The Lighthouse
Page 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
NEW ARRANGEMENTS--THE CAPTAIN'S PHILOSOPHY IN REGARD TO PIPEOLOGY.
That night our hero was lodged in the common jail of Arbroath. Soonafter, he was tried, and, as Captain Ogilvy had prophesied, wasacquitted. Thereafter he went to reside for the winter with his mother,occupying the same room as his worthy uncle, as there was not anotherspare one in the cottage, and sleeping in a hammock, slung parallel withand close to that of the captain.
On the night following his release from prison, Ruby lay on his back inhis hammock meditating intently on the future, and gazing at theceiling, or rather at the place where he knew the ceiling to be, for itwas a dark night, and there was no light in the room, the candle havingjust been extinguished.
We are not strictly correct, however, in saying that there was _no_light in the room, for there was a deep red glowing spot of fire near toCaptain Ogilvy's head, which flashed and grew dim at each alternatesecond of time. It was, in fact, the captain's pipe, a luxury in whichthat worthy man indulged morning, noon, and night. He usually restedthe bowl of the pipe on and a little over the edge of his hammock, and,lying on his back, passed the mouthpiece over the blankets into thecorner of his mouth, where four of his teeth seemed to have agreed toform an exactly round hole suited to receive it. At each draw the firein the bowl glowed so that the captain's nose was faintly illuminated;in the intervals the nose disappeared.
The breaking or letting fall of this pipe was a common incident in thecaptain's nocturnal history, but he had got used to it, from long habit,and regarded the event each time it occurred with the philosophiccomposure of one who sees and makes up his mind to endure an inevitableand unavoidable evil.
"Ruby," said the captain, after the candle was extinguished.
"Well, uncle?"
"I've bin thinkin', lad,--"
Here the captain drew a few whiffs to prevent the pipe from going out,in which operation he evidently forgot himself and went on thinking, forhe said nothing more.
"Well, uncle, what have you been thinking?"
"Eh! ah, yes, I've bin thinkin', lad (pull), that you'll have to(puff)--there's somethin' wrong with the pipe to-night, it don't drawwell (puff)--you'll have to do somethin' or other in the town, for itwon't do to leave the old woman, lad, in her delicate state o' health.Had she turned in when you left the kitchen?"
"Oh yes, an hour or more."
"An' Blue Eyes,--
"`The tender bit flower that waves in the breeze, And scatters its fragrance all over the seas.'
"Has she turned in too?"
"She was just going to when I left," replied Ruby; "but what has that todo with the question?"
"I didn't say as it had anything to do with it, lad. Moreover, thereain't no question between us as I knows on (puff); but what have you tosay to stoppin' here all winter?"
"Impossible," said Ruby, with a sigh.
"No so, lad; what's to hinder?--Ah! there she goes."
The pipe fell with a crash to the floor, and burst with a bright showerof sparks, like a little bombshell.
"That's the third, Ruby, since I turned in," said the captain, gettingslowly over the side of his hammock, and alighting on the floor heavily."I won't git up again if it goes another time."
After knocking off the chimney-piece five or six articles which appearedto be made of tin from the noise they made in falling, the captainsucceeded in getting hold of another pipe and the tinder-box, for inthose days flint and steel were the implements generally used inprocuring a light. With much trouble he re-lit the pipe.
"Now, Ruby, lad, hold it till I tumble in."
"But I can't see the stem, uncle."
"What a speech for a seaman to make! Don't you see the fire in thebowl?"
"Yes, of course."
"Well, just make a grab two inches astarn of the bowl and you'll hookthe stem."
The captain was looking earnestly into the bowl while he spoke, stuffingdown the burning tobacco with the end of his little finger. Ruby,acting in rather too prompt obedience to the instructions, made a "grab"as directed, and caught his uncle by the nose.
A yell and an apology followed of course, in the midst of which thefourth pipe was demolished.
"Oh! uncle, what a pity!"
