“ Be patient,
for the prize I’ll bring thee to,
Shall hoodwink this mischance .”
Tempest.
The air, audacity, and language of
the unknown mariner, had produced a marked sensation
among the passengers of the periagua. It was plain,
by the playfulness that lurked about the coal-black
eye of la belle Barberie, that she had been amused
by his sarcasms, though the boldness of his manner
had caused her to maintain the reserve which she believed
necessary to her sex and condition. The Patroon
studied the countenance of his mistress, and, though
half offended by the freedom of the intruder, he had
believed it wisest to tolerate his liberties, as the
natural excesses of a spirit that had been lately
released from the monotony of a sea-life. The
repose which usually reigned in the countenance of
the Alderman had been a little troubled; but he succeeded
in concealing his discontent from any impertinent
observation. When the chief actor in the foregoing
scene, therefore, saw fit to withdraw, the usual tranquillity
was restored, and his presence appeared to be forgotten.
An ebbing tide and a freshening breeze
quickly carried the periagua past the smaller islands
of the bay and brought the cruiser called the Coquette
more distinctly into view. This vessel, a ship
of twenty guns, lay abreast of the hamlet on the shores
of Staten Island, which was the destination of the
ferry-boat. Here was the usual anchorage of outward-bound
ships, which awaited a change of wind; and it was
here, that vessels then, as in our times, were subject
to those examinations and delays which are imposed
for the safety of the inhabitants of the city.
The Coquette was alone, however; for the arrival of
a trader, from a distant port, was an event of unfrequent
occurrence, at the commencement of the eighteenth century.
The course of the periagua brought
her within fifty feet of the sloop-of-war. As
the former approached, a movement of curiosity and
interest occurred among those she contained.
“Take more room for your milk-maid,”
grumbled the Alderman, observing that the schipper
was willing to gratify his passengers, by running as
near as possible to the dark sides of the cruiser.
“Seas and oceans! is not York-bay wide enough,
that you must brush the dust out of the muzzles of
the guns of yon lazy ship? If the Queen knew how
her money was eaten and drunk, by the idle knaves
aboard her, she would send them all to hunt for freebooters
among the islands. Look at the land, Alida, child,
and you’ll think no more of the fright the gaping
dunce is giving thee; he only wishes to show his skill
in steering.”
But the niece manifested none of the
terror that the uncle was willing to ascribe to her
fears. Instead of turning pale, the color deepened
on her cheeks, as the periagua came dancing along,
under the lee of the cruiser; and if her respiration
became quicker than usual, it was scarcely produced
by the agitation of alarm. The near sight of the
tall masts, and of the maze of cordage that hung nearly
above their heads, however, prevented the change from
being noted. A hundred curious eyes were already
peeping at them, through the ports, or over the bulwarks
of the ship, when suddenly, an officer, who wore the
undress of a naval captain of that day, sprang into
the main rigging of the cruiser, and saluted the party
in the periagua, by waving his hat, hurriedly, like
one who was agreeably taken by surprise.
“A fair sky and gentle breezes
to each and all!” he cried with the hearty manner
of a seaman. “I kiss my hand to the fair
Alida; and the Alderman will take a sailor’s
good wishes; Mr. Van Staats, I salute you.”
“Ay,” muttered the burgher,
“your idlers have nothing better to do, than
to make words answer for deeds. A lazy war and
a distant enemy make you seamen the lords of the land,
Captain Ludlow.”
Alida blushed still deeper, hesitated,
and then, by a movement that was half involuntary,
she waved her handkerchief. The young Patroon
arose, and answered the salutation by a courteous
bow. By this time the ferry-boat was nearly past
the ship, and the scowl was quitting the face of the
Alderman, when the mariner of the India-shawl sprang
to his feet, and, in a moment, he stood again in the
centre of their party.
“A pretty sea-boat, and a neat
show aloft!” he said, as his understanding eye
scanned the rigging of the royal cruiser, taking the
tiller at the same time, with all his former indifference,
from the hands of the schipper. “Her Majesty
should have good service from such a racer, and no
doubt the youth in her rigging is a man to get most
out of his craft. We’ll take another observation.
Draw away your head-sheet, boy.”
The stranger had put the helm a-lee,
while speaking, and by the time the order he had given
was uttered, the quick-working boat was about, and
nearly filled on the other tack. In another minute,
she was again brushing along the side of the sloop-of-war.
A common complaint against this hardy interference
with the regular duty of the boat, was about to break
out of the lips of the Alderman and the schipper,
when he of the India-shawl lifted his cap, and addressed
the officer in the rigging, with all the self-possession
he had manifested in the intercourse with those nearer
his person.
