The Pirate Page 45

  CHAPTER XIX.

  Now, Emma, now the last reflection make, What thou wouldst follow, what thou must forsake By our ill-omen'd stars and adverse Heaven, No middle object to thy choice is given.

  _Henry and Emma._

  The sun was high in heaven; the boats were busily fetching off from theshore the promised supply of provisions and water, which, as manyfishing skiffs were employed in the service, were got on board withunexpected speed, and stowed away by the crew of the sloop, with equaldispatch. All worked with good will; for all, save Cleveland himself,were weary of a coast, where every moment increased their danger, andwhere, which they esteemed a worse misfortune, there was no booty to bewon. Bunce and Derrick took the immediate direction of this duty, whileCleveland, walking the deck alone, and in silence, only interfered fromtime to time, to give some order which circumstances required, and thenrelapsed into his own sad reflections.

  There are two sorts of men whom situations of guilt, terror, andcommotion, bring forward as prominent agents. The first are spirits sonaturally moulded and fitted for deeds of horror, that they stalk forthfrom their lurking-places like actual demons, to work in their nativeelement, as the hideous apparition of the Bearded Man came forth atVersailles, on the memorable 5th October, 1789, the delightedexecutioner of the victims delivered up to him by a bloodthirsty rabble.But Cleveland belonged to the second class of these unfortunate beings,who are involved in evil rather by the concurrence of externalcircumstances than by natural inclination, being, indeed, one in whomhis first engaging in this lawless mode of life, as the follower of hisfather, nay, perhaps, even his pursuing it as his father's avenger,carried with it something of mitigation and apology;--one also who oftenconsidered his guilty situation with horror, and had made repeated,though ineffectual efforts, to escape from it.

  Such thoughts of remorse were now rolling in his mind, and he may beforgiven, if recollections of Minna mingled with and aided them. Helooked around, too, on his mates, and, profligate and hardened as heknew them to be, he could not think of their paying the penalty of hisobstinacy. "We shall be ready to sail with the ebb tide," he said tohimself--"why should I endanger these men, by detaining them till thehour of danger, predicted by that singular woman, shall arrive? Herintelligence, howsoever acquired, has been always strangely accurate;and her warning was as solemn as if a mother were to apprize an erringson of his crimes, and of his approaching punishment. Besides, whatchance is there that I can again see Minna? She is at Kirkwall,doubtless, and to hold my course thither would be to steer right uponthe rocks. No, I will not endanger these poor fellows--I will sail withthe ebb tide. On the desolate Hebrides, or on the north-west coast ofIreland, I will leave the vessel, and return hither in somedisguise--yet why should I return, since it will perhaps be only to seeMinna the bride of Mordaunt? No--let the vessel sail with this ebb tidewithout me. I will abide and take my fate."

  His meditations were here interrupted by Jack Bunce, who, hailing himnoble Captain, said they were ready to sail when he pleased.

  "When _you_ please, Bunce; for I shall leave the command with you, andgo ashore at Stromness," said Cleveland.

  "You shall do no such matter, by Heaven!" answered Bunce. "The commandwith me, truly! and how the devil am I to get the crew to obey _me_?Why, even Dick Fletcher rides rusty on me now and then. You know wellenough that, without you, we shall be all at each other's throats inhalf an hour; and, if you desert us, what a rope's end does it signifywhether we are destroyed by the king's cruisers, or by each other? Come,come, noble Captain, there are black-eyed girls enough in the world, butwhere will you find so tight a sea-boat as the little Favourite here,manned as she is with a set of tearing lads,

  'Fit to disturb the peace of all the world, And rule it when 'tis wildest?'"

  "You are a precious fool, Jack Bunce," said Cleveland, half angry, and,in despite of himself, half diverted, by the false tones and exaggeratedgesture of the stage-struck pirate.

  "It may be so, noble Captain," answered Bunce, "and it may be that Ihave my comrades in my folly. Here are you, now, going to play All forLove, and the World well Lost, and yet you cannot bear a harmlessbounce in blank verse--Well, I can talk prose for the matter, for I havenews enough to tell--and strange news, too--ay, and stirring news toboot."

