Part 18 (1/2)
I was carried immediately to a house which I found belonged to a Mr Hans Ringer, an attorney, who had charge of several plantations in that flouris.h.i.+ng neighbourhood. The doctor and he, it was evident, were on most intimate terms, for on our arrival, without any circ.u.mlocution, the latter at once said--
”I have brought a young mids.h.i.+pman who requires to be looked after, and I'd be obliged to you if you'd order your people to get a room ready for him immediately.”
I could scarcely have supposed that so serious an injury could have been so easily inflicted. Soon after my arrival I nearly fainted with the pain, but the doctor's treatment at length soothed it, and he was able to set the injured bones.
I must make a long story short, however.
Mr Ringer and his family treated me with the greatest kindness; indeed, nothing could surpa.s.s the hospitality of the inhabitants of Jamaica; and it was with the utmost difficulty, when I got better, that the doctor could get him to allow me to be carried to the barracks, where the fresher air would a.s.sist me in regaining my strength. Larry, of course, spent most of his time with me; indeed, had I not insisted on his going out, he never would have left my bedside.
I was now every day expecting the return of the frigate, when I believed that, well or ill, I should have to go on board her.
”That must depend on circ.u.mstances, my lad,” said Dr McMa.n.u.s. ”For if you can't go, you can't. The captain must find another opportunity of getting you on board.”
”But suppose the frigate has to fight an action, I would not be absent on any account,” I exclaimed.
”With a fractured tibia, and the inflammation which would be sure to supervene, you would not render much service to your country,” observed the doctor. ”When you have sufficiently recovered you can get back to Port Royal, and rejoin your s.h.i.+p; she's not likely to be sent to a distance while the enemy's fleet threaten the island. Indeed, we require all the forces on sh.o.r.e and afloat we can collect. I don't quite understand what we shall do if we are attacked here, though I'm very sure we shall fight to the last before we let the French and Spanish land.”
I saw that there was no use in arguing the point, but I was determined, if I could, to go off and rejoin my s.h.i.+p. Larry did his best to console me.
”It's not a bad place to be in, if you only had the use of your legs, Mr Terence. Them nager boys and girls are mighty funny creatures.
What bothers me most is that I didn't bring my fiddle on sh.o.r.e, for sure if I had, it would have been after setting them all dancing, till they danced out of their black skins. It's rare fun to see them laughing as if they'd split their sides, when I sing to them. They bate us Irishmen hollow at that fun, I'll allow. I find it a hard matter to contain myself when I see them rolling their eyes and showing their white teeth as they stretch their mouths from ear to ear.”
I happened to tell Dr McMa.n.u.s of Larry's talent.
”I'll try and get a fiddle for the boy, and put it to the test,” he said good-naturedly.
In the evening I was aroused from a nap into which I had fallen, by the sound of an Irish jig played on a violin, followed by shouts of laughter, clapping of hands, shrieks, and merriment, while the noise of feet from the courtyard below told me that Larry had been as good as his word. I thanked the doctor, who came in while the revels were at their height.
”I sent into the town and borrowed a fiddle, for I was sure that your follower's music would do as much good to the men as the fresh air of the hills. They and the black boys and girls are all toeing and heeling it together. The n.i.g.g.e.rs, I confess, beat them hollow in agility and endurance.”
I asked the doctor to wheel me to the window, that I might look out and see the fun. He good-naturedly complied, and a.s.sisted me to sit up.
There were forty or fifty white men, and almost double the number of blacks of both s.e.xes,--the women dressed in gay-coloured petticoats, with handkerchiefs round their heads; the men in white or striped cotton--the light colour contrasting with their dark skins,--one and all clapping their hands, snapping their fingers, and moving here and there in figures it was difficult to follow, but all evidently enjoying themselves immensely, judging by their grinning countenances and rolling eyes.
After this Larry became an immense favourite with the soldiers, as he found not a few of our countrymen among them. The officers of the little garrison were very kind to me, and I was never in want of society, as one or other was constantly by my bedside.
Notwithstanding this, as I got better I became more and more anxious to receive news of the frigate, and began to wonder what had become of her.
Though I could not walk, I saw no reason why I should not return on board. The doctor, however, was still of a different opinion; and I was greatly disappointed when, on returning from the town one day, he told me that she had come off the harbour, and that he had sent on board to say that I was not yet fit to be moved, but would rejoin my s.h.i.+p by the first opportunity after I was convalescent. I could only thank him for his kindness, keeping my feelings to myself.
At length I was able to get out of bed, and walk with the a.s.sistance of a crutch. Had the doctor and Larry not held me up, however, the first time I made the attempt, I should have fallen down again. I felt just as, I suppose, an infant does on his first trying to toddle. After this I got rapidly better, and was soon able to join the officers in the mess-room, and in a short time to throw away my crutches.
The first walk I proposed to take was into Savannah-le-Mer to inquire about vessels proceeding to Port Royal. I was accompanied by Ensign Duffy and Larry. With their help I got on better than I expected; and though I didn't feel inclined to take a leap, I fancied that if put to it I could run as well as ever.
We repaired to the house of Mr Ringer, who received us cordially, and from him I learnt that a fine vessel, the _Princess Royal_, would sail for Kingston the next day. He insisted on my remaining at his house, promising to drive me back to the barracks in the evening, that I might wish the kind doctor and my other friends there good-bye. We accordingly returned as he proposed. It was a difficult matter to get Larry away from his late companions, who seemed inclined to detain him _vi et armis_, the men grasping his hands, and the black girls hanging round him, many of them blubbering outright at the thoughts of parting from the ”lubly Irish boy dat play de fiddle,”--as for p.r.o.nouncing his name, that they found beyond their power.
The officers drank my health in overflowing b.u.mpers, and had I not remembered my uncle's advice, and prevented my own gla.s.s from being filled, I should not have been in a fit state to present myself at Mr Ringer's hospitable mansion. I remember thinking the night oppressively hot, and was thankful that Mr Ringer was good enough to drive me from the barracks into the town.
”I don't know what to make of the weather,” said my host the next morning, when we met at breakfast.
Not a breath of wind stirred the atmosphere, and it seemed as if all nature was asleep; while the sky, instead of being of a cerulean blue, was suffused, as the sun rose, with a fiery red tinge.
The hour--about noon--at which it was arranged that I should go on board was approaching. My host offered to accompany me down to the harbour, but before we reached it we encountered a violent squall, which almost took us off our legs, and sent Larry's hat flying up the street. He made chase after it, and we stopped to let him overtake us, while a number of other people, caught by the wind, pa.s.sed us running off in the same direction. At length his hat, driven into a doorway, was recovered, and Larry came battling against the wind to rejoin us.