“Has Her Majesty need of a man
in her service who has seen, in his time, more blue
water than hard ground; or is there no empty berth
in so gallant a cruiser, for one who must do a seaman’s
duty, or starve?”
The descendant of the king-hating
Ludlows, as the Lord Cornbury had styled the race
of the commander of the Coquette, was quite as much
surprised by the appearance of him who put this question,
as he was by the coolness with which a mariner of
ordinary condition presumed to address an officer
who bore so high a commission as his own. He had,
how ever, sufficient time to recollect in whose presence
he stood, ere he replied, for the stranger had again
placed the helm a-lee, and caused the foresail to be
thrown aback; a change that made the periagua
stationary.
“The Queen will always receive
a bold mariner in her pay, if he come prepared to
serve with skill and fidelity,” he said; “as
a proof of which, let a rope be thrown the periagua;
we shall treat more at our ease under Her Majesty’s
pennant. I shall be proud to entertain Alderman
Van Beverout, in the mean time: and a cutter
will always be at his command, when he shall have
occasion to quit us.”
“Your land-loving Aldermen find
their way from a Queen’s cruiser to the shore,
more easily than a seaman of twenty years’ experience;”
returned the other, without giving the burgher time
to express his thanks for the polite offer of the
other. “You have gone through the Gibraltar
passage, without doubt, noble captain, being a gentleman
that has got so fine a boat under his orders?”
“Duty has taken me into the
Italian seas, more than once,” answered Ludlow,
half disposed to resent this familiarity, though too
anxious to keep the periagua near, to quarrel with
him who so evidently had produced the unexpected pleasure.
“Then you know that, though
a lady might fan a ship through the straits eastward,
it needs a Levant breeze to bring her out again.
Her Majesty’s pennants are long, and when they
get foul around the limbs of a thoroughly-bred sea-dog,
it passes all his art to clear the jam. It is
most worthy of remark that the better the seaman, the
less his power to cast loose the knot!”
“If the pennant be so long,
it may reach farther than you wish! But
a bold volunteer has no occasion to dread a press.”
“I fear the berth I wish is
filled,” returned the other, curling his lip:
“let draw the fore-sheet, lad; we will take our
departure, leaving the fly of the pennant well under
our lee. Adieu, brave Captain; when you have
need of a thorough rover, and dream of stern-chases
and wet sails, think of him who visited your ship
at her lazy moorings.”
Ludlow bit his lip, and though his
fine face reddened to the temples, he met the arch
glance of Alida, and laughed. But he who had so
hardily braved the resentment of a man, powerful as
the commander of a royal cruiser in a British colony,
appeared to understand the hazard of his situation.
The periagua whirled round on her heel, and the next
minute it was bending to the breeze, and dashing through
the little waves towards the shore. Three boats
left the cruiser at the same moment. One, which
evidently contained her captain, advanced with the
usual dignified movement of a barge landing an officer
of rank, but the others were urged ahead with all
the earnestness of a hot chase.
“Unless disposed to serve the
Queen, you have not done well, my friend, to brave
one of her commanders at the muzzles of his guns.”
observed the Patroon, so soon as the state of the
case became too evident to doubt of the intentions
of the man-of-war’s men.
“That Captain Ludlow would gladly
take some of us out of this boat, by fair means or
by foul, is a fact clear as a bright star in a cloudless
night; and, well knowing a seaman’s duty to his
superiors, I shall leave him to his choice.”
“In which case you will shortly
eat Her Majesty’s bread,” pithily returned
the Alderman.
“The food is unpalatable, and
I reject it and yet here is a boat, whose’
crew seem determined to make one swallow worse fare.”
The unknown mariner ceased speaking,
for the situation of the periagua, was truly getting
to be a little critical. At least so it seemed
to the less-instructed landsmen, who were witnesses
of this unexpected rencontre. As the ferry-boat
had drawn in with the island, the wind hauled more
through the pass which communicates with the outer
bay, and it became necessary to heave about, twice,
in order to fetch to windward of the usual landing-place.
The first of these manoeuvres had been executed, and
as it necessarily changed their course, the passengers
saw that the cutter to which the stranger alluded
was enabled to get within-shore of them; or nearer
to the wharf, where they ought to land, than they were
themselves. Instead of suffering himself to be
led off by a pursuit, that he knew might easily be
rendered useless, the officer who commanded this boat
cheered his men, and pulled swiftly to the point of
debarkation. On the other hand, a second cutter,
which had already reached the line of the periagua’s
course, lay on its oars, and awaited its approach.