  "Well, prithee deliver them (to speak thy own cant) like a man of thisworld."

  "The Stromness fishers will accept nothing for their provisions andtrouble," said Bunce--"there is a wonder for you!"

  "And for what reason, I pray?" said Cleveland; "it is the first time Ihave ever heard of cash being refused at a seaport."

  "True--they commonly lay the charges on as thick as if they werecaulking. But here is the matter. The owner of the brig yonder, thefather of your fair Imoinda, stands paymaster, by way of thanks for thecivility with which we treated his daughters, and that we may not meetour due, as he calls it, on these shores."

  "It is like the frank-hearted old Udaller!" said Cleveland; "but is heat Stromness? I thought he was to have crossed the island for Kirkwall."

  "He did so purpose," said Bunce; "but more folks than King Duncan changethe course of their voyage. He was no sooner ashore than he was met withby a meddling old witch of these parts, who has her finger in everyman's pie, and by her counsel he changed his purpose of going toKirkwall, and lies at anchor for the present in yonder white house, thatyou may see with your glass up the lake yonder. I am told the old womanclubbed also to pay for the sloop's stores. Why she should shell out theboards I cannot conceive an idea, except that she is said to be a witch,and may befriend us as so many devils."

  "But who told you all this?" said Cleveland, without using hisspy-glass, or seeming so much interested in the news as his comrade hadexpected.

  "Why," replied Bunce, "I made a trip ashore this morning to the village,and had a can with an old acquaintance, who had been sent by MasterTroil to look after matters, and I fished it all out of him, and more,too, than I am desirous of telling you, noble Captain."

  "And who is your intelligencer?" said Cleveland; "has he got no name?"

  "Why, he is an old, fiddling, foppish acquaintance of mine, calledHalcro, if you must know," said Bunce.

  "Halcro!" echoed Cleveland, his eyes sparkling with surprise--"ClaudHalcro?--why, he went ashore at Inganess with Minna and hersister--Where are they?"

  "Why, that is just what I did not want to tell you," replied theconfidant--"yet hang me if I can help it, for I cannot baulk a finesituation.--That start had a fine effect--O ay, and the spy-glass isturned on the House of Stennis _now_!--Well, yonder they are, it must beconfessed--indifferently well guarded, too. Some of the old witch'speople are come over from that mountain of an island--Hoy, as they callit; and the old gentleman has got some fellows under arms himself. Butwhat of all that, noble Captain!--give you but the word, and we snap upthe wenches to-night--clap them under hatches--man the capstern bydaybreak--up topsails--and sail with the morning tide."

  "You sicken me with your villainy," said Cleveland, turning away fromhim.

  "Umph!--villainy, and sicken you!" said Bunce--"Now, pray, what have Isaid but what has been done a thousand times by gentlemen of fortunelike ourselves?"

  "Mention it not again," said Cleveland; then took a turn along the deck,in deep meditation, and, coming back to Bunce, took him by the hand, andsaid, "Jack, I will see her once more."

  "With all my heart," said Bunce, sullenly.

  "Once more will I see her, and it may be to abjure at her feet thiscursed trade, and expiate my offences"----

  "At the gallows!" said Bunce, completing the sentence--"With all myheart!--confess and be hanged is a most reverend proverb."

  "Nay--but, dear Jack!" said Cleveland.

  "Dear Jack!" answered Bunce, in the same sullen tone--"a dear sight youhave been to dear Jack. But hold your own course--I have done withcaring for you for ever--I should but sicken you with my villainouscounsels."

 
; "Now, must I soothe this silly fellow as if he were a spoiled child,"said Cleveland, speaking at Bunce, but not to him; "and yet he has senseenough, and bravery enough, too; and, one would think, kindness enoughto know that men don't pick their words during a gale of wind."

  "Why, that's true, Clement," said Bunce, "and there is my hand uponit--And, now I think upon't, you shall have your last interview, forit's out of my line to prevent a parting scene; and what signifies atide--we can sail by to-morrow's ebb as well as by this."

