CHAPTER XII.
SUGGESTIONS OF ANOTHER CONSPIRACY.
I felt like a beleaguered general who had just opened communication with his reinforcements, when I again found myself holding intercourse, even by letter, with my father. It seemed as though a new life had begun for me. My father was happy, and so was I. He declared that he should join me as soon as his business would allow him to leave England; and that when he found me, as he should wherever I wandered, he never would leave me again.
My father alluded at considerable length to "his best and truest friend," Mr. Tiffany. He had written to him, and desired him to take an interest in my affairs if he thought I needed any assistance, either with money or counsel. This was a partial explanation of the conduct of Mr. Tiffany; but he was a very strange man because he said nothing to me about his instructions from my father.
Before I had finished reading the rest of my letters, Washburn came into the room; but when he saw I was engaged, he began to retire. I asked him to remain. He was my ever-faithful friend. He had fathomed the conspiracy against me, and I valued his counsel more than that of any other person. He had my fullest confidence, though he never sought to know my business.
I related to him all the incidents of my visit to the city, including a full account of my adventures with the Boomsbys and the other snake. I need not say that he was intensely interested.
"That Boomsby ought to be hung!" he exclaimed, as soon as I had finished my story.
"Perhaps not," I replied, giving the captain's explanation of the presence of the snake in the closet.
"I should like to follow that lodger's history, if Captain Boomsby had any such person in his house, which I do not believe," added the mate. "When I go on shore I will try to find out whether or not he had any lodger, and I think I can get at it."
"It is hardly worth the trouble," I replied.
"I think it is. For months we have been satisfied that this villain means you harm; but we have never been able to prove anything," said Washburn, with energy. "It is time to quit fooling with such matters. If he did not mean to sink the Sylvania for your benefit, he never meant anything in his life; but he explained it away, and everybody that knows anything about it, except you and I, believes that the accident was simply the result of his drunken condition on that morning. It is time to prove some of these things."
"I have no objection to having them proved."
"I will spend all the time I have on shore in this business; and I am--What was that?"
The mate suddenly jumped from his chair, and rushed out of the room by the new door on the port side. I followed him.
"What are you doing at that window?" demanded Washburn, to a man he had collared near the door of the engine-room, for he had pluck enough to pick up a water moccasin, if the occasion required.
I could not make out the man in the darkness; and I did not quite comprehend the reason for his sudden assault on him. All the windows of our state-room were open, for the evening was warm.
"I wasn't doing anything, Mr. Washburn," pleaded the culprit, in whose voice I recognized that of Griffin Leeds.
"You were standing under the open window of the captain's room!" continued the mate, releasing his hold on the waiter when he found he offered no resistance.
"No, sir; I wasn't standing there," replied Griffin, in a meeching tone. "I got asleep on the fo'castle after you went in; and I just waked up. I was just going below to turn in when you came out and got hold of me. That's the whole of it, sir."
"If I ever catch you under an open window again, I will throw you overboard. We don't have anything of that kind on board of this steamer," said the mate, in a very decided tone.
Griffin went below to his quarters under the forecastle, and Washburn followed me into the room. I thought he was a little rough on the new waiter, who had given excellent satisfaction in the forward cabin. I said as much as this to the mate.
"The rascal was listening under that window to the talk between you and me," replied Washburn. "If you agree to have that thing done on board, you are the captain, and I have nothing more to say about it."
"If you are satisfied that he was listening to us, you did just right. But I move to amend by substituting his discharge for throwing him overboard," I replied, laughing. "Do you think the fellow heard what we were saying?"
"I have no doubt of it: he had been there for some time, for I heard a slight noise at that window soon after I came in; and I am confident he had been there ever since. I confess that I do not like the fellow very much, for I have seen him skulking about the deck with a hang-dog look which I don't admire. I have suspected him of something, though I don't know what, since the first day he came on board. While I am in for it, Alick, I might as well add that Cornwood is just such another fellow."
"Cornwood?" I asked, very much surprised, for I had not noticed anything in either the Floridian or the waiter to attract my attention.
"I don't know anything about Cornwood; and I suppose you looked up his record before you engaged him. At any rate, he acts like a snake, in my way of thinking," added the mate, whom none could accuse of covering up anything he believed or thought.
"I did inquire about him in St. Augustine: people thought well of his knowledge and ability, though they agree that he is a brag and a boaster."
