CHAPTER XIII.
FROM STRASBURG TO CONSTANCE.
The party on board of the Young America were in the highest spirits on the morning of their departure. All of them had now been decorated with the white ribbon of the Order of the Faithful. Even Raymond and Lindsley were entirely satisfied with the good faith and fairness of the principal—better satisfied than they were with their own conduct. What had before been regarded as defeat was now triumph, for a failure to achieve success in doing wrong is actually victory, especially if followed, as in this instance, by real regret, genuine penitence.
Grace Arbuckle, perhaps conscious that she had exerted a salutary influence upon the students through the pleasantry of the Order of the Faithful, was as happy as the young gentlemen themselves. She appeared on deck at an early hour, and when the officers and seamen presented themselves, in their best uniforms, wearing the white ribbon, she was so delighted she could not help laughing heartily.
"Commodore Kendall, are you going to wear that ribbon to Paris?" she asked, as Paul touched his cap to her.
"Certainly I am. I should as soon think of going without my coat as without that," replied he.
"But how absurd!"
"Absurd?Vous ne pouvez pas faire un sifflet de la queue d'un cochon," added he, very seriously.
"C'est vrai; but what has that to do with the ribbon? Do you mean to call that a pig's tail?"
"No; on the contrary, it is the wing of an angel—it was bestowed by you. I only mean to say it would be quite impossible to go to Germany without this ribbon. It is our talisman to keep us faithful to duty; and I am afraid we should get into mischief if we went without it. Every member will wear his decoration. But, Miss Arbuckle, I think you ought to wear the white ribbon also."
"I!"
"Certainly. You are the Grand Protectress of the order. Do wear it, Miss Arbuckle, with a rosette, to indicate your superior rank. It would please all the members very much."
"I will, if you desire it," replied Grace, more seriously.
"We all desire it."
"It shall be done, if you wish it."
"Thanks."
Grace tripped lightly down the stairs to the cabin, but presently returned, wearing the white ribbon, surmounted by a very tasty rosette, composed of white, blue, and yellow ribbons, to denote the several degrees of the order. Paul was in raptures, and when the ship's company saw the decoration she wore, they saluted her with three rousing cheers, which she gracefully acknowledged.
"We must perpetuate this order, Shuffles," said Paul, as they stood in the presence of the Grand Protectress.
"I think we must," replied the captain.
"We will organize more systematically when we have time."
"And have a suitable emblem to distinguish the members."
"The white ribbon must not be discarded," protested Paul, glancing at Grace.
"Certainly not; but we will have a gold anchor, say, from which the ribbon shall be suspended," added Shuffles. "On the anchor shall be engraved the single wordFaithful."
"And 'Vous ne pouvez pas faire,' &c.," laughed Paul. "I think we must ask the Grand Protectress for a suitable emblem."
"You have great confidence in me, and I will give the subject faithful consideration," said Grace.
"Our motto is an excellent one, I think," continued Paul. "To us it will always mean that you cannot redress a wrong by resorting to dishonorable measures."
The conversation was interrupted by the call to breakfast. Before the meal was finished, the steamer that was to convey the party on shore came alongside. By the time she had made fast, and run out her planks, the boatswain piped, "All hands, on deck with bags, to go ashore." The stewards conveyed the baggage of the Arbuckles on board, and the ship's company marched in single file to the deck of the steamer. There were no turbulent spirits among them, and everything was done in order. In due time the party reached the railroad station, and seated themselves in the special cars, which had been provided for their use.
The Arbuckles, Dr. Winstock, Paul, and Shuffles occupied one compartment of a carriage, and, as usual, the pleasant and well-informed surgeon of the ship, who had been a very extensive traveller, was a living encyclopædia for the party. The course of the train was through Brittany, of which Dr. Winstock had much to say. It is a poor country, not unlike Scotland, though it has no high mountains. The lower order of the people wear quaint costumes, and have hardly changed their manners and customs for three hundred years.
"Do you see that building in the churchyard?" said the doctor, as he pointed out the window.
"What is it—the hearse-house?" asked Paul.
"No; I think they don't use hearses much here. It is a bone-house."
"A what!" exclaimed Shuffles.
"A bone-house, orreliquaire. The poor people in this part of France are very ignorant and superstitious.Requiescat in pace, so far as the mortal remains of their dead are concerned, has no meaning to them, for they do not let them rest quietly in their graves, as we do. After the bodies of the deceased have gone to decay, the skulls and bones are removed from the coffins, and placed in the bone-house. The names, or the initials, of the departed are painted upon the forehead of the skull."
"How horrible!" exclaimed Grace.
"Doubtless it is so to you; but to these people it is an act of affectionate remembrance," added the doctor; "as sacred and pious as any tribute we render to our loved and lost ones."
Dr. Winstock continued to describe the various places through which the train passed, answering the many questions proposed by his interested auditors. At noon they arrived at Rennes, where the excursionists lunched, and some of them, perhaps at the expense of the inner man, were enterprising enough to see a little of the city, which contains forty thousand inhabitants, and was the ancient capital of the dukedom of Brittany.
"This is Laval," said the doctor, an hour and a half after the train left Rennes.
