Farewell! farewell! but ever,When wand'ring o'er the sea,Though worlds of water sever,This heart shall turn to thee.Though thy sweet smile be hiddenUnto my soul so dear;Though I be then forbiddenThine angel voice to hear;Though stern fate bid me wanderAway from thee afar,Yet hope will turn the fonderUnto its one bright star.The bird that on the bough, love,So sweetly sang of late,Hath often been ere now, love,Thus driven from his mate;But still he wakes his song, love,Returning there anew;And thus, oh, thus, ere long, love,Will I return to you.
Farewell! farewell! but ever,When wand'ring o'er the sea,Though worlds of water sever,This heart shall turn to thee.
Farewell! farewell! but ever,
When wand'ring o'er the sea,
Though worlds of water sever,
This heart shall turn to thee.
Though thy sweet smile be hiddenUnto my soul so dear;Though I be then forbiddenThine angel voice to hear;
Though thy sweet smile be hidden
Unto my soul so dear;
Though I be then forbidden
Thine angel voice to hear;
Though stern fate bid me wanderAway from thee afar,Yet hope will turn the fonderUnto its one bright star.
Though stern fate bid me wander
Away from thee afar,
Yet hope will turn the fonder
Unto its one bright star.
The bird that on the bough, love,So sweetly sang of late,Hath often been ere now, love,Thus driven from his mate;
The bird that on the bough, love,
So sweetly sang of late,
Hath often been ere now, love,
Thus driven from his mate;
But still he wakes his song, love,Returning there anew;And thus, oh, thus, ere long, love,Will I return to you.
But still he wakes his song, love,
Returning there anew;
And thus, oh, thus, ere long, love,
Will I return to you.
"A sweet little cherub sits up aloft to cheer us with his soothing symphony," said Professor to Toney.
"It is Tom Seddon," said Toney, glancing upward. "Just now he climbed up the rigging, inserted his person through the lubber's hole, and seated himself in the foretop."
"Where he is laudably exercising his lungs for the entertainment of the company below," said the Professor.
"Poor Tom is not thinking of the company below," said Toney. "His thoughts are far away."
"With Ida?" said the Professor. "Yet one of the company below seems to be wonderfully excited by his music. Did you ever hear such a clatter of hoofs?"
"You refer to the young gentleman on the top of the cook's galley, who is occupied with certain saltatory movements which appear to be an awkward imitation of dancing?" said Toney.
"Who is he?" asked the Professor.
"Sam Perch," said Toney.
"The verdant youth who is sometimes called the Long Green Boy?" said the Professor.
"The same," said Toney.
"This extraordinary lad seems to possess the chameleon-like faculty of occasionally changing his color," said the Professor.
"How so?" said Toney.
"He has ceased to be green for the present, and has become exceedinglyblue."
"Is punning allowable?" said Toney.
"That depends entirely on circumstances," said the Professor. "If on dry land a man makes a pun in your presence, knock him down if you are able."
"And at sea?" said Toney.
"Pun away as much as you please. In Neptune's dominions the area of liberty is ample, and freedom of speech is seldom interfered with."
"Do you recognize that solemn personage standing at the bow and gazing so intently over the broad waters?" said Toney.
"It is Moses," said the Professor. "He hopes soon to get a glimpse of the land of promise."
"I heard him tell Hercules just now that he only wanted four bushels of gold-dust,—two for himself and two for his father. He said that he expected to fill his two sacks in about a week after he reached the mines, and should then immediately start for home."
"His absence will be of short duration," said the Professor. "But who is Hercules?"
"The big fellow to whom Botts has just administered apotation from the black bottle which he now holds in his hand," said Toney.
"The giant smacks his lips in approval at the quality of the contents," said the Professor.
"I certainly recognize that nose," said Toney, pointing to an individual whose face was covered with an impenetrable thicket of black beard, leaving only two twinkling eyes and his nasal protuberance visible.
"That extraordinary nose belongs to William Wiggins," said the Professor.
"To Rosebud?"
"No longer Rosebud," said the Professor. "As soon as he came on board the sailors called him Old Grizzly. He will be known by no other name at sea, for when the jolly tars are in the nominative case, the designation they give a man always clings to him. Hereafter we may as well cease to call him Wiggins, and speak of him as Old Grizzly."
