by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXXIV
THE SUSPICIOUS WHITE STEAMER AT ADEN
Captain Ringgold had sold the little steamer for four times what she hadcost the owners, but still for less than her value, for she was anexceptionally strong and handsome craft. On the other hand, he hadpurchased the naval material for "a mere song;" for it was not availablefor a man-of-war in modern times, and not of the kind used in the navalor military forces of England.
The commander had been a young naval officer from the beginning of theWar of the Rebellion, and had attained the grade of lieutenant, so thathe was a judge of the material he bought. He examined everything verycritically before a price was named. The guns had been procured for anative East-Indian prince; but the ship that brought them to the shoresof his country was not permitted to land them. He was deposed about thetime, probably on account of the attempt to bring these guns into hisdomain.
The captain of the sailing-ship could not collect even his freightmoney, and he was forced to carry them off with him when his cargo wascompleted. His consignee suggested to him that the Imam, or Sultan, ofMuscat would purchase his war material, and be glad to get it, and hehad sailed for that port; but among the rocks at the entrance to thePersian Gulf his bark had been wrecked. The guns and ammunition weresaved, for they were the captain's private venture, and he had storedthem between decks.
The bottom of the bark was pounded and ground off, and the cargo in thehold was a total loss; but an English steamer had taken off the ship'scompany and the naval goods, and carried them to Aden. The unfortunatecaptain sold them for the most he could get to the Parsee merchants, whohad kept them for years before they found a purchaser. They got theirmoney back, and they were satisfied.
As soon as the commander finished his business with the merchants hehastened to join the party, who were still exploring the town. Itcontains about twenty thousand inhabitants, and everything was asArabian as in the desert. He found his passengers just starting for aride of about five miles; and, after he had been introduced to theofficers, he went with them.
"Goodness gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Blossom, as they were getting intothe carriages, "what is the matter with that man?"
"Nothing is the matter with him, madam," replied an officer, laughing atthe manner of the excellent woman.
"Why, I thought he had a hornets' nest on the top of his head," sheadded.
"He has nothing but his hair there."
"It would be just the thing for a mop."
"That is a Soumali Indian, and you will see a plenty of them," theofficer explained. "In fact, you will find every sort of people here.These Soumalis are great dandies; for you see they dye their hair in redor yellow, and I suppose they think they are handsome. Probably youdon't think so."
"I'm sure I don't. Why, the fellow has no clothes on but a sheet wrappedaround him, and don't even cover his chest with that!"
"That's his fashion; and if you dressed him up like one of those Sepoyshe would not feel easy. They have some fine horses and carriages here."
The vehicles had to stop presently when they met a caravan of camels,which had long since ceased to be a novelty to the tourists. They weredriven, the officer said, by the real Bedouins of the desert, and by menof all shades of color, from jet-black to pale copper hue. The donkeyswere not a strange sight; but when a couple of ostriches passed alongthe street, the visitors were all eyes. They were seven feet high; andthey could capture a fly, if they would take such small game, off theceiling of a room eight feet high. They were tame, and like the monkeys,gazelles, parrots, and other birds on the verandas, were kept as pets.
There were pretty little gardens along the roads; for the volcanic soil,when dug up and fertilized, makes productive land. There were plenty ofrocks; but wherever there was a cleft or a seam, there was a growth ofsomething green. Thirty or forty miles back in the country, there aregreen valleys and rippling streams. Abundant crops are raised within tenmiles of the town, and the garrison and the people of the town areplentifully supplied with fruit and vegetables.
The officers showed the party through the fortifications, some of whichstrongly reminded them of Gibraltar. Our friends were greatly pleasedwith Aden, and especially with the attentions of the officers, who areto some extent shut out from social relations. The commander added theParsee merchants and Mr. Gaskill to the number of invited guests, andentered warmly into the spirit of the affair. Mr. Sage had replenishedhis stores from the market, and he was in good condition to meet therequirements of the occasion.
After a lunch at the Hotel de l'Europe, Captain Ringgold left thecompany to return on board of the ship, where the war material hadalready been sent. The tourists found the town very like an Englishcity, and after Egypt and the isthmus they enjoyed the contrast. Thefirst cutter was waiting for him, and he went to the pier.
More than once during the forenoon he had obtained a view of the whitesteamer anchored in the roads, and he had inquired in regard to her, buthad been able to obtain no very definite information concerning her. Shewas a steam-yacht of about the size of the Guardian-Mother, as nearlyas he could judge, painted white, and she looked like a very beautifulvessel.
Captain Ringgold had inquired in regard to her of the merchants. Hadthey seen the owner who was making the cruise in her? They had. He was aman thirty or thirty-two, with a fine black beard, and a lady had saidhe was a remarkably handsome man. His informant thought he was aforeigner, though he spoke English as fluently as the officers of thegarrison. He was dressed in the latest style of European garments whenhe came on shore, and the Parsee had been unable to form an opinion inregard to his nationality.
The carpenter of the Guardian-Mother had constructed something like amagazine in the hold of the ship for the ammunition which had been takenon board before she sailed. It was large enough for the new supply,though some further precautions were taken for the safety of thecontents. The four twenty-four pounders were placed, two forward and twoaft, the former on the forecastle, and the latter in the space on deckabaft the boudoir.
