CHAPTER XI
The next evening our friend the captain found his fair audience by thetaffrail increased to a round dozen, while several of the gentlemenpassengers lounged near, and the chief officer divided his attentionbetween the gay group of ladies below and the "fanning" main-topsailhigh up, with its corresponding studding-sail hung far out aloft to thebreeze; the narrative having by this time contracted a sort ofprofessional interest, even to his matter-of-fact taste, which enabledhim to enjoy greatly the occasional glances of sly humour directed tohim by his superior, for whom he evidently entertained a kind ofadmiring respect, that seemed to be enhanced as he listened. As for thecommander himself, he related the adventures in question with a spiritand vividness of manner that contributed to them no small charm;amusingly contrasted with the cool, dry, indifferent sort of gravity ofcountenance amidst which the keen grey seawardly eye, under the peak ofthe naval cap, kept changing and twinkling as it seemed to run throughthe experience of youth again--sometimes almost approaching to anundeniable wink. The expression of it at this time, however, was moreserious, while it appeared to run along the dotted reef-band of themizzen-topsail above, as across the entry in a log-book, and as if therewere something interesting to come.
"_Well_, my dear captain," asked his matronly relative, "what comesnext? You and your friend had picked up a--a--what was it _now_!"
"Ah! I remember, ma'am," said the naval man, laughing; "the bottle--thatwas where I was. Well, as you may conceive, this said scrap ofpenmanship in the bottle _did_ take both of us rather on end; and fortwo or three minutes Westwood and I sat staring at each other and theuncouth-looking fist, in an inquiring sort of way, like two cocks over abeetle. Westwood, for his part, was doubtful of its being the planter'swriting at all; but the whole thing, when I thought of it, made itselfas clear to me, so far, as two half-hitches, and so the angrier I was atmyself for being _done_--by a frog-eating bloody-politeful set ofFrenchmen like these. Could we only have clapped eyes on the villanousthieving craft at the time, by Jove! if I wouldn't have manned a boatfrom the Indiaman, leave or no leave, and boarded her in anotherfashion. But where they were now, what they meant, and whether we shouldever see them again, Heaven only knew. For all we could say, indeed,something strange might have turned up at home in Europe--a new war, oldBoney got loose once more, or what not; and I could scarce fall asleepfor guessing and bothering over the matter, as restless as the firstnight we cruised down the Channel in the old _Pandora_.
"Early in the morning-watch a sudden stir of the men on deck woke me,and I bundled up in five minutes' time. But it was only the second matesetting them to wash decks, and out they came from all quarters,yawning, stretching themselves, and tucking up their trousers, as theypassed the full buckets lazily along; while a couple of boys could beseen hard at work to keep the head-pump going, up against the grey skyover the bow. However, I was so anxious to have the first look-outahead, that I made a bold push through the thick of it for the bowsprit,where I went out till I could see nothing astern of me but theIndiaman's big black bows and figure-head, swinging as it were round thespar I sat upon, with the spread of her canvas coming dim after me outof the fog, and a lazy snatch of foam lifting to her cutwater as thebreeze died away.
"The sun was just beginning to rise; ten minutes before it had beenalmost quite dark; there was a mist on the water, and the sails wereheavy with dew; when a circle began to open round us, where the surfacelooked as smooth and dirty as in a dock, the haze seeming to shinethrough, as the sunlight came sifting through it, like silver gauze. Yousaw the big red top of the sun glare against the water-line, and a wetgleam of crimson came sliding from one smooth blue swell to another;while the back of the haze astern turned from blue to purple, and wentlifting away into vapoury streaks and patches. All of a sudden the shipcame clear out aloft and on the water, with her white streak as brightas snow, her fore-royal and truck gilded, her broad foresail as red asblood, and every face on deck shining as they looked ahead, where I feltlike a fellow held up on a toasting fork, against the fiery wheel thesun made ere clearing the horizon. Two or three strips of cloud meltedin it like lumps of sugar in hot wine; and after overhauling the wholeseaboard round and round, I kept straining my eyes into the light, withthe notion there was something to be seen in that quarter, but to nopurpose; there wasn't the slightest sign of the brig or any otherblessed thing. What struck me a little, however, was the look of thewater just as the fog was clearing away; the swell was sinking down, thewind fallen for the time to a dead calm; and when the smooth face of itcaught the light full from aloft, it seemed to come out all overlong-winding wrinkles and eddies, running in a broad path, as it were,twisted and woven together, right into the wake of the sunrise.
"When I came in-board from the bowsprit, big Harry and another grumpyold salt were standing by the bitts, taking a forecastle observation,and gave me a squint, as much as to ask if I had come out of the east,or had been trying to pocket the flying-jibboom. '_D'you_ noticeanything strange about the _water_ at all?' I asked in an offhand sortof way, wishing to see if the men had remarked aught of what Isuspected. The old fellow gave me a queer look out of the tail of hiseye, and the ugly man seemed to be measuring me from head to foot. 'No,sir,' said the first, carelessly; 'can't say as how I does'; while Harrycoolly commenced sharpening his sheath-knife on his shoe. 'Did you everhear of currents hereabouts?' said I to the other man. 'Hereaway!' saidhe. 'Why, bless ye, sir, it's unpossible as I _could_ ha' heerd tell onsich a thing, 'cause, ye see, sir, there ain't none so far out at sea,sir--al'ays axin' _your_ parding, ye know, sir!' while he hitched up histrousers and looked aloft, as if there were somewhat wrong about thejib-halliards.
"The Indiaman by this time had quite lost steerage-way and came sheeringslowly round, broadside to the sun, while the water began to glitterlike a single sheet of quicksilver, trembling and swelling to the firmedge of it far off; the pale blue sky filling deep aloft with light, anda long white haze growing out of the horizon to eastward. I kept stilllooking over from the fore-chains with my arms folded, and an eye to thewater on the starboard side, next the sun, where, just a fathom or twofrom the bright copper of her sheathing along the water-line, you couldsee into it. Every now and then little bells and bubbles, as I thought,would come up in it, and break short of the surface; and sometimes Ifancied the line of a slight ripple, as fine as a rope-yarn, wentturning and glistening round one of the ship's quarters, across hershadow. Just then the old sailor behind me shoved his face over thebulwark, too, all warts and wrinkles, like a ripe walnut-shell, with around knob of a nose in the middle of it, and seemed to be watching tosee it below, when he suddenly squirted his tobacco-juice as far out aspossible alongside, and gave his mouth a wipe with the back of his tarryyellow hand; catching my eye in a shame-faced sort of way, as I glancedfirst at him and then at his floating property.
"I leant listlessly over the rail, watching the patch of oily yellowfroth as it floated quietly on the smooth face of the water; till all atonce I started to observe that beyond all question it had crept slowlyaway past our starboard bow, clear of the ship, and at last melted intothe glittering blue brine. The two men noticed my attention, and staredalong with me; while the owner of the precious cargo himself keptlooking after it wistfully into the wake of the sunlight, as if he werea little hurt; then aloft and round about, in a puzzled sort of way, tosee if the ship hadn't perhaps taken a sudden sheer to port. 'Why, myman,' I said, meeting his oyster-like old sea-eye, 'what's the reason of_that_?--perhaps there is some current or other here, after all, eh?'Just as he meant to answer, however, I noticed his watch-mate give him ahard shove in the ribs with his huge elbow, and a quick screw of hisweather top-light, while he kept the lee one doggedly fixed on myself. Iaccordingly walked slowly aft as if to the quarter-deck, and came roundthe long-boat again, right abreast of them.