"He must have been at enmity with the barbers for the last four weeks," said Toney.
"When he determined to seek his fortune in the auriferous regions of the far West, he made a solemn vow not to allow a razor to come in contact with his countenance until he had dug two barrels of gold, which he said was enough for any one man. So his beard must continue to grow longer until he gets his two barrels of gold."
"It will be long enough before he gets the gold," said Toney.
"Pun away boldly," said the Professor; "we are now on the water. But come, let us go below, and look after our goods and chattels."
During the night the ship anchored in the bay; and next morning the pilot was sent off, and she stood out to sea.
Coming on deck at an early hour in the morning, Toney and the Professor were watching the silvery spray darting off from the bow, when they heard a singular sound, as if proceeding from some huge sea-monster seized with a fit of the colic. Looking along the bulwarks, they beheld poor Hercules, with outstretched neck and dilated eyes, pouring out libations to the inexorable god of theseas. And soon, with pallid cheeks, M. T. Pate appeared, followed by the Long Green Boy, Old Grizzly, and Moses, who, with many others, silently glided to the side of the giant, who, as he stood thrusting out his head and neck with certain indescribable jerks, and towering above his companions, engaged in similar exercises, resembled some tall and bulky Shanghai rooster, with all his numerous progeny around him, grievously afflicted with that terrible visitation of the poultry-yard which hen-wives denominate the gapes.
The Professor was a benevolent little fellow, with a high opinion of his medical skill; so he proceeded to the cabin, and brought forth a bottle containing a beverage much more potent than that in which Adam was accustomed to drink the health of Eve when in the garden of Eden. He first applied to Hercules; and holding the neck of the bottle in close proximity to his lips, earnestly exhorted him to try the infallible remedy of absorption, assuring him that it was a sovereign cure for his ailment in particular, as well as for nearly every other ill in this sublunary state of existence. But Hercules, grinning "horribly a ghastly grin," turned quickly away, and gave expression to his abhorrence of the proposition in loud and boisterous sounds, which seemed to come from the very bottom of a soul intimately acquainted with sorrow.
The kind-hearted Professor then proceeded to the Long Green Boy, who was rapidly projecting out and drawing back his head in a horizontal direction, and giving utterance to a succession of sounds which resembled a small hurricane of hiccoughs. The verdant youth cast a look of disgust at the sparkling fluid, and waving his hand impatiently, turned away, and continued in the awkward but faithful performance of his part in the exercises of the morning. Moses gave the Professor a look of indignation, while Old Grizzly so far forgot himself as to advise the benevolent little fellow, in the emphatic phraseology usually employed by the sons of Belial, to locate himself in a certain remote quarter of the universe not proper to be mentioned to "ears polite."
The Professor then entreated M. T. Pate to imbibe from the bottle containing his catholicon. But poor Pate wasbusily engaged in the performance of sundry remarkable and difficult evolutions; thrusting out and drawing in his head with unexampled vigor.
"He is trying to swallow his own head," said Toney, taking the Professor aside and pointing to Pate.
"And actually seems to entertain the most sanguine hopes of succeeding in his hazardous undertaking," said the Professor.
"What undertaking?" asked Tom Seddon, who just then came on deck.
"He is seeking to swallow his own cocoanut," said the Professor.
"Who?" asked Tom.
"M. T. Pate," said the Professor. "Look at him! I am apprehensive that he will succeed."
"You could not induce any of them to imbibe?" said Toney.
"No," said the Professor; "they are teetotalers, and Hercules is the President of the association. Come, let me introduce you to the amphibious animals who inhabit the forecastle."
The Professor and his two friends walked forward, and saw seated on the anchor an old sea-monster, with a very short pipe in his mouth. His original name was Timothy; but several reefs had been taken in it by his shipmates, and it had been finally tucked up into Tim.
Tom Seddon, like most young lovers who have just parted from the objects of their affections, had a tender heart, and, pitying the old sailor reduced to the necessity of endangering the end of his nose when he performed the important ceremony of fumigation, handed him a pipe with a long stem.
Old Tim examined this valuable present with a cool glance of criticism; and then proceeded to break the stem.
"Don't," said Tom. "What are you doing?"