"If there were nothing worse than that about him, I should only laugh. But I think he is a snake."
"What makes you think so?"
"I don't know; I only know that I do think so."
"But you are not a fellow to think ill of anybody without some reason for it."
"I have no reason, except his looks and actions," replied the mate. "I make no charges against him, and I can prove nothing; but Cornwood is a fellow that will bear watching."
"That is just what the Hon. Pardon Tiffany took the trouble to tell me this afternoon," I added, relating the particulars of my interview with that gentleman.
"I am glad there is some one besides myself who has an opinion on the subject," said Washburn.
"Cornwood was in Captain Boomsby's rumhole when I came down stairs after the row in the attic," I added, watching the face of my friend to notice the effect of this announcement.
"That's the best place for him; only this fellow will do a piece of treachery better than Boomsby can. Cornwood will not get drunk when he has a heavy job of iniquity on his hands. Boomsby is a wolf: this fellow is a snake. Cornwood reminds me of a kind of reptile they have in these parts, called the small rattlesnake. He is a little fellow, and you can't hear his rattle; but his bite will kill you as quick as that of a five-footer. You can't see or hear him, and the first thing you know you are a dead man. That's Cornwood's style, as I understand him."
"You are rough on him. What you say of him, and what you have done to Griffin, remind me that the two men seemed to have some connection before we engaged either of them," I continued, thinking of the events of that first day in St. Augustine. "Griffin brought off Cornwood in a boat."
"And when you apply to Cornwood for a stewardess, Griffin's wife appears to take the place. But I am bound to say I believe she is a lady," added the mate.
"Then you think we are marching into hot water, do you, Washburn?" I asked with interest.
"I don't say you are: I don't know that you are: only that we had better keep our eyes wide open, as Mr. Tiffany suggests. But it does look to me as though some sort of a storm is brewing."
"But where can the storm possibly come from?"
"From that rumhole in Bay Street which you visited this afternoon. I have heard that Boomsby threatened a dozen times to be the destruction of you. He says you have been the plague of his life; that you have crossed and defeated him so many times that he will be the 'ruination' of you yet. This is out of pure revenge. Besides this, he believes your father is dead, and that, if he can get you out of the way, or bring you into subjection to what he calls his authority, this steamer will come into his possession. I know he is a fool; but he believes all this nonsense."
"Then you mean to suggest--without being able to prove it--that Cornwood is an agent of Captain Boomsby; and that Griffin Leeds is a tool of Cornwood, sent on board to watch me, as well as to wait on the fore-cabin table," I added, putting the various hints into words.
"I don't say it means anything; but that is what it means, if anything," replied Washburn after some hesitation. "Nothing can be proved; and we should not be justified in doing anything on mere suspicion. All we have to do is to keep a close watch on Cornwood and Griffin Leeds."
We agreed to do this, but in such a manner as not to alarm the conspirators, if they were such. I told Washburn then that I had letters from my father, and gave him both of them to read. While he was thus engaged, I began a letter to my father.
"The last one is written in good spirits," said the mate, as he laid the letters on my table. "But isn't it a little strange that you have no letter of later date than last January from your father? I should have supposed there would have been three or four more letters awaiting you; I mean those he must have written in January."
"I think there is nothing strange about that," I replied; but my heart sank within me at the very thought of any more doubts and uncertainties. "I wrote him that the Sylvania was bound to the Bahamas; but I had no idea where we should go next, or how long we should remain at any place to which we might go. I said we expected to return to Jacksonville in February."
"That explains the matter. You did not show me your letter to him," replied the mate. "But we are several days into March, and you ought to hear from your father again very soon."
"I shall expect a letter from him every day until I get one. I don't believe anything more can happen to him or me, for we have had our full share of mishaps."
The mate was turning in for the night, when Buck Lingley brought me a note from Owen, which had just been sent off by a boatman. My cousin had arranged for an excursion to Fort George Island, near the mouth of the St. Johns River, for the next day at ten, if the weather was favorable. He expected about thirty people, and wanted dinner for them. I told Buck to carry the letter to the steward, that he might make his purchases of provisions early in the morning. It was one o'clock when I turned in, after finishing a twelve-page letter to my father.
CHAPTER XIII.
MR. COBBINGTON AND HIS PET RATTLESNAKE.