"Harry was pacing fore and aft with his arms folded, when his companionmade some remark on the heat, peering all about him, and then right upinto
the air aloft. 'Well then, shipmate,' said Harry, dabbing hishandkerchief back into his tarpaulin again, 'I've seen worse,myself--ownly, 'twas in the Bight o' Benin, look ye--an' afore the endo' it, d'ye see, we hove o'erboard nine o' a crew, let alone six dozenodds of a cargo!' 'Cargo!' exclaimed his companion, in surprise. 'Ay,black _passingers_ they was, ye know, old ship!' answered the uglyrascal, coolly; 'an' I tell ye what it is, Jack, I never sails yet withpassengers aboard, but some'at bad turned up in the end--al'ays one oranother on 'em's got a foul turn in his conscience, ye see! I say,mate,' continued he, looking round, 'didn't ye note that 'ere longshorelooking customer as walked aft just now, with them soft quest'ns o' hisabout----' 'Why,' says Jack, 'it's him Jacobs and the larboard watchcalls the Green Hand, an' a blessed good joke they has about him, to allappearance, but they keeps it pretty close.' 'Close, do they,' growledHarry, 'I doesn't like the cut of his jib, I tell ye, shipmate! Jist youtake my word for it, that 'ere fellow's done some'at bad at home, orhe's bent on some'at bad afloat--it's all one! Don't ye mark how hekeeps boxhaulin' and skulking fore an' aft, not to say looking out towind'ard every now an' again, as much as he expected a sail to leave insight?' 'Well, I'm blowed, but you're right, Harry!' said the other,taking off his hat to scratch his head, thoughtfully. 'Ay, and what'smore,' went on Harry, 'it's just comed ath'art me as how I've clappedeyes on the chap somewheres or other afore this--if I don't think it wasamongst a gang o' Spanish pirates I saw tried for their lives, and letoff, in the Havanney!'
"'Thank you, my man,' thought I, as I leant against the booms on theother side. 'Did you?--a wonder it wasn't in the Old Bailey, which wouldhave been more possible, though less romantic--seeing in the Havannah Inever was!' The curious thing was that I began to have a faintrecollection, myself, of having seen this same cross-grained beauty, orheard his voice, before; though where and how it was I couldn't for thelife of me say at the moment.
"'Lor' bless us, Harry!' faltered out the old sailor, 'ye don't meanit!--sich a young, soft-looked shaver, too!' 'Them smooth-skinned sorto' coves is kimmonly the worst, mate,' replied Harry; 'for that matterye may be quite sure he's got his chums aboard--an' how does _we_ knowbut the ship's _sold_, from stem to starn? There's that 'ereblackavizzed parson, now, and one or two more aft--cuss me if that 'erefeller smells brine for the first time! An' as for this here Bob Jacobso' yours, blow me if there ain't over many of his kind in the wholelarboard watch, Jack! A man-o'-war's-man's al'ays a blackguard out on aman-o'-war, look-ye!' 'Why, bless me, shipmate,' said Jack, lowering hisvoice, 'by that recknin', a man don't know his friends in this herecraft! The sooner we gives the mate a hint the better, to my thinking?''No, blow me, no, Jack,' said Harry, 'keep all fast, or ye'll kick up aworse nitty, old boy! Just you hould on till ye see what's to turnup--ownly stand by and look out for squalls, that's all! There's theskipper laid up below in his berth, I hears--and to my notions, that'ere mate of ours is no more but a blessed soldier, with his navigationan' his head-work, an' be blowed to him: where's he runned the ship, I'dlike to know, messmate!' 'Well, strike me lucky if I'm fit to guess!'answered Jack, gloomily. 'No, s'help me Bob, if he knows hisself!' saidHarry. 'But here's what _I_ says, anyhow--if so be we heaves in sight ofa pirate, or bumps ashore on a ileyand i' the dark, shiver my tawsels ifI doesn't have a clip with a handspike at that 'ere soft-sawderin' youngblade in the straw hat!' 'Well, my fine fellow,' thought I, 'many thanksto you again, but I certainly shall look out for _you_!'
"All this time I couldn't exactly conceive whether the sulky rascalreally suspected anything of the kind, or whether he wasn't in factsounding his companion, and perhaps others of the crew, as to how farthey would go in case of an opportunity for mischief; especially when Iheard him begin to speculate if 'that 'ere proud ould beggar of anaboob, aft yonder, musn't have a sight o' gould and jowels aboard withhim! Why, for the matter o' that, mate,' continued he, 'I doesn'tsignify the twinklin' of a marling-spike, mind ye, what lubberly trickthey sarves this here craft, so be ownly ye can get anyhow ashore, whenall's done! It's nouther ship-law nor shore-law, look ye, mate, ashoulds good on a lonely dazart!' 'Ay, ay, true enough, bo',' said theother, 'but what o' that? there ain't much signs of a dazart, I reckon,in this here blue water!' 'Ho!' replied Harry, rather scornfully,'that's 'cause you blue-water, long-v'yage chaps isn't up to them,brother. There's you and that 'ere joker in the striped slops, Jack,chaffing away over the side jist now about a current--confounded sharphe thinks hisself, too--but d'ye think Harry Foster ain't got hisweather-eye open? For my part, I thinks more of the streak o' hazeyonder-away, right across the starboard bow, nor all the currentsin----' 'Ay, ay,' said Jack, stretching out again to look, 'the heat,you means?' 'Heat!' exclaimed the ugly topman, 'heat be blowed! Hark ye,mate, it _may_ be a strip o' cloud, no doubt, or the steam over asand-bank; but so be the calm lasts so long, and you sees that 'erestreak again by sundown with a touch o' yallow in 't----'
"'What--_what_--shipmate?' asked Jack, breathless with anxiety. 'Thenit's the black coast iv Africay, and _no_ mistake,' said Harry. 'Andwhat's more,' continued the fellow, coolly, after taking a couple ofshort turns, 'if there _be's_ a current, why look ye, it'll set dead into where the land lays--an' I'm blessed if there's one aboard, breeze orno breeze, as is man enough for to take her out o' the suck of aAfricane current.' 'The Lord be with us!' exclaimed the other sailor, inalarm, 'what's to be done, Harry, bo'; when do you mean for to let themknow aft?' 'Why, maybe I'm wrong, ye know, old ship,' said Harry, 'an' aman mustn't go for to larn his betters, ye know; by this time half o'the watch has a notion on it, at any rate. There's Dick White, JackJones, Jim Sidey, an' a few more Wapping men, means to stick together incase o' accidents; so Jack, man, ye needn't be in sich an a taking. Whatthe' (here he came out with a regular string of top-gallant oaths),'when you finds a good chance shoved into your fist, none o' your doin',ain't a feller to haul in the slack of it 'cause he's got a tarry pawand ships before the mast? I tell ye what it is, old ship, 'tain't thefirst time you an' me's been cast away, an' I doesn't care the drawin'of a rope-yarn, in them 'ere latitudes, if I'm cast away again. Hark ye,ould boy: grog to the mast-head, a grab at the passengers' wallibles,when they ha'n't no more use for 'em, in course; and the pick of theladies, jist for the takin' o' them ashore!'