"Too much timber!" said the old tar, laconically. And he broke off the stem within an inch of the bowl, which he filled with chips from a plug of tobacco; putting on top a live coal procured from the cook's galley.
"That beats thunder!" said Tom.
"Let him alone," said the Professor. "If he wantsto give his proboscis the benefit of an auto da fe, it is his own business."
"Look at him!" said Tom.
"His nasal protuberance enveloped in vapor looks like an altar abundantly supplied with incense," said the Professor. "But who are those dusky gentlemen with whom Toney seems to be so intimate?"
"This one is from the island of Madeira," said Toney.
"Si, señor," said the sailor.
"His name is Pedro," said Toney.
"Which being interpreted is Peter," said the Professor.
"Pete," said Old Tim, with a puff at his pipe.
"Probably that is a corruption of the text," said the Professor, suggestively.
"And here is a Sardinian whose name is Pablo," said Toney.
"Which when translated is Paul," said the Professor.
"Jupiter!" exclaimed Tom Seddon, jumping back.
"It is Jupiter's brother," said the Professor, as a huge head appeared over the bow, followed by an immense body, which had been down in the forechains. "Neptune is coming on board to give you a fraternal hug."
"Old Nick!" said Tim, with another puff at his short pipe.
"Old Nick?" said the Professor. "I was not aware that he was an aquatic animal. I had always understood that he delighted to dwell in another element."
"Who is that lad running down the rigging?" said Tom to Timothy.
"Young Nick," said the salt, with another puff at his pipe.
"Old Nick and Young Nick!" said the Professor. "Undoubtedly these are nicknames bestowed on them for euphony."
"What port is that?" asked Tim, taking the pipe from his mouth.
"It lies on the south side of the Anonymous Islands," said the Professor.
"I have been there," said Old Nick. "Sailed with Captain Morrell in the ship Tartar. Good port. Rum cheap and tobacco plenty."
"I have no doubt of it," said the Professor, as he arose from his seat on a coil of rope, and, at the sound of the steward's bell summoning them to breakfast, walked with Toney and Tom to the cabin.
"Look at M. T. Pate," said Tom Seddon, as he sat with Toney and the Professor on deck one morning, about a week after they had been at sea.
The ship was running at the rate of nine knots, with the wind on the quarter.
"He treads as tremulously as a turkey condemned to the ordeal of tripping over a liberal sprinkling of hot ashes," said the Professor.
"Getting his sea-legs," said Old Tim, as he toddled by with a rope in his hand.
"Our venerable friend suggests that Pate is about to undergo a metamorphosis and become amphibious," said the Professor.
"What are Wiggins and Botts doing yonder?" said Toney.
"Hugging!" said Tom.
"The hug of the Old Grizzly is dangerous," said the Professor.
"And Perch and Hercules seem to have fraternized," said Toney.
"The Long Green Boy is clinging to the giant as the vine clings to the oak," said the Professor.
"Poor Moses!" said Toney.
"Look at him!" said Tom.
"His eyes are amply dilated," said the Professor.
"He is afraid that the ship will be upset," said Tom.
"How do you think that Pate would now perform on the light fantastic toe?" said Toney.
"Speaking of that suggests an idea," said the Professor.
"What is that?" asked Toney.
"Next Thursday will be Washington's birthday," said the Professor.
"Well?" said Toney.
"Let us have a ball," said the Professor.
"A ball!" exclaimed Toney.
"A ball!" cried Tom.
"Yes," said the Professor, "let us have a ball for the fun of the thing."
"We are the Funny Philosophers," said Toney.
"Let us have the ball," said Tom.
"But where are the ladies?" said Toney.
"There are no representatives of these sweet 'wingless angels' on board except the captain's spouse," said the Professor.
"Who has sailed in company with her weather-beaten consort for some twenty years," said Toney.
"And is as good a seaman as himself," said Tom.
"Do not be tossing the queen's English on the horns of an Irish bull," said the Professor. "Yet what you say is measurably true; for when the venerable Timothy is more than ordinarily sad and susceptible of melancholy impressions, he is often heard to bitterly complain of his hard lot in being compelled to serve under a 'she boss,' who, he alleges, is the better man of the two."
