CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
ERIC'S PROJECT.
Fritz was not long in the company of Mr Nathaniel Washington Slater onthe following day before he discovered, much to his disappointment, thathe was one of those superficial characters who are given largely todealing in promises that they either have no intention of keeping whenmaking them originally, or which they never were or would be in aposition to carry out.
When coming up Long Island Sound on board the Rhode Island steamer andhaving that friendly chat in the bows of the boat, the deck hand hadbeen lavishly expansive as to what he would be able to accomplish forhis newly-made acquaintance, in the way of procuring him employment;but, when Fritz met him again, according to their arrangement of theprevious afternoon, "Nat" did not appear to exhibit that eager alacrityin introducing him to business men--or "big bugs," as he termed them--which his words of the night before had led Fritz naturally to expect.
Whether this arose from the fact that the deck hand's desire to aid theyoung German had evaporated as rapidly as it had arisen, or because hismorning reflections had convinced him that he had too rashly promisedsomething which he was unable to perform, Fritz, of course, could notprecisely tell. Whatever was the reason, the result came to the samething, that Mr Slater showed a most unmistakable inclination to "backout" of the matter in the same easy way in which those double-enderfloating palaces Fritz had noticed on the way up could go astern inorder to avoid an obstruction; albeit Nat was prolific in the extremewith all manner of excuses--excuses that were as baseless andunsubstantial as the foam churned up by the steamboat's paddle-wheels!
He "felt ugly" and was "no end sorry," but he really "hadn't the timethat morning." This was his first attempt at shunting the engagement;but then, when Fritz, in the exuberance of hopeful possibilities,offered to meet him at the same place and time on the following day,"Nat" "couldn't think of putting him to the trouble," as he "might haveto return to New York in the boat at a moment's notice." Besides, hesaid, it would be "better to put off the appointment awhile," as he'djust heard that the "boss" of the very identical shipping firm where hethought he could have got Fritz a berth had started "right away" forBoston, and he was such a "durned electric eel of a cuss, here, there,and everywhere," that it would be "just dubersome to kalkerlate" when hewould "reel his way back to hum!"
Fritz could not understand many of these very choice Americanisms;still, he was sufficiently gifted with common sense to see prettyplainly that all the deck hand's "tall talking" of the previous eveninghad been, to use his own expressive vernacular, nothing but "bunkum,"and that, if he wished to get any situation in the place, he must trustmore to his own good fortune than to Mr Slater's kind offices as a go-between.
This disheartened him at the time; but when he got back to CaptainBrown's shanty later on, the worthy old skipper, noticing hisdespondency, soon cheered him out of it.
"Bless you, sonny," said he affectionately, for he seemed to have takenas great a fancy to Fritz as he had to Eric--the young fellow havingtold him all his plans and prospects, besides giving him an epitome ofhis adventures during the war when narrating the same for his brother'sedification,--"Bless you, sonny, nary you mind what thet ne'er-do-wellNat Slater sez. I'd half a mind to tell you thet yesterday, when I seedyou so thick with him! Jerusalem, mister, he's a coon thet's bin allersa loafer all his life, stickin' to nuthin' even fur a dog-watch, an' asshifty as one o' them sculpens in the creek thaar! You jest wait an'make yourself comf'able haar till bye-em-bye, an' I reckon we'll fix youup to sunthin'."
The same evening, when the two brothers were alone together, andspeaking of old Captain Brown's kindness, Eric suddenly, as if in amoment of inspiration, said, "Why should you not come along with me inthe _Pilot's Bride_ when we start next month?"
"What!" exclaimed Fritz in astonishment.
"Don't look so startled, brother," said Eric, laughing at the expressionof the other's face. "Recollect, that as you say, you've been unable toget any work here, so, why not go with me? I'm sure Captain Brown wouldtake you with us if you ask him."
"But I'm not a sailor," argued Fritz; "and, besides, if I were one,going to sea would not be the way to make the fortune I have planned, sothat I may be able to return home and marry Madaleine."
"Ah, that dear Madaleine!" said Eric. "I wonder when I'll see her, andwhether I shall think her all that you describe? Never mind," he added,seeing that Fritz appeared vexed at this speech, "I've no doubt she's abeautiful maiden, and that you'll both be as happy as the day is long!But, I'm going to speak about business now, my brother; and, if youlisten, you'll see that my idea of your coming in the _Pilot's Bride_ isnot such a wild-goose chase, after all."
"I confess I don't see it yet," interposed Fritz, with a smile at Eric'sboyish eagerness. "In what way will going whaling with Captain Brownand your important self advance my fortunes?"
"Listen," said the other, "and I'll soon tell you. Do you recollectwhen I was recounting my story, that after I was picked up from the boatand taken on board the _Pilot's Bride_, I mentioned the fact of the shipcalling at Tristan d'Acunha?"
"Yes; and you also said that you would inform me of something importantabout the place `bye-and-bye,' if you alluded then to what you're goingto tell me now."
