, soon came in sight on the starboard side.
"The monks of old, wise in their generation, chose pleasant places for
their residences," observed the admiral, pointing to the ruins.
"They must have been of great benefit to the surrounding population in
those turbulent times," said Mrs Murray. "I have sometimes thought
that it would be well if they still existed in districts where no landed
proprietors live to look after the people."
"Very well in theory, my dear madam," said the admiral; "but we must
take into consideration what human nature really is. Monks in many
instances proved themselves to be arrant knaves, and among every
assemblage of mortals such will ever be found in time to leaven the
whole mass. These and friaries and convents were not abolished a day
too soon; and, advanced as the present generation esteems itself, I am
very sure that if we were to shut up a dozen men together, picked from
among the most learned and enlightened students at our universities, or
the same number of the most charming women to be found, and insist on
their living as celibates to the end of their days, and devoting
themselves to a certain routine of strict forms and ceremonies, they
would very soon come to loggerheads, and do more harm to themselves and
others than they could possibly do good. The wisest men in all the
nations of Europe have seen the necessity of abolishing the conventual
system, and I cannot suppose that English men and women are more likely
to be holy and immaculate than the people of other countries. The whole
thing is an illusion; and I am very sure that the system, if, as
according to the wishes of some, it should again prevail in England,
would only tend to the corruption of those who are beguiled by it, and
to the dishonour of true religion."
"You are right, admiral, and certainly my wife does not advocate the
re-establishment of monasteries in this country," remarked Alick.
"Oh no, no! I was thinking rather of the past," said Stella; "and
probably, if we could look into the interior of convents in their best
days, we should see much to grieve and shock us."
The tide was on the ebb, and as the cutter passed through the narrows at
Connel Ferry, she pitched and tossed in the turbulent current, here
forming a perfect race, in a way which put a stop to further
conversation. The breeze being steady, she, however, with Murray's
skilful handling, ran through and glided forward on her course. Now
Dunstaffnage Castle, standing on a slight elevation near the shore, came
in sight--a picturesque ruin, its high walls and round towers rising
boldly against the sky. Farther on appeared Dunolly Castle--an
ivy-clad, square keep, in former times the seat of the Macdougals of
Lorne; and now the cutter entered the bay of Oban, with the long island
of Kerrera on the right, and brought up amid a fleet of small craft and
coasters. A steamer on her way to Glasgow was waiting for passengers,
and the party had just time to get on board before she began paddling on
to the southward.
"You will take good care of the craft, Dougal," said Ben Snatchblock, as
he handed over his command to the old Highland skipper, into whose
charge Murray had given the yacht: "cover her over carefully, and keep
the sun from her in summer and the snow in winter, and we'll have many a
cruise in her yet when we come back from the East Indies."
"Dinna fash ye, mon; she'll no' take harm under my charge," said Dougal.
"Dougal has been somewhat jealous of Ben on account of his having been
appointed to the yacht instead of himself," remarked Alick.
Glasgow was reached before nightfall, and the next morning the whole
party started by train for the south. Admiral Triton insisted on
accompanying his friends to Portsmouth. "My sister Deborah and I have
taken a house on Southsea Common for three years, and you and your wife
and bairn must be our guests, and we have a room for Archie till it is
time for him to take up his berth on board. You will cheer us up, and
we old people want companionship, for I can't get about as I once did;
and the young fellows fight shy of me and don't laugh at my yarns, as
you and Jack used to do; and I say, Murray, if you want to do me a
favour, you will let your wife stay on as our guest. The boy will be a
great amusement to us both. We'll not spoil him, depend on that. I
then can come and go as I like. And when I am away, she'll help to keep
my good sister alive and cheerful. When Deb hasn't me to look after,
she's apt to get out of spirits, and to be thinking about her own
ailments--fancied more than real, for she is as hearty as she can expect
to be at her age; while, if she has a guest and a little child to occupy
her thoughts, she'll be perfectly happy and contented; so, you see,
you'll be doing her and me the greatest possible favour. Don't say no,
but settle the matter at once."
Murray, of course, thanked the admiral very heartily. He was sure that
the invitation was given from the kindest of motives, and he fully
believed that Stella would contribute greatly to the happiness of the
old man and his sister, who, without kith or kin, required someone to
solace them in their declining years. He seemed truly grateful when
Murray, after talking the matter over with Stella, accepted his kind
proposal.