"I have no doubt," said Tom, "of the ability of this ancient lady to carry the ship safely through the dangers of the most difficult navigation."
"But," said Toney, "I hardly suppose that she would be able to steer through the intricate mazes of a fashionable hop without the imminent danger of running aground."
"Yet," said the Professor, "her presence on board relieves us from a perplexing dilemma."
"How so?" asked Toney.
"There can be no doubt," said the Professor, "that in sundry sea-chests she has stowed away an incalculable quantity of female attire. Now, if I can but obtain the run of her wardrobe, the preparations for the ball will be made without difficulty."
"Let us call a meeting in the cabin," said Toney.
"A most excellent suggestion!" said the Professor. "Let the meeting be immediately convened."
A meeting of the passengers resulted in a determination to have a grand ball in honor of the birthday of the immortal Washington, and the Professor was unanimously chosen to make the arrangements. He immediately entered upon the performance of his arduous and important duties. After a negotiation, which was conducted on his part with the skill of a consummate diplomatist, he succeeded in concluding an advantageous treaty with the captain's lady, and obtained an abundant supply of female apparel. A number of the most youthful of the passengers were then subjected to a tonsorial operation, obliterating every indication of a nascent beard from their features; after which they were arrayed in the garments obtained from the old lady's wardrobe.
"Don't they look beautiful?" said Tom Seddon.
"Just like a bevy of blushing and modest maidens," said Toney.
"The susceptible Long Green Boy has fallen in love with one of them already," said Tom.
"I fear that he will again be the victim of a hopeless attachment," said Toney.
"I regret the absence of Love and Dove," said the Professor.
"What nice little ladies they would have made!" said Tom.
"Their dancing days are over," said Toney.
"Matrimony imposes important duties," said the Professor; "and the little Loves and Doves will soon claim their undivided attention."
The ball-room was a long apartment, under the forecastle, called the forward cabin. It was illuminated by a number of lamps, which "shone o'er fair women and brave men" assembled to enjoy that "scene of revelry by night."
"Look at Moses!" said Tom Seddon.
"The young man seems to be greatly terrified," said the Professor.
"He is like one under an optical illusion," said Toney.
"Moses believes he is now in the presence of more than a dozen beautiful women," said Tom.
"And has shrunk timidly in a corner to avoid the observation of the enemy," said Toney.
"He has attracted the attention of a young maiden who has fixed her bright glances on him, as if meditating mischief," said the Professor.
"She is a bold girl," said Toney.
"Strangely forgetful of the obvious rules of propriety!" said the Professor.
"Poor Moses is protesting," said Toney.
"But in vain; for she has grappled him around the waist," said Tom.
"And is carrying him by main force into the middle of the floor," said Toney.
"Was ever such vigor witnessed among virgins!" said Tom.
"Never since the extinction of the Amazonian race!" said the Professor.
"Moses and his partner lead off," said Toney.
"Clear the way!" said Tom, as each gayly attired gallant selected a partner; and soon "the fun grew fast and furious."
"Mr. Pate seems to be perfectly at home in the dance," said the Professor.
"And so does the Long Green Boy," said Toney.
"Old Grizzly is performing his part admirably," said Tom.
"He is peeping from behind a masked battery of black beard upon the charms of his agreeable partner," said Toney.
"The young lady should beware of his hug," said Tom.
"The pair forcibly remind one of the old story of Beauty and the Beast," said the Professor.
"Hercules and the damsel with whom he is dancing require an immense amount of sea-room," said Toney.
"Heads up!" exclaimed Tom. And, as he uttered this exclamation, the ship, which had been running on an even keel, gave a sudden lurch to the larboard, upsetting all the fun in an instant, and spoiling the poetry of motion.
"Ah, then and there was hurrying to and fro,"
"Ah, then and there was hurrying to and fro,"
"Ah, then and there was hurrying to and fro,"
and Hercules pitched headforemost with his partner intoa bunk. The indignant damsel arose and gave utterance to a wish the literal fulfillment of which would have found Hercules, poor fellow! sadly in need of the aid of an experienced oculist.