  Cleveland sighed, for Norna's prediction rushed on his mind; but theopportunity of a last meeting with Minna was too tempting to beresigned either for presentiment or prediction.

  "I will go presently ashore to the place where they all are," saidBunce; "and the payment of these stores shall serve me for a pretext;and I will carry any letters or message from you to Minna with thedexterity of a valet de chambre."

  "But they have armed men--you may be in danger," said Cleveland.

  "Not a whit--not a whit," replied Bunce. "I protected the wenches whenthey were in my power; I warrant their father will neither wrong me, norsee me wronged."

  "You say true," said Cleveland, "it is not in his nature. I willinstantly write a note to Minna." And he ran down to the cabin for thatpurpose, where he wasted much paper, ere, with a trembling hand, andthrobbing heart, he achieved such a letter as he hoped might prevail onMinna to permit him a farewell meeting on the succeeding morning.

  His adherent, Bunce, in the meanwhile, sought out Fletcher, of whosesupport to second any motion whatever, he accounted himself perfectlysure; and, followed by this trusty satellite, he intruded himself on theawful presence of Hawkins the boatswain, and Derrick the quarter-master,who were regaling themselves with a can of rumbo, after the fatiguingduty of the day.

  "Here comes he can tell us," said Derrick.--"So, Master Lieutenant, forso we must call you now, I think, let us have a peep into yourcounsels--When will the anchor be a-trip?"

  "When it pleases heaven, Master Quarter-master," answered Bunce, "for Iknow no more than the stern-post."

  "Why, d----n my buttons," said Derrick, "do we not weigh this tide?"

  "Or to-morrow's tide, at farthest?" said the Boatswain--"Why, what havewe been slaving the whole company for, to get all these stores aboard?"

  "Gentlemen," said Bunce, "you are to know that Cupid has laid ourCaptain on board, carried the vessel, and nailed down his wits underhatches."

  "What sort of play-stuff is all this?" said the Boatswain, gruffly. "Ifyou have any thing to tell us, say it in a word, like a man."

  "Howsomdever," said Fletcher, "I always think Jack Bunce speaks like aman, and acts like a man too--and so, d'ye see"----

  "Hold your peace, dear Dick, best of bullybacks, be silent," saidBunce--"Gentlemen, in one word, the Captain is in love."

  "Why, now, only think of that!" said the Boatswain; "not but that I havebeen in love as often as any man, when the ship was laid up."

  "Well, but," continued Bunce, "Captain Cleveland is in love--Yes--PrinceVolscius is in love; and, though that's the cue for laughing on thestage, it is no laughing matter here. He expects to meet the girlto-morrow, for the last time; and that, we all know, leads to anothermeeting, and another, and so on till the Halcyon is down on us, and thenwe may look for more kicks than halfpence."

  "By --," said the Boatswain, with a sounding oath, "we'll have a mutiny,and not allow him to go ashore,--eh, Derrick?"

  "And the best way, too," said Derrick.

  "What d'ye think of it, Jack Bunce?" said Fletcher, in whose ears thiscounsel sounded very sagely, but who still bent a wistful look upon hiscompanion.

  "Why, look ye, gentlemen," said Bunce, "I will mutiny none, and stap myvitals if any of you shall!"

  "Why, then I won't, for one," said Fletcher; "but what are we to do,since howsomdever"----

  "Stopper your jaw, Dick, will you?" said Bunce.--"Now, Boatswain, I ampartly of your mind, that the Captain must be brought to reason by alittle wholesome force. But you all know he has the spirit of a lion,and will do nothing unless he is allowed to hold on his own course.Well, I'll go ashore and make this appointment. The girl comes to therendezvous in the morning, and the Captain goes ashore--we take a goodboat's crew with us, to row against tide and current, and we will beready at the signal, to jump ashore and bring off the Captain and thegirl, whether they will or no. The pet-child will not quarrel with us,since we bring off his whirligig along with him; and if he is stillfractious, why, we will weigh anchor without his orders, and let himcome to his senses at leisure, and know his friends another time."