"See there!" exclaimed Grace, pointing to a man clothed in goatskins, the hair outside. "Is that Robinson Crusoe?"
"No; that is the fashion for the peasants in this part of Brittany. They don't depend upon Paris for themode. I suppose you have all heard of the Vendéan war."
"Yes, sir. The people of La Vendée were royalists, and fought against the republicans as long as there was anything left of them," replied Paul.
"La Vendée lies south of the Loire; but one of their greatest battles was fought near Laval, in 1793. They conducted themselves with fearful desperation, and after the republicans had sent word, as the battle waned, to the Convention at Paris, that La Vendée was no more, the wounded leader of the insurgents was carried through their ranks, and they rallied, gaining the day in a decisive victory, by which the government troops lost twelve thousand men."
Fifty-six miles farther brought the excursionists to Le Mans, where the Vendéan army was finally destroyed by the forces of General Marceau. The carnage was terrible, and extended even to the massacre of many of the wives and children of the royalists. An obelisk to the memory of the republican general, who was born at Le Mans, informs the reader that he was a soldier at sixteen, a general at twenty-three, and died when he was twenty-seven.
At Chartres, forty-seven miles from Paris, the train stopped half an hour, and the party had an opportunity to see the cathedral, the most magnificent in France, and one of the most ancient. It is four hundred and twenty-five feet long. Henry IV. was crowned in it in 1594, for the reason that Rheims, where coronations formerly took place, was in possession of the Leaguers.
At seven o'clock, the train arrived in Paris, and the party hastened to the lodgings which had been engaged for them. In the evening they attended the grand opera, at the invitation of Mr. Arbuckle, and the next morning proceeded to Strasburg. After a short delay, the party continued the journey, crossing the Rhine into Germany, and halting at Offenburg, a small town, where hotel accommodations had been bespoken. After supper, the excursionists were collected in a large room, and Professor Mapps took a position in front of them.
"Young gentlemen, where are we?" he asked.
"In Germany."
"Very true, but rather indefinite," added the professor.
"In Baden," said Paul Kendall, who, as usual, had taken pains to study up the situation.
"In the Grand Duchy of Baden."
"What is a Grand Duchy?" inquired one of the students, who was doubtless bothered, as others have been, by the varying titles of the German states.
"It is a territory having an independent local government. There is no reason why it should be called a Grand Duchy, unless it is because it is larger than a simple Duchy, though this rule does not always hold good, for the Duchy of Brunswick has double the territory and double the population of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The titles of the states seem to be entirely arbitrary, and, according to the fancy of their rulers, they were called kingdoms, principalities, electorates, palatinates, margraviates, Grand Duchies, or Duchies. The Grand Duchy of Baden is larger than the Kingdom of Saxony. These designations have been occasionally changed, as the states increased in size, or as their rulers desired a grander title. In 1803 Baden was a margraviate of one fourth its present extent. Napoleon gave the title of Elector, and afterwards of Grand Duke, to the Margrave Charles Frederick, as his territory was increased.
"Baden has about six thousand square miles, or is about equal in size to Rhode Island and Connecticut united. It has a population of one million three hundred thousand, which has hardly increased during the last fifty years, for the reason that so many of its people have emigrated to the United States. The country is mountainous, and contains the Schwarzwald. What does that mean?"
"The Black Forest," replied several.
"A mountainous region, which has been the paradise of story-tellers. The highest peak is the Feldberg, forty-six hundred and fifty feet high. Its principal river is the Rhine, which forms its western and southern boundary, and has many branches in this country. The Neckar is the largest, crossing Baden in the north. The river which you observed in this place is the Kinzig. The Danube, which the Germans call the Donau, rises in Baden. In the south-east the country borders on Lake Constance, or, in German, Boden See. The climate is salubrious, but it is cold in the mountains, where they have snow during the greater part of the year.
"Baden is divided into four circles, or provinces, which are again divided into bailiwicks, or counties, and communes, or towns. Two thirds of the people are Roman Catholics; the rest are Protestant, with a sprinkling of Jews, who are found in all parts of Germany. There is a Catholic university at Freiburg, and a Protestant one at Heidelberg, which is so celebrated that it has not a few American students. There are two thousand common schools, and several establishments of higher grade.
"The government is an hereditary constitutional monarchy, the Grand Duke being the sovereign. It has a legislative body, composed of two chambers, the upper of which consists of the nobility and members appointed by the Grand Duke, and the lower of sixty-eight deputies, chosen indirectly by the people. But I do not think it is necessary to describe, at any great length, these small German states, and I give you Baden as a specimen of what most of them are."
The next morning the company took the train for Freiburg, and in a couple of hours reached their destination, where they immediately divided themselves into small parties, in order to see the cathedral, or minster, and other sights, within the allotted time. Those who travelled in the same compartment of the railway carriage usually came together on these occasions for the same reason that united them on the road. Paul Kendall zealously placed himself at the side of Grace, though she was as impartial as a just judge between him and the captain of the ship.