"'Lord love ye, Harry, belay there!' said Jack; 'what's the good o'talkin' on what ain't like to be?' 'Less like things turn up,' saidHarry. 'More by token, if I hasn't pitched upon my fancy lass a'ready;an' who knows, old ship, but you marries a naboob's darter yet, andgets yourself shoved all square, like a riglar hare, into his heestate,as they calls it? For my part, I've more notion of the _maid_! An' it'llgo hard with me if we doesn't manage to haul that 'ere mishynar parsonsafe ashore on the strength of it.' 'God bless ye, Harry,' answeredJack, somewhat mournfully, 'I'm twice spliced already!' 'Third time'slucky, though,' replied Harry, with a chuckle, as he walked towards theside again and looked over; the rest of the watch being gathered on theother bow, talking and laughing; the passengers beginning to appear onthe poop, and the Scotch second mate standing up aft on the taffrail,feeling for a breath of wind. The big topman came slowly back to hiscompanion, and leant himself on the spars again. 'Blowed if I don'tthink you're right, mate,' said he, 'you and that 'ere lawyer. You'da'most say there's a ripple round her larboard bow just now, sureenough--like she were broadside on to some drift or another. Hows'ever,that's neither here nor there; for my part, I sets more count by thelook o' the sky to east'ard; an' be blowed, shipmate, if that sameyonder don't make me think of _woods_.' 'Well,' said Jack, '_I_ goes bysunrise, messmate, an' I didn't like it overmuch myself, d' ye see! That'ere talk o' yours, Harry, consarnin' dazarts and what not--why, blessme, it's all my eye--this bout, at any rate--seein' as how, if wedoesn't have a stiff snuffler out o' that very quarter afore twenty-fourhours is over, you call me lubber!'
"'Ho, ho! old salt,' chuckled Harry, 'none o' them saws holds goodhereaway; if it's the coast of Africay, mate, _two_ watches 'll settleour hash in the
m longitudes, without going the length o' _six_! Ha'n't Iknocked about the bloody coast of it six weeks at a time, myself, letalone livin' as many months in the woods?--so I knows the breedin' of aturn_a_dy a cussed sight too well, not to speak on the way the landblinklooms afore you sights it!'
"'_Lived_ in them there woods, did ye?' inquired Jack. 'Ay, bo', an' arum rig it was too, sure enough,' said Harry; 'the very same time I toldyou on, i' the Bight o' Benin.' 'My eye,' exclaimed the other, 'a mannever knows what he may come to. Let's into the rights of it, Harry,can't ye, afore eight bells strikes?'
"'Woods!' said Harry, 'I b'lieve ye, ould ship. I see'd enough o'woods, that time, arter all--and 'twan't that long agone, either--I'llnot say _how_ long, but it wa'n't _last_ v'yage. A sharp, clinker-builtcraft of a schooner she wor; I'm not goin' to give ye her right name,but they called her the _Lubberhater_[21]--an' if there wa'n't all sortson us aboard, it's blaming ye--an' a big double-jinted man-eatin' chapof a Yankee was our skipper, as sly as slush--more by token, he had awart alongside o' one eye as made him look two ways at ye--Job Price byname--an' arter he'd made his fortin, I heard he's took up a teetotalchapel afloat on the Missishippey. She'd got a strapping long nose, that'ere schooner, so, my boy, we leaves everything astarn, chase or race, Ipromise ye; an' as for a blessed ould ten-gun brig what kept a-cruisingthereaway, why, we jest got used to her, like, and al'ays lowers ourmainsail afore takin' the wind of her, by way o' good-bye, quiteperlite. Blowed if it warn't rum, though, for to see the brig's whitefigger'ed over the swell, rollin' under a cloud o' canvas, stens'lscrowded out alow an' aloft, as she jogged arter us. Then she'd haul herwind an' fire a gun, an' go beating away up in chase of some othercraft, as caught the chance for runnin' out whenever they sees the_Lubberhater_ well to sea--why, s' help me Bob, if the traders on thecoast didn't pay Job Price half-a-dozen blacks apiece every trip, jistfor to play that 'ere dodge. At last, one time, not long after I joinedthe craft, what does he do but nigh-hand loses her an' her cargo, allowin' to reckonin' over much on this here traverse. Out we comes onenight in the tail of a squall, an' as soon as it clears, there sureenough we made out the brig, hard after us, as we thinks--so never a ragmore Job claps on, 'cause two of his friends, ye see, was jist outsidethe bar in the Noon river. Well, very soon the cruiser begins tooverhaul us, as one gaff-taups'l wouldn't do, nor yet another, till theflying-jib and bonnets made her walk away from them in right'arnest--when slap comes a long-shot that that took the fore-topmast outof us in a twinkling. So when the moonlight comed out, lo an' behold,instead o' the brig's two masts stiff and straight against the haze,there was _three_ spanking sticks all ataunto, my boy, in a fine newsloop-o'-war as had fresh come on the station--the _Iris_, they calledher--and a fast ship she wor. But all said and done, the schooner hadthe heels of her in aught short of a reef-taups'l breeze--though, as forthe other two, the sloop-o'-war picked off both on 'em in the end.'
[21] Query--Liberator?
"At this point of the fellow's account, I, Ned Collins, began to prickup my ears, pretty sure it was the dear old _Iris_ he was talking of;and, thought I, 'Oho, my mate, we shall have you directly--listening'sall fair with a chap of this breed.'
"'Well,' said he, ''twas the next trip after that, we finds the coastclear, as commonly was--for, d' ye see, they couldn't touch us if so bewe hadn't a slave aboard--in fact, we heerd as how the cruiser was up bySerry Lony, and left some young leftenant or other on the watch with asort o' lateen-rigged tender. A precious raw chap he was, by allaccounts--and, sure enough, there he kept plying off and on, in-shore,'stead of out of sight to seaward till the craft would make a bolt; an'as soon as ye dropped an anchor, he'd send a boat aboard with a reefer,to ax if ye'd got slaves in the hold. In course, ye know, Job Pricesends back a message, "palm-ile an' iv'ry, an' gould if we can"--h'iststhe Portingee colours, brings up his Portingee papers, and makes thePortingee stoo'rd skipper for the spell--but anyhow, bein' no less northree slavers in the mouth of the Bonny river at the time, why, he meantto show fight if need be, and jest man-handle the young navy sprig tohis heart's content. Hows'ever, the second or third night, all on asuddent we found he'd sheered off for a decency's sake, as it might be,an hour or two afore we'd began to raft off the niggers. Well, mate,right in the midst of it there comes sich a fury of a turnady off theland, as we'd to slip cable and run fair out to sea after the othercraft what had got sooner full--one on 'em went ashore in sight, an' wenot ninety blacks aboard yet, with barely a day's water stowed in.
"'The next morning, out o' sight of land, we got the sea-breeze, andstood in again under everything, till we made Fernandy Po ileyand, threeleagues off, or thereby, an' the two ebony-brigs beating out in company,so the skipper stands over across their course for to give them a hail,heaves to and pulls aboard the nearest, where he stays a good long spelland drinks a stiff glass, as ye may fancy, afore partin'. Back comesJob Price in high glee, and tould the mate as how that mornin' the brigshad fell foul o' the man-o'-war tender, bottom up, an' a bigNewfoundling dog a-howlin' on the keel--no doubt she'd turned the turtlein that 'ere squall--more by token, he brought the dog alongst with himin a present. So away we filled again to go in for the Bonny river, whenthe breeze fell, and shortly arter there we was all three dead becalmed,a couple o' miles betwixt us, sticking on the water like flies on glass,an' as hot, ye know, as blazes--the very moral o' this here. By sundownwe hadn't a drop of water, so the skipper sent to the nearest brig forsome; but strike me lucky if they'd part with a bucketful for love,bein' out'ard bound. As the Spanish skipper said, 'twas either harddollars or a stout nigger, and t' other brig said the same. A slightpuff o' land-wind we had in the night, though next day 'twas as calm asever, and the brigs farther off--so by noon, my boy, for two blessedcasks, if Job Price hadn't to send six blacks in the boat. Shorter yarn,Jack, but the calm held that night too, and blowed if the brigs wouldsell another breaker--what we had we couldn't spare to the poor devilsunder hatches, and the next day, why they died off like rotten sheep,till we hove the last on 'em o'board; and frighterful enough it was,mind ye, for to see about fifty sharks at work all round the schooner atonce, as long as it lasted.
