"Right here," said the fat man, tapping his back pocket.
"I"ll carry the Chinaman"s tobacco," said Toby. "We may need it." And he tucked the Chinaman"s head under his arm.
In a few moments the whole party were standing on the pavement outside, and Toby locked the shop-door behind them. They crossed the street, and as they did so they heard a faint voice halloing from the top of the church tower, and they could make out that it said, "Punch! Punch!" But Mr. Punch only sniffed and shrugged his shoulders, and made no answer.
It was very dark. The gas-lamps at the corners only made the darkness gloomier. The only sound they heard, after Mr. Punch"s father"s voice had died away behind them, was the stump-stump of the Old Codger"s wooden leg on the brick pavement. All the dwelling-houses were closed, and as they came nearer to the wharves all the warehouses were dark and awful. Not a soul was to be seen, except that once they saw the back of a policeman as he disappeared around a dark corner in advance. At the sight of this policeman"s back, and in the shadow of a great gloomy building alongside an alley, Freddie slipped his hand into the Able Seaman"s big paw. He wondered if he were doing quite right in leaving home without saying a word to his mother, but Mr. Toby had promised to do whatever was necessary, and anyway, he was going aboard a ship! If he should stop to speak to his mother about going away on a voyage in a ship, he felt somehow that he might never go. He could already smell the delicious odour of tarred ropes.
Their progress was very slow, on account of Aunt Amanda"s lameness.
First came Mr. Mizzen, leading the way with Freddie by his side. Next came Aunt Amanda, limping with her cane, and supported on one side by Mr. Toby and on the other by Mr. Punch. Behind them walked the Churchwarden and the Sly Old Fox, and last of all Mr. Hanlon and the Old Codger with the Wooden Leg.
They could see not far before them the ghost-like masts and shrouds of ships, looking as if they were growing up from the street among the buildings; and in another moment they found themselves standing in a group on a wide wharf, piled up with bales and boxes, and before them, against the edge of the wharf, where the black water was lapping the piles, stood a tall ship with most of her sails set. Freddie thrilled in every vein of his body. At that moment he did not think of his father or mother; he thought of nothing but the smell of brackish water and tarred ropes, and the deck of a ship on the open sea under a cloud of canvas, and the far-away Spanish Main.
The Able Seaman led the company of adventurers forward between the bales and boxes, until they stood beside the dark hull of the ship. He turned round and faced them and touched his cap respectfully.
"Come aboard," said he.
CHAPTER XII
THE VOYAGE OF THE SIEVE
When Freddie awoke the next morning, he leaned up on his elbow, rubbing his eyes, and was surprised to see the floor of the little room in which he found himself settling slowly down at one side. In a moment the floor rose again on that side, and the other side settled down. Then the whole room tilted sideways and back again. It made him dizzy, and he closed his eyes, wondering what kind of a house he had gotten into. He decided he would get up and find out about it.
He carefully rose, and tried to walk across the floor to the window. As he stepped out, the floor seemed to go down under him, and he quickly grasped the bed; he put out his foot again, and the floor rose up; he was dizzier than before, and he had a queer sinking feeling in his stomach. As the floor tilted down sideways again, he made a dash to the opposite wall, and held on there by the window; but the floor sank again, and he made another dash, back to bed. He was cold and hot, and his head ached, and there was a feeling in his stomach as if--oh dear!
He decided he would lie in bed for a few moments until he felt better.
He remained there for two days.
What occurred during those two days he could not remember very well afterwards. He slept a great deal, and it seemed that some one with a green patch over his eye came in now and then; but he paid very little attention. All he wanted was to go to sleep and stay asleep.
On the morning after his third night he sat up wide awake. He was hungry. He jumped up and dressed in a hurry. As the floor tilted and sank and rose with him he thought he had never felt so delicious a sensation. He wondered if there would be bacon and eggs for breakfast.
In a moment he had thrown open the door and he was running up a short flight of steps. He was weak and tottery, but he paid no attention to that. He was at the top of the steps, and he drew in a deep breath of the cool morning air.
He was standing on the deck of a great ship. Over his head clouds and clouds of beautiful white canvas swelled out to the breeze. The sun was sparkling merrily on the water, and there was no land to be seen anywhere. Up forward, the bow of the ship was dipping and rising regularly. There were three tall masts, and on the first two the sails were set square to the masts, and on the third lengthwise; every sail seemed to be up. It was glorious.