After the ceremony of a general prostration there was a tumultuous rush for the companion-ladder. The Professor reached the deck, after having inadvertently perpetrated the atrocious outrage of tearing away a considerable portion of female finery from the person of a fair damsel who was boldly mounting ahead, and who bestowed upon him sundry benedictions of singular import. The first object he beheld was M. T. Pate on his knees in an attitude of supplication.
"What's the matter, Mr. Pate?" exclaimed the Professor.
"Now I lay me down to sleep!" ejaculated Pate, with extreme fervor.
"What has happened?" cried Tom Seddon.
"Now I lay me down to sleep!" reiterated Pate.
"No time for praying! You had better cut your yarn short and lay hold on a rope," said the mate, in emphatic terms by no means in unison with Pate's devotional sentiments.
"What's broke loose?" said Toney.
"The ship has been taken aback!" cried the mate. And he rushed forward and commenced kicking old Tim, who was lying supinely on his back in a condition of somnolency.
The crew had been inspired with patriotic emotions equal to those of the passengers, and, while getting up water from below, had discovered a case of brandy, and secretly conveyed it to the forecastle. Here the multitude of libations in honor of the father of his country had been productive of serious consequences.
In the course of the evening the mate saw approaching one of those sudden squalls so common in those latitudes, and ordered all hands aloft. But he might as well have been issuing his orders to the inmates of a bedlam. There lay Timothy on the deck, a picture of perfect repose and innocent tranquillity. Peter and Paul were engaged in a hot controversy with Old Nick, whoseyouthful namesake was occupied with certain saltatory movements on the top of the forecastle. Just then the squall struck the ship and nearly carried the lee-rail under. In an instant the instincts of the sailor were aroused, and all had an idea that something was to be done; but there was a strange want of unanimity in reference to the measures proper to be adopted. Forth rushed the captain from his cabin; but his occupation was gone. There stood Old Nick, giving orders vociferously, evidently under the impression that he had been recently promoted and was an admiral of theblue. This daring usurper was finally disposed of by the second mate, who put himself in the attitude of a shoulder-striker and laid him at his length in an undignified position in the lee-scupper.
It was then that the dancers from the ball-room rushed upon deck. These—ladies and all—laid hold on the ropes; and under the direction of the officers the canvas was taken in, and the vessel was relieved from her perilous situation and brought before the wind.
"Great praise is due to the petticoats," said the Professor, "who, by laying aside their modesty and climbing into the rigging, materially assisted in saving the ship."
"The women have behaved like men," said Toney.
"Let us drink their health," said Tom.
"That proposition is carried unanimously," said Toney. And they proceeded to the cabin and toasted the ladies over a bottle of wine.
"Mr. Pate seems to be profoundly meditating upon the immensity of the water contained in the ocean," said the Professor, one afternoon, as he pointed to Pate, who was leaning over the bulwarks apparently in a condition of mental abstraction.
"It is probable that he is now calculating how long a period it would take to pump the Atlantic dry," said Toney.
"Land ho!" cried a loud voice in the direction of the forecastle.
There was a general rush forward at this announcement; and on the bow stood Peter, pointing with extended arm to some object which he asserted was land. But nobody could see it except himself; and Moses soon became skeptical, and finally declared that the fellow was a fool. This he demonstrated from the fact that Peter kept pointing to a dim cloud, about as big as the crown of his hat, with the absurd affirmation that it wasterra firma. The opinion of Moses was warmly supported by M. T. Pate and others, who promulgated it with considerable emphasis. But Peter still stood at his post pointing prophetically afar off, and he now had Old Nick at his elbow, who stoutly corroborated all that he had uttered.
In the mean while the vessel, borne along by the breeze, kept steadily on her way, and the little cloud loomed larger on the horizon, and gradually grew more and more distinct. The almost imperceptible shade deepened into a substantial blue, and finally brightened into a beautiful green, and Cape Frio became plainly visible.
The prospect of soon getting on shore caused much excitement in the cabin, after supper, and considerable conviviality.
After partaking of several glasses of wine, the Professor turned to Toney and Tom, and gravely remarked,—
"We are informed, by the highest authority on the subject, that there is a very great difference betweenebriusandebriolus. It is not becoming in one of the Funny Philosophers to be anything more thanebriolus. Let us leave these devotees of Bacchus to their orgies in honor of the god of the grape, and go upon deck."