"'Well, in the arternoon we'd just commenced squabbling aboard amongstourselves, round the dreg water, or whether to board one o' the brigsand have a fair fight, when off come a bit of a breeze, betwixt the twohigh peaks on Fernandy Po, both the brigs set stensails, and beginsslipping quietly off--our skipper gived orders to brace after them, andclear away the long gun amidships; but all on a suddent we made out alump of a brig dropping down before it round the ileyand, which weknowed her well enough for a Bristol craft as had lost half her hands upthe Callebar, in the gould an' iv'ry trade. Down she comed, wonderfulfast for the light breeze, if there hadn't been one o' yer currentsbesides off the ileyand, till about half-a-mile away she braces up,seemingly to sheer across it and steer clear of us. Out went our boat,an' the skipper bids every man of her crew to shove a short cutlashinside his trousers. Says he, "I guess we'll first speak 'em fair, butif we don't ha' water enough, it'll be 'tarnall queer, that's all,"says he--an' Job was a man never swore, but he _looked_ mighty _bad_that time, I must say; so we outs oars and pulls right aboard thetrader, without answerin' ever a hail, when up the side we bundled ondeck, one arter the other, mad for a drink, and sees the master withfive or six of a crew, all as white as ghostesses, and two or threeKroomen, besides a long-legged young feller a-sittin' and kicking hisfeet over the kimpanion hatch, with a tumblerful o' grog in his fist, asfresh to all seemin' as a fish, like a supper-cargo or some'at o' thesort, as them craft commonly has.
"'"What schooner's that?" axes the master, all abroad like; an' saysJob--says he, out o' breath, "Never you mind; I guess you'll let 's havesome water, for we wants it mighty keen!" "Well," says the other,shaking his head, "I'm afeared we're short ourselves--anyhow," says he,"we'll give ye a dipper the piece"--and accordingly they fists us alonga dozen gulps, hand over hand. "'Twon't do, I guess, mister," says ourskipper; "we wa
nts a cask!" Here the master o' the brig shakes his headagain, and guv a look to the young long-shore-like chap aft, which singsout as we couldn't have no more for love nor money--an' I see CaptinPrice commence for to look savitch again, and feel for the handle on hiscutlash. "Rather you'd ax iv'ry or gould-dust!" sings out thesupper-cargo; "hows'ever," says he, "as ye've tooken sich a fancy to it,short o' water as we is, why a fair exchange ain't no robbery," says he:"you wants water, an' we wants hands; haven't ye a couple o' niggers forto spare us, sir, by way of a barter now?" he says. "Well, mate, I'll beblowed if I ever see a man turn so wicked fur'ous as Job Price turns atthis here, an says he, through his teeth, "If ye'd said a nigger'snail-parin', I couldn't done it, so it's no use talkin'." "Oh come,captin," says the young fellow, wonderful angshis-like, "say _one_,jist--it's all on the quiet, ye know. Bless me, captin," says he, "I'ddo a deal for a man in a strait, 'tickerly for yerself--an' I think we'dmanage with a single hand more. I'll give ye two casks and a bag o'gould dust for _one_ black, and we'll send aboard for him just now,ourselves!" "No!" roars Job Price, walkin' close up to him; "ye've rizme, ye cussed Britisher ye, an' I tell ye we'll _take_ what we wants!""No jokes though, captin!" says the feller; "what's _one_ to a wholeraftful I heerd of ye shipping?" "Go an' ax the sharks, ye beggar!"says the skipper; "here, my lads!" says he, an' makes a grab at theother's throat, when slap comes a jug o' rum in his eye-lights, and theyoung chap ups fist in quick-sticks, and drops him like a cock, big ashe was. By that time, though, in a twinklin' the master was flat ondeck, and the brig's crew showed no fight--when, lo an' behold, my boy,up bundles a score o' strapping man-o'-war's-men out of the cabing. Oneor two on us got a cut about the head, an' my gentleman supper-cargoclaps a pistol to my ear from aft, so we knocked under without moreto-do. In five minutes' time every man jack of us had a seizing abouthis wrists and lower pins; and says Job Price, in a giving-up sort o'v'ice, "You're too cust spry for playin' jokes on, I calc'late, squire,"he says. "Jokes!" says the young feller, "why, it's no joke--in courseyou knows me?" "Niver see'd ye atween the eyes afore," says Job, "butdon't bear no malice, mister, now." "That's it," says the t'other,lookin' at the schooner again, "no more I does, so jist think a bit;ha'n't you really a nigger or so aboard o' ye--if it was jist one?""Squash the one!" says Job, shakin' his head nellicholly like--an'"Sorry for it," says the chap, "'cause ye see I'm the leftenantbelongin' to the _Irish_, an' I carn't titch yer schooner if so be yeha'n't a slave aboard." "Lawk a'mighty!--no!" sings out Job Price,'cause, bein' half-blinded he couldn't ha' noted the lot o'man-o'-war's-men sooner. "But I _can_," says the other, "for piratecy,ye see; an' what's more," he says, "there's no help for it now, I'mafeard, mister what-they-call-ye."
"'Well, mate, after that ye may fancy our skipper turns terrible down inthe mouth; so without a word more they parbuckles us all down below intothe cabin--an' what does this here leftenant do but he strips the wholelot, rigs out as many of his men in our duds, hoists out a big cask o'water on the brig's far side, and pulls round for the schooner--hisselftogged out like the skipper, and his odd hands laid down in the boat'sbottom.' You won't wonder at my being highly amused with the fellow'syarn, since the fact was that it happened to be one of my own adventuresin the days of the _Iris_, two or three years before, when we saw a goodmany scenes together, far more wild and stirring, of course, in thethick of the slave trade; but really the ugly rascal described itwonderfully well.
"'Well,' said Harry, 'I gets my chin shoved up in the starn-windy, whereI seed the whole thing, and tould the skipper accordently. Theschooner's crew looked out for the water like so many oysters in a tub;the leftenant jumps up the side with his men after him, an' not so muchas the cross of two cutlashes did we hear afore the onion-jack flew outa-peak over her mains'l. In five minutes more, the schooner fills awaybefore the breeze, and begins to slide off in fine style after the pairo' brigs, as was nigh half-hull down to seaward by this time. There wewas, left neck and heel below in the trader, and he hauled up seemin'lyfor the land; an' arter a bit, says the skipper to me, "Foster, my lad,I despise this way o' things," says he; "ain't there no way on gettin'clear?" "Never say die, captin!" I says; an' says he, "I calc'late theyleft considerable few hands aboard?" "None but them sleepy-like scum o'iv'ry men," I says, but be blowed if I see'd what better we was, tilldown comes a little nigger cabin-boy for some'at or other, with a knifein his hand. Job fixes his eye on him--I've heerd he'd a way in his eyewith niggers as they couldn't stand--an' says he, soft-sawderin' like,"Come here, will ye, my lad, an' give us a drink," so the black comefor'ard with a pannikin, one foot at a time, an' he houlds it out to theskipper's lips--for, d'ye see, all on us had our flippers lashed behindour backs. "Now," says he, "thankee, boy--look in atwixt my legs, andye'll find a dollar." With that, jest as the boy stoops, Job Priceketches his neck fast betwixt his two knees, an' blowed if he didn't jamthem harder, grinning all the time, till down drops the little blackthrottled on the deck. "That's for thankin' a nigger!" says he, lookin'as savitch as a fiend, and got the knife in his teeth, when he turned toand sawed through the seizing round my wrists--an' in course I setsevery man clear in quick-sticks. "_Now!_" says Job, looking round, "thequicker the better--that cussed lubber-ratin' hound's got my schooner,but maybe, my lads, this here iv'ry man'll pay expenses: if I'm made outa pirate, I'll arn the name!"