The minster is a Gothic church, and almost the only one in Germany which is actually finished. It was commenced in the twelfth century, and one of the princes of Zähringen, from whom the present Grand Duke is descended, contributed largely to the vast expense; but it would probably have been unfinished, like many similar grand structures, if the people of Freiburg had not taxed themselves to the utmost, and made great sacrifices to insure its completion. The spire is of beautiful fret-work, nearly four hundred feet high. The interior is grand, and something about it gives the beholder a peculiar feeling of solemnity—perhaps the thought that men have worshipped there for six hundred years. It contains some choice paintings, which are carefully cherished as the productions of the old masters. A glance at the university, the Kaufhaus, the statue of Schwarz, the inventor of gunpowder, and a walk around theSchlossberg, or Castle Hill, which commands a splendid view of the Black Forest Mountains, exhausted the place, and at the time appointed the party reassembled at the railroad station, where Mr. Arbuckle had gathered together half a dozen diligences, in which the company were to proceed to Schaffhausen, in Switzerland. He knew how much interest the story-readers feel in the Black Forest, and as the party had already visited Basle, he proposed to take his charge across the country, which would enable them to see some of the finest mountain scenery in Germany, and more of the manners and customs of the people than could be observed in the large towns on the railroad. He had already sent forward his courier to make preparations for the accommodation of his party.
Two days were to be occupied in reaching the Rhine. The first part of the journey was over a level plain highly cultivated. The road soon begins to ascend; and this locality is calledHimmelreich, or Heaven, to distinguish it by contrast from theHöllenthal, or Valley of Hell, a deep and romantic gorge which lies beyond. The students enjoyed the scenery, and those who were disposed, walked for miles up the long hills, to the great satisfaction of the driver. The students of the German language had abundant opportunities to practise their gutturals, and none but sufferers know what a pleasure it is to have a genuine native understand their sentences.
The pedestrians made brief halts at the water-mills, houses, and fields on the way, and were invariably treated with the utmost kindness and consideration. "Bitte, geben sie mir ein Glas Wasser," was repeated so many times that all understood it. The fact that they were Americans insured them a warm welcome, and many an inquiry was made for "meinem Sohnin Amerika." The "walkists" enjoyed this intercourse with the people so much that they walked till they were unnecessarily fatigued.
"Bitte, geben sie mir Geld," said a German, stepping up to the carriage which contained Dr. Winstock, and those who were so careful to keep near him.
He was a young man, with a big pipe in his mouth, a big stick in his hand, and a big knapsack on his back. He was pretty well dressed, and was in company with three others, who asked for money in like manner of different persons of the party. The doctor asked him a few questions, and then gave him two or three kreutzers, which he accepted with many thanks.
"Those are very respectable beggars," said Paul, as the man left the diligence.
"They are not beggars, buthandwerksburschen."
"What are they?"
"Travelling journeymen. No apprentice can obtain his freedom, and be competent to set up in business for himself, till he has spent several years in travelling, and in working at his trade in foreign countries. This is to increase his knowledge and his skill, and you will see hundreds of them on the roads all over Germany. They become, under this system, very skilful workmen, for they learn the various methods of work in different countries. They often understood two or three languages besides their own. They keep a kind of diary of their travels in a book furnished to them by the trade-society to which they belong, in which also their employers write testimonials of their good conduct. It is often the case that they cannot obtain work, and are compelled to ask charity on the roads. It is a hard life to lead, but it produces skilful mechanics."
"What was that man's trade?" asked Grace.
"He is a baker."
At a solitary inn in Steig the party found a dinner ready for them, consisting mainly of trout, which were very nice. From this point the road went up a steep hill, which required an extra horse to each diligence, though most of the boys walked up. At Neustadt, a town of fifteen hundred inhabitants, vast numbers of wooden clocks are manufactured, and the raising of singing birds is a common occupation. Just before sunset the excursionists arrived at Donaueschingen, where they were to spend the night. The place contains about three thousand inhabitants, and is the residence of Prince Fürstenberg, who was one of the mediatized sovereigns—his territory having by treaty been assigned to Baden.
A walk to his palace was immediately taken by the tourists. It is a plain modern edifice, with an extensive garden, which the travellers were permitted to visit. In one corner a circular basin was pointed out to them by their guide. The water, clear as crystal, bubbled up from a spring in the bottom, and was conveyed from the basin, by an underground tunnel, into the Briegach, a stream which flows down from the mountains.
"This spring is said to be the source of the Danube," said Dr. Winstock. "From this point the stream takes the name of Danube, though that into which it flows comes from miles away."
"'Large streams from little fountains flow,'" replied Paul.
"Yes; and from a great many of them," added the surgeon. "The country in this vicinity is like a sponge, it is so full of springs, which feed the great river. The Neckar rises a few miles north of us. We are, therefore, on the summit of the water-shed of Europe; for of two drops of rain which fall side by side near us, one may find its way into the Danube, and be carried down to the Black Sea, while the other, by the Neckar and the Rhine, may reach the North Sea."