I turned out the next morning, or rather the same morning, only in season for breakfast. I had put my letter in the mail-box, and it had gone ashore in the first boat at four o'clock. I kept an anchor watch all night in port, which was divided up amongst all hands in the sailing and engineer's department, except myself. Word had been passed from watch to watch to call the steward and a boat's crew at half past three. The boats were hoisted up to the davits at night, and it required some time to get one into the water.
When I went in to breakfast, I found that Washburn had gone ashore in the steward's boat, and had not yet returned. He was the only person on board, besides myself, who had liberty to leave the vessel without my permission, or his, if I was not on board. But the steamer had been put in perfect order the day before, and she never was in better condition than when I looked her over after breakfast. The day was bright and clear, as nearly all the days were in Florida. Every officer and seaman had put on his best uniform, and we were in "show" order, above and below decks.
The American flag was flying at the peak, and, in honor of the English guests who were to come on board, I had hoisted the British flag at the fore. Both boats' crews were in readiness to bring off the party as soon as they appeared on the Market Wharf. About nine o'clock we got a signal from that locality, but there was no party there, and the signal came from the mate.
"You went off early, Washburn," I said, as he came up the gangway steps.
"I was afraid the matter would get cold if I waited," replied the mate, who seemed to be in excellent humor.
"What matter is that?" I inquired.
"I went ashore to look up that snaky lodger of Captain Boomsby's," answered Washburn. "There was certainly a lodger there, who furnished his own room, and stayed about two weeks."
"Did he furnish his room for a stay of only two weeks?" I inquired.
"I have not been able to find the person yet. He had his furniture carried to an auction-room, where it was sold."
"How did you learn all this?"
"I found Boomsby's saloon first. About five o'clock the porter of the store next to it began to sweep off the sidewalk. I saw that my uniform took his eye, and he was as polite to me as though I had been an admiral in the United States Navy. I talked with him awhile, asking him questions about the city. Finally I brought the matter of the conversation down to the subject of saloons. I thought there were plenty of them. He told me some of them had a separate bar for colored people, where they sold the cheapest corn whiskey and apple brandy for ten cents a glass, and made nine cents on every glass they sold."
"That's just the business for Captain Boomsby: it is just mean enough for him," I added.
"The porter spoke of the Boomsby saloon as a new one opened a few weeks before. The keeper had a bar for colored customers in a back room, with an entrance from the lane in the rear. When he said this, I began to pump him in regard to Boomsby. I finally asked if the captain took boarders or lodgers. He had one; but this one had had a quarrel with the saloonist's wife, and had left. He did not know his name, or where he went to. He said the cartman that stood at the next corner had carted off his furniture."
"Then you went for the cartman," I suggested.
"I went for him; but I could not find him for some time, and that is what made me so late," continued Washburn. "The porter told me he was hauling baggage from the Charleston steamer, which had just got in, to the Carlton Hotel. His name was Jackman, and it was on his wagon. I found the cartman, but he was so busy I had no chance to speak to him until half past eight. I took my breakfast at the Carlton, which is kept by Maine people. I introduced myself to one of the proprietors; and of course they knew my father. I told him I had been waiting a long time to speak to Jackman. He immediately called him into the office.
"Thus introduced to Jackman, he was willing to tell me all he knew on any subject. He said he had carried the furniture of the lodger to an auction-room, and his trunks and other things to the St. Johns House. The lodger's name was Cobbington; and Jackman thought he was poor."
"He must have been, to take a room at Captain Boomsby's house."
"I asked Jackman what things besides the trunks he had carried to the St. Johns Hotel. He replied that Cobbington had a pet rattlesnake and a box of alligators."
"All this goes to confirm Captain Boomsby's explanation," I added.
"I think it has a tendency that way. I asked Jackman if the lodger had any other snakes; but he knew of no others, and had seen none in the attic rooms from which he took his load. I went next to the St. Johns House, which is kept by a lady. She gave me all the information she could. Mr. Cobbington's rattlesnake had got out of his box, and had been killed by one of the boarders. He was so angry at the loss of the reptile that he left the house at once. The landlady did not know where he had gone. Under the circumstances, she had not taken the pains to inquire. She did not want any gentleman in her house who kept a rattlesnake in his chamber; and I was of just her way of thinking. She did not remember what cartman had conveyed his baggage from the house. If I had had an hour more, I think I could have found the man; for the landlady gave me the day on which he left."
