Part 9 (1/2)
As may have been discovered, one of Quelch's failings was his fondness for liquor, and he soon imbibed enough to bring him into a state of unconsciousness. He thus had very little idea how the time pa.s.sed. As soon as he awoke he found another bottle placed by his side. Thus he could not tell whether he had been days or weeks on board the s.h.i.+p. All that he knew was, that he had been fearfully tossed about, and often horribly uncomfortable. It had not occurred to him to feel his beard, in so confused a state was his mind. At length he heard the Captain's voice calling him.
”Come up, if you please, Mr Quelch, we are off the coast of Africa, and it is time for you to be on sh.o.r.e. We will just see you comfortably landed, and then wish you farewell.”
The shades of evening were just settling down over the land, when Mr Quelch made his appearance on the deck. He could not distinguish objects distinctly, but he saw before him high hills and a sandy beach.
On looking over the side he discovered a boat with six black men in her.
”Good-bye, Mr Quelch,” cried the friendly Captain, as he took Mr Quelch's arm. ”Good luck go with you. May be the n.i.g.g.e.rs will look after you when they have put you on sh.o.r.e, but don't trust them too much, for it's small love they have for white men.”
Poor Quelch did not feel very comfortable on hearing this, but though inclined to resist, the b.u.t.t end of a pistol which was sticking out of the Captain's belt, and which that gentleman significantly began to handle, reminded him that resistance was useless. With a trembling heart he stepped into the boat. He was soon conveyed on sh.o.r.e. From the suppressed laughter of the crew, and from the broad grin which, as far as he could distinguish, appeared on their countenances, he had an idea that they were inclined to be amused at his expense.
”Dare, ma.s.sa,” said one of them, ”step on sh.o.r.e. Welcome to Africa.
Make yourself at home. De king of de country come and see you by-and-by. He very fond of eating men, but no eat you, me hope.”
Poor Jonas was compelled to obey, and being placed on sh.o.r.e, the boat again pulled away. Soon after she had disappeared round a rocky point he heard loud shouts coming from inland, and looking up he saw, to his horror and dismay, several black men dancing and shrieking, and showing by their gestures their intention of coming down, and of making him the chief article of their supper. He was now utterly overcome with terror, and dared not leave the sh.o.r.e lest he should fall into the hands of his enemies. Yet, as he had not been supplied with food or water, he was under the dread of dying from hunger or thirst. He sat himself down disconsolately on a rock. The shouts continued round and above him, which made him shrink within himself for fear.
”Oh, if ever I get back home to England it is the last time that I will undertake to serve a writ in the West of Ireland, at all events,” he said, over and over again to himself. Still the savages did not descend, though he every instant expected to see them rus.h.i.+ng towards him. At length the sounds ceased, and he sat himself down on the rock, where he remained all the night long, afraid of moving lest he should find himself attacked by them.
The morning broke. He saw a large s.h.i.+p in the offing, and after some time a boat left her side and came towards the spot where he was sitting. ”Oh!” he thought to himself, ”if I could get on board that s.h.i.+p how happy I should be.” No sooner did the boat's bow touch the sand than he ran towards her. ”Oh! Take me on board! Take me on board out of this savage land!” he exclaimed. ”I will do anything to serve you! I will make myself generally useful on board! There is nothing I will not do. Oh! Take me away out of the power of these blackamoors!”
”You may enter as a seaman, perhaps,” answered the mids.h.i.+pman, in command of the boat. ”If you will promise to do that, we will take you on board, but we have no idlers, and if you do not know your duty you must learn it as quickly as you can.”
Without further ado Quelch was lifted into the boat, which soon returned to the frigate. He found that she was the ”Grecian” frigate, and that she was standing on and off the land, waiting to take the Captain and some of the officers on board. He, however, was at once regularly entered, and found himself speedily transferred into a man-of-war's-man.
Scarcely had he signed the papers, than loud peals of laughter broke from the seamen round him. None, however, would explain the cause of their merriment. At length once more the frigate put about and stood towards the land. As he gazed at the sh.o.r.e, he could not help fancying that its appearance was very much like that of the neighbourhood of Ballyswiggan. At length he put the question to one of the people standing near him.
”Why, my boy,” was the answer of an old quarter-master, ”you have been nicely bamboozled. This comes of attempting to serve a writ in this part of the world. As to the coast of Africa, you have never been nearer it than you are at this present moment, nor much further from the place from which you started. However, take my advice; many a better man than you has found himself on board a man-of-war, and has had no cause to regret having done his duty.”