The students wandered about the town till it was too dark to see anything, and most of them were tired enough to sleep, even under the feather beds which the Germans insist upon using as a coverlet. In the morning the journey was renewed in the diligences. The scenery was still very fine, and from the top of a high hill called the Rande, the students obtained a splendid view of the mountains of Switzerland, of the broad expanse of Lake Constance, and the towers of the city. Descending the long hill, the tourists entered Switzerland, and at five o'clock were set down at the Schweitzer Hof in Schaffhausen, near the falls.
The students had been riding so long that they were glad to be at liberty again, and hastened into the hotel gardens, which extend down to the river. It was rather late to visit the falls, and the company were piped together around a kind of kiosk, in which Professor Mapps presented himself.
"Do not be alarmed, young gentlemen," said the instructor, good-naturedly. "I will not detain you long, but I am reminded that I have not given you the Rhine in detail. Here on its banks, and in sight of its grandest cataract, I will say a few words to you about it. The river rises in two small lakes in the mountains near St. Gothard, seventy-five hundred feet above the sea. It descends four thousand feet in going twelve miles. Fifty miles from its source, at Reicherau, it is two hundred and fifty feet wide, and becomes navigable for river boats. Its volume of waters is continually increased by the flow from its branches, till it discharges itself into Lake Constance, which may be regarded as a widening of the river.
he Adventure on Lake ConstanceThe Adventure on Lake Constance.—Page 227.
"The lake is forty-four miles long and nine miles wide. Its greatest depth is nine hundred and sixty-four feet. Its waters are dark-green in color, and very clear. Twenty-five different kinds of fish are mentioned as caught in the lake. It is navigated by steamers, eight or ten of which ply between the various ports, and carry on considerable commerce. It is thirteen hundred and forty-four feet above the level of the sea.
"The Rhine issues from the lake at Constance, and flowing a few miles westward, again expands into the Unter See, which is thirty feet lower than the upper lake. It gradually contracts till the stream is about three hundred feet wide at this point. Steamers formerly ran from Constance to Schaffhausen; but since the completion of the railroad they have discontinued their trips. The falls which you see, and will visit on Monday morning, are seventy feet high. Below the cataract the river is navigable for boats without obstacles as far as Laufenburg, where its width is reduced to fifty feet, and its waters rush down a series of rapids. Here boats ascend and descend by the aid of ropes, after their cargoes have been discharged. At this place the young Lord Montague, the last male of his line, was drowned while his boat was descending the rapids in this manner. On the same day his family mansion in England was destroyed by fire. From this point to Basle the fall is only fifty feet.
"From Basle to Mayence, a distance of two hundred miles, the Rhine flows in a northerly direction. The current is very swift as far as Strasburg, to which place it is navigable for vessels of one hundred tons, though they are "tracked" by horses on the upward passage. The bed of the river is wide in this part, and contains numerous islands. At Mayence the course of the river changes to west, and again at Bingen to the north-west, where the mountains again force it into a narrow channel; and for fifty miles the stream flows through a beautiful region, where the hills extend to its very banks, and many of their summits are crowned with old castles. Below Cologne, the Rhine runs through a low and flat country. The lower part of the river I have already described in Holland."
The professor finished his brief lecture, and the party spent the rest of the day in wandering about the garden, and in watching the flow of the mighty river, as it tumbled over the precipice. The next day was Sunday, and the excursionists attended church at the town three miles distant. On Monday morning the tourists crossed the bridge, and hastened to the garden of the Castle of Laufen, where were platforms, stagings and kiosks, for the convenience of visitors, which afford the best views of the cataract. One of these balconies projects out over the fall, and the party gathered on this, and beclouded with mist and spray, gazed at the wild rush of waters. Two rocks on the precipice separate the cataract into three divisions. Below is a semi-circular basin, whose waters are lashed into a heavy sea by the plunging torrent which falls into it. Boats ply between the foot of the rock on which the Castle of Laufen stands and a square tower on the opposite shore. These light craft make heavy weather of it, but with ordinary caution they are safe enough.
There was nothing else to see at Schaffhausen, and the excursionists took the train for Constance. The last portion of the trip was on the banks of the Unter See, separated from the main body of the lake by a peninsula. The ride was less than two hours, and the party reached the "Goldener Adler" in time for dinner. Most of the Swiss hotels serve two or three dinners,table d'hôte, every day, the first being at one, and the last at five o'clock, the prices of which are from three to five francs.
"Young gentlemen, in what country is Constance?" asked Professor Mapps, when the party had assembled to visit the objects of interest in the town.
"In Switzerland."
"No."
"We certainly crossed the Rhine on an iron bridge, when we came into the place," replied one of the students.
"That is very true, but Constance belongs to the Grand Duchy of Baden. It was formerly a free city, but was annexed to Austria in 1549, and ceded to Baden in 1805. It once had forty thousand inhabitants, but now has only eight thousand. It is a very old city, as you may judge from the buildings you have already seen, many of which are just as they were four hundred years ago. The town is of great historical interest."
"What was the Council of Constance, sir?" asked one of the students.
"I will tell you when we visit the Kaufhaus," replied the professor.
Attended by several guides, the excursionists walked to the minster, a Gothic structure founded in the eleventh century, but rebuilt in the sixteenth. The guides indicated the spot where Huss stood when sentenced to be burned to death. From this church the party went to the Kaufhaus.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE STORM ON LAKE CONSTANCE.