"'Well, we squints up the hatchway, and see'd a young midshipmana-standing with his back to us, watching the brig's crew at the braces,an' a pistol in one hand--when all at once our skipper slips off hisshoes, runs up the stair as quiet as a cat, an' caught the end of acapstan-bar as lay on the scuttle. With that down he comes crash on thepoor fellow's scull from aft, and brained him in a moment. Every man ofus got bloody-minded with the sight, so we scarce knowed what we did, yeknow, mate, afore all hands o' them was gone--how, I ain't goin' for tosay, nor the share as one had in it more nor another. The long an' theshort on it was, we run the brig by sundown in amongst the creeks up theCamaroons river, thinkin' to lie stowed away close thereabouts till allwor cold. Hows'ever, they kicked up the devil's delight about apiratecy, and the sloop-o'-war comes back shortly, when night an' daythere was that young shark of a leftenant huntin' arter us, as sharp asa marling-spike--we dursn't come down the river nohow, till what with abad conscience, fogs, and sleepin' every night within stink o' themblasted muddy mangroves an' bulrushes together, why, mate, the whole tenhands died off one arter the other in the fever--leaving ownly me an'the skipper. Job Price was like a madman over the cargo, worth goodknows how many thousand dollars, as he couldn't take out; but for mypart, I gets the brig's punt one night and sculls myself ashore, and offlike a hare into the bush by moonlight. No use, ye know, for to say whatrum chances I meets with in the woods, livin' up trees and the like forfear o' illiphants, sarpents, an' high-annies; but, blow me, if I didn'tthink the farther ye went aloft, the more monkeys an' parrykeets youroused out, jabberin' all night so as a feller couldn't close aneye--an' as for the sky, be blowed if I ever once sighted it. So, d' yesee, it puts all notions o' fruits an' flowers out o' my head, an' allthem jimmy-jessamy sort o' happy-go-lucky yarns about barbers' ileyandsand shipherdresses what they used for to spell out o' dicshinars atschool--all gammon, mate!'
"'Lor' love ye, no, surely,' said Jack; 'it's in the Bible!'
"'Ay, ay,' said Harry, 'that's arter ye've gone to Davy Jones, no doubt;but I've been in the Southsy ileyands since, myself, an' be blowed ifit's much better there! Hows'ever, still anon, I took a new fancy, an'away I makes for the river, in sarch of a nigger villache, as they calls'em; and sure enough it warn't long ere right I plumps in the midst on alot o' cane huts amongst trees. But sich a shine and a nitty as I kicksup, ye see, bein' half-naked, for all the world like a wild man o' thewoods, an' for a full hour I has the town to myself, so I hoists myshirt on a stick over the hut I took, by way of a flag o' truce, an' atlast they all begins for to swarm in again. Well, ye see, I knowed theways o' the natifs thereabouts pretty well, an' what does I do but I'dlai
d myself flat afore an ugly divvle of a wooden himmache, as stood onthe flour, an' I wriggles and twists myself, and groans like a chap in afit--what they calls _fittish_, thereaway--an' in course, with that theylogs me down at once for a rig'lar holy 'possel from Jerusalem. The longan' the short on it was, the fittish-man takes me under charge, and setsme to tell fortins or the like with an ould quadrant they gotsomewheres--gives me a hut an' two black wives, begad! and there I livesfor two or three weeks on end, no doubt, as proud as Tommy; when, onefine morning, what does I see off shore in the river but that confoundedman-o'-war tender, all ship-shape an' ataunto again. So, my boy, I gives'em to understand as how, bein' over vallible at home with the king ofEngland, in course he'd sent for to puckalow me away--an' no soonersaid, but the whole town gets in a fluster--the fittish-man, which aknowin' chap he was, takes and rubs me from heel to truck with ile outon a sartin nut as turned me coal-black in half-an-hour, an' as soon asI looks in the creek, mate, be blowed if I'd a knewn myself from anigger, somehow!'
"To tell the truth, as _I_ thought to myself, it was no wonder, asMaster Harry's nose and lips were by no means in the classic style, andhis skin, as it was, didn't appear of the whitest.
"'So there, ye know, I sits before a hut grindin' away at maize, withnothink else but a waist-cloth round me, and my two legs stuck out, tillsuch a time as the leftenant an' two boats' crews had sarched thevillache, havin' heerd, no doubt, of a white man thereabouts--an' atlast off they went. Well, in course, at first this here affair gives thefittish-man a lift in the niggers' eyes, by reason o' havin' turned awhite man black--'cause, ye see, them fittish-men has a rig'lar-bredknowledge on plants and sich-like. But hows'ever, in a day or two Ibegins for to get rayther oneasy, seein' it didn't wash off, an'accordently I made beknown as much to the fittish-man, when, my boy, ifhe doesn't shake his mop-head, and rubs noses, as much as to say, "Weain't agoin' to part." 'Twas no use, and thinks I, "Ye man-eating scum,be blowed if I don't put your neck out, then!" So I turns too with myknife on a log o' wood, carves a himmache twice as big an' ugly ashis'n, and builds a hut over it, where I plays all the conjerin' tricksI could mind on--till, be hanged if the niggers didn't begin to leavethe fittish-man pretty fast, and make a blessed sight more o' me. Itakes a couple more wives, gets drunk every day on palm-wine and toddyjuice--as for the hogs an' the yams they brought me, why I couldn't stow'em away; an' in place o' wanting myself white again, I rubs myself overand over with that 'ere nut, let alone palm-ile, till the ouldfittish-man looks brown alongside o' me. At last the king o' the niggersthereaway--King Chimbey they called him, or some'at o' that sort--hesends for to see me, an' away to his town they takes me, a mile or twoup the country, where I see'd him; but I'm blowed, Jack, if he'd got acrown on at all, ownly a ould red marine's coat, an' a pair o'top-boots, what was laid away when he warn't in state. Hows'ever, hegives me two white beans an' a red un in sign o' high favour, and givesme to know as I wor to stay there. But one thing I couldn't make out,why the black king's hut an' the josst-house as they calls it, was allstuck round with bones an' dead men's skulls!--'twan't long, though, ereI finds it out, mate! That 'ere fittish-man, d 'ye see, wor a right-downimp to look at, and wicked enough he eyed me; but still anon I sendsover for my wives, turns out a black feller out on his hut, an' slings ahammock in it, when the next day or so I meets the first fittish-man inthe woods, an' the poor divvle looks wonderful friendly-like, makin' meall kinds o' woful signs, and seemin'ly as much as to say for to keep abright look-out on the other one. All on a suddent what does he do, buthe runs a bit as far as a tree, picks up a sort of a red mushroom, an'he rubs with it across the back o' my hand, gives a wink, and scuttlesoff. What it meaned I couldn't make out, till I gets back to the town,when I chanced to look at my flipper, and there I see a clean whitestreak alongst it! Well, I thinks, liberty's sweet, an' I'm blessed if aman's able to cruise much to windward o' right-down slavery, thinks I,if he's black! Howsomever, thinks I, I'll jest hold on a _bit_ longer.