"I don't think it will be of much use to follow the matter any further," I suggested. "This story makes it probable that Cobbington had other snakes."
"It may make it possible, but not probable. It is only a matter of fact, and I am going to get to the bottom of it if I can," persisted the mate.
"I beg pardon, Mr. Washburn, but your breakfast is waiting for you," said Griffin Leeds, stepping up to the mate at this moment.
I started when I heard the silky voice of the octoroon. I had heard no step to indicate his approach, and I feared that he had listened to something one of us had said.
"I have been to breakfast," replied the mate, rather savagely for him; and I saw that he had the same fear.
The waiter hastened back to the forward cabin, where he belonged. Washburn called to Ben Bowman, who was standing at the door of the engine-room, and asked him how long Griffin had stood behind us. The assistant engineer thought he had been there two or three minutes, at least, waiting for a chance to speak to one of us. I was vexed at the circumstance. If Cornwood was the agent of Captain Boomsby, and Griffin Leeds was the tool of the Floridian, our conversation would all be reported to the principal in the conspiracy, always granting there was any truth in our surmises.
"I suppose we shall get back from this excursion some time to-night," said Washburn, thoughtfully.
"I think we shall get back before dark," I replied.
"I don't say there is anything in what we were talking about last night, but there may be. If there is anything in it, Cornwood will tell Boomsby, after we return, what we have been talking about," replied the mate.
"Griffin will find a chance to tell Cornwood that you have been looking up the lodger, and Cornwood will carry it to Boomsby," I repeated.
"Just so. Now, we must fix things a little. Don't let Cornwood go on shore to-night."
"How can I keep him? He is hardly like the other members of the ship's company."
"You can need him for some purpose or other," suggested the mate, with a smile. "We must fight them with their own weapons."
"I was thinking to-day that I wanted to lay out the trip up the river with him. I bought a large pocket-map of Florida to-day, so that I could do it understandingly, though where we go will depend largely on the will and pleasure of our passengers. I can keep him for this purpose," I said.
"All right; and I will go ashore as soon as the mudhook touches the sand on our return," added Washburn. "There are several carriages coming down Market Wharf."
Both boats were sent to the wharf, and Washburn went off in one of them to superintend the seating of the party in them. All our extra stools and chairs had been arranged on the quarter-deck, forecastle, and hurricane-deck. There were enough of them for twice the number of persons expected, but no one could tell where the party would choose to sit, and there were enough to accommodate them in any one place they might select. Gopher was hard at work getting ready for the dinner, and Ben was expected to help him as soon as the party were on board.
I stood at the gangway, ready to receive the guests. Suddenly a band on the wharf struck up a lively air, and I found we were not to depend upon our own people for the music. The port boat came up first; and our boatmen were so much accustomed to this kind of duty, that they put the passengers on board without delay or inconvenience to them. There were six boat-loads, including the band of twelve pieces. The boats were hoisted up, and the anchor weighed by our steam windlass.
I had been introduced to all the excursionists as they came on board, and I had directed the waiters to show them to such parts of the vessel as they might select. When I went to the pilot-house, I found the seats all occupied by Owen and certain ladies he had invited there. As usual they were all the youngest and prettiest of the party. Cornwood stood at the wheel, as though he had chosen the duty he intended to perform. I had not procured a pilot, for I had been up and down the river five times, and I thought I knew enough about it to pilot the vessel myself. But I wished to test Cornwood's ability, and I told him to go ahead, giving him no further instructions.
He rang the bells correctly, and handled the wheel like an old salt. I was rather disappointed to find that he understood his business perfectly. His brag was not all brag. I had become considerably prejudiced against him by all that had been said; but I felt that I could do him justice. The scenery below the city is very pleasant, to say the least. The orange groves, and the dwellings, many of them occupied by people from the North, either as settlers or as winter residents, made a picturesque view from the river. Cornwood did not seem to be wholly occupied with the wheel, for he explained the nature of the country when he found that the party in the pilot-house were willing to listen to him. The herons, cranes, and many other birds were new to us.
"Mayport on the starboard hand," said the guide, when we had reached the mouth of the river. "The houses in that village are mostly occupied by fishermen, who catch shad and other fish in the winter and spring, and a good many southern people spend the summer here in cottages."
Cornwood directed the head of the steamer towards the other shore, and soon brought her to a pier at Pilot Town.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE EXCURSION TO FORT GEORGE ISLAND.