The Kaufhaus is situated near the border of the lake. It was built for a warehouse in 1388. The party were conducted immediately to a large room with wooden pillars.
"This is the Kaufhaus, and this apartment is the one in which the Council of Constance held its sessions," said Mr. Mapps.
"What's a Kaufhaus?" asked one of the boys who did not study German.
"What doesKaufenmean?"
"To buy."
"Then it is abuy-house. It is a company's hall, like Goldsmiths' Hall, Fishmongers', and others in London. The Council of Constance assembled in 1414, and continued its sessions for three years and a half. It was called to regulate the affairs of the Catholic Church, especially in regard to the schism caused by some of the popes taking up their abode in Avignon, France. Gregory XI. went from the residence of his immediate predecessors to Rome in 1377, where he died the next year. The Romans wanted a native of their own city to be pope. An Italian—Urban VI.—was elected by the cardinals; but, as he was not a Roman, there was much dissatisfaction. The French cardinals protested against the election, and created Robert of Geneva pope, under the title of Clement VII., who established himself at Avignon. Urban had three successors, the last of whom was Gregory XII. The Avignon pope was followed by Benedict XIII., who maintained his claim to the papal chair till his death in 1424.
"There were two popes: the church was divided, and in doubt as to which was the rightful successor of St. Peter. Gregory declared, at his accession, that he would resign if Benedict at Avignon would do the same. An attempt was made to get rid of both of them, so that they could agree upon a third. The Council of Pisa deposed both, and elected Alexander V. Benedict refused to vacate his chair; and Gregory retained his position because his rival refused to compromise. Instead of getting rid of one, the church had now three popes who claimed the chair. Alexander died in 1410; and his successor, John XXIII., called the Council of Constance. It was not a meeting of bishops merely, but was attended by cardinals, archbishops, ambassadors of kings, knights, and delegates from universities. John presided at the first session, and was invited to resign the pontifical office. He promised to do so if Gregory and Benedict would do the same; but the next night he fled secretly to Schaffhausen, and from thence to Freiburg. After much trouble, negotiations were opened with him, and he resigned his office. He was afterwards thrown into prison with Huss. Gregory was a good man, and gave the council no trouble, and for the sake of peace yielded up his high office. But Benedict was obdurate to the end, claiming to be pope, even after all his followers had forsaken him. The council attempted to make terms with him; but when he refused to yield, it condemned and deposed him, electing Martin V. to the papal chair.
"The council also gave its attention to the heresy of Wycliffe, whose doctrines it condemned, commanding that his books should be burned, and decreeing that his remains should be disinterred and burned. Huss was condemned to the stake; and his disciple, Jerome of Prague, having retracted his anti-Catholic doctrines, and then relapsed, shared his fate a year afterwards."
In the hall are the chairs occupied, at the sittings of the council, by the Emperor Sigismund and by the pope; a model of the dungeon in which Huss was confined, with the real door and other parts which had been preserved, and the car on which the reformer was drawn to the place of execution. The house in which he lodged is pointed out in one of the streets. The field wherein he suffered, with the spot where the stake stood, is shown to those who are curious enough to visit it.
The students examined the quaint old buildings in the town with much interest. In the middle of the afternoon, they embarked in the steamer for Friedrichshafen. The weather had been warm and oppressive, for the season, for the last two days; and there were strong indications of a change. A barometer at the hotel in Constance indicated an unusual depression. The students dreaded a storm of long continuance, they were so impatient to see the wonders which were yet in store for them; and the idea of being shut up in a small hotel, for two or three days, was not pleasant in the anticipation, whatever it might prove to be in reality.
By the time the steamer was half way to her destination, the wind began to come in fitful gusts, increasing in force, till the captain of the steamer wore a rather anxious expression on his face. The young salts laughed at the idea of a fresh-water tempest; and if anybody else was alarmed, they were not. The steamer began to tumble about; but nothing serious occurred, though some of the lady passengers were sea sick. Others, who had never seen a storm at sea, were frightened, and screamed every time the boat gave a heavy lurch.
"Do you think there is any danger, Commodore Kendall," asked Grace, thrilled by the cries of the females.
"I don't see how there can be. If this boat is good for anything, she ought to ride out one of these freshwater gales," replied Paul.
"It is going to be a fearful storm."
"I should think it would be, from the indications of the barometer."
"Do you see that boat, Paul?" said Shuffles, pointing to one of the Swiss small craft, which was laboring heavily in the billows.
"She is making bad weather of it," added Paul, as he examined the position of the storm-tossed craft.
"The boatman don't seem to know what he is about," continued Shuffles, who had for some time been studying the movements of the boat. "She lowered her sail a while ago, and she seems to be rolling at the mercy of the waves."
The steamer was headed towards her, and the party on board of her soon discovered that the boatman was trying to put a reef in his sail. Besides himself, the boat contained a lady.
"I suppose that is a Swiss boatman," said Shuffles. "If he is, he knows no more about a boat than a mountaineer who never saw one."
"That's so," added Paul, anxiously.