He walked forward up the deck. Here and there were men in blue overalls, cleaning the deck, coiling ropes, and polishing metal; and in a little house with windows a man was standing beside an upright wheel. Near the first mast, in a group, were Aunt Amanda, Mr. Toby, the Churchwarden, and the two old Codgers. Freddie hailed them with a shout.
"All right, young feller," cried Mr. Toby, as Freddie came up, "here we are! How is this for a corking spree? Beats all the Tolchester excursions you ever see, that"s what I say! Blamed if it don"t. I ain"t been out of bed for two days."
"No more has any of us," said Aunt Amanda. "Do you feel well, Freddie?
I declare I"m quite excited. Isn"t the air invigorating?"
"Yes"m," said Freddie. "What did you say in your note, Mr. Toby?"
"What note?" said Toby.
"Why, your note to my mother, explaining about me and----"
"By crackey!" cried Toby. "Blamed if I didn"t clean forget all about it!
Now ain"t that too bad! What on earth are we going to do about it?"
"Well!" said Aunt Amanda. "Now ain"t that just like you, Toby Littleback? I declare if your head wasn"t fastened on you"d----"
"Wery reprehensible," said Mr. Punch. "Wery."
"My dear friends," said the Sly Old Codger, "let us not be disquieted on such a morning as this. Everything is so beautiful. _So_ beautiful! And without any expense whatever. It is a precious thought. How pleasant it is to hear the breeze blowing so gently among all the little capstans up there!"
He took off his high silk hat and looked up among the sails with a rapt expression on his face, and all the others looked up too, trying to see the capstans fluttering in the breeze.
"Look!" cried Aunt Amanda. "Why, there"s Mr. Hanlon!"
Far, far up, near the top of the second mast, was a white figure, standing on a rope under the topmost sail, and holding on with one hand and waving the other down at the pa.s.sengers. Mr. Toby waved his white derby, and Mr. Hanlon began to come down. Freddie trembled with alarm, but Mr. Hanlon was obviously having the time of his life. He skipped swiftly along his dangerous perch, and sliding down and along the spars of wood that held the sails, and actually leaping from one to another, and tripping lightly down ladders of rope, while the whole top swayed dizzily from side to side, he at length came down on the deck with a bounce, and bowing to everybody shook Freddie by the hand.
"Here comes the Able Seaman!" cried Toby. "And see what he"s got on his wrist!"
Mr. Lemuel Mizzen came rolling down the deck, and as he approached he took off his cap with his left hand and made a bow. On his right wrist was a blue and red parrot, who c.o.c.ked his head sideways at the strangers, and then looked up inquiringly at the Able Seaman.
"Good morning, all!" said Mr. Mizzen. "Glad to see the pa.s.sengers come to life again! Nothing like the open sea, lady and gentlemen!"
"Are you sure it"s perfectly safe?" said Aunt Amanda.
"Perfectly safe, ma"am. A tight little bark is The Sieve, provided the dippers hold out. Most of the men is below now, baling out the water with their dippers, and the ship ain"t leaking more than ordinary--yet.
Of course you never can tell what may happen, but there"s plenty of dippers, unless we should founder in a storm, or split up on the rocks, or----"
"Mercy on us!" cried Aunt Amanda. "I wish we hadn"t come. If I only had some sewing with me."
"Would you mend socks, ma"am?"
"Oh, that would be lovely! And I could look after the men"s shirts, too, and count the laundry when it comes home, and--I"m sure we are going to have a delightful voyage! I feel better already. I don"t believe there"s any danger after all. It"s all nonsense about the ship"s leaking."
"Who"s your f-f-f-friends, L-l-lem?" shrieked a voice from Mr. Mizzen"s wrist.
Everyone started, and looked in amazement at the parrot, whose head was perked sideways up at Mr. Mizzen"s face.
"L-l-lem!" shrieked the parrot, stuttering terribly. "Who"s your f-f-f-friends?"
"Never you mind," said Lemuel, "you"ll find out soon enough. Breakfast"s ready. Anybody want breakfast?"
Before anyone had a chance to reply, the parrot opened his mouth wide and gave a loud laugh, and cried out:
"Th-th-three ch-cheers! Th-th-there"s ch-ch-chops, s-s-steak, b-b-bacon and eggs! I"ll have l-l-l-liver and onions! Ha! ha! ha! Th-th-three ch-cheers for l-l-l-liver and onions!"
"Be quiet, Marmaduke," said the Able Seaman. "I"ll lock you up again, if you ain"t careful."