"She mustn't consider herself a mere visitor, but must be as much at
home as if Deb were only her housekeeper--that is just what Deb will
like. And I must be looked upon as their visitor when I come back from
paying a visit to any of my friends who are still willing to receive me;
though the only people on whom I can now depend to give me a hearty
welcome are Sir John and Lady Rogers; they don't get tired of my yarns,
and Sir John laughs at them as heartily as he did many a long year ago."
So the matter was settled; and, on reaching Portsmouth, Murray and
Stella accompanied the admiral to his very comfortable house at
Southsea, at the entrance door of which Mrs Deborah Triton--she had
taken brevet rank--stood with smiling countenance ready to receive them.
It overlooked Spithead and the Isle of Wight, with the Solent
stretching away to the westward; the entrance to Portsmouth harbour,
with steamers and vessels of all sizes running constantly in and out,
being seen at no great distance off across the common. But Sister Deb,
as the admiral generally called her, is more worthy of a description
than the house. She was remarkably like her brother, except that she
had two feet, whereas he lacked one; and that her still plump face was
free from the weather-beaten stains contracted by his honest countenance
during his days afloat. Her figure was short and round, exhibiting
freedom from care--it was such, indeed, as only a good-natured person
could possess; but her face was the index of her mind and heart. That
bore an unmistakable expression of kindness, gentleness, and
good-temper, which perfect faith in the simple truths of Christianity
could alone give. Murray felt perfectly confident that his wife and
child would be in good keeping during his absence, and his heart felt
lightened of one of its chief cares.
Next morning, Murray, accompanied by Archie, went on board the _Opal_,
which, having just been brought out of dock, lay alongside the hulk.
She was still in the hands of the riggers', who, busy as bees, swarmed
in every part, rattling down the rigging, swaying up the topmasts, and
getting the yards across. Her appearance in that condition was not
attractive; but as he surveyed her with a seaman's eye, he felt
satisfied that she was a fast craft, and well calculated for the service
on which she was to be sent.
"I have no wish to command a steamer, but I cannot help fancying that a
pair of paddles would be more likely to catch the Arab dhows we are to
go in search of than is the fastest craft under canvas," he observed to
Adair, whom he found on board.
They at once set to work to collect a crew, in which business Ben
Snatchblock was especially active. Ben a few days afterwards received,
to his satisfaction, his warrant as boatswain, his zeal being
considerably enlivened thereby. He, before long, managed to pick up a
number of prime hands from among his old shipmates, on whom he could
thoroughly depend. The gunner and carpenter joined the same day he got
his warrant. The former, Timothy Ebbs, was a little man, but he had a
big voice and a prodigious pair of black whiskers, which, sticking out
on either side of his face, gave him a sufficiently ferocious aspect to
inspire ship-boys and other young members of the crew with the necessary
amount of awe; while the able seamen respected him for his tried courage
and undoubted nautical experience. Adair was very glad to find that Jos
Green was appointed as master, as he had known him well when he was
second master of the _Tudor_, in the West Indies, and a more merry,
kind-hearted, better-disposed fellow never stepped. Jos, it was said,
never went anywhere without finding friends, or came away without having
made fresh ones. Adair, Archie, and Gerald, with all the officers who
had as yet been appointed to the corvette, took up their quarters on
board, and the work of fitting out made rapid progress.
"I wonder whom we shall have for our second lieutenant?" said Gerald, as
they were sitting in the berth; "an old shipmate or a new one? I hope
we may get a good sort of a fellow. I should like to have old Higson.
What a good-natured chap he was!"
"That was when he was first promoted; he may have grown rusty by this
time, at not getting another step," observed Archie. "He is older than
the captain, and yet junior to Mr Adair."
On going on deck soon afterwards, an officer came up the side, who
introduced himself to Terence as Lieutenant Frank Mildmay, come to join
the _Opal_ as second lieutenant. No two persons could be more
dissimilar than the first and second lieutenants of the corvette. He
had a smooth face with pink cheeks, whiskers curled to a nicety, and
hair carefully brushed. His figure was slight and refined, and he wore
lilac kid gloves, his appearance being certainly somewhat effeminate;
indeed, he looked as if he had just come out of a bandbox.
