Part 10 (2/2)
”'Don't say the last!' interrupts Pluck 'Seeing it's you, citizen, ont argue that point just now Satisfied on the dockerments, ain't ye?'
”'Confound the dockerments! I don't want to bother myself with thenal,' says the Britisher, whoot nicely smoothed down
”'Reckon how there won't be any mistake about it next time Give us yer hand, captain' (Pluck shakes hands with the Britisher) 'They say the Pinkey, Starlight--you know she's a ripper to fish inside of the line!--got into a monstrous shoal of fresh mackerel day afore yesterday, and is now takin' on 'em like sixty, inside of the line, down _north-east_ of us'
”'Do you tellinside of the line? And inside the point as well, I suppose?' The Britisher looked surprised, and listened attentively to Pluck as he assumed an air of innocence
”'Just so! Smooth is the keenest feller Don't care a whit about the line; and the Starlight's so hty used to fishi+n' inside, that even the fish seem to have a likin' for the skipper'
”'I'll see after that treaty-breaker, I will,' growls the chap, changing his good natur' into bad again
”'Down _north-east of us_ ye'll find hi all over serious
”'I'll catch the fellow, and right soon, too;' and, being right good friends, they shook hands, and the Britisher left, quite satisfied
Just as he, in his boat, was leavin' the spunk for the Devastation, Pluck bellowed out, fearin' he'd forget it, 'Keep a straight course, _north-east_ about two points east! about two points east! and yer sure to co Pluck saw of the Devastation, she was heading for _the supposed spot_, steering away, drivin' all the fish into the ht where Pluck said she was
”No sooner was the Devastation put all right than Pluck hauled his wind, and next hty barrels of fine fat ht and the spunk both run in for a shelter, where the spoils could be shared according to practical diploettin' the question into an inter helped the folks on shore with their political s, stepped on board again, and took coht without any extra trouble But that was not the end of it The looks of such fine fat fish raised a ot the politics and the prayer un to talk fish They declared the Yankees had encroached on the Britisher's rights Despatches were next day to go to head-quarters, a whole British fleet anted, and ht--fish and all The whole talk and noise didn't --acting was his o-ahead 'Bloay, citizens--bloay! A little h for us all; but politics and prayer s will not catch theood people of Nova Scotia were, in days gone by, exceedingly given to Toryism, and, as was then held to be the natural result, very loyal To such an extent was this loyalty and love of Toryism--as it was then called--carried, that a person who consuoods'
was seriously suspected of soainst the State The consurown produce was, on the other hand taken as strong testi the interests of the State The very presence of 'Yankee goods' was oood people should be kept well up to their Toryis the exclusive consumption of British produce Tea from the United States was prohibited for the benefit of the East India Company--powder must be British!+ Tobacco paid i to a prohibition; and the consuant aristocrat, who either had dealings with s his fortune in the ways of the devil In a word, iies of the people, and gave new life to a contraband trade that was fast destroying the best interests of the State The result was, that the best senerally happened that the oods' was sure to be deepest iler in those days it was necessary to be a justice of the peace: and if the office were coupled with that of church warden so much the better About this time there was, in the Bay of Fundy, an old coaster of the name of Hornbloho knew every creek, cove, inlet and headland, together with all the best points for s, from the St Croix River to Windsor Bay on the one side, and froton on the other Skipper Hornblower, as he was then called, had the go-ahead in hile, who carried on a strictly _legitih he always gave out that he hated them as a people, nor would ever sell a pennyworth of their notions which he denounced as worthless
Hornbloas a _brusque_ old salt, but had a right good heart in hi the way trade was restricted by iht it no harm to work to ard of the collectors now and then, and accommodate his friends in a free-trade sort of way Tea, 'in thes and a day's journey per pound, and a gallon of ood old women in more remote parts of the province, must have their tea, and molasses was an indispensable luxury, for they were indeed poor But they were compelled to buy of the established merchant, as a sort of prince in his way, and dictated his terot rich Molasses, tea, tobacco, and ruland white-eye, labelled Jath of credit he added corresponding prices, never forgetting to take good security His medium price for tick was only forty per cent addition, which he considered extre colonial policy, commerce was turned into the merest peculation by a class of persons who riculturist, and hold his interests at their mercy The more the farmer raised, the more he found himself subject to the shopkeeper's narrow restrictions; and thus the interests of a naturally energetic people were held in check The Home Government (God bless it! as the very loyal Provincials used to say when the Iht little about the outside Nova Scotians, except to say, once in a while, that the territory they inhabited belonged to her Majesty, which fact the people of the province were forcibly reentlemen, whom it had pleased her Majesty to place in all responsible offices In fact, the Hoh its pewter-headed policy, was for everlaws to suit the is of loyalty and toryis this state of affairs, Skipper Hornblower's fame sounded far and wide, andexploits, and how Squire Burgle always kept a large stock of British goods on hand, which he never sold cheaper than any body else, though he got richer Hornblower's account of how he and the Squire carried on business together in the good old tile,' said Hornblower, 'was a great s in his prayers every night and , and hoped all those fearless men that followed it would see the error of their way, turn to her Majesty, and make their loyalty honor the State Squire used to send me to Boston--(the Dash was the only craft in the trade then)--with little things to sell, and a return cargo of flour, gin, tobacco, and such like Yankee notions, which the Nova Scotians racious duties, to