"Precisely, `bye-and-bye' is `now,'" said Eric, laughing again andtossing his mane-like hair back from his forehead in the old fashion."We landed at Tristan d'Acunha--"
"Where on earth is that place?" interrupted Fritz. "I've a confusednotion that it is an island of some sort; but, in what precise spot itis situated, I'm sure I can't tell!"
"Well, then," commenced Eric grandiloquently--only too glad of theopportunity of having to instruct his elder brother, who had beenregarded in the family circle as the centre of all wisdom--"`Tristand'Acunha' is the centre island of a group, so-called after thePortuguese navigator who discovered them in the early beginning of thesixteenth century. The islands are probably the most isolated andremote of all the abodes of men, lying as they do almost in the middleof the Atlantic Ocean, and nearly equidistant from the continents ofAmerica and Africa; for, they are situated nearly on the line that couldbe drawn between Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope--from the latter ofwhich they are distant some fifteen hundred miles in a westerlydirection, while Saint Helena, the nearest other land to them on thenorth, is thirteen hundred miles away."
"You're very explicit, I'm sure," said Fritz in a chaffing way; "youmust have been coaching up your geography recently."
"I disdain vulgar interruption and idle clamour," returned the other ina similar vein. "But, to proceed. The group consists of the largerisland of Tristan and two smaller islands--Inaccessible Island, someeighteen miles to the south-west, and Nightingale Island, twenty milesto the south. These islands are uninhabited, save by penguins andseals; but an interesting little colony of some eighty souls occupiesTristan, breeding cattle and cultivating vegetables, with which theysupply passing vessels, mostly whalers--these calling there from time totime, on their way to and from their fishing grounds in the greatSouthern Ocean."
"Your account is highly interesting, my dear Eric," said Fritz, when hisbrother had completed this exhaustive description of the Tristand'Acunha group; "still, I confess I do not see in what way it affectsme."
"Don't you?"
"No."
"Then you will soon; listen a moment longer. I told you that, with theexception of the larger one, these islands are uninhabited save by thepenguins and seals and such-like marine animals."
"Yes, you've told me that; and I don't wonder at it when they aresituated so remotely from all civilisation."
"That fact has its advantages none the less," proceeded Eric. "Being socut off from communication with men makes these islands just thefavourite resort of those animals that shun the presence of theirdestroyers. Seals, as you know, are very nervous, retiring creaturesseeking their breeding-places in the most out-of-the-way, deserted spotsthey can find; and the advance of the huma
n race, planting colonieswhere the poor things had formerly undisputed sway around the shores ofthe South American continent, has driven them further and furtherafield, or rather to sea, until they are now only to be met with in anynumbers in the Antarctic Ocean, and such islands as lie adjacent to thatgreat Southern continent which has never yet been discovered--althoughLord Ross pretty nearly put foot on it, if any explorer can be said tohave done that."
"Really, Eric," exclaimed Fritz jokingly, "you surpass yourself!"
"Oh, I've read up all this in some books Captain Brown lent me," saidthe boy. "I wanted to learn everything that was to be learnt about awhaler's life, and to become acquainted with the special parts of theocean that have to be visited by vessels in the trade in order to find aprofitable fishing ground."
"But you've been talking about seals, not whales," remarked Fritz.
"Yes, because it is with seals that my present business lies," said theother, not a bit put out by the correction.
"Banished now from their once favourite waters around Cape Horn,adjacent to the islands of the Pacific, there are yet some strayoutlandish spots left which the animals frequent, so as to be able tobreed in peace and multiply, without fear of that wholesaleextermination which is their unhappy lot elsewhere. Amongst suchisolated places is the Tristan d'Acunha group; and, to InaccessibleIsland as well as the other islets they come in countless numbers everyyear. Seal fishing is a very profitable concern; for, not only is theoil valuable, but the skins fetch the most extravagant prices in themarket, especially those of the finer sort. Now, do you see what I'mafter, brother?"
"You want to go sealing, I suppose; but, won't you have plenty of thatin the _Pilot's Bride_ with Captain Brown, eh?"
"Not in the way I mean," replied Eric. "I have an idea of settling fora time at Tristan d'Acunha, going in thoroughly for the thing as abusiness on shore."
Fritz appeared to prick up his ears at this.
"But, I thought you said there was a colony there already; why don't thepeople manage to cultivate the trade? Besides, if they have it alltheir own way, I think they would not like a couple of strangeinterlopers, like you and me, going amongst them to rob them of theirharvest from the sea!"
"Ah, I see you're bitten with the idea," exclaimed Eric, clapping hishands triumphantly. "But, it was not of Tristan, the larger island, Iwas thinking; it was of Inaccessible Island, where there wouldn't beanother living soul but ourselves, the seals, and sea birds."
"`Monarchs of all we survey,' eh, like Robinson Crusoe?" said Fritz witha smile. "That would be very nice, wouldn't it?"
