"And supposing," said I, after listening to this disheartening recital--"supposing that your relatives will _not_ help you, have you any plans laid to meet such a contingency? "Hope for the best and provide for the worst" is a favourite motto of your friend Bob; and I really think it is singularly applicable in your case."
"No," she replied rather despondently: "no very definite plan, that is.
I am fairly well educated, I believe. Dear mamma was most accomplished, I have often heard papa say, and she taught me everything she knew. I speak French, German, and Italian, and seem to have a natural apt.i.tude for music; and I sketch a little in water-colours. I have all my materials with me, and a few sketches which I may perhaps be able to sell when I reach home--I will let you see them some day--and I think I may perhaps be able to get a situation as governess, or maintain myself respectably by teaching music and drawing. And then, you know, I am not absolutely dest.i.tute. I have about twenty pounds with me, and I sent home three hundred, the proceeds of the sale of our furniture, to England; and some friends of poor papa"s in Canton say they are sure he must have some money invested somewhere, and they have promised to find out if it really is so, and to realise it for me; and I have given them the necessary powers to do so; so you see I shall not land in England actually a beggar."
"G.o.d forbid!" I earnestly e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed. "With regard to your landing in England, I ought perhaps to tell you that you must not hope to do so very soon. We are now in a part of the world quite out of the usual track of ships, and I fear it may be some time before we shall fall in with any, and when we do, it is questionable whether they will be quite the cla.s.s of vessel you would like to make the voyage home in. My great hope is that we may soon fall in with a sandalwood trader, in which case you would have an opportunity of returning to China, and re-shipping from thence home."
"I hope we shall," she responded; rather dolefully, I thought. "You have been very good to me, and,"--her eyes welling up with tears--"I shall never forget you; but I know my presence must be a great inconvenience and embarra.s.sment to you."
"Pray stop!" I interrupted. "You are under the greatest misapprehension if you suppose your presence on board the _Water Lily_ is any other than a source of the most unqualified gratification to her crew. You are evidently quite ignorant of the beneficent influences of your presence here, or you would never have spoken of it as an inconvenience. Your departure will occasion us the keenest regret whenever it takes place, and were it not that our cramped accommodations must occasion you very considerable discomfort, I should rejoice at almost any circ.u.mstance which would necessitate your remaining with us for the rest of the voyage."
"Do you really mean it?" she exclaimed, her sweet face brightening up at once. "Oh, I am _so_ glad! Do you know I have thought your anxiety to meet with a ship arose from my being in your way, and troublesome. And you are really willing to let me remain, and go home with you? How very kind it is of you! I will be quite good, and do whatever you tell me; and, indeed, I will not cause you the least bit of trouble. And,"--her face clouding over again for a moment--"I so dread arriving in England an utter stranger, and having to search, quite una.s.sisted, for grandpapa; and it would be _so_ dreadful if he were to turn me away from his doors. And I should feel, oh! miserably friendless and lonely if I had really to go about from place to place seeking for a situation, or trying to get pupils. But if you will let me stay here and go home with you, I shall not feel it so much, for I am sure you will help me in my search for my friends; and it is so delightful,"--brightening up again--"to be dancing over this bright, sparkling sea day after day, in this dear little yacht, and to see the kind faces of that darling old original Bob and--and--and--the kitten."
"And the fowls," I suggested demurely. "But, in electing to remain on board the _Water Lily_, you must bear in mind, my dear Miss Brand, that it is not always with us as it is at present. Just now we are fortunate in the enjoyment of a fair wind and smooth sea, but we have been exposed to many dangers since we left England, and it is only reasonable to suppose we shall have to encounter many more before we return; and if you went home in a larger vessel, if you did not escape them altogether, they would probably bring less discomfort in their train than they will here."
"What would you advise me to do?" she asked, looking ruefully up into my face.
"Well," I replied, "since you ask me, my advice is this. If we fall in with a comfortable ship, bound to England, or to any port whence you can trans-ship for England, go in her; if the ship is _not_ comfortable, and it comes to a choice of inconveniences, you can be guided by your own judgment, but do not leave us until you are sure of gaining some advantage by the change."
So it was settled. That same afternoon, as I was lying down on the lockers in our little cabin aft, I overheard the following conversation on deck, between Bob and Ella.
"Bob," said Ella (she soon dropped the Mr in his case, but it was still "Mr Collingwood" to me)--"Bob, are we likely to meet any ships very soon, do you think?"
"Ships!" echoed Bob, in consternation; "no, missie, I hopes not. You surely ain"t tired of the little _Lily_ yet, are ye?"
"No, indeed," replied Ella; "and I hope you are not tired of _me_. Tell me, Bob, am I very much trouble here, or very much in the way?"