Fort George Island is certainly a beautiful place for a summer or a winter residence, or for both. It is three and a half miles long, not including the sand-bar at the end, and a mile wide. On one side is the ocean, and on the other the Sisters' Channel, one of the inside passages by which steamers reach Savannah and Fernandina.
Owen told me the party would sail for Jacksonville at four o'clock, and dine as soon as the steamer was under way. All the excursionists landed, and leaving Washburn in charge, I went with them. Cornwood began to discharge his duties as guide as soon as we were on shore; but a considerable portion of the party were familiar with the island, and he did not have a large audience.
"This shell road," said he, as we left the wharf, "is the beginning of Edgewood Avenue, which is two miles and a half long. At the farther end of it is the hotel."
He continued his explanations to those who desired to hear them during the entire walk. I shall not repeat them. I found that he could give the name of every tree, plant, and flower we saw on the way. He had a name for every bird, bug, and worm; and I am ready to acknowledge that the extent, variety, and minuteness of his knowledge astonished me, partly because my prejudice led me to expect nothing of him. That those who brag most know least, did not appear to prove true in his case; for he did not have to "give it up" on any question asked him by the tourists of our party. He related the history of the island, and there was not a single particular concerning it on which he was not fully informed.
After crossing the beach on the shell road, we came to the forest of live-oaks, magnolias, palmettos, bay-trees, and others that one never sees in Maine or Michigan. I walked with Mr. Tiffany, and we agreed that this was one of the most delightful places we had visited. Pretty soon we were joined by Miss Margie and Miss Edith, who had become inseparable friends and companions. I learned that the Tiffanys had already accepted the invitation of Owen and Colonel Shepard to join the party for the up-river trip.
"Are there no snakes on this island, Captain Garningham?" asked Miss Margie, soon after we entered the wood.
"I dare say there are; but I don't know anything about it," I replied.
"Undoubtedly there are snakes on the island," interposed Mr. Cornwood; and I saw that he glanced at me, with a smile, as if in allusion to my experience on the evening before.
"I am very much afraid of snakes," said Miss Margie, looking timidly about her.
"But the snakes are more afraid of you than you are of them, Miss Tiffany," replied Cornwood. "Even the rattlesnake will keep out of your way, if he can."
"And I should surely keep out of his way. Are there rattlesnakes on this island?" asked the timid English maiden.
"I am sorry to say there are; but you might live on the island ten years and never see one. When you walk, you will naturally keep in the paths cut through the woods. Rattlesnakes will not visit these localities. But the rattlesnake is a very gentlemanly fellow; and if by any chance one should stray into a path, he would give you abundant warning before he did you any harm."
"I don't wish to see one," replied Miss Margie, with a shudder.
"You may be sure you will not meet any in the paths we take to-day," added the guide in a comforting tone. "But I would rather meet a dozen of them than step upon a copperhead or a water-moccasin. These will run away when they see you, if they can. The water-moccasin will not trouble you if you let him alone. The only danger from any Florida snake is in coming upon him when you don't see him."
"That is just what I am afraid of," said Miss Margie.
"This island has been settled so long that there can be but few snakes of the harmful kind left on it; for whites and blacks always kill them at sight."
After a very pleasant walk we reached the hotel, where a lunch was ready for us. To me the principal feature of this lunch was the broiled shad, the fish just taken from the water. It was the freshest and best I had ever eaten. The oysters in the chowder were small, but had been taken from the water that morning.
After the lunch the excursionists broke up into little parties, and each went where they were best pleased to go. I felt rather inclined to go where Miss Margie went, for I had found she was as agreeable as she was pretty. Owen and the Shepards went to the Palmetto Avenue, which leads to an ancient homestead, affording a fair specimen of the planter's home in days gone by. Mr. Tiffany and his daughter wished to ascend Mount Cornelia, to which there was a carriage-road all the way from the hotel to the summit. This hill has an elevation of ninety-five feet, the highest point on the coast from Navesink and Cuba. Mr. Cornwood accompanied us, for, in spite of the warning Mr. Tiffany had given me, he was the guide's most attentive listener.
On the summit of the hill we found an observatory, which we occupied for a full hour. It commanded a fine view of the ocean, the inland channels, and the country beyond them. Before we left, Owen and the Shepards joined us.
"Have you seen any snakes, Margie?" asked Edith, when they were seated at the top of the observatory.