The unknown mariner manifested no intention to avoid
the interview. He still held the tiller, and
as effectually commanded the little vessel as if his
authority were of a more regular character. The
audacity and decision of his air and conduct, aided
by the consummate mariner in which he worked the boat,
might alone have achieved this momentary usurpation,
had not the general feeling against impressment been
so much in his favor.
“The devil’s fangs!”
grumbled the schipper. If you should keep the
Milk-Maid away, we shall lose a little in distance,
though I think the man-of-war’s men will be
puzzled to catch her, with a flowing sheet!”
“The Queen has sent a message
by the gentleman,” the mariner rejoined:
“it would be unmannerly to refuse to hear it.”
“Heave-to, the periagua!”
shouted the young officer, in the cutter. “In
Her Majesty’s name, I command you, obey.”
“God bless the royal lady!”
returned he of the foul anchors and gay shawl, while
the swift ferry-boat continued to dash ahead.
“We owe her duty, and are glad to see so proper
a gentleman employed in her behalf.”
By this time the boats were fifty
feet asunder. No sooner was there room, than
the periagua once more flew round, and commenced anew
its course, dashing in again towards the shore.
It was necessary, however, to venture within an oar’s-length
of the cutter, or to keep away, a loss of
ground to which he who controlled her movements showed
no disposition to submit. The officer arose,
and, as the periagua drew near, it was evident his
hand held a pistol, though he seemed reluctant to
exhibit the weapon. The mariner stepped aside,
in a manner to offer a full view of all in his group,
as he sarcastically observed
“Choose your object, Sir; in
such a party, a man of sentiment may have a preference.”
The young man colored, as much with
shame at, the degrading duty he had been commissioned
to perform, as with vexation at his failure. Recovering
his self-composure, however, he lifted his hat to la
belle Barberie, and the periagua dashed on, in triumph.
Still the leading cutter was near the shore, where
it soon arrived, the crew lying on their oars at the
end of the wharf, in evident expectation of the arrival
of the ferry-boat. At this sight, the schipper
shook his head, and looked up in the bold face of
his passenger, in a manner to betray how much his mind
misgave the result. But the tail mariner maintained
his coolness, and began to make merry allusions to
the service which he had braved with so much temerity,
and from which no one believed he was yet likely to
escape. By the former manoeuvres, the periagua
had gained a position well to windward of the wharf;
and she was now steered close upon the wind, directly
for the shore. Against the consequences of a
perseverance in this course, however, the schipper
saw fit to remonstrate.
“Shipwrecks and rocky bottoms!”
exclaimed the alarmed waterman. “A Holland
galliot would go to pieces, if you should run her in
among those stepping-stones, with this breeze!
No honest boatman loves to see a man stowed in a cruiser’s
hold, like a thief caged in his prison; but when it
comes to breaking the nose of the Milk-Maid, it is
asking too much of her owner, to stand by and look
on.”
“There shall not be a dimple
of her lovely countenance deranged,” answered
his cool passenger. “Now, lower away your
sails, and we’ll run along the shore, down to
yon wharf. ’Twould be an ungallant act to
treat the dairy-girl with so little ceremony, gentlemen,
after the lively foot and quick evolutions she has
shown in our behalf. The best dancer in the island
could not have better played her part, though jigging
under the music of a three-stringed fiddle!”
By this time the sails were lowered,
and the periagua was gliding down towards the place
of landing, running always at the distance of some
fifty feet from the shore.
“Every craft has its allotted
time, like a mortal,” continued the inexplicable
mariner of the India-shawl. “If she is to
die a sudden death, there is your beam-end and stern-way,
which takes her into the grave without funeral service,
or parish prayers; your dropsy is being water-logged;
gout and rheumatism kill like a broken back and loose
joints; indigestion is a shifting cargo, with guns
adrift; the gallows is a bottomry-bond, with lawyers’
fees; while fire, drowning, death by religious melancholy,
and suicide, are a careless gunner, sunken rocks,
false lights, and a lubberly captain.”
Ere any were apprized of his intention,
this singular being then sprang from the boat on the
cap of a little rock, over which the waves were washing,
whence he bounded, from stone to stone, by vigorous
efforts, till he fairly leaped to land. In another
minute, he was lost to view, among the dwellings of
the hamlet.
The arrival of the periagua, which
immediately after reached the wharf, the disappointment
of the cutter’s crew, and the return of both
the boats to their ship, succeeded as matters of course.