CHAPTER I
THE SALIHÉ ALONGSIDE THE GUARDIAN-MOTHER
"It seems to me that I have seen that little steam-yacht before," said Louis Belgrave, as the four young Americans stood upon the promenade deck of the Guardian-Mother, of which the speaker was the owner, though the young man was only seventeen years of age.
"Be the modther of me, it's the Sally Hay!" exclaimed Felix McGavonty, the Milesian of the party, though he could pronounce the President's English as well as any of his companions when he chose to do so.
"She certainly looks just like the Salihé," added George Scott Fencelowe, whom everybody on board addressed as Scott simply: and the three who had spoken had made a voyage in the little steamer from Funchal in Madeira to Gibraltar, where the Guardian-Mother was now moored inside of the New Mole.
"You fellows who have made a long cruise in her ought to know her if she is the Salihé," said Morris Woolridge. "I never even saw her but once, and I can throw no light on the subject."
"She was painted white when we made our trip in her, and now she is the color of a black cat," continued Scott, the oldest of the party and the best sailor and boatman, for he was eighteen, while Morris, the youngest, was only fourteen.
"It seems to me to be hardly possible that she can be the Salihé, though she looks like her in everything except her color," replied Louis. "If the Fatimé were here, I should have no doubt it was she."
"But the large steam-yacht of His Highness, Ali-Noury Pacha, is not here, and we know that she passed through the strait and went to sea; and that is what makes me think the craft is not the Salihé," added Scott, who had been for a short time in the service of the Pacha, and had made the voyage in the little steamer from Funchal.
"I suppose Ali-Noury could not very well take her with him on his trip up the Mediterranean, and he left her here," suggested Louis.
"If that were true, the Pacha would not have had her painted black," reasoned Scott; and there seemed to be a good deal of force in the argument.
"Where is Philopena?" demanded Felix. "Sure, he ought to know the shtaymer if he's acquainted wid his own fadther, for he was ingineman of the craft."
Felipe Garcias, a young Spaniard of eighteen, had been the engineer of the Salihé in the service of the Pacha, and being ill-treated by his Mohammedan employer, he had run away from Mogadore with the small steam-yacht. The steam-launch which was the subject of the conversation was coming out from the dockyard inside of the New Mole, and approaching the Guardian-Mother. Felipe, who was now an oiler on board of the steamer, was called by Morris, and his attention was directed to the approaching steam-yacht. He looked her over very carefully; but the change of color evidently perplexed him at first, though a little later he came to his conclusion.
"Salihé!" he exclaimed.
When Felipe came on board of the Guardian-Mother, he could not speak a word of English; but in the time that had since elapsed he had made good progress in acquiring it, though he was not yet fluent in the use of it.
"Are you sure of it, Phil?" asked Louis, who had translated his Spanish name into English, and then abbreviated it.
"Ver sure," replied Felipe decidedly. "I see some things what I know."
"She was white when we brought her here," added Louis.
"She has become black now; but I know some marks," persisted Felipe; and he proceeded to mention and point them out; but he spoke in Spanish to Louis, who had become tolerably fluent in the language by this time.
"Why don't ye's shpake to the man forninst her poilot-house," suggested Felix. "Perhaps he knows somephwat about her."
"That's a bright idea of yours, Felix; he would be likely to know something about her," laughed the owner of the Guardian-Mother.
The Salihé was making a course within twenty feet of the side of the steamer, and it was not a difficult matter to hail her. The man in the little box that was dignified with the name of pilot-house was the only person that could be seen on board of the little steamer, though there was doubtless another in the engine-room. The boat was moving along very slowly, and the pilot seemed to be looking about him all the time and in every direction.
"Salihé, ahoy!" shouted Louis.
"On board the steamer!" replied the man at the wheel, as he threw it over so as to direct the boat towards the gangway.
The Guardian-Mother was the steam-yacht of Louis Belgrave, who had become a millionaire at sixteen, less than a year before; and she was also the college of the young gentleman, for the vessel was provided with a study, or schoolroom, abaft the principal cabin, in which Professor Giroud, a very learned Frenchman, instructed him and his fellow-students in literature, science, history, and languages.
In what manner the steamer became the yacht and college of the young millionaire has been fully related and repeated in the preceding volumes of this series, and need hardly be repeated at length. She had sailed from New York on the first of December before, and had made an eventful voyage to the Bermudas, to Nassau, and around the island of Cuba, visiting all the principal ports.
Louis Belgrave, on account of the peculiar family circumstances that surrounded him, had fallen into many and various adventures, and passed through and out of not a few perilous situations. None of them were of his own choice, and he was not a seeker after Quixotic enterprises, though his excellent friend and trustee had dubbed him a knight, and called him "Sir Louis;" and his example had been followed by the commander and others on board.