"_Trouble! in the way_!!" repeated Bob; "Well, I"m--"--then a strong inspiration between the teeth, as though to draw back the forcible expression quivering on his lips--"but there, it"s because you don"t know what you"re sayin" of, that you talks that a-way. What put that notion into your pretty little head?"
"Harry--Mr Collingwood, I mean--seems anxious that I should go home in some other vessel," Ella replied, dolefully.
"Well, now, that"s news, that is," answered Bob. "Since when has he taken that idee into his head?"
"We were talking about it this morning," said Ella; "and he said it would be more dangerous for me to go home in the _Water Lily_ than in a large ship. _Is_ the _Water Lily_ dangerous, Bob?"
"Dangerous!" exclaimed Bob, in a tone of angry scorn. "Was she dangerous in that blow off the Horn, when a big ship capsized and went down with all hands, close alongside of us? Was she dangerous when we had that bit of a brush with the pirates? If she hadn"t been the little beauty that she is, she"d ha" gone down in the gale and a"terwards ha"
been made a prize of by the cut-throats." (Bob, in his angry vindication of the cutter"s character, was wholly oblivious of the "bull" he had perpetrated, and Ella seemed too much interested to notice it.) "Dangerous! why, what"s the boy thinking about, to take away the little barkie"s character that a-way?"
"I wish, Bob, you would not keep calling Ha--, Mr Collingwood, a _boy_; he is quite as much a man as you are, though of course not so old. I don"t like--I don"t think it sounds respectful," exclaimed Ella rather petulantly.
"Not call him a boy?" echoed Bob; "why, what _should_ I call him then, missie? In course, now you comes to mention it, I knows as he _is_ a man, and an uncommon fine speciment too; but, Lord, when I knowed him fust he was quite a dapper young sprig; and it comes nat"ral-like to speak of him as a boy. Hows"ever," continued he apologetically, "in course, since you don"t like it, I won"t call him a boy no more. What _shall_ I call him, so please your ladyship?"
"Now you are laughing at me, you horrid old creature," said Ella, with a little stamp of pa.s.sion upon the deck; "and I never said I did not like it; I merely said that it did not sound respectful. Why do you not call him captain?"
"Why not, indeed?" answered Bob. "He"s got as good a right to be called "skipper" as e"er a man as ever walked a deck; and dash my old wig if I ain"t a good mind to do it, too; my eyes! how he would stare. "Twould be as good as a pantomime to see him;" and the worthy old fellow chuckled gleefully as his fancy conjured up the look of surprise which he knew such a t.i.tle on his lips would evoke from me.
"I declare," exclaimed Ella, in a tone of great vexation, "you are the most provoking-- But there, never mind, Bob dear, I do not mean it; you are very kind to me, and must not take any notice of my foolish speeches. And so you really think the _Water Lily_ is _not_ dangerous?
Why then should Mr Collingwood wish me to leave her? He told me this morning that he should be sorry if I did so, and yet he seems unwilling to let me stay."
"Don"t you believe it, little one," I heard Bob answer. "He don"t want ye to go; it"s some kind of conscientious scruple as he"s got into his head that makes him talk that a-way. Between you and me,"--here his voice sank to a kind of confidential growl, but I distinctly heard every word, nevertheless--"it"s my idee that he"s got some sort of a notion as we may yet fall in with that infarnal _Albatross_ ag"in; but, if we do, we"ve got chances of getting away from the chap that large ships haven"t; and for my part, if I must be in their blackguard neighbourhood, I"d a deal rather be in the _Lily_ than in a large ship.
Their best chance of getting the weather-gauge of _us_ is by surprise; but in a little barkie like this here we larns the knack of sleeping with one eye open, and they"ll have to be oncommon "cute that surprises us."
"Oh!" exclaimed Ella, "I hope and pray that we may not see those wretches; it would be dreadful beyond description to fall into their hands. Do you think Mr Collingwood would send me away if I said I did not want to go?"
"Not he, dearie," answered Bob; "why, can"t ye see that he-- But there, I mustn"t tell tales out of school. If we gets a _good_ chance, perhaps it _might_ be as well for ye to take advantage of it; but we ain"t going to get it, so I lives in hopes of having your sweet face to brighten us up for the rest of this here v"yage. But it"s eight bells, and time to rouse the "skipper," so just step down, dearie, will ye, and give him a call."
Why he should send Ella to call me when he had a voice capable of making the little craft"s whole interior ring again, I could not imagine; but as her light step touched the ladder I closed my eyes, feeling somehow that I would rather the sweet little thing should not know I had overheard the conversation just past.
I had scarcely composed my features when she stood beside me. I had the feeling that she was stooping over me, and I certainly felt her warm breath upon my face for an instant; then she seemed to draw back again, and I heard a soft whisper of "Harry." Then there came a light touch upon my arm, and she said, much louder, "Mr Collingwood, it is eight bells."