"'Well, next day, the black king had the blue-devils with drinking rum,an' he couldn't sleep nohow, 'cause, as I made out, he'd killed hisuncle, they said--I doesn't know but he'd eaten him, too--anyhow, Isee'd him eat as much of a fat hog, raw, as ud sarve out half thewatch--so the fittish-man tells him there's nought for it but to pleasethe fittish. What that wor, blowed if I knew; but no sooner sundown northey hauls me out o' my hut, claps me in a stinking hole as dark aspitch, and leaves me till mornin', as I thought. Jist about the end o'the mid-watch, there kicks up a rumpus like close-reef taups'ls in ahurricane--smash goes the sticks over me; I seed the stars, and a wholelot o' strange blacks with long spears, a-fightin', yellin', tramplin',an' twistin' in the midst of the huts--and off I'm hoisted in the gang,on some feller's back or other, at five knots the hour, through thewoods--till down we all comes in a drove, plash amongst the very swampsclose by the river, where, lo an' behold! I makes out a schooner afloatat her anchor. The next thing I feels a red-hot iron come hiss across myshoulders, so I jumped up and sang out like blazes, in course. But, myflippers bein' all fast, 'twas no use; I got one shove as sent mehead-foremost into a long canoe, with thirty or forty niggers stowedaway like cattle, and out the men pulls for the schooner. A big brightfire there was ashore, astarn of us, I mind, where they heated theirons, with a chap in a straw hat sarvin' out rum to the wild blacksfrom a cask; and ye saw the pitch-black woods behind, with the branchesshoved out red in the light on it, and a bloody-like patch on the waterunder a clump o' sooty mangroves. An', Jack, if I didn't feel the lifesick in me, that time--for, d' ye see, I hears nothin' spoke round mebut cussed French, Portingeese, an' nigger tongue--'specially when itjist lighthens on me what sort on a case I were in; an' thinks I, "I'mtook for a _slave_, arter all!--an' be hanged, but I left that 'ere'farnal mushroom a-lying under that there tree yonder!" I begins for tothink o' matters an' things, an' about Bristol quay, an' my old mother,an' my sister as was at school--mind ye, mate, all atwixt shovin' offthe mangroves an' coming bump agen the schooner's side--an' blow me if Idoesn't turn to, an' nigh-hand commences for to blubber--when jist thenwhat does I catch sight on, by the lantern over the side, but that 'erevillain of a fittish-man, an' what's more, King Chimbey hisself, bothhauled in the net. And with that I gives a chuckle, as ye may suppose,an' no mistake; for thinks I, so far as consarns myself, this here can'tlast long, blow me, for sooner or later I'll find some un to speak to,even an I nivver gets rid o' this here outer darkness--be blowed if Ihan't got a white mind, any ways, an' free I'll be, my boy! But Ilaughs, in course, when I see'd the fittish-man grin at me--for thinksI, "My cocks, you're logged down for a pretty long spell of it!"
"'Well, bo,' somehow I knows no more about it till such time as I sorto' wakes up in pitch-dark, all choke and sweat, an' a feller's dirty bigtoe in my mouth, with mine in some un else's eye; so out I spits it, an'makes a scramble for my life. By the roll and the splash I knowed I wordown in the schooner's hold; an' be hanged if there warn't twenty orthirty holding on like bees to a open weather-port, where the fresh windand the spray come a-blowing through--but there, my boy, 'twere no gofor to get so much as the tip o' yer nose. Accordently, up I prizesmyself with my feet on another poor devil's wool--for d' ye see, by thattime I minds a man's face no more nor so much timber--an' I feels forthe hatch over me, where by good luck, as I thought, there I finds itnot battened down yet, so I shoved my head through on deck like ablacksmith's hammer.
"'Well, mate, there was the schooner's deck wet, a swell of a sea onround her, well off the land, no trifle of a morning gale, and the craftheeling to it; a lot o' hands up on her yards, a-reefing at the boommains'l and fo'taups'l, an' if my heart doesn't jump into my mouth withthe sight, for I feels it for all the world like a good glass o' grog,settin' all to rights. Two or three there was walkin' aft thequarter-deck, so out I sings, "Hullo! hullo there, shipmates, give us ahand out o' this!" Two on 'em comes for'ard, one lifts a handspike, butboth gives a grin, as much as to say it's some nigger tongue or other inpla
ce o' good English--for, d' ye see, they'd half their facesblack-beard, and rings i' their ears--when up walks another chap likethe skipper, an' more the looks of a countryman. "I'm a free-bornBriton!" roars I again; with that he lends me a squint, looks to themen, and gives some sort of a sign, when they jams-to the hatch and nipsme fast by the neck. "Devil of a deep beggar, this 'ere!" says he;"jist give him the gag, my lads," says he; "the planters often thinksmore of a dumby, 'cause he works the more, and a stout piece o' goodsthis _is_!" says he. Well, mate, what does they do but one pulls out aknife, an' be blowed if they warn't a-goin' for to cut out my tongue;but the men aloft sung out to hoist away the yards; so they left meready clinched till they'd belay the ropes. Next a hand for'ard, by goodluck, hailed "Sail ho!" and they'd some'at else to think o' besides me;for there, my boy, little more nor three miles to wind'ard, I see'd the_Irish_ as she come driving bodily out o' the mist, shakin' out herthree to'gallant-sails, an' a white spray flying with her off one surgeto another. Rather bad it was, mind ye, for my windpipe, for every timethe schooner pitched, away swings my feet clear o' the nigger'sheads--'cause, d' ye see, we chanced for to be stowed on the'tween-decks, an' another tier there was, stuffed in her lower hold--an'there I stuck, mate, so as I couldn't help watchin' the whole chase,till at last the hatch slacks nip a bit, and down I plumps into the darkagain.
"'Well, bo', the breeze got lighter, an' to all seemin' the cursedschooner held her own; but hows'ever, the sloop-o'-war kept it up allday, and once or twice she tips us a long shot; till by sunset, as Ireckoned, we hears no more on her. The whole night long, again, there westews as thick as peas--I keeps harknin' to the sighs and groans, an'the wash along the side, in a sort of a doze; an' s'help me Bob, Ifancies for a moment I'm swinging in my hammock in the foc'sle, an it'sno more but the bulkheads and timbers creakin'. Then I thinks it's someun else I dreams on, as is oneasy, like to choke for heat and thirst;and I'm a-chucklin' at him--when up I wakes with the cockroachesswarming over my face. Another groan runs from that end to this, thewhole lot on us tries hard, and kicks their neighbours to turn, an' beblowed if I knowed but I was buried in a churchyard, with the horridworms all a-crawl about me. All on a suddent, nigh-hand to daybreak itwas, I hears a gun to wind'ard, so with that I contrives for to scrambleup with my eye to the scuttle-port. 'Twas a stiffish breeze, an' I see'dsome'at lift on a sea like a albatross's wing, as one may say--thoughwhat wor this but the _Irish's_ bit of a tender, standing right acrossour bows--for the schooner, ye see, changed her course i' thenight-time, rig'lar slaver's dodge, thinkin' for to drop thesloop-o'-war, sure enough. But as for the little f'lucca, why theyhadn't bargained for her at all, lying-to as she did, with a rag o' sailup, in the troughs of the sea, till the schooner was close on her.
"'Well, no sooner does they go about, my boy, but the muskeety of acruiser lets drive at her off the top of a sea, as we hung broadside tothem in stays. Blessed if I ever see sich a mark!--the shot jist takesour fore top fair slap--for the next minute I seed the fore-topmast comeover the lee-side, an' astarn we begins to go directly. What's more,mate, I never see a small craft yet handled better in a sea, as that'ere chap did--nor the same thing done, cleaner at any rate--for theyjist comes nigh-hand tip on our bowsprit-end, as the schoonerlifted--then up in the wind they went like clockwork, with a starnway onas carried the f'lucca right alongside on us, like a coachman backing upa lane, and _grind_ we both heaved on the swell, with the topmast hamperan' its canvas for a fender atwixt us. Aboard jumps theman-o'-war's-men, in course, cutlash in hand, an' for five minutes sometough work there was on deck, by the tramp, the shots, an' the cursesover our heads--when off they shoved the hatches, and I seed a tallyoung feller in a gold-banded cap look below. Be blowed if I wasn'tgoin' to sing out again, for, d' ye see, I'm blessed if I took mind onthe chap at all, as much by reason o' the blood an' the smoke he'd goton his face as aught else. Hows'ever, I holds a bit meantime, on accounto' Job Price an' that 'ere piratecy consarn--till what does I think, ahour or two arter, when I finds as this here were the very leftenant aschased us weeks on end in the Camaroons. So a close stopper, sureenough, I keeps on my jaw; an' as for scentin' me out amongst a coupleo' hundred blacks in the hold, why, 'twere fit to 'ppal my own motherherself.
