CHAPTER SEVEN.
FIRST SNIFFS OF THE BRINY.
"He's beginning, Meadows," said the doctor, as they sat together intheir room at the hotel, waiting for the guests of the evening.
"Think so?" said Sir John sadly.
"Of course I do," cried the doctor.
"But it's very pitiful to see a lad of his years shrinking like a timidgirl, and changing colour whenever he is spoken to. He seems to have nospirit at all."
"He has though, and plenty, only it's crusted over, and can't get out; Inoticed a dozen good signs to-day."
"A dozen?" said Sir John.
"Well, more or less. Don't ask me to be mathematical. You'll want toknow the aliquot parts next," said the doctor snappishly.
"I see you want your dinner," said Sir John, with a smile.
"I do--horribly. This sea-air makes me feel ravenous. But, as I wasgoing to say, there were abundant signs of the change beginning. He'sashamed of his--his--"
"Well, say it--cowardice," said Sir John sadly. "Yes, poor fellow! heis ashamed of it, as I well know."
"But he can't help it, weak and unstrung as he is. It will come allright, only let's get him out of his misery, as we used to call it. Gethim to make his first plunge, and he'll soon begin to swim. Did you seewhat a brave fight he made of it over and over again to-day? There, I'msure we're right; and, my word, what a chance over this yacht."
"Yes, it would have been folly to hesitate."
"But it's going to cost you a pretty penny, my friend."
"I do not grudge it, Instow, if we can bring him back well. We'll beoff as soon as I can get the preliminaries settled."
"These things don't take long when a man has the money."
"Hush!" said Sir John; "here he is. Don't say anything to upset him."
Jack came in, looking sad and dispirited.
"Ah, Jack, my boy, ready for dinner?"
"No, father."
"Hah! chance for the doctor," cried that gentleman merrily. "Let meadminister an appetiser."
"No, no, Doctor Instow; I'm sure it would do no good."
"Wait till you hear what it is, O man of wisdom, and be more modest.You don't know everything yet. Now then: prescription--take a walk asfar as the kitchen door, wait till it is opened, and then take foursniffs quickly, and come back. That will give you an appetite, my boy,if you want one; but I don't believe you do, for you have a lean andhungry look, as Shakespeare calls it. It's the sea-air, Jack; I'msavage."
"Some one coming," said Sir John, and a minute later the waiter showedin the two guests.
Jack did not notice it himself, but others did: he ate about twice asmuch as he was accustomed to, and all the while, after looking upon thedinner and the visitors as being an infliction, he found himselflistening attentively to Captain Bradleigh, who was set going by a fewquestions from the doctor, and proved to be full of observation.
"Oh no," he said, "I'm no naturalist, but I can't help noticingdifferent things when I am at sea, and ashore, and if they're fresh tome, I don't forget them. Let me say now, though, Sir John Meadows, howglad I am that you will buy the yacht and go on this cruise. The ladsare half wild with excitement, for we've all been, as the Irishmen callit, spoiling for something to do. It has seemed to be clean and polishfor no purpose, but I told them they ought to feel very glad to have hadthe yacht in such a state. I trust, Sir John, that you will never havecause to regret this day's work."
"I have no fear," said that gentleman. "I shall be glad, though, assoon as you receive notice of the transfer to me, if you will doeverything possible toward getting ready for sea."
"Getting ready for sea, sir? She is ready for sea. Fresh water onboard, coal-bunkers full. Nothing wanted but the provisions--salt,preserved, and fresh--to be seen to, and that would take very littletime. As soon as you have done your business with the owner, send me myorders, and there'll be no time lost, I promise you."
Jack bent over his plate, and was very silent, but he revived and becameattentive when the doctor changed the subject, and began to question thecaptain about some of his experiences, many of which he related in asimple, modest way which spoke for its truth.
"I suppose," said Sir John merrily, after glancing at his son, "you havenever come across the sea serpent?"
The captain looked at him sharply, then at the mate, and ended byraising his eyebrows and frowning at his plate.
"That's a sore point for a ship captain, sir," he said at last, "onewhich makes him a bit put out, for no man likes to be laughed at. Yousee, we've all been so bantered about that sea serpent, that when amariner says he has seen it, people set him down for a regular BaronMunchausen, so now-a-days we people have got into the habit of holdingour tongues."
"Why, you don't mean to say that you have ever seen it, captain?" criedthe doctor.
"Well, sir, I've seen something more than once that answered itsdescription pretty closely."
"I always thought it was a fable," said Sir John.
"No, sir, I don't think it is," said the captain quickly. "As I tellyou, I've seen a great reptile sort of creature going along through thesea just after the fashion of those water-fowl that are shot in some ofthe South American rivers."
"The darters," said Sir John; "_Plotius_."
"Those are the fellows, sir; they swim with nearly the whole of theirbody under the surface, and look so much like little serpents thatpeople call them snake birds. Well, sir, twice over I've seen such acreature--not a bird but a reptile."
"And they are wonderfully alike in some cases," said the doctor quietly.
"So I've heard, sir, from people who studied such things. Mine wasgoing along six or seven knots an hour, with its snake-like head andneck carried swan-fashion, and raised fifteen or twenty feet out of thewater as near as I could judge, for it was quite half-a-mile away. Itwas flat-headed, and as I brought my spy-glass to bear upon it, I couldsee that it had very large eyes. I kept it in sight for a good tenminutes, and could not help thinking how swan-like it was in itsmovements. Then it stretched out its neck, laid it down upon the water,and went out of sight."
"And you think it was a sea serpent?"
"Something of that kind, gentlemen. Bartlett saw it too, and he wassure it was a great snake."