"Ay, ay," I answered, rubbing my eyes. Then I started to my feet, but the little fairy had gone fluttering away forward, so I took my s.e.xtant and went on deck. In a minute or two she reappeared, and, seeing me with the s.e.xtant in my hand, opened the chronometer and got the slate, in readiness for taking the time.
I obtained three most excellent sights, and from them worked up my longitude. I had obtained an accurate observation for my lat.i.tude at noon, and, on going below and laying off our position on the chart, I had the satisfaction of seeing that we were drawing well in with the islands, and that, if the breeze lasted, we should be fairly within the group by evening next day.
When I announced this intelligence to my companions, they were both delighted, Ella especially, she having seen no land since leaving the Sandwich Islands, which, she declared, was "_ages_ ago." The last land we had seen was Staten Island, though we caught the _loom_ of land, or thought we did, when about abreast of the western end of Magellan Straits.
We were all longing for a run ash.o.r.e; and, as I had resolved to thoroughly search the group, from end to end if need be, for traces of my father, I decided that we would commence with the eastern end, examining every island which in the slightest degree answered to the description given us of the spot on which the _Amazon_ had been cast away.
Our little lady guest spent much of her time on deck--sitting in a deck- chair, within easy conversational range of whichever had the tiller; and she favoured me with her company during the whole of the first watch (it being my eight hours out that night); but she was unusually silent gazing in an absent, dreamy manner for the most of the time, far away over the tranquil starlit sea, and softly humming a bar or two of some of her favourite songs occasionally. I made one or two attempts to draw her into conversation, fearing she was in low spirits, but she answered at random and in monosyllables; and, seeing after a while that I had no chance, I gave it up.
The next morning, when Bob came on deck to wash down, I said:
"Bob, what is the matter with Miss Brand? have you any idea?"
He looked curiously at me for a moment, and then said:
"Matter? Nothing, as I knows on. What _should_ be the matter with the little dearie?"
"Nothing _should_ be the matter with her," I answered, rather tartly perhaps; "but she seemed unusually silent and unlike herself last night: and, as you seem pretty deep in her confidence, I thought you might know the cause."
"Ay, ay," he returned; "she _do_ speak pretty free to me, I"ll allow; which I accounts for by my being an old man--at least, _she_ seems to think me so, if I may judge by what she said yesterday; and as to knowing the cause of her being out of sorts like, perhaps I do, and perhaps I don"t. I has my suspicions, and pretty strong ones they be, too; but it ain"t for the likes of me to say a word. Axe no questions, Harry, my lad, but just leave things to work theirselves out; she"ll be all right again shortly, you take my word for it."
"Is she ill, do you think, Bob?" I inquired in some anxiety.
"Ill? do she look like it?" queried he with a loud laugh. "No, no, she"s well enough; but women"s most oncommon difficult to understand, boy; and the only way is to let "em alone and take no notice when they seems queer. Now, don"t axe me no questions, for I don"t know anything about it, and what I _guess_ I ain"t going to tell."
What the old fellow surmised it was quits impossible for me to imagine, and equally impossible to extract from him, for he was as stubborn as a mule, and if he made up his mind to a certain course, nothing earthly had the power of turning him from it; so, with the unpleasant sensation that there was a mystery somewhere, I was obliged to hold my tongue and console myself with the reflection that, at all events, it could be nothing which concerned me personally.
Shortly after the conversation Ella made her appearance at the head of the companion-ladder, and, bidding us both a cheery "Good-morning,"
summoned me to breakfast.
As soon as the coffee was poured out, and we had fairly commenced the meal, she said:
"If you ever have any secrets to discuss, Mr Collingwood, I would advise you to seek some other place than the deck of the _Water Lily_.
You sailors appear to have the habit of talking loudly in the open air, and I was awakened by your voices this morning, and quite unintentionally heard much, if not all, of your conversation. I am sorry that my quiet mood of last night should have given you any uneasiness, but I hope you will be relieved when I a.s.sure you that there was nothing whatever the matter with me. I am singularly susceptible to surrounding influences; and the solemn beauty of the night excited within me a feeling of--not sadness altogether, but of gravity almost amounting to it, which has now entirely pa.s.sed away. Your best plan will be to follow Bob"s advice, and take no notice of my varying moods, for they really have no significance. I have not the least idea what it is that the worthy fellow suspects as being the matter with me; but, whatever it is, he is quite mistaken, for I am happy to say I am perfectly well both in body and mind."
I felt greatly relieved at this explanation, and said so; and Ella, as though to make up for her silence of the previous night, was rattling away in a more lively strain than ever, when Bob shouted from the deck, "Land ho!"
"Where away?" queried I, springing to my feet and leaving my breakfast unfinished.