  "Why, this has a face with it, Master Derrick," said Hawkins.

  "Jack Bunce is always right," said Fletcher; "howsomdever, the Captainwill shoot some of us, that is certain."

  "Hold your jaw, Dick," said Bunce; "pray, who the devil cares, do youthink, whether you are shot or hanged?"

  "Why, it don't much argufy for the matter of that," replied Dick;"howsomdever"----

  "Be quiet, I tell you," said his inexorable patron, "and hear meout.--We will take him at unawares, so that he shall neither have timeto use cutlass nor pops; and I myself, for the dear love I bear him,will be the first to lay him on his back. There is a nice tight-goingbit of a pinnace, that is a consort of this chase of the Captain's,--ifI have an opportunity, I'll snap her up on my own account."

  "Yes, yes," said Derrick, "let you alone for keeping on the look-out foryour own comforts."

  "Faith, nay," said Bunce, "I only snatch at them when they come fairlyin my way, or are purchased by dint of my own wit; and none of you couldhave fallen on such a plan as this. We shall have the Captain with us,head, hand, and heart and all, besides making a scene fit to finish acomedy. So I will go ashore to make the appointment, and do you possesssome of the gentlemen who are still sober, and fit to be trusted, withthe knowledge of our intentions."

  Bunce, with his friend Fletcher, departed accordingly, and the twoveteran pirates remained looking at each other in silence, until theBoatswain spoke at last. "Blow me, Derrick, if I like these twodaffadandilly young fellows; they are not the true breed. Why, they areno more like the rovers I have known, than this sloop is to afirst-rate. Why, there was old Sharpe that read prayers to his ship'scompany every Sunday, what would he have said to have heard it proposedto bring two wenches on board?"

  "And what would tough old Black Beard have said," answered hiscompanion, "if they had expected to keep them to themselves? Theydeserve to be made to walk the plank for their impudence; or to be tiedback to back and set a-diving, and I care not how soon."

  "Ay, but who is to command the ship, then?" said Hawkins.

  "Why, what ails you at old Goffe?" answered Derrick.

  "Why, he has sucked the monkey so long and so often," said theBoatswain, "that the best of him is buffed. He is little better than anold woman when he is sober, and he is roaring mad when he is drunk--wehave had enough of Goffe."

  "Why, then, what d'ye say to yourself, or to me, Boatswain?" demandedthe Quarter-master. "I am content to toss up for it."

  "Rot it, no," answered the Boatswain, after a moment's consideration"if we were within reach of the trade-winds, we might either of us makea shift; but it will take all Cleveland's navigation to get us there;and so, I think, there is nothing like Bunce's project for the present.Hark, he calls for the boat--I must go on deck and have her lowered forhis honour, d----n his eyes."

  The boat was lowered accordingly, made its voyage up the lake withsafety, and landed Bunce within a few hundred yards of the oldmansion-house of Stennis. Upon arriving in front of the house, he foundthat hasty measures had been taken to put it in a state of defence, thelower windows being barricaded, with places left for use of musketry,and a ship-gun being placed so as to command the entrance, which wasbesides guarded by two sentinels. Bunce demanded admission at the gate,which was briefly and unceremoniously refused, with an exhortation tohim, at the same time, to be gone about his business before worse cameof
it. As he continued, however, importunately to insist on seeing someone of the family, and stated his business to be of the most urgentnature, Claud Halcro at length appeared, and, with more peevishness thanbelonged to his usual manner, that admirer of glorious John expostulatedwith his old acquaintance upon his pertinacious folly.

  "You are," he said, "like foolish moths fluttering about a candle, whichis sure at last to consume you."

  "And you," said Bunce, "are a set of stingless drones, whom we can smokeout of your defences at our pleasure, with half-a-dozen ofhand-grenades."

  "Smoke a fool's head!" said Halcro; "take my advice, and mind your ownmatters, or there will be those upon you will smoke you to purpose.Either begone, or tell me in two words what you want; for you are liketo receive no welcome here save from a blunderbuss. We are men enough ofourselves; and here is young Mordaunt Mertoun come from Hoy, whom yourCaptain so nearly murdered."