"Don't laugh, brother," returned Eric, speaking earnestly. "I assureyou I've considered this thing well. The people living at Tristan toldme that they went fishing to the other islands once a year; but, theweather is generally so rough and the beach so hard to land at or getoff from, on account of the heavy ocean rollers coming in when the windis up at all, that the islanders can never make a long stay at theislets--and so cannot get half the number of sealskins which might beeasily procured by any one stopping ashore there for any length of time.I really thought, I assure you, of asking Captain Brown, when I went onmy next voyage with him, to land me at Inaccessible Island, withprovisions enough to last me six months or so, and to call for me on hisreturn voyage from the Cape, as he was wending his way back home againhere."
"And you would have gone there alone?"
"Yes; why not? But now, oh, Fritz, if you would only go with me, wemight settle at this place like regular Robinson Crusoes--as you saidjust now--and make a pile of money, or, rather, of skins, in a year ortwo!"
"The idea is feasible," said Fritz in a reflective way. "I'll talk toCaptain Brown, and see what he says of it." The elder brother had agood deal of German caution in his composition; so that, although promptof action, he was never accustomed to undertake anything without duedeliberation.
Eric, on the contrary, all impulse, was thoroughly carried away by thenotion, now that he saw that Fritz, instead of ridiculing it, thought itworth consideration.
The project of going to settle on a real uninhabited island, likeRobinson Crusoe, that hero of boyhood throughout the world, exceeded therealisation of his wildest dreams, when first as a little chap he hadplanned how he should go to sea as soon as he was big enough. Why, heand Fritz would now be "Brother Crusoes," if his project were carriedout, as there seemed every likelihood of its being--crusoes of their ownfree-will and not by compulsion, besides having the satisfaction ofknowing that within a certain period it would be in their power to endtheir solitary island life; that is, should they find, either that itdid not come up to their expectations in a business point of view, orthat its loneliness and seclusion combined with the discomforts ofroughing it were more than they could bear.
It was a glorious plan!
This was Eric's conclusion, the more he thought of it; while Fritz, onhis part, believed that there was something in the suggestion--somethingthat had to be weighed and considered carefully--for, might he notreally conquer Fortune in this way?
Captain Brown did not throw any cold water on the matter either, when itwas brought before him.
"By thunder! it's a durned good plan, it air, mister," said he to Fritz,"thet it air, fur a young scaramouch like thet youngster thaar! I seedhim palaverin' with one o' them islanders at Tristan--they're a sort ofhalf-caste tan colour there, like mulattoes in the States. I rec'lectone of the men who wer oncest on a whaler with me a v'y'ge or two toKerguelen Land an' back, tellin' me 'bout the lot of seals thet were onInaccessible Island, now I come to think of it; but I've never beenthaar myself. Its name's good enough fur me, since most of us thet goby thaar gives it a pretty wide berth, you bet; fur it air inaccessible,with a vengeance--a rocky coast plungin' down abruptly into the sea,with a terrible surf breakin' ag'in the cliffs, an' no anchorage groundanywheres nigh thet's safe!"
"And how could we land then?" asked Fritz.
"Oh, it ken be done, mister, fur the Tristaners go over thaar, as theb'y told you, every year fur a week or so; an' they hev to git ashoresomehow or other. Yes, we'll manage to land you, safe enough, in awhale-boat when the time comes. What I meant to say was, thet the shipcouldn't stay any while lyin' off, so as to see whether you liked theplace or not. If you land, thaar you'll hev to stay till we come backfur you next v'y'ge!"
"All right, I shan't mind that, with Eric. If I were alone, of courseit would be another matter."
"Jest so," replied the Yankee skipper; and he then proceeded to advisethe brothers what would be best to take with them, Fritz wishing to layout his small remaining stock of money to advantage.
He also told them, good-naturedly, that he would convey them to theircontemplated destination for nothing, so that they would have no passageto pay. Eric, indeed, would work his, being considered as attached tothe ship, his name besides being retained on the list of the crew whilesealing on shore; and, as for Fritz, Captain Brown said, he would "grubhim and give him a bunk into the barg'in."
Then, again, in respect of the provisions they would need for theirmaintenance during their stay on the island, the skipper promised tosupply them from the ship's stores, on their arrival there, at costprice; so that, not only would they thus get them much cheaper than theywould have been able to purchase them in open market, but they wouldlikewise save the cost of their freightage to Inaccessible Island, whichany one else would have expected them to pay.
Could Fritz desire more?
Hardly.
"I guess, mister," concluded the skipper, "so be it as how you kindermakes up yer mind fur the venture, thet you two coons will start inbizness with a clean sheet an' no book debts, like the boss of a drygoods store; an' if you don't make a pile in less than no time, why itwon't be Job Brown's fault, I reckon!"
This settled the matter; when, the captain giving them a shortmemorandum of certain necessary articles which they would find useful onthe island and which they could readily procure in Providence while the_Pilot's Bride_
was refitting, the two brothers set to work making theirpreparations without delay for the novel enterprise to which Eric'sproject had given birth--that of going crusoeing in the South Atlantic!
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