"He has put her before the wind, and is trying to hoist his mainsail."
A fierce gust struck the canvas, as he began to hoist it, carrying out the boom, and whirling the boat up into the wind. Certainly the person on board of her had pluck enough; for he stuck to the halyards, though he was nearly jerked overboard by the sudden pitching and rolling of the craft. Recovering the sheet which had run out into the water, he took his place at the helm. He flattened down the sail, when the flaw had spent its force, and headed his boat towards Friedrichshafen. The next gust that struck the sail carried her down so that the water poured in over her lee rail by the barrel. The lady screamed lustily; and the tones of her voice indicated that she did not belong to the Swiss peasantry.
"Help! Help!" she shrieked; and her voice thrilled the souls of all on board the steamer.
"Cannot something be done?" cried Grace.
"I don't see what can be done," replied Paul.
"The boatman is a fool!" said Shuffles, impatiently. "Why don't he let out his sheet, or luff her up?"
"Can't you do something?" pleaded Grace, earnestly, as she clung to the railing over the cabin ladder.
"Help! Help!" shouted the boatman, in good English; and it was plain that he was not a Swiss.
Indeed, the lady and gentleman could now be seen plainly enough to ascertain that they were English or American. Both of them were well dressed, and both were quite young.
"We can launch the steamer's boat, if the captain will let us," suggested Paul.
The wind threw the boat round at this moment, and the sail shook violently in the blast. Then it filled again, and drove her directly into the path of the steamer, which was now close aboard of her.
"Stop her! Stop her!" shouted several persons, in French and German.
The captain gave the order to stop the engine; but it was doubtful whether it was given in season to save the unfortunate couple in the boat. Paul and Shuffles rushed to the bow of the steamer, and the latter climbed upon the rail just as the mast of the boat swayed over against the stem. He seized it, and nimbly slid down into the craft. As the steamer was running nearly against the wind, her headway was easily checked by a turn or two of the wheels backward; though the boat bumped pretty hard against the steamer once or twice.
Shuffles evidently believed that skilful management alone could save the sail-boat, and the lives of those who were in her. His mission, as he understood it, was to supply this needed skill. The steamer had only a single boat on deck, which was so dried up by the sun, that none of the salt-water tars believed it would float. She had only a single pair of oars, and it would be impossible to make any headway against the gale in it. The captain declared that he could only save the imperilled voyagers by running alongside their boat, and taking them out of it: he could do nothing by sending his jolly-boat after them.
By excellent good fortune, the steamer was checked at the right moment; though Shuffles supposed the boat would be stove, and he only got into her for the purpose of assisting the young lady. The captain backed his vessel so that she left the craft alone again. But the bold commander of the Young America was not dismayed by the situation. He instantly let go the halyards, and secured the sail as it came down. He glanced at the trembling lady, who crouched in the stern to save her head from the threshing of the boom. Grasping one of the oars, he pulled the boat around till she lay head to the wind. She was almost water-logged, and he saw that it was necessary to relieve her of some of this extra weight before she could be manageable.
"Won't they save us?" gasped the lady, glancing at the steamer, which was drifting rapidly away from them.
"Don't be alarmed, miss," said Shuffles, as he seized a kind of tub which was filled with fish-lines and other angling gear.
"What shall I do?" asked the young man, whose pluck had by this time become quite exhausted in his vain battle with the elements.
"Can you pull an oar?" demanded Shuffles, rather sharply, of the clumsy boatman.
"I can."
"Take this one, then, and keep her head as it is now."
The young man took the oar, and pulled as he was directed; and Shuffles went to work vigorously with the tub, in throwing out the water. He labored so diligently and effectually, that in a few moments he had relieved the boat of the great burden of water within her. While he did so, he gave the young man such directions as enabled him to keep the craft poised with her head to the fierce gusts that beat upon her. In this position she rose and fell on the great billows, and shipped very little water. The steamer had started her wheels again; but while she did not venture very near the boat, she lay by to render assistance if the latter were swamped. The lady, finding that the frail craft, under her present management, behaved very well, sorely as she was tried by the tempest, was encouraged.
"Can I do anything?" she asked, in soft notes, though they were still shaken by her fears.
"No, miss: if you will only keep perfectly still, I can take care of her."
"Here is a basin," said she, holding up the implement. "Shall I throw the water out of her?"
"If you please," answered Shuffles, willing to encourage her; for even the belief that one is doing some good, in an emergency, assists in quieting one's fears.
She went to work with a zeal which indicated a strong will, and if she did not accomplish as much as she wished to do, it was only because the uneasy tossing of the boat defeated her good intentions.
"Steady!" said Shuffles, to the young man at the oar. "You heave her round so that she will take the wind on the other hand. Now pull away with all your might!" he added, as the boat began to fall off.
"Are we going to stay here all night?" asked the other, who was nearly exhausted by the violence of his efforts to keep her head up to the blast.
"No, no!" replied Shuffles, impatiently, as he put out the other oar, and assisted his companion, when the boat was in danger of catching the wind on her beam. "I will get sail on her in a few moments."
In the lull of the blast, the young commander overhauled the sail, and corrected the non-nautical reefing of his companion.