"Come!" said Toney. "I have no wish to carry a headache on shore with me to-morrow."
"Nor I," said Tom, ascending the companion-ladder.
They walked forward until they came to the cook's galley, when the Professor stopped suddenly and exclaimed, pointing to a hog which had been butchered and hung up with its head downward,—
"Here has been a bloody deed!"
"Not a homicide?" said Toney.
"No; a suicide," said Tom.
"Let your puns be in plain English," said the Professor.
"Latin puns are too obscure," said Toney.
"Mr. Seddon must atone for this offense by doing penance," said the Professor.
"In what way?" asked Tom.
"You must immediately climb into the rigging and run a rope around the foretop-gallant yard," said the Professor.
"What's your purpose?" asked Toney.
"To suspend this deceased porker from the masthead," said the Professor.
"We will have fun," said Tom.
"Fun is the true philosophy of life," said the Professor.
Tom did as directed, and in a few moments the porker rapidly ascended and was lashed to the masthead. The Professor then walked to the bow, where was seated Old Nick, telling a wonderful yarn to Tim, who was smoking his pipe.
"On the Gold Coast six months. The niggers brought us gold-dust in quills. One day their duke died."
"Have the negroes dukes among them?" asked Toney.
"Their head-man. They put all his wives and slaves in a pen."
"What for?" asked Tom.
"To knock them on the head and bury them with the duke. Never heard such howling. One nigger jumped over the pen, ran down to the shore, and swam to the ship. They came around in canoes after him. Captain told me to throw him overboard. Had to obey orders. They took him ashore and knocked him on the head with clubs. Next night I was on the beach. Something jumped right up before me and grinned in my face. Looked like the big nigger I had pitched overboard."
"I thought they had knocked him on the head," said Toney.
"His ghost. It gave a whoop and jumped clean over my head, and then jumped back again."
"Like a circus-rider," said Tom.
"Kept jumping back and forth over my head, whooping and grinning. I got mad, and struck at it with a stick. Jerked stick from my hand and beat me over the back with it. I grabbed at the tarnal ghost, and if I could have got a grip on it I'd downed it. Couldn't hold it; got scared."
"No wonder," said Toney. "Any man would have been scared with this great ugly bugaboo whooping and yelling, and jumping backward and forward over his head, and beating him with his own cane."
"Ran for the boat. Ghost followed me. Priest had come ashore in the boat with a bottle of holy water in his pocket. He flung it in the critter's face, when it gave a whoop and vamosed."
"You infernal thieves!" said the cook, coming forward with a large butcher's knife in his hand and confronting the sailors, "what have you done with my hog?"
"Didn't touch your hog," said Old Nick.
"Don't be lying there," said the ireful cook. "You have stolen that hog and hid it in the forecastle. Not a taste of lobscouse will you lubbers get until you give up my hog. I'll cut off your rations, you blasted rogues! I'd like to see one of you get any duff for his dinner on Sundays, after this."
The sailors were alarmed, for the cook is the great man on shipboard. They humbly protested their innocence,but were sternly denounced as liars and thieves who had stolen the porker, intended for the passengers' dinner, and hidden it in the forecastle. As the cook was brandishing his knife, and growing more violent in his denunciations, he was startled by hearing loud squeals overhead. The sounds were like the shrill cries of a large hog which was having a knife plunged into his throat.
"Great thunder!" exclaimed Tom.
The cook and the sailors gazed upward with looks of amazement.
There was a reiteration of loud squeals. The cook dropped his knife and ran into his galley. The sailors fled with precipitation, until they reached the quarter-deck. Tom Seddon stood gazing upward, while Toney whispered to the Professor.
"Yes," said the Professor, "a faculty occasionally exercised. It must be a profound secret."
"Shall I tell Tom?"
"Whisper it to him, and warn him to be reticent."
Toney whispered to Tom, who nodded his head and seemed to comprehend.
"You lying lubbers!" said the mate, coming forward, followed by the sailors. "Telling your yarns about a hog in the——"
Here there was a succession of loud squeals from the masthead. The hog seemed to be in great agony. The sailors fled to the stern, and the mate rushed into the captain's cabin. The captain came forward. The squeals were louder and more prolonged. The mate trembled and turned pale.