  "Tush, man," said Bunce, "he did but let out a little malapert blood."

  "We want no such phlebotomy here," said Claud Halcro; "and, besides,your patient turns out to be nearer allied to us than either you or wethought of; so you may think how little welcome the Captain or any ofhis crew are like to be here."

  "Well; but what if I bring money for the stores sent on board?"

  "Keep it till it is asked of you," said Halcro. "There are two badpaymasters--he that pays too soon, and he that does not pay at all."

  "Well, then, let me at least give our thanks to the donor," said Bunce.

  "Keep them, too, till they are asked for," answered the poet.

  "So this is all the welcome I have of you for old acquaintance' sake?"said Bunce.

  "Why, what can I do for you, Master Altamont?" said Halcro, somewhatmoved.--"If young Mordaunt had had his own will, he would have welcomedyou with 'the red Burgundy, Number a thousand.' For God's sake begone,else the stage direction will be, Enter guard, and seize Altamont."

  "I will not give you the trouble," said Bunce, "but will make my exitinstantly.--Stay a moment--I had almost forgot that I have a slip ofpaper for the tallest of your girls there--Minna, ay, Minna is her name.It is a farewell from Captain Cleveland--you cannot refuse to give ither?"

  "Ah, poor fellow!" said Halcro--"I comprehend--I comprehend--Farewell,fair Armida--

  ''Mid pikes and 'mid bullets, 'mid tempests and fire, The danger is less than in hopeless desire!'

  Tell me but this--is there poetry in it?"

  "Chokeful to the seal, with song, sonnet, and elegy," answered Bunce;"but let her have it cautiously and secretly."

  "Tush, man!--teach me to deliver a billet-doux!--me, who have been inthe Wits' Coffee-house, and have seen all the toasts of the Kit-CatClub!--Minna shall have it, then, for old acquaintance' sake, Mr.Altamont, and for your Captain's sake, too, who has less of the core ofdevil about him than his trade requires. There can be no harm in afarewell letter."

  "Farewell, then, old boy, for ever and a day!" said Bunce; and seizingthe poet's hand, gave it so hearty a gripe, that he left him roaring,and shaking his fist, like a dog when a hot cinder has fallen on hisfoot.

  Leaving the rover to return on board the vessel, we remain with thefamily of Magnus Troil, assembled at their kinsman's mansion of Stennis,where they maintained a constant and careful watch against surprise.

  Mordaunt Mertoun had been received with much kindness by Magnus Troil,when he came to his assistance, with a small party of Norna'sdependants, placed by her under his command. The Udaller was easilysatisfied that the reports instilled into his ears by the Jagger,zealous to augment his favour towards his more profitable customerCleveland, by diminishing that of Mertoun, were without foundation. Theyhad, indeed, been confirmed by the good Lady Glowrowrum, and by commonfame, both of whom were pleased to represent Mordaunt Mertoun as anarrogant pretender to the favour of the sisters of Burgh-Westra, whoonly hesitated, sultan-like, on whom he should bestow the handkerchief.But common fame, Magnus considered, was a common liar, and he wassometimes disposed (where scandal was concerned) to regard the good LadyGlowrowrum as rather an uncommon specimen of the same genus. Hetherefore received Mordaunt once more into full favour, listened withmuch surprise to the claim which Norna laid to the young man's duty, andwith no less interest to her intention of surrendering to him theconsiderable property which she had inherited from her father. Nay, itis even probable that, though he gave no immediate answer to her hintsconcerning an union betwixt his eldest daughter and her heir, he mightthink such an alliance recommended, as well by the young man's personalmerits, as by the chance it gave of reuniting the very large estatewhich had been divided betwixt his own father and that of Norna. At allevents, the Udaller received his young friend with much kindness, and heand the proprietor of the mansion joined in intrusting to him, as theyoungest and most active of the party, the charge of commanding thenight-watch, and relieving the sentinels around the House of Stennis.