Jonas Quelch had the sense to see the wisdom of this counsel, and fortunately, being an unmarried man, made the best of his case, and, I can answer for it, became a very fair sailor in a short time, though his besetting sin occasionally interfered with his happiness and liberty, and brought him more than once into difficulties.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
I interrupted my narrative with an account of Mr Jonas Quelch's adventures, with which I shortly afterwards became acquainted. I wish I could describe the ball which followed the dinner I have already mentioned; how perseveringly the ladies danced country dances and jigs, and how furiously the gentlemen flung about, sprang here and there, rushed up and down the room, and performed antics of every possible description, such as might have astonished the more sober professors of the art across the channel. My mother stole into a corner of the room, where she could see without being observed, and nothing would induce her to go further. Although Captain. Oliver found her out, and entreated her to join in what was going forward, she refused to dance even with him.
”I could not resist joining in the fun as you do, Mrs Burton,” said Mr Schank, ”but I am afraid the ladies would object to my hopping up and down the room, lest I should come down upon their tender feet with my timber-toe, so I am obliged to abandon the sport I delighted in in my younger days.” Mr Gillooly, also, at length discovered her, and was far more persevering in his efforts to induce her to take part in the dance, though with no more success.
”Sure, Mistress Burton, you would not be after breaking a jintleman's heart, which is as soft as b.u.t.ther whenever he is thinking of you!” he exclaimed, pressing his hand on his bosom and looking up with an expression which he intended to be extremely captivating.
”Indeed, Mr Gillooly, but it is more likely that any heart you have got would be after melting rather than breaking,” remarked my mother, observing the fiery countenance and the violent perspiration into which her swain had thrown himself. ”My dancing days are over, and had I not supposed that the gentlemen here would have had the good taste not to press me to do what I dislike, I should not have ventured into the room.”
Nothing abashed, however, by this answer, Mr Gillooly continued to pour out his compliments into my mother's ear, and she had to be still more explicit before he would receive a refusal. At length he left her, and was soon afterwards seen rus.h.i.+ng about, as before, with one of my aunts, or with some other young lady of equal powers of endurance. Captain Oliver, after this, sat himself down by my mother's side.
”Your boy has grown into a fine big lad,” he observed, ”and though he is somewhat young, still I think he is strong enough to hold his own in a mids.h.i.+pman's berth, and if you are disposed to let him go, I am ready to take him.”
”A mids.h.i.+pman's berth!” exclaimed my mother, and a choking feeling came into her throat. ”Surely you cannot intend such advancement to my boy-- the boatswain's son. I never wished him to be above his station, and if he were to rise to be a boatswain like his dear father, I should be well contented.”
”Do not say that, Mrs Burton. His father was a fine seaman, and would have been an honour to the quarter-deck himself. I promised to befriend your boy, and I can do so far more if he is in the rank of a mids.h.i.+pman than if he is simply one of the s.h.i.+p's boys. From what I see of your relations and friends, indeed, though to be sure some of their doings are a little eccentric compared with our English notions, yet their position is such that their young relative should be placed in the rank of a gentleman. Say no more about it, I will a.s.sist him, and so I am sure will Mr Schank, in procuring his necessary outfit. That matter, therefore, need not trouble you, and I hope in a short time that he will pick up so much, prize-money that he will be able to support himself till he attains the rank of Lieutenant.”
Of course my mother could offer no objection to this very generous proposal. All she pleaded was, that I might remain a short time longer with her on sh.o.r.e. Lieutenant Schank then came in with a proposal which he had to make. It was that she should return to his mother's house, where I might employ my time to advantage in obtaining the instruction which I could not get at Ballybruree. This offer she gladly accepted.
Indeed, she told me that she had herself thought of returning to Whithyford, in order to avoid the persevering addresses of Mr Gillooly and her other admirers. The frigate was to remain on the coast for a week or ten days, after which time she had been ordered to go round to Portsmouth to refit. Captain Oliver, therefore, kindly offered my mother and me a pa.s.sage, should she in the meantime be able to make arrangements for her departure. For this proposal she was very grateful. A journey across the whole width of Ireland and England was both difficult, hazardous, and very expensive, if performed in a comfortable manner. I was delighted with the thoughts of meeting again the Little Lady with the kind Misses Schank; for I must confess that the habits and customs of my relatives did not suit my taste much more than they did that of my mother. As to the ball, I need not further describe it. The ladies who came from a distance occupied all the upper rooms in the house, while the gentlemen were stowed away in the lower rooms and out-houses, many of them, however, little knowing how they got to bed or where they were.