"Ah! Ruby, that comes o' inconsiderate youth, which philosophers tellus is the nat'ral consequence of unavoidable necessity, for you can'tput a young head on old shoulders, d'ye see?"
From the tone in which this was said Ruby knew that the captain wasshaking his head gravely, and from the noise of articles being kickedabout and falling, he became aware that the unconquerable man wasfilling a fifth pipe.
This one was more successfully managed, and the captain once more gotinto his hammock, and began to enjoy himself.
"Well, Ruby, where was I? O ay; what's to hinder you goin' and gettin'employed in the Bell Rock workyard? There's plenty to do, and goodwages there."
It may be as well to inform the reader here, that although theoperations at the Bell Rock had come to an end for the season about thebeginning of October, the work of hewing the stones for the lighthousewas carried on briskly during the winter at the workyard on shore; andas the tools, etcetera, required constant sharpening and mending, ablacksmith could not be dispensed with.
"Do you think I can get in again?" enquired Ruby.
"No doubt of it, lad. But the question is, are ye willin' to go ifthey'll take you?"
"Quite willing, uncle."
"Good: then that's all square, an' I knows how to lay my course--upanchor to-morrow mornin', crowd all sail, bear down on the workyard,bring-to off the countin'-room, and open fire on the superintendent."
The captain paused at this point, and opened fire with his pipe for someminutes.
"Now," he continued, "there's another thing I want to ax you. I'm goin'to-morrow afternoon to take a cruise along the cliffs to the east'ard inthe preventive boat, just to keep up my sea legs. They've got scent o'some smugglin' business that's goin' on, an' my friend Leftenant Lindsayhas asked me to go. Now, Ruby, if you want a short cruise of an hour orso you may come with me."
Ruby smiled at the manner in which this offer was made, and replied:
"With pleasure, uncle."
"So, then, that's settled too. Good night, nephy."
The captain turned on his side, and dropped the pipe on the floor, whereit was shivered to atoms.
It must not be supposed that this was accidental.
It was done on purpose. Captain Ogilvy had found from experience thatit was not possible to stretch out his arm to its full extent and laythe pipe on the chimney-piece, without waking himself up just at thatcritical moment when sleep was consenting to be wooed. He also foundthat on the average he broke one in every four pipes that he thusattempted to deposit. Being a philosophical and practical man, he cameto the conclusion that it would be worth while to pay something for thecomfort of being undisturbed at the minute of time that lay between theconclusion of smoking and the commencement of repose. He therefore gota sheet of foolscap and a pencil, and spent a whole forenoon in abstrusecalculations. He ascertained the exact value of three hundred andsixty-five clay pipes. From this he deducted a fourth for breakage thatwould have certainly occurred in the old system of laying the pipes downevery night, and which, therefore, he felt, in a confused sort of way,ought not to be charged in the estimates of a new system. Then he addeda small sum to the result for probable extra breakages, such as hadoccurred that night, and found that the total was not too high a pricefor a man in his circumstances to pay for the blessing he wished toobtain.
From that night forward he deliberately dropped his pipe every nightover the side of his hammock before going to sleep.
The captain, in commenting on this subject, was wont to observe thateverything in life, no matter how small, afforded matter of thought tophilosophical men. He had himself found a pleasing subject of studyeach morning in the fact that some of the pipes survived the fall of the
previous night. This led him to consider the nature of clay pipes ingeneral, and to test them in various ways. It is true he did not saythat anything of importance resulted from his peculiar studies, but heargued that a true philosopher looks for facts, and leaves resultsalone. One discovery he undoubtedly did make, which was, that the pipesobtained from a certain maker in the town _invariably_ broke, whilethose obtained from another maker broke only occasionally. Hence hecame to the conclusion that one maker was an honest man, the other adoubtful character, and wisely bestowed his custom in accordance withthat opinion.
About one minute after the falling of the pipe Ruby Brand fell asleep,and about two minutes after that Captain Ogilvy began to snore, both ofwhich conditions were maintained respectively and uninterruptedly untilthe birds began to whistle and the sun began to shine.