"I have not seen one; indeed, I have not thought of the snakes since Mr. Cornwood assured me we should see none," replied Miss Margie.
"I rather like snakes, and I hoped I should see some," added Miss Edith, very bravely.
"I think I could find some for you, Miss Edith," interposed Cornwood.
"No, I thank you. I don't care to go snaking. When I see one I wish to have it without any effort on my part," replied the beautiful girl.
"That is a nice way to get out of it," added Miss Margie. "I believe I should faint away if I came upon one, without any effort on my part."
"You will be likely to see some on your trip up the river, if you go on shore. The largest moccasin I ever saw I killed within the limits of the city of Jacksonville. It was on the way to Moncrief's Spring. Are you fond of alligators?" asked Mr. Cornwood, who also seemed to regard the English girl with much favor.
"I never saw one in my life," answered Miss Margie. "We don't have any such creatures in England. But I have seen pictures of the crocodile, which I dare say is the same thing."
"They are certainly the same sort of reptile, though a crocodile is not an alligator any more than an alligator is a crocodile. They differ in the shape of the head; the lower canine teeth of the crocodile fit into notches between the teeth of the upper jaw, while the alligator's lower teeth fit into cavities in the upper jaw. The alligator has a broader and shorter head than the crocodile. The cayman, found in the East Indies and in tropical South America, is different in some respects from either. But we have both crocodiles and alligators in the more southern of the United States."
"I am sure I don't care whether they are crocodiles or alligators; they are ugly-looking beasts, and I don't want to see any of them," replied Miss Margie.
Mr. Cornwood had evidently "studied up" on alligators; and I was quite interested in his comparison of the different reptiles, for I had supposed they were all alike.
"You can't very well help seeing them when you go up the river, for some of the streams we shall doubtless explore are full of them," added the Floridian.
"Are you not afraid of them?"
"I don't think I ever saw anybody who was afraid of an alligator; they are too common here to alarm any person. But I am surprised that you did not see any alligators in Jacksonville, for thousands of little ones are kept for sale at the curiosity stores, and larger ones are kept for exhibition."
"I didn't happen to see any of them. Are they not dangerous?"
"We do not consider them so. In the earlier days of the State, when alligators eighteen feet in length were occasionally found, they may have attacked men when they caught them in the water. On land they are rather sluggish; but they are right smart in the water. The largest ones we are likely to see will not be over twelve feet long; and you will find ten little ones to one of this size. None of them will meddle even with a child; though if you should lie on the edge of a boat, with a hand or foot in the water, and went to sleep, they might snap at it."
"Ugh!" gasped the pretty maiden, with a shudder.
"You will be so much accustomed to them in a week after we start up the river, that you will not mind them more than you do the flies, and not half so much as you do the mosquitoes," added Mr. Cornwood.
"Are there many mosquitoes where we are going, Mr. Cornwood?" asked Mr. Tiffany.
"Not many at this season of the year, though we may fall into localities where they are very plenty. I shall take the liberty to suggest to Captain Garningham to have a quantity of mosquito netting on board, to provide against these pests," replied the Floridian, glancing from the Englishman to me.
"I will tell the steward to see that the beds and berths are properly protected," I added, glad to have the suggestion in season to save the passengers from annoyance.
Owen and Miss Edith had not paid any attention to Mr. Cornwood's lessons in natural history. Both of them had evidently voted the Floridian a bore. My cousin thought it was time to return to the hotel, where the band was playing for the benefit of the people.
All the party had collected there, and we soon started for the steamer. The band went ahead and played a march, and we kept step to the music. I found that Mr. Cornwood had again attached himself to Miss Margie, to the plain annoyance of that lady's father. I called him away, and dropping to the rear of the procession, I questioned him in regard to the trip up the river. He clearly understood my object in asking these questions at this time, and his answers were crusty, and his manner sulky. I persisted in torturing him till we reached the steamer, though I sacrificed my own pleasure in doing it for Miss Margie's benefit.
It was just four by the clock in the pilot-house when the Sylvania sailed on her return. The dinner was served in the cabin, and Gopher had done his best, as usual. At six Cornwood made a very good landing at the Market Wharf, and our guests departed immediately. I had to thank Washburn for doing one-half of the hand-shaking when they stepped ashore. Cornwood thought he would remain in the city, but I told him I wanted him on board. The mate did not go to the anchorage in the steamer, but stayed ashore.