"'Well, Jack, by this time bein' near Serry Loney, next day or so we gotin--where, what does they do but they _lubberrates_ us all, as theycalls it, into a barracoon ashore, till sich time as the slaver ud becondemned--an' off goes the tender down coast again. Arter that, theytreats us well enough, but still I dursn't say a word; for one day, aswe goed to work makin' our huts, there I twigs a printed bill upon thechurch-wall, holdin' out a reward, d' ye see, consarnin' the piratecy,with my oun name and my very build logged down--ownly, be hanged if theydoesn't tack on to it all, by way of a topgallant ink-jury to a man,these here words--"He's a very ugly feller--looks like a furriner."Well, mate, I ain't a young maiden, sure enough, but, thinks I, afore Ifell foul o' that blasted fittish-man an' his nut, cuss me if I looksjist so bad as that 'ere! So ye know this goes more to my heart noraught else, till there I spells out another confounded lie in the bill,as how Captin Price's men had mutinied again him, and murdered thebrig's crew--when, in course, I sees the villain's whole traverse atonce. So sayin', I watched my chance one night an' went aboard a Yankeebrig as were to sail next day; an' I tells the skipper part o' thestory, offerin' for to work my passage across for nothing; which, sayshe, "It's a hinterestin' narritif"--them was his words; and, says he,"It's a land o' freedom is the States, an' no mistake--ain't there nomore on ye in the like case?" he says. "Not as I knows on, sir," Ianswers; an' says he, "Plenty o' coloured gen'lmen there is yonder, allin silks an' satins; an' I hear," says he, "there's one on 'em has achance o' bein' President next time--anyhow I'm your friend," says he,quite hearty.
"'Well, the long an' short of it was, I stays aboard the brig, works myspell in her, an' takes my trick at the hellum--but I'm blowed, Jack, ifthe men 'ud let me sleep in the foc'sle, 'cause I was a black, so Islung my hammock aft with the nigger stoord. D' ye see, I misgivedmyself a bit when we sank the coast, for, thinks I, it's in Africay asthat 'ere blessed mushroom are to be found, to take the colour offme--hows'ever, I thinks it carn't but wear out in time, now I've got outo' that 'ere confounded mess, where, sure enough, things was against me.So at last the v'yage were up, an' the brig got in to New Orleans. ThereI walks aft to the skipper for to take leave, when says he, wonderflyfriendly like, "Now, my lad," says he, "I'm goin' up river a bit for tosee a friend as takes a interest in your kind--an' if ye likes, why I'llpay yer passage that far?" In course I agrees, and up river we goes,till we lands at a fine house, where I'm left in a far-handy, ye know,while the skipper an' his friend has their dinner. All at once thegen'lman shoves his head out of a doure, takes a look at me, an' inagain--arter that I hears the chink o' dollars--then the skipper walksout, shuts the doure, and says he to me, "Now," he says, "that's a'cute sort o' tale ye tould me, my lad, but it's a lie, I guess!" "Lie,sir!" says I, "what d' ye mean?" for ye see that 'ere matter o' theiv'ry brig made me sing small at first. "No slack, Pumpey," says he,liftin' his forefinger like a schoolmaster; "ain't yer name Pumpey?"says he. "Pumpey!" says I, "my name's Jack Brown," for that wor the nameI'd gived him afore. "Oh!" says he, "jest say it's Gin'ral Washington,right off. Come," says he, "I guess I'd jest tell ye what tripe youbelongs to--you're a Mandigy nigger," says he. "It's all very well," hesays, "that 'ere yarn, but that's wot they'd all say when they comes,they've been dyed black! Why," says he, "doesn't I see that 'ere brandone night on yer back--there's yer arms all over pagan tattooin'----""Bless ye, captin," I says, a-holdin' up my arm, "it's crowns an'anchors!" "Crowns!" says he, turnin' up his nose, "what does we know o'crowns hereaway--_we_ ain't barbers yet, I guess"--of what he meant by_barbers_ here, mate, I'm hanged if I knowed. "'Sides," says he, "youspeaks broken Aimerricane!" "'Merricain?" I says, "why, I speaks goodEnglish! an' good reason, bein' a free-born Briton--as white's yerself,if so be I could ownly cl
ap hands for a minnet on some o' them mushroomsI tould ye on!" "Where does they grow, then?" axes he, screwin' one eyeup. "In Africay yonder, sir," I says, "more's the pity I hadn't thechance to lay hands on them again!" "Phoo!" says he, "glad they ain't_here_! An' does you think we 're a-goin' for to send all the way overto Africay for them mushrooms you talks on? Tell ye what, yer freepapers 'ud do ye a sight more good _here_!" says he; "it's no use with ablack skin for to claim white laws; an' what's more, ye're too tarnationugly-faced for it, let alone colour, Pumpey, my man," he says. "I tellye what it is, Captin Edwards," says I, "my frontispiece ain't neitherhere nor there, but if you calls me Pumpey again, blowed an' I don'tpitch inty ye!"--so with that I handles my bones in a way as makes himhop inside the doure--an' says the skipper houldin' it half-shut,"Harkee, lad," he says, "it's no go your tryin' for to run, or they'llmake ye think angels o' bo'sun's-mates. But what's more," says he,"nivver you whisper a word o' what ye tells me, about nuts an'mushrooms, or sich like trash--no more will I; for d' ye see, my lad, inthat case they'd jest _hush ye up_ for good!" "Who d' ye mean?" I says,all abroad, an' of a shiver like--mindin' on the slave-schooner again."Why, the planter's people," says he, "as I've sold ye to." An' withthat he pints into his mouth, and shuts the doure.
"'Well, mate, ye may fancy how I feels! Here I stands, givin' a lookround for a fair offing; but there was bulwarks two fadom high all roundthe house, a big bloodhound lyin' chained, with his muzzle on his twopaws, an' nobody seem'd for to mind me. So, I see'd it were all up wonstmore; an' at the thou't of a knife in my tongue, I sits right down inthe far-handy, rig'lar flabbergasted, when out that 'ere blasted skippersnoots his head again, an' says he, "Pumpey, my lad, good-day," says he;"you knows some'at o' the water, an' as they've boat-work at timeshereaway, I don't know but, if you behaves yerself, they'll trust youwith an oar now an' then: for I tould yer master jist now," says he, "ashow you carn't speak no English!" Well, I gives him a hoath, 'cause bythat time I hadn't a word to throw at a dog; and shortly arter, up comesthe overseer with his black mate, walks me off to a shed, strips me, andgives me a pair o' cotton drawers and a broad hat--so out I goes thenext mornin' for to hoe sugarcane with a gang o' niggers.