The guns were mounted on naval carriages, and portholes were to beprepared on the passage to India. The two twelve-pounders were to remainon the top-gallant forecastle, where they had always been; though theyhad been used on the Fourth of July, and for saluting purposes only,except in the Archipelago, where they had done more serious work, andhad doubtless saved Miss Blanche and Louis from capture.
The commander sincerely hoped there would never be an occasion to makeuse of either the old or the new guns, for he was eminently a man ofpeace; but he was prepared to defend his ship, either from pirates,belligerent natives, or Captain Mazagan when he had recovered from hiswound. Probably he would not have thought of such a thing as increasinghis means of defence if Mazagan had not followed the ship as far asSuez.
After he had looked over the white steam-yacht which lay beyond theBritish steamer as well as he could, and gathered all the information inregard to her and her commander, he could not help thinking of the lastthreats of Mazagan. He had been assured that Ali-Noury Pacha was asvindictive as ever, and that he had long before ordered a new steamer tobe built for him. Did the white steam-yacht belong to him?
Mazagan, evidently for the want of care, had irritated his wound, andgone to the hospital at Suez. He could learn nothing in regard to himthere; but it was entirely impossible that he could have come to Aden,for no steamer had passed the Guardian-Mother on her passage. The whitesteamer had no doubt come through the canal before her.
The commander could not solve the problem. He decided to "take the bullby the horns," and settle the question before he sailed the next day. Hehad dressed himself in his best uniform in the morning, and he decidedto pay a visit to the white steam-yacht before he slept again. It was tobe a visit of ceremony; and he ordered the crew of the barge to put ontheir clean white uniforms, for he intended to go in state.
All the passengers were still on shore, and there was no one to go withhim if he had desired any company. He wished to infor
m the Pacha, if theowner proved to be he, and he was on board, that he was prepared for anyand every thing. If His Highness attempted any trickery or treachery inthe direction of the members of his party, or any one of them, he wouldblow the white steamer out of the water, even if she belonged to theSultan of Morocco. In fact, he had worked himself up as much as he evercould into an angry frame of mind.
If he was waiting for Mazagan to come to Aden,--for the pirate must havewritten to him in regard to his intentions, if he had any,--thepersecution of the Americans was to be continued over the Indian Ocean.He was to command this magnificent steamer, as he had the Fatime, andwould be ready to retrieve his misfortunes in the past. But CaptainRinggold was "reckoning without his host."
He descended the gangway steps, and took his seat in the stern-sheets ofthe barge with compressed lips; for he intended to meet the Pacha faceto face, and this time at his own instigation. Possibly his crew werephysiognomists enough to wonder what had come over the captain; forthey had never seen him when he looked more in earnest. The captainnodded at the cockswain, and the bowman shoved off. The crew gave way,and no boat ever presented a finer appearance.
"To the white steam-yacht beyond the P. and O. steamer," said thecommander; and said no more.
The men bent to their oars, and they were soon in sight of the beautifulvessel, as everybody called her; and Captain Ringgold could not butindorse the general verdict; at least, he thought she was quite ashandsome as the Guardian-Mother, which was enough to say of any vesselin his estimation. The barge made a landing at the platform of thegangway.
"May I be permitted to go on board?" asked the captain of the sailor whostood at the head of the steps.
"Yes, sir; she is open to ladies and gentlemen to-day," replied the man.
The commander ascended the steps to the bulwarks, where the seaman wasevidently doing duty as a sentinel, though he was not armed.
"What steamer is this?" asked the visitor; for he had not yet seen thename of the steamer.
"The Blanche, sir," replied the man very respectfully; for thecommander's uniform had made its proper impression.
"The Blanche!" exclaimed the captain of the Guardian-Mother, startingback as though a red-hot shot had struck him.
"CAPTAIN RINGGOLD, I AM DELIGHTED TO SEE YOU." Page337.]
It was very remarkable that the steamer should have that name; but hepreserved his dignity, and concluded that the name had been given forsome member of the owner's family; and he saw a lady seated near therudder-head, who might be the owner of the name. He looked about thedeck,--what of it could be seen,--though most of it was covered by thehouse, extended nearly from stem to stern, as on the Guardian-Mother.Everything was as neat and trim as though she had been a man-of-war. Hecould see two twelve-pounders on the side where he was; and he concludedthere were two more on the other side.
But if this craft was to chase and annoy his party, she was not wellenough armed to be a match for his own ship; and with the feeling he hadstirred up in his mind, he congratulated himself on the superiority ofthe ship he commanded. The seaman informed him that he was at liberty tolook over the vessel, for it was believed to be the finest hercelebrated builders had ever completed.
"I desire to see the captain of this steamer," replied Captain Ringgold,declining the permission extended to him.
"He is in his cabin, sir, and I will call him down," replied the man.
The captain gave him his card, and the sailor mounted to the promenadedeck. He had not been gone two minutes before the captain rushed downthe steps as though he were in a desperate hurry.
"Captain Ringgold, I am delighted to see you!" shouted the captain ofthe Blanche before the visitor had time to make out who he was. "I amglad to see you on the deck of my ship!" And he extended his hand to thecommander of the Guardian-Mother.
"Captain Sharp!" roared the visitor, seizing the offered hand, andwarmly pressing it.
It was a tremendous let-down for him, after he had roused all hisbelligerent nature into action, to find Captain W. Penn Sharp in commandof the suspicious steamer.