CHAPTER XV.
A WAR OF WORDS.
Washburn had reported to me that, while I was dining with the passengers in the cabin, Griffin Leeds had gone into the pilot-house and had a short interview with Cornwood. Of course we used the octoroon as a waiter; and even Gopher took a hand at the same occupation, for he liked to hear what the party said about the dinner. Griffin must have taken the time while the waiters were clearing the tables for the last course, or while the gentlemen were amusing themselves with the American custom of making speeches. In either case, it was almost a sin for a waiter to leave his post.
Cornwood was sulky when I said I wanted him. Doubtless he had business on shore, as I had for him on board. I paid him five dollars a day and expenses; and I thought I had the best right to his services.
"Mr. Cornwood, I desire to have you map out a practicable trip up the river for a steamer that draws nine feet of water, with her bunkers full of coal," I began, as I seated myself in my room.
The words were hardly out of my mouth when Hop Tossford came in with a message written on an old envelope, from Owen.
"Come to the Colonel's house at once.Owen."
"Come to the Colonel's house at once.
Owen."
"At once" meant immediately; and I was not a little annoyed by the summons, since it prevented me from carrying out my part of Washburn's little plan.
"I have the cruise all mapped out, Captain Garningham," replied Cornwood, while I was reading the message from my cousin.
He took from his breast-pocket a document, which he handed to me with a stiff bow. On opening it, I found it was a carefully prepared outline of the proposed cruise up the river, with detours in various bays and smaller streams.
"I will examine this at my leisure; for I am called to the house of Colonel Shepard by Mr. Garningham," I continued. "Very likely he desires to give me instructions in regard to the up-river trip. If he does, I wish to see you as soon as I return; and I may not be gone more than an hour."
Cornwood made no reply; but I saw that he was biting his lip. My request was equivalent to an order to remain on board, and he was not exactly in position to set my wishes at defiance. I went ashore as soon as a boat could be dropped into the water, and hastened to the house of the Colonel. Owen said he was very glad to see me; and from the excitement of his manner, I judged that something was in the wind.
"To-morrow will be Saturday," said he, walking up and down the parlor where I had seated myself. "The same party we had to-day, including the Silver Cornet Band, will make a little run up the river, and stop for a while at Mrs. Mitchell's place, if it is practicable, with a dinner at four o'clock."
"It is not practicable----"
"It is not practicable!" exclaimed Owen, stopping in front of me.
"You did not hear me out, my dear charterer of the Sylvania," I replied, amused at the sudden check put upon his enthusiasm. "It is not practicable to run the steamer up to the pier at Mrs. Mitchell's place; but we can land the passengers in the boats. Of course we can go up the river as far as Pilatka, and perhaps farther."
"We don't want to go up to--what's that place you mentioned? I have heard of it before, and it is forty or fifty miles up," added Owen, who had been too busy looking after Miss Edith to pay any attention to the geography of the State.
"The place is Pilatka; and it is seventy-five miles up."
"It would take all day to go to Pilatka; besides, I don't wish to spoil all the fun of the trip we are to take next week. There's a Chinese town or city, where Mrs. What's-her-name lives, about a dozen miles up," continued my cousin.
"A Chinese town? There are no Chinamen of any consequence in Florida."
"No, no! A town with a Chinese name, where the lady that wroteUncle Tom's Cabinlives," interposed Owen impatiently.
"Mandarin," I added, after I had consulted a pamphlet guide I had picked up in one of the hotels. "It is fifteen miles from here."
"That's the place; and it is just the right distance!" exclaimed Owen. "We will go to Mandarin. By the way, you must have a lunch on board about twelve."
"All this is quite practicable."
"And why can't you take the steamer up to the pier at Mrs. Mitchell's place?" demanded my passenger.
"Because the bottom is too near the top of the water," I replied, laughing at the puzzled expression on my cousin's face.
"Couldn't you have the bottom put farther down for this occasion?" he inquired very seriously.
"Certainly, if you are willing to pay the bills and to wait long enough for the work to be done."
"I don't object to the bills, but we can't wait."
"I see that you have become quite an American traveller; you don't dispute any bills, and you can't wait."
"I can't wait to have a channel dredged out up to that pier, for very likely it would take all day to do it."
"It would take you Britishers three months to do it; Americans would do it in a week."