"He'll never set the Thames on fire," observed Paddy Desmond to Archie.
"Faith, the men will be after calling him Mr _Mildman_, unless he
condescends to dip those delicate paws of his into the tar-bucket."
The men probably looked on their second lieutenant with much the same
feelings as did the two midshipmen; while he, regardless of what they
thought of him, accompanied Adair into the gun-room to make himself
acquainted with the rest of his messmates. The remainder of the
gun-room officers and midshipmen joined the next day, and, the
complement of the crew being made up, the corvette, casting off from the
hulk, took up her moorings in the middle of the harbour. Of the
new-comers, two small midshipmen, who had never before been to sea,
Paddy Desmond immediately designated one "Billy Blueblazes," in
consequence of his boasting that he was related to an admiral of that
name, while the other was allowed to retain his proper appellation of
"Dicky Duff," Paddy declaring that it required no reformation. An old
mate who was always grumbling, and two young one who had just passed
their examination, with an assistant-surgeon, two clerks, and a master's
assistant, made up the mess; and pretty closely stowed they were in the
narrow confines of the berth. The only other person worthy of note was
the third warrant-officer, the carpenter, who rejoiced in the
designation of Caractacus Chessle, the name of the British hero having
been bestowed on him by his father, who had once on a time been a
stage-player. He was as tall and bulky as the gunner was short and
wiry; indeed, the three warrant-officers formed a strange contrast with
each other.
Murray frequently came on board to see how things were getting on, but
never interfered with Adair's arrangements. He was sometimes
accompanied by Admiral Triton, who seemed to take almost as much
interest as he did in fitting out the ship. The sails were now bent,
and Murray waited in daily expectation of receiving his sailing orders.
Meantime, the kind admiral and his sister were moved with the thoughts
of poor Stella's approaching bereavement, and, knowing nothing of
Adair's attachment, he got Deb to write to Lady Rogers, inviting one of
her daughters to pay them a visit, and assist in taking care of Mrs
Murray. As it happened, he said nothing of the first lieutenant of the
_Opal_, and Sir John and her ladyship, supposing that Adair was at
Ballymacree, made no objection to Lucy's accepting the invitation. She
accordingly, much to Murray's satisfaction, arrived the very day the
ship was ready for sea. It so fell out that Adair, who had managed to
escape from his multifarious duties, and was not aware of her coming,
called to pay a farewell visit at the house. He was ushered into the
drawing-room, where a lady was seated with a book in her hand, though
her eyes were oftener cast over the blue ocean than at its pages.
The servant announced his name; the lady rose from her seat, and gazed
at him with a look in which surprise was mingled with pleasure, a rich
blush suffusing her countenance. "Mr Adair!" she exclaimed, holding
out her hand, which Terence took, and seemed very unwilling to
relinquish. Nor did she withdraw it.
"I thought you were at Ballymacree," she said. "I was very sorry that
papa thought it right not to accept your proposal to pay us a visit at
Halliburton while Jack was absent, but, believe me, he did not intend to
be unkind."
"I felt that, though it made me very unhappy," answered Terence; "but
did you wish me to come?"
"Yes," said Lucy, "I should have been very glad to see you; I should not
be speaking the truth if I did not say so."
"Then, if I get my promotion and come back with lots of prize-money, may
I hope--"
"Pray don't speak about that," answered Lucy, growing agitated; "I can
make no promise without papa's sanction, and I have already said enough
to show that I am not indifferent to you."
Terence was an Irishman, and Irishmen are not wont to be bashful, but at
that moment Alick and Stella entered the room, not failing to remark the
confusion their appearance created. Terence, of course, explained that
he had called, not expecting to see Miss Rogers, but had come to pay his
respects to Mrs Murray. She tried to send her husband out of the room,
intending to follow, but he would not take the hint; and Terence, who
had but a short time to spare, was compelled at length to pay his adieux
without eliciting the promise he wished from Lucy. She looked very
sorry when he had gone, but probably was the better able, from sympathy,
to afford consolation to poor Stella, when the moment for her parting
with her husband arrived. That moment came the very next day. It need
not be dwelt on. Stella's lot was that which numberless wives of naval
officers have to endure; but, though widely shared, her grief was not
the less poignant as she watched with tearful eyes through the admiral's
spy-glass the corvette under all sail standing down the Solent.