"Now, mind your eye!" shouted Shuffles, as he grasped the halyards.
"What shall I do?"
"Pull away!"
"I'm losing my wind," gasped the sufferer, who had really struggled with the oar till his exertions and excitement had nearly disabled him.
"Pull away for half a minute more," replied Shuffles, as he ran up the main-sail, which beat and thrashed fearfully in the gale.
Having secured the halyards, the new skipper sprang to the helm, and seized the main sheet. Placing the lady on the weather side, he seated himself on the rail, with the sheet in his right hand, and the tiller in his left.
"Now let her go it!" he shouted to the young man. "Jump up to windward, and keep your weather eye open!"
The weary oarsman was glad to be relieved from his exhausting task, and promptly obeyed the order. Shuffles had put two reefs in the sail; but without the most skilful handling, the boat could not carry even this short canvas in such a fierce tempest. It was not such a sea as rages in a storm upon the ocean, but it was altogether too rough for any ordinary boat. It was not a long, bounding, rolling billow, but a short, angry wave, that tried the timbers of the Swiss boat. As soon as the rower ceased his occupation, the head of the craft fell off, the sail filled, and she careened down to the gunwale.
"We shall certainly tip over!" gasped the lady, clinging to the rail.
"Don't be afraid, miss. This boat behaves very handsomely, and is stiff enough to weather a gale," added Shuffles, confidently, as the little vessel leaped upon one of the snappy, snarling billows, and then plunged down into the trough of the sea.
"I never was terrified in a boat before," said she, shaking with alarm.
"It is a heavy storm, and not just the weather for a lady to be out in. Don't be frightened, miss. The boat is doing very well under her double reefs, and she will weather it, if you only believe in her."
There came another tremendous gust, which seemed to strike the boat like a blow from an immense sledgehammer; and she bent down under it till her rail was buried in the foaming waters. Shuffles "touched her up" a little, and let out the sheet till the sail shook in the blast. The boat righted, and for a moment had a partial respite from the savage pounding of the tempest. The young man, who clung to the weather rail with a tenacity which indicated that he had not yet recovered his self-possession, glanced ahead, and then at the steamer, whose course now diverged from that of the sail-boat, and the two craft were increasing their distance from each other.
"We wish to go to Friedrichshafen," said he, apparently troubled by the discovery he had made.
"So do I," replied Shuffles, quietly, without taking his eye from the sail.
"This will not bring us there," added the ex-skipper.
"Any port in a storm," said the gallant helmsman. "If I let the boat fall off enough to lay a course for Friedrichshafen, she will fill in the twinkling of an eye."
"I don't see why she should," added the young man, evidently not satisfied with the action of the new skipper.
"I think you ought to see it, after you have half filled the boat yourself on that tack. Don't you understand that it would throw the boat into the trough of the sea, and make her roll? Look at that steamer. I am not sure that she will not be obliged to throw her head up into it, and lay too for a while."
"Pray do just as you think best, sir," interposed the lady.
"That is what I intend to do, miss. Really there is only one thing you can do when it blows like this—keep her head up to it."
Again it was necessary for Shuffles to use all his skill and strength, as the heavy gusts were repeated, to prevent the boat from filling. Easing off the sheet, and crowding her up into the wind, the boat weathered another shock, and then had another brief respite. The spray dashed in the fierce blast like hailstones into the face and eyes of the intrepid captain, and he was nearly blinded by the charge. His hands were full, holding the tiller and the sheet. Securing the latter with his knee, he tried to take his handkerchief from his pocket, to wipe the water from his eyes. But a jerk of the boat compelled him to grasp the helm suddenly, and the wind carried away the handkerchief like a feather.
"My eyes are full of spray," said he, without even glancing at the flight of the lost article.
"You have lost your handkerchief," replied the young lady, tenderly. "Pray take mine."
"I am obliged to use both hands. May I trouble you to wipe the water from my eyes? I can hardly see, I am so blinded."
The young lady promptly complied with the request, and holding on to the rail with her left hand, she wiped the water from the captain's eyes.
"Thank you," said he, greatly relieved by the act.
"Let me change seats with you, Feodora," interposed the young man. "Perhaps I may be able to assist in working the boat."
"Sit still! Don't move!" shouted Shuffles, sternly.
"I only wish to help you," replied the other.
"You will help me most by keeping entirely still," answered Shuffles, as another fierce blast struck the sail, and required the skipper's whole attention. Again the cutting spray blinded him, though, as any other skilful boatman can, he was able to comprehend by the feeling the motion of the boat.
"Shall I wipe your eyes again?" asked the young lady.
"If you please."
Gently, her eyes beaming with interest and sympathy, the lady wiped the drops of water from his eyes. Though her companion said nothing, he did not seem to regard the operation with much favor. Very likely he thought it was quite unnecessary to wipe the skipper's eyes at every fresh gust. Again he proposed to change places with her; but Shuffles peremptorily forbade the movement, either because he thought the young lady could wipe his eyes better than the young man, or because he was afraid some accident would happen in making the change.