fetch home Well, the Squire lived at the town of Annapolis, twenty by, at its entrance, was the only port of entry within a hundredthat I liked to make quick trips, it was not always convenient to stop at this obdurate port of entry, and so I used to lay the Dash's head for a piece of dark wood on a point of land outside the entrance (always being careful to have a clearance in _merchandise_) and run her close aboard of it Squire had a cousin living near that bit of wood, who used to understand the thing, and could sight the Dash's signal tenoff and on until sundown, the Squire's cousin would hang out a light on a tree; if at the top it was the signal--'All right;' if half-ht! the boys used to say, when it gleamed at the tree top' Then into the basin and up the river we used to dodge, passing on the opposite side of the river, and as far fro a point on the banks where the cargo was to be discharged, while the folks on shore were all nicely sleeping The Squire, of course, had said his prayers, or, as it soone to Digby, for the purpose of giving her Majesty's Collector a ride into the country The Collector was always an inity, which the Nova Scotians had to 'tip' out of hi to their notion of such a being In addition to taking the Collector a short pleasure trip into the country, the Squire had a nigger fellow, of the na as a fox, could tell the Dash was co he always said he saas in the clouds Tom lived on Pin Point, where the Squire had his half-arehouse, always full of foreign goods, on which no one could tell how much duty had been paid This half-arehouse, which Tom called his, used to atone for a monstrous quantity of sins The Squire, however, declared he had established it there, in the fulness of his generosity, merely to acco did not enable the marts at either extreme But, when custo with the Squire, they generally found it closed, and Old To it here master only did his wholesale business This was accepted on the ground that the Squire and Tom were very funny individuals Well, ould run to the Point at night, and To ready to oods into the warehouse, where, in six hours, they would be all transferred into real British growth andthis tis as if he kne Indeed no sooner were the goods out than we ain
”Next , the sun about two hours up, you would see the Dash away down the bay, as calnorant of Hornblower's arrival--would be putting on the longest face in the town of Annapolis, going up and down the street quite disconsolate, and cliht the Dash below 'Hornblower's gone this ti his head, 'must be lost! must be lost! must be lost!' And the Squire would tell about his horrid drea a chest of tea (real congou), and the Collector catching him on the spot 'Hornblower's tricky--he larnt it of the Yankees--and I's for hi it is to have a clear conscience!' he would say: the last sentence referring to hi of the Squire's secrets, and when he , and walked the wharf after breakfast, s, she was sure to arrive in the afternoon There was virtue in the Squire, but the citizens got the hang of it so well, that whenever I arrived at town they would say: 'It's only Hornblower's ghost'
”While the Squire would be doing what he called the straight-forward up in town, I'd be dropping kedge at Digby, where (the Colonial Parlia-boat, that sh their little operations without trouble) ould send our own boat for the collector Used to have everything as bright as a new sixpence, and colors flying, and my own face squared up to do the honest, when that i all the ie, eh, Hornblower?' the prim collector used to ask, as he mounted the rail
”'Blowed like cannons, outside, last night! Seeing hoe had just ballast in her, like to tipped her over,' I'd say, bowing, keepingthe polite all up
”'Didn't have a chance to s to that, eh?'
”'Yer honor knows Hornblower never does that sort of thing The Squire,face hard down
”'Yes, Hornblower, I know your owner to be conscientious and pious; that is why I always let you off so easy' And the collector would look so credulously good-natured that I couldn't help drawing out a roll of cigars, telling hi theood to see how it--ss about his heart I would iood care to have h in the hold to correspond as set forth on the clearance and les, except it is a few cigars now and then, for overnment makes lahat people can't live to, you must live round them; but them ain't my principles'
”'Thank you, Mr Hornblower, I ale,' he would resued to you for the confidence--the confidence of superiors in spirit or body; and I hope Ibut ill h life to keep before ood old mother Ah! she was a mother Fond soul, she used to say, 'Solo with the world be marked by honesty, and remember that one small error in your lifeworld once excited to suspicion will ever wear the sa more anted to make complete the Squire's confidence
Without further detention, he would have the papersreceived them, ould tri us off Pin Point, and laughing hi us after the fashi+on of friendsabsence All this ti on the wharf at the little town of Annapolis--so glad to see Hornblower! 'No contraband goods on board, eh, Hornblower?' he would inquire, affecting such an ah inof tobacco!' I would reply, contes we had entered at Her Majesty's Custoard for Her Majesty; nor have I the least doubt of the Squire's honesty, which would have been all right had it not been for the law and parlia played his part after the ood Christian, he would seek his way ho
”But the beauty of the Squire's nature, as illustrated in his pious hatred of s Her Majesty, would shi+ne out bright on the day the Dash left on her return voyage I was sure of an invitation to breakfast with hi, and he was equally sure to paint the purity of his conscience in such glowing colors that it was difficult for me to maintain a serious face When we had eaten bread, and he had offered up his prayer (in which he always remembered Her Majesty), he would accoot on board, and cast off, he would mount the most prominent place on the cap-sill, where the citizens assembled could hear hiood-bye One word le a pennyworth for anybody' My reply alas that I would follow his advice with christian strictness Then he would er that cravat so white, and fix in his face such becolasses, which I never liked, covered his eyes to great advantage 'Remember what I have always endeavored to impress on your mind,' he would continue; 'honesty is the best policy--it is!'