"What is it?" said the captain.
"The cook killed a hog and hung it alongside his galley, and the devil has carried it up there!" said the mate, pointing to the masthead.
"The devil is in the habit of getting into hogs," said Toney.
"He once got into a whole herd of swine," said Tom.
"There is Scripture for that," said the mate.
"I must have that hog down," said the captain. "Here—Nick—Tim—Peter—Paul! up to the masthead and lower the hog!"
Not a man would stir. The crew loudly swore that they would not go up there for any captain that ever trod a quarter-deck.
"You go up," said the captain to the mate.
"Nary time," said the mate. "My business is to navigate the ship,—not to fight the devil. You go up."
The captain laid hold on a rope, and was about to ascend, when loud squeals were heard, and cries of "Murder! murder! murder!" from the masthead. The captain let go his hold and fell on the deck.
"There are more than a dozen devils up there!" shouted the mate.
"What's to be done?" said the captain, rising on his feet and looking aghast.
"Let them alone until we get into port, and then hire a lot of priests to sprinkle the ship with holy water," said the mate.
"I'll have her swabbed with barrels of holy water!" exclaimed the captain.
"Thank God, it is daylight," said the mate.
It was now morning, and the ship sailed on, and was soon abreast of the castle of Santa Cruz.
"American ship ahoy!" was shouted through a trumpet from the ramparts.
"Hello!" was the response from the deck.
"How many days did you come from?"
"Baltimore—forty-two."
"All right!" And the vessel glided along, and, passing the Sugar-Loaf, soon anchored in the spacious and beautiful harbor of the Brazilian metropolis, with the hog at her masthead.
"Why does your captain carry that hog at his masthead?"
This question was asked by a midshipman who came alongside in a boat and was recognized by Toney and the Professor as a former acquaintance. They and Tom Seddon were seated in the boat and about to go ashore.
"Every man has his idiosyncrasies," said the Professor. "Van Tromp sailed through the British Channel with a broom at his masthead; and our captain never enters a harbor without a hog hanging on his foretop-gallant yard."
"Van Tromp's broom was a symbol of victory," said the young officer.
"And our captain's hog is a symbol of good living," said the Professor.
"He wishes to have it known that, while other vessels come into port on short rations, he carries an abundance of grub wherever he goes," said Toney.
"He must be an eccentric old codger," said the middy.
"He is, indeed," said the Professor.
"Here we are," said the middy. And he sprang on shore, followed by his three friends, whose sea-legs were of very little use to them; for they staggered about as if they had freely participated in the conviviality of the preceding night and still sensibly felt its effects. They managed at length to waddle along with the earth apparently rocking and rolling under their feet, and finally reached Pharoux's Hotel in Palace Square, where comfortable quarters were secured.
On the following morning the Professor, in company with his three friends and M. T. Pate, walked forth into the Square. As they passed in front of the Palace, the negro sentinel, with a staid demeanor, was pacing to and fro, while squads of his sable comrades lounged around, like lazy black dogs, basking in the sun.
"Look at that gigantic American standing among theBrazilian soldiers who seem like pigmies by comparison," said the midshipman.
"It is Hercules," said the Professor.
"Or Goliath of Gath," said the midshipman. "Do you know him?"
"He came out in our ship," said Toney.
"If your captain carried many such giants on board, I wonder that he had a spare porker to hang at his masthead."
"Hercules seems to be on terms of intimacy with thoseblack guardsof the House of Braganza," said Toney.
"No punning now, if you please; we are on land," said the Professor.
"But on foreign land, where the points of our puns cannot be perceived by the natives," said Toney.
"Your apology is perfectly satisfactory," said the Professor.
"Let us see what Hercules is going to do," said Tom Seddon.
They approached, and stood in close proximity to the tail of his coat. He had taken a musket from the hands of a grinning Brazilian of African descent, and, pointing to the flint lock, with a sagacious shake of his noddle, informed him that he was far behind the age; at the same time expatiating on the manifest superiority of the percussion principle. To the instruction of this able tactician the soldiers, although unable to comprehend a word of English, seemed to be listening with profound attention, when a loud laugh from Toney and Tom interrupted this morning's first lesson.