Captain Royal Ringgold, commanding the steamer, had always been a friend of Louis, and especially of Mrs. Belgrave, his mother. The young millionaire had requested him to visit and examine a schooner he proposed to purchase for a yacht; and his mother and Felix had been his companions. The stirring adventures to which this visit gave rise strengthened the friendship before existing.
The captain had advised the purchase of the steamer to which Louis gave the name of "Guardian-Mother" as a sort of recognition of her who had given him being, and to whom he was devoted to a degree rarely observed even in good and worthy sons. He originated the idea of making the vessel the young gentleman's college, in which the study of books could be combined with foreign travel.
Squire Moses Scarburn was an old-fashioned lawyer, usually called Uncle Moses, and was one of the party. Dr. Philip Hawkes, an eminent physician and surgeon of New York, and Professor Pierre Giroud had become passengers in consequence of an accident. The doctor and the lawyer each weighed two hundred and twenty-six pounds and a fraction, and both of them were humorously inclined.
Mrs. Blossom had been the housekeeper of the squire, and a friend of Mrs. Belgrave; and she was on board as the companion of the owner's mother. The party in the state cabin of the steamer who had made the voyage to the West Indies, across the Atlantic, visiting Teneriffe and Madeira, voyaging from one port to another in European waters till they had spent several months in England, Holland, France, and the western part of Spain, consisted of the seven persons named.
Among the Bahama Islands they had picked up a bank defaulter, whose adopted son, Scott Fencelowe, had brought him there in the Seahound, his yacht. When Captain Ringgold realized that the bank officer was a defaulter, and had secured his plunder, he sent him back to the United States, forwarding the money he had stolen at the same time. The adopted son was a wild and reckless fellow, and his foster-father had practically bound him to the captain as a sort of apprentice.
The young scapegrace had run away three times, but had been reclaimed. He had reformed his life and manners, and was now a worthy young man, as he had been for about three or four months. From a common sailor, berthing with the crew, the captain had promoted him to the rank of quartermaster, messing with the officers, for he was a good steersman. He was also a student in the study, where the professor had four pupils.
Mr. Lowell Woolridge was a Fifth Avenue millionaire of New York, whose wife, son, and daughter, as well as himself, had increased the number of the party in the cabin to eleven, making up a dozen with the commander, who spent with them all the time he could spare from his duties. Mr. Woolridge had become acquainted with the Belgrave family through the agency of his yacht, the Blanche.
His daughter, a very beautiful and graceful young lady of sixteen, having some slight symptoms of a pulmonary disease, had been sent to Orotavo, in the island of Teneriffe, by the physicians, and her father had been advised to take her there in his yacht. In a long and violent gale the Blanche had nearly foundered; but the Guardian-Mother had saved the vessel and the family. Dr. Hawkes declared that nothing ailed the fair patient, and the Blanche accompanied the steamer on her voyage as far as Southampton.
On the passage there the commander and the Belgraves decided to invite the Woolridges to join the party on board of the steamer; and the arrangements had been completed at Southampton, so that the expense of the voyage around the world should be equally divided between the two millionaires. While the two parties were travelling in the United Kingdom, some needed alterations were made in the cabin of the steamer, increasing the number of staterooms.
Six of the rooms on board were provided with bathrooms, with all the appendages, and were as luxurious as the suites of a first-class hotel. Mr. Melancthon Sage, the chief steward, was a caterer of established reputation, and Monsieur Odervie, the chief cook, was an artist in his profession of the highest rank. In fact, everything on board of the Guardian-Mother was luxurious. The ship was good for eighteen knots an hour when driven, and was officered by men of skill and long experience. Besides the boatswain and three quartermasters, her crew of sixteen seamen were all picked men, and it would have been difficult to find their equals as a whole in any yacht that sailed the seas.
Felix McGavonty was born of an Irish father and mother, but within the United States; and he claimed to be as much an American as his friends and companions; and his claim was freely allowed by all of them. His mother was dead, and his father had "disappeared." The four young Americans on board of the Guardian-Mother were fast friends at the time of their introduction, though Scott had been heartily received as such at a recent date.
The little steam-yacht, though she was large enough to have a cabin, engine-room, and pilot-house, came up to the gangway of the ship. The boys, as the commander always called them when speaking of them collectively, went over the rail and descended the steps to the Salihé. Individually, Captain Ringgold, as well as all the officers and seamen, called Louis "Mr. Belgrave." Though he never put on airs, some little deference was extended to him by his companions on account of his ownership; but among themselves the boys were equals in every respect.
The man in the pilot-house stepped out, and when he had made fast to the side of the steamer, he invited the party on board. He was evidently an Englishman, for he slaughtered his h's without mercy, and was over fifty years old. He was well dressed, and one might have taken him for the mate of a merchantman. He was polite in his way, and provided his guests with seats.