"Yes, I feel sure it was," said the mate quietly.
"Very strange," said Sir John, who noted how Jack was drinking it allin.
"Strange, sir, because we don't often see such things. That was in mylast long voyage, a year before I was introduced to Mr Ensler, but Idon't look upon it as particularly strange. Why, I hope that beforevery long we shall be sailing through bright clear waters where I canshow you snakes single, in pairs, and in knots of a dozen togetherbasking at the surface in the sunshine."
"What, huge serpents?" said Jack shortly.
"No," replied the captain, turning upon him with a pleasant smile, whilethe doctor kicked at Sir John's leg under the table, but could not reachhim. "They are mostly quite small--four, five, or six feet. Thebiggest I ever saw was seven feet long, but I've heard of them beingseen eight feet."
"Yes, I saw one once seven feet nine. It was shot by a passenger on hisway to Rangoon, and they got it on board," said the mate quietly.
"Oh, but that's nothing of a size," said Jack.
"No, Mr Meadows," replied the captain; "but we know it as a fact thatthere are plenty of sea serpents of that size, just as we know thatthere are adders and rattlesnakes on land."
"Yes, poisonous serpents," said Jack.
"So are these, sir, very dangerously poisonous. I have known of morethan one death through the bite of a sea snake. But, as I was going tosay, we know of adders and rattlesnakes, and we know too that there areboas and pythons and anacondas running up to eight-and-twenty and thirtyfeet long on land. There's a deal more room in the sea for suchcreatures to hide, so why should there not be big ones as well as smallthere?"
"That's a good argument," said Sir John, "and quite re
asonable."
"And you think then," said the doctor, "that yours which you saw weregreat serpents swimming on the surface?"
"No, sir, I thought they were something else."
"What?" said Jack, with a certain amount of eagerness.
"They struck me as being those great lizard things which they findturned into fossils out Swanage and Portland way. I dare say you'veseen specimens of them in the British Museum."
"No," said Jack, colouring a little, "I have never taken any interest insuch things."
"No?" said the captain wonderingly. "Ah, well, perhaps you will. Nowit struck me that these things were--were--Do either of you gentlemenremember the name of them?"
"Plesiosaurus. Lizard-like," said Sir John.
"That's it, sir," cried the captain, glancing at the speaker, and thenlooking again at Jack. "And I tell you how it struck me, and how Iaccounted for their being so seldom seen."
"Yes!" said Jack, who had laid down his knife and fork, and was leaningforward listening attentively. "How did you judge that?"
"From its large eyes."
"What had that to do with it?"
"It meant that it was a deep-sea living creature. You'll find, if youlook into such matters, sir, that things which live in very deep watergenerally have very large eyes to collect all the light they can."
"But yours were living on the top of the water," said Jack.
"To be sure," cried the doctor, giving Sir John a sharp glance. "Come,captain, that's a poser for you."
"Well, no, sir," replied the captain modestly, and with a quiet smile;"I think I can get over that. Perhaps you know that fish which live invery deep water, where the pressure is very great, cannot live if by anychance they are brought to the surface. The air-vessels in them swellout so that they cannot sink again, and they get suffocated and die."
"But if it was their natural habit to live in deep water," said Jack,"they would not come to the surface."
"If they could help it, sir," said the captain; "but when a creature ofthat kind is ill it may float toward the surface, and turn up as you seefishes sometimes. I fancy that my great lizard things are stillexisting in some places in the mud or bottom of the sea, that they arenever seen unless they are in an unnatural state, and then they soondie, and get eaten up by the millions of things always on the look-outfor food, and their bones sink."
"I should like to see one," said Jack thoughtfully.
"And I should like to show you one, sir," said the captain. "There's noknowing what we may see if we cruise about. Well, I'll promise yousea-snakes and whales and sharks. I can take you too where there areplenty of crocodiles for you to practise at with a rifle. Good practicetoo to rid the world of some of its dangerous beasts."
Jack shuddered, and wanted to say that he did not care to see anythingof the kind, but he did not speak, and just then the captain rose fromthe table, drew up the blind, and looked out.
"There you are, sir," he said. "Come and look. The lads were readyenough when I told them to light up to-night. Looks nice, don't she?"
Jack followed to the window, to see that it was a glorious night, withthe sky and sea spangled with gold, while out where he knew the yachtlay, there shone forth with dazzling brilliancy what seemed to be asilver star, and dotted about it, evidently in the rigging of the yacht,were about thirty lanterns of various colours, but only seeming to belike the modest beams of moons in attendance upon the pure whitedazzling silver star.
The boy gazed in silence, impressed by the beauty of the scene, as thecaptain now quietly opened the window to admit the soft warm air fromoff the sea, while faintly heard came the sound of music from somepassing boat.
"How beautiful!" said Sir John, who had come unheard behind them.
"Yes, sir," said the captain quietly, "with the simple beauty of home;but you will have to see the grand sunrises and sunsets of tropic landsto fully understand the full beauty of God's ever-changing ocean. Buteven now, Mr Meadows, I think you can hardly say you don't like thesea."
Jack made no reply, but drew a deep breath which sounded like a sigh.
"Well, Jack," said Sir John, when they were about to retire that night,"what do you think of Captain Bradleigh?"
"I liked him better this evening, father," said the boy thoughtfully."He did not treat me as if I were a child, and he left off calling me`young gentleman.'"
"Good-night, Meadows," said the doctor, a short time after; "I wish youweren't going to spend so much money, but Jack has had his first dose ofmedicine."
"Yes," said Sir John; "and it has begun to act."
Jack at Sea: All Work and No Play Made Him a Dull Boy Page 7