"I think my uncle, your father, is a Britisher. But I have no time to quarrel with you about that matter now; it will keep. We will be landed at the pier in boats, since you are not willing to accommodate us in any other manner."
"I will arrange the landing so that it shall be satisfactory," I added, thinking of a large barge I had seen at the boat-wharf.
"Then we are all right for to-morrow, are we, Alick?" asked my facetious cousin.
"All right. Whenever you tell me what you want, it shall be done."
"But just now you objected to taking your steamer up to that pier."
"I should have qualified the declaration----"
"Merciful Hotandsplosh!"
"Is that man your idol?"
"You take my breath away with your stunning long words!"
"I won't take your breath away, for you will want it all. I will do all you want when I can," I added.
"How much prettier that sounds than 'qualified the declaration.'"
"I see that I must write out all my speeches in words of not more than four letters, so as to bring them down to the dull brain of a Briton."
"The dull brain of a Briton is good."
"So your friend Hotandsplosh would say."
"I will introduce him to you some time."
"I don't want to know him; he is too slow for me."
"Come, come, Alick; we are quarrelling when we have business to do," said Owen, shaking his shoulders like a vexed child.
"You are quarrelling; I am not. You pick me up on my language as though you were my schoolmaster, and then complain that I am impeding the business of the conference."
"Cut it short! 'Impeding the business of the conference!' That jaw of yours will need to be patched up by a dentist, man!"
"Your jaw does all the mischief; and you are at it again, with your pedagogical----"
"Cut it short! What a word! A young man of high aims ought not to use such a word; and anybody else ought to be hung for it!"
"Still at it!"
"I wish to say something about the run up the river," continued Owen, who was very fond of criticising my language, and would even neglect important business to do it.
"Say it, then."
"Where do we go?"
"Wherever you say."
"Merciful Hotandsplosh! Am I to study up the geography of this State, so as to tell you where to go?" demanded my passenger.
"I will select a route, in consultation----"
"Oh dear!" gasped Owen, throwing himself at full length on a sofa, with his legs hanging over one end of it, as though he were in utter despair.
"I will talk with K-u-r-n-e-l, Colonel, S-h-e-p-a-r-d, Shepard, a-bout the r-o-u-t-e, route."
"Good! Shove it off on the Colonel!" exclaimed Owen. "I know what you say now; and I feel better."
"Perhaps you would like to know where it is possible for us to go," I continued, taking Cornwood's paper from my pocket as Owen sprang to his feet. "Here are some suggestions in regard to where we may go; it was made up by our guide;" and I handed him the paper, which he opened to the fold of the sheet, and turned it over and over.
"Merciful Grand Panjandrum!"
"Another friend of yours!"
"I got him out of an American book; and that accounts for it! Am I to read all this?Tempus fugit.Let it fugit! I should have to be buried in the blue sands of Florida if I read all this;" and he turned it over several times more.
"You would have to be buried in thought for a short time if you read it."
"Let me see, what did you call what's in this paper? Suggestions, was it? If these are only suggestions, what must the real thing be! No, no, Alick! Go where you please; but don't ask me to read that paper. Only give us some shooting and fishing. Don't bother me with any more suggestions."
"You sent for me, and I came."
"I know you did. You are a young lamb, Alick. Now go and put it to the Colonel and Tiffany."
Presently Colonel Shepard's party came into the parlor. They had just arrived at the house, for they had stopped to see some alligators, and to buy Gulf beans and alligator's teeth, ornamented, for watch-charms and other wear. Miss Margie had seen an alligator six feet long, and thought he was very terrible. The baby reptiles she considered "very cunning little pets."
I proceeded at once to talk with Colonel Shepard about the up-river trip. He looked the paper over, but he and Mr. Tiffany were almost as much perplexed over it as Owen had been.
"We must go up the St. Johns to Enterprise, at least, and up the Ocklawaha to Lake Griffin," said the Colonel.
"But the Sylvania draws too much water to go far beyond Pilatka. After we get the anthracite coal out of the bunkers we shall carry up eight feet," I replied.
"Carry up eight feet! You have only two to carry, and an alligator may bite off one of them," shouted Owen, who it seemed had been listening to me, instead of giving attention to Miss Edith's charms, about which she was talking.
"Give heed to my charms, Mr. Garningham!" said Miss Edith.
"That's just what I have done since I first saw you!" exclaimed Owen.
I promised to consult the Floridian, and took my leave.