"'Well, mate, arter that I kept close enough--says no more, but mumblesa lot o' no-man's jargon, as makes 'em all log me down for a sort o'double-Guinea savitch--'cause why, I were hanged afeard for my tongue,seein', if so be I lost it, I'd be a nigger for ever, sure enough. Sothe blacks, for most part being country-bred, they talks nothin' but ablessed jumble, for all the world like babbies at home; an' what doesthey do but they fancies me a rig'lar African nigger, as proud as Tommy,an' a'most ready for to washup me they wor--why, the poor divvles 'udbring me yams and fish; they kisses my flippers an' toes as I'd been thePope; an' as for the young girls, I'm blowed if I warn't all the goamongst 'em--though I carn't say the same where both's white, ye know!What with the sun an' the cocoa-nut ile, to my thinkin', I gets blackeran' blacker--blessed if I didn't fancy a feller's very mind turnednigger. I larns their confounded lingo, an' I answers to the name o'Pumpey, blast it, till I right-down forgets that I'd ever another. Asfor runnin', look ye, I knowed 'twas no use thereaway, as long as myskin tould against me, an' as long as Africay wor where it wor. So, myboy, I see'd pretty clear, ye know, as this here world 'ud turn a maninto a rig'lar built slave-nigger in the long run if he was an angel outo' heaven!
"'Well, mate, one day I'm in the woods amongst a gang, chopping firewoodfor the sugar-mill, when, what does I light on betwixt some bigground-leaves and sich like, but a lot o' them very same red mushroomsas the fittish-man shows me in Africay!--blowed if there warn't a wholesight o' them round about, too! So I pulls enough for ten, ye may besure, stuffs 'em in my hat, an' that same night, as soon as all's dark,off I goes into the woods, right by the stars, for the nearest town'twixt there and New Orleans. As soon as I got nigh-hand it, there Isits down below a tree amongst the bushes, hauls off my slops, an' Iturns to for to rub myself all over, from heel to truck, till daybreak.So, in course, I watches for the light angshis enough, as ye maysuppose, to know what colour I were. Well, strike me lucky, Jack, if Ididn't jump near a fadom i' the air, when at last I sees I'm _white_wonst more!--blessed if I didn't feel myself a new man from stem tostarn! I makes right for a creek near by, looks at my face in the water,then up I comes again, an' every yarn o' them cussed slave-togs I pullsto bits, when I shoves 'em under the leaves. Arter that I took fair tothe water for about a mile, jist to smooth out my wake, like; then Ishins aloft up a tree, where I stowed myself away till noon--'cause,d'ye see, I knowed pretty well what to look for next. An' by this time,mind ye, all them queer haps made a fellow wonderful sharp, so I'dscheme out the whole chart aforehand how to weather on them cussedYankees.
"'Accordently, about noon, what does I hear but that 'ere savitchbloodhound comin' along up creek, with a set o' slave-catchers astarn,for to smell out my track. With that, down I went in the water again,rounds a point into the big river, where I gets abreast of a landin'place, near the town, with craft laying out-stream, boats plyin', an'all alive. D' ye see, bo', I'd got no clothes at all, an' how for to rigmyself again, 'blowed if I knows--seein' as how by this time I'd turnedas white as the day I were born, an' a naked white man in a town arn'tno better than a black nigger. So in I swims like a porpus afore abreeze, an' up an' down I ducks in the shallow, for all the world like achap a-takin' a bath; an' out I hollers to all an' sundry, with a Yankeetwang i' my nose, for to know if they had seen my clothes, till a wholelot on 'em crowds on the quay. Hows'ever, I bethinks me on that 'ereblasted brand atwixt my shoulders, an' I makes myself out as modest as alady, kicks out my legs, and splashes like a whale aground, an' sticksout my starn to 'em for to let 'em see it's white. "Hullo!" I sings out,"han't ye seen my clothes?" "No, stranger," says they, "someun's runnedoff with 'em, we cal'clates!" With that I tells 'em I'm a Boston skippernew comed up from New Orleans; an' not being used to the heat, why I'dtook a bath the first thing; an' I 'scribes the whole o' my togs as ifI'd made 'em--"split new," says I, "an' a beaver hat, more by tokenthere's my name inside it; an'," says I, "there's notes for a hundreddollars in my trousers!"
"'By this time down comes the slave-catchers, an' says they, hearin' onit, "That 'ere tarnation nigger's gone off with 'em, we'll know 'un bythem marks well enough," says they, an' off they goes across river."Hullo!" I sings out to the folks, "I'm a-gettin' cold here, so I guessI'll come ashore again, slick off!" I twangs out. "Guess ye can't,straunger!" they hails; "not till we gets ye some kiverin's!--we 'reconsiderable proper here, we are!" "Ain't this a free country, then?" Isays, givin' a divvle of a splash; an' with that they begs an' axes mefor to hould on, an' they'd fix me, as they calls it, in no time. "Well,mate, what does they do but one an' another brings me somethin' as likewhat I 'scribed as could be, hands 'em along on a pole, an' I puts 'emon then an' there. Arter that, the ladies o' the place bein' blessedmodest, an' all of a fright leest I'd a comed out an' gone through thetown--why, out o' grannytude, as they says, they gets up asupperscription on a hundred dollars to make up my loss--has a publicmeetin' logged down for the evenin', when I'm for to indress thecitizens, as they says, all about freedom an' top-gallantry, an'sich-like. Hows'ever, I jist sticks my tongue in my cheek, eats ablessed good dinner in a hot-ell, watches my chance, an' off by atrack-boat at sundown to New Orleans, where I shipped aboard a Englishbarque, an' gets safe out to sea wonst more.
"'Lord love ye, Harry!' exclaimed Jack hereupon, 'the likes o' that now!But I've heerd say, them fittish-men you talks on has wonderfulknowledge--why, mayhap it's them as keeps all the niggers black, now?''Well, bo',' said Harry, 'I don't doubt but if them 'Merricain slavesjist knowed o' that 'ere red mushroom, why they'd show the Yankees morestripes nor stars! D' ye see, if a Yankee knowed as his own father werea-hoein' his sugar-canes, blowed if he wouldn't make him work up hisliberty in dollars! All the stripes, d' ye see, mate, is for the blacks,an' all the stars is for the whites, in them Yankee colours as the
ybrags so much about! But what I says is, it's cussed hard to get throughthis 'ere world, shipmate, if ye doesn't keep well to the wind'ard ofit!'
"I was the more amused with this account of the ugly rascal's adventuresthat I remembered two or three of the occasions he mentioned, and hetold them pretty exactly so far as I had to do with them. As for thefetish-man's curious nut, and that extraordinary mushroom of his, why'ten to one,' thought I, 'but all the while the fellow never oncetouched a piece of _soap_!' which, no doubt, had as much to do with itas anything besides. Somehow or other, notwithstanding, I had takenalmost a fancy to the villain--such a rough sample of mankind he was,with his uncouth grumpy voice, and his huge black beard; and he gave thestory in a cool, scornful sort of way that was laughable in itself. 'So,my lad,' I thought, 'it seems you and I have met twice before; but ifyou play any of your tricks this time, Master Harry, I hope you've foundyour match'; and certainly, if I had fancied my gentleman was in theslaver's hold that time off the African coast, I'd have 'lubberrated'him with a vengeance.
"'I say, mates,' said he again, with a sulky kind of importance, tothose of the watch who had gathered round during the last half of hisyarn, 'there's three things I hates--an' good reason!' 'What be's they,Harry?' asked the rest. 'One's a Yankee,' said he, 'an' be blowed tohim; the second's a slaver; and the third is--I carn't abide a nigger,nohow. But d' ye see, there's one thing I _likes_----' Here eight bellsstruck out, and up tumbled the watch below, with Jacobs' hearty faceamongst them: so I made my way aft, and, of course, missed hearing whatthat said delightful thing might be, which this tarry AEsop approved ofso much.
The Green Hand: Adventures of a Naval Lieutenant Page 14