Part 19 (1/2)
Whilst sitting at table the sweet little creature gave us her history, and recounted the circ.u.mstances which had placed her in her present position; but as there was nothing very remarkable in either, I shall give both in a condensed form, as I have a most wholesome dread of wearying my readers.
She told us that she was an only child, and that for the last ten years she had been a resident in Canton, whither her father had proceeded to take possession of a lucrative appointment. After a residence of five years there, her mother died; and her father, who was pa.s.sionately attached to his wife, seemed never to have recovered from the blow.
Five years more pa.s.sed away, and the husband followed his fondly-loved companion, dying (so Ella a.s.serted sobbingly) of no disease in particular, but of a gradual wasting away, the result, as she believed, of a slowly breaking heart. She thus found herself left alone and almost friendless in a strange land, and, after taking counsel with such friends as her father had made, _she_ had, with their a.s.sistance, disposed of everything, and had taken pa.s.sage in the _Copernicus_ to London, in the faint hope of being able to find some friends of her mother's of whom she had heard, but had never seen, her mother having contracted what is termed a _mesalliance_--in other words, a love-match with one whom her friends chose to consider infinitely beneath her in social position.
The s.h.i.+p was bound home by way of Cape Horn, having to call at the Sandwich Islands and Buenos Ayres on her way; and all had gone well until eight days before, when, it appeared, the s.h.i.+p was struck by a sudden squall some time during the night, thrown on her beam-ends, and dismasted; and as Ella had remained, during the whole time, cowering and terrified in her berth, she supposed the crew had gone away in the boats, forgetting her in their hurry and panic.
As soon as the squall was over, the s.h.i.+p had gradually righted again; and when she went on deck next morning, she found everything in a state of wreck and confusion.
Dinner ended, Bob and I adjourned to the deck to make preparations for transferring our fair young guest to the _Water Lily_, so as to be fairly away from the wreck again before nightfall.
As soon as we were out of the cabin, Bob observed:
”I call the falling in with this here _wrack_,” (so he p.r.o.nounced the word) ”downright providential, Harry. Here we has, fust of all, the very great pleasure of being of sarvice to a most charming young 'oman; and next, we has a chance of filling up our stores and water--and not afore 'twas time, too, for I bethought me this morning of seeing how our tank stood, and I'm blest if we ain't a'most at our last drop. It's lucky there's plenty of it aboard here. I sees more water-casks about the deck than will supply all as we wants; and I think our first job had better be to get the hose and pump under weigh, and fill up our water; a'ter which we can soon strike a few odds and ends into the cutter such as'll be useful, and then the sooner we're off the better.”
We set to work with a will; and Ella coming on deck at the moment, I requested her to pack her boxes in readiness for sending them over the side, asking her, at the same time, whether it would take her long.
She replied briskly, Oh, no; she had brought hardly anything with her-- only three large boxes and one small one.
Only! A chest apiece held Bob's and my own stock of clothing, and we considered ourselves opulently supplied; and here was a young girl who had brought hardly anything with her--only such few trifles as she could stow away in three large boxes and one small one. The three large boxes, by the way, turned out to be considerably larger than either of our sea-chests, and the small one would have sufficed for a seaman on a three years' voyage.
We did not hesitate about helping ourselves freely to the best the s.h.i.+p afforded, judging that it was highly improbable she would ever reach a port, unless fallen in with and taken possession of by an exceptionally strong-handed vessel (and even then our petty appropriations would never be missed); and we laid in a liberal stock of dainties of various kinds, for the especial benefit of our lady pa.s.senger, which we should never have dreamed of taking on our own account. We also transferred one coop, with as many fowls as it would conveniently accommodate, to the cutter; and I made free with a very handsome swinging-cot which I found in the captain's cabin, also for our pa.s.senger's use, together with a good stock of bedding.
All these we collected together on the lee-side of the deck; and when everything was ready, we got the cutter alongside, and, with considerable difficulty, got them over the side and down on her deck.
Bob went on board the _Water Lily_ to receive them and stow them away as I lowered them down, and at length all was ready, and it only remained to get Ella herself on board and shove off.
We had less difficulty with her than I expected. She was rather nervous; but, nevertheless, she seated herself courageously with her beloved kitten in her lap, in the bo'sun's chair I had rigged for her accommodation, and held on tight, shutting her eyes as she swung off the s.h.i.+p's bulwarks, until she felt Bob's brawny arms receive her on the deck of the cutter.
I then quickly followed; the fasts were cast off, and we wore round and stood away once more upon our course, just as the sun dipped below the horizon.
Our first task was to crowd all the canvas we could muster upon the yacht, to make up for the day's delay; and when Ella came up from the cabin, whither she had gone upon an exploring expedition, she expressed the greatest surprise and a little alarm at the change we had wrought in the _Water Lily's_ appearance.
She could not understand, she said, how so small a vessel could support such a towering spread of canvas as she now saw courting the fresh evening breeze.
The presence of our fair guest on board made certain alterations necessary in the internal arrangements of the cutter, and I left Bob at the helm in animated conversation with Ella, whilst I went below to effect them. Our cooking-stove was s.h.i.+fted aft, and the whole of the fore-compartment was thus left free for the accommodation of the young lady; and I at once converted it into a sleeping apartment for her by swinging her cot there.
I selected this part of the vessel for this purpose, as it was the only one in which she would be entirely uninterrupted by our pa.s.sage to and fro; and it was a nice light and _roomy_ apartment, in proportion to the size of the vessel, there being nothing in it, and having a large circular plate of very thick roughened plate-gla.s.s let into the deck above.
Having made the place as comfortable as our resources permitted, I returned to the deck and relieved Bob at the tiller, desiring him to look, after the arrangements for tea.
Our guest was sitting close by in one of our deck-chairs, which Bob had gallantly offered her, and hearing me speak of tea, and understanding that friend Robert was about to turn cook, she started up with child- like impetuosity and said, ”That is my work now; come along, Mr Trunnion, and show me your pantry, and where you keep all your things, and I will soon have your tea ready for you.”
I protested against this, as did Bob, both of us declaring that we could not possibly consent to her being troubled with the cooking or anything else; but she drew herself up in a pretty wilful way and said, ”Not let me do the cooking? Indeed, but you must; I insist on it. Why, it is woman's peculiar province to attend to the cooking always. Men never understand how to cook properly; they have neither tact nor patience for it. They dress food, but women cook it; and I will soon prove to you how great a difference there is between the two. Now you must let me have my own way just this once, please,” turning coaxingly to me, as she saw that I was about to make a further protest, and then, when I had reluctantly consented, she turned to Bob, and said, ”Come along, Bob-- Mr Trunnion, I mean; I really beg your pardon--you shall help me this time, and afterwards I shall know exactly where to find everything,” and the strangely-contrasted pair dived below, Bob grinning from ear to ear with delight at his novel situation.
”Reminds me of little 'sauce-box'” (my sister), ”this do,” he murmured gleefully, as he followed his fair companion below.
In rather over half an hour I was invited into the cabin to the evening meal, Bob taking my place at the tiller meanwhile; and when I descended I found that a change had indeed taken place in the aspect of culinary affairs.