The storm rather increased than diminished in violence, and for an hour Shuffles held on his course. The steamer had gone into Friedrichshafen, though she had been obliged, in some of the fiercest blasts, to throw her head up into the wind, and hold on till its fierceness subsided a little. After every gust, the young lady wiped the eyes of her gallant preserver, for as such she regarded him; and such he doubtless was, for the boat would have gone to the bottom long before without his skilful assistance. She soon learned to perform the kindly office without a word, though the captain did not fail to thank her every time.
The boat did not make rapid progress; by keeping her close-hauled, continually easing off the sheet, and touching her up, she made considerable lee way. At the end of two hours, and when it was beginning to grow dark, Shuffles found himself nearing the shore on the north side of the lake. He must either make a harbor or go about on the other tack. It was impossible to land on the exposed shore, against which the waves were beating in the madness of their fury. He was at least ten miles above the port to which he and his passenger wished to go. Directly ahead of him was a point of land, which projected out into the lake. Beyond it there was an indentation in the shore, within which he might possibly find a partial shelter from the fury of the storm. It was doubtful whether he could weather the point; but he did not wish to tack, and stand farther out into the lake. The night was coming on, and all his skill and courage could not insure the safety of the boat in the darkness and on unknown waters.
Hauling in the sheet a little, he braced the craft sharp up, and struggled with the elements to clear the headland. He looked anxiously into the green waters for any shoals on the lee bow. Fortunately there was no obstruction in his path, and the boat weathered the headland, though without the fraction of a point to spare. Easing off the sheet, he ran the boat into the bay, and in a few moments she was slightly sheltered by the shore to the eastward. This friendly relief enabled him to keep her away a little, and run for the head of the bay, where he perceived an opening, which looked like the mouth of a river.
No longer cramped by the helm and the sheet, the boat flew on her course, and Shuffles presently satisfied himself that the opening he saw was really the mouth of a stream. He realized that the battle had been fought and won, but he said nothing to his fellow voyagers, who were silent and anxious. On sped the boat, and as the waves became less furious, he gave her more sheet, and she darted into the still waters of the river, which was not more than a hundred feet wide, and with banks high enough to afford perfect protection to the storm-shaken craft. As she rushed into the quiet stream, Shuffles let go the sheet, and the boat gradually lost her headway. Putting the helm down, he ran her gently upon the shore, and the grating of her keel upon the gravelly bank was sweet music to the ears of the voyagers.
"You are all right now," said Shuffles, as he rose from his seat in the stern sheets.
Almost for the first time since he boarded the sailboat, he looked into the face of the young lady. Her clothing was thoroughly drenched by the spray, and her face was moist as though she were a mermaid just emerged from the depths of the ocean. But even in her present plight Shuffles saw that she was a very pretty girl. She was shivering with cold, and it was necessary to do something for her comfort.
"We are really safe," replied the lady, with a grateful smile. "We owe our lives to you, sir."
"We are exceedingly grateful to you for your service," added the young man.
"I am very glad to have had an opportunity to serve you," replied Shuffles, addressing his words to the young lady.
"I shall remember you, and be grateful to you as long as I live," continued the lady, warmly, as she bestowed upon him an earnest look, which a skilful observer would have interpreted as one of admiration.
"But where are we?" asked the young man.
"I don't know, except that we must be ten or a dozen miles to the eastward of Friedrichshafen," answered Shuffles.
"What shall we do?" asked his male companion.
"There are probably houses not far distant. You had better go on shore, and when you see one, let us know it."
"Perhaps you would prefer to go," suggested the young man, glancing at the lady.
"Having worked hard in the boat, I prefer to rest a little while," replied Shuffles.
"Go, Sir William," added the lady, reproachfully.
Sir William! Captain Shuffles was rather taken aback to find he had been sending a young baronet to look for a house; but then he regarded himself as the peer of any baronet, and he did not apologize.
Sir William leaped over the bow of the boat to the shore, and climbed up the bank. He cast a glance back at the companions of his voyage, and then disappeared.
"I think you must be a sailor, sir," said the young lady, when her friend had gone.
"I am, miss. I am; at least I ought to be, since I am the captain of a ship."
"A captain—and so young! O, I know what you are!" exclaimed she. "You belong to the American Academy Ship."
"I do."
"But I did not see you at the emperor's ball in Paris."
"No. I was absent on duty."
"I had the pleasure of dancing with a captain on that occasion."
"I was appointed on the first of this month," explained Shuffles.
"I know your uniform very well; and I am glad to see you. I am sure you are worthy of your high position."
"Thank you, miss. You are very kind."
"I should have been at the bottom of Lake Constance at this moment, if you had been less gallant and skilful."
"Perhaps not," replied Shuffles, wondering all the time who the young lady was.
The hail of Sir William from the bank above interrupted the conversation. The boat had grounded a rod from the bank of the stream, and Shuffles gallantly bore the fair passenger to the shore in his arms. Assisting her up the bank, the party soon reached a cottage a short distance from the mouth of the river. The young nobleman imperiously ordered great fires and refreshments. He spoke German fluently, and his commands were promptly obeyed. The rain now poured down in floods, and the party congratulated themselves upon escaping this added discomfort.