In the course of their wandering through the town they came to a navy-yard, where they saw several vessels in an interesting condition of rottenness. While examining these hulks, an astonishing confusion of tongues was heard in their rear; and, turning around, they beheld a fellow as black as Beelzebub, who wore an officer's uniform and was endeavoring to hold a colloquy with M. T. Pate, who listened and replied with an amiable condescension; but, as neither understood a word that was addressed to him, the utterance of each was an enigma to the other. The Professor winked at Toney, and then gravely remarked,"Mr. Pate, this negro is doubtless begging for a dump,"—a huge copper coin of the value of several cents, which the Brazilians have invented for the convenience of commerce.
Pate, who in his own country was of Southern birth and accustomed to negroes solely in a menial capacity, drew forth a ponderous dump from his pocket, and bestowing it upon the officer of his Imperial Majesty with a benevolent smile, went on his way, leaving the object of his benefaction astounded by this evidence of his generosity.
As they proceeded up a street they encountered a pair of sturdy Africans carrying a sedan-chair attached to a couple of poles. Its sides were surrounded with gaudy curtains, for the protection of the timid señorita seated within from the bold gaze of the common multitude. Walking behind it were Botts, Old Grizzly, and the Long Green Boy, who appeared to have attached themselves to the procession as a committee of investigation; while, ranging up alongside, like a vigilant cruiser about to overhaul a suspicious craft in quest of a contraband cargo, was the adventurous Moses in a prodigious state of excitement, staring at the object of his amazement with dilated eyes, in blissful ignorance of his dangerous proximity to a petticoat. But great was his consternation when informed that there was a young lady behind the curtain. He started back with a terrified expression; and the Professor afterwards said that had not his limbs failed him, and his knees come in collision, like bones in the hands of an Ethiopian serenader, they would have been entertained with the sight of a desperate fugitive darting up the street with the caudal appendage to his coat taking a horizontal projection as he hurried along.
Having during the day visited various localities in the city, they returned to the hotel, and on the following morning proceeded on an expedition to the Imperial gardens. They rode in a huge omnibus drawn by four couples of mules, and navigated by four adventurous natives, each seated on the back of one of the animals, with prodigious rowels on his heels, which seemed to indicate a ruthless determination to gore out the vitals of the beast if he showed the least signs of a refractory disposition, and dared to dispute the supremacy of therider. Under the shade of cocoa- and coffee-trees they rumbled over the road, and at length arrived at the gates of the gardens.
This inclosure, equal in area to a large farm, was cultivated with great care and filled with every variety of flowers and fruitage. At intervals, among the trees, were fanciful little tenements for the accommodation of those whose business it was to plant and to prune.
Tom Seddon became poetic, and declared that they had discovered a paradise in which an Adam and Eve were probably then dwelling in immortal youth and innocence.
After exploring the gardens for several hours, the Professor seated himself in a beautiful arbor, and, while the gorgeous butterflies and birds of variegated and magnificent plumage were flitting around him, he sang:
The op'ning rose doth brightly glowWith pearly dews of even,Like a fragment fall'n from yonder bow,Which hangeth like Hope in the heaven.And gayly on a golden wing,At the sweet evening hour,The humming-bird comes like a fairy thingTo flit round the beautiful flower.Oh, be not like that humming-birdAround the sweet rose roving,That is ling'ring there, while e'er is heardThe breezes of summer moving,But when the chilly blast has blownAnd wint'ry storms are brewing,He flieth away to a milder zone,And leaveth it then to its ruin;Be like that bird we oft have seen,Whose mellow notes were ringingAmong the willows when all was green,And flowers around us were springing.And when those boughs are all stript bare,By wint'ry storms o'ertaken,That faithful bird is still ling'ring there,Nor hath ever that spot forsaken.
The op'ning rose doth brightly glowWith pearly dews of even,Like a fragment fall'n from yonder bow,Which hangeth like Hope in the heaven.
The op'ning rose doth brightly glow
With pearly dews of even,
Like a fragment fall'n from yonder bow,
Which hangeth like Hope in the heaven.
And gayly on a golden wing,At the sweet evening hour,The humming-bird comes like a fairy thingTo flit round the beautiful flower.
And gayly on a golden wing,
At the sweet evening hour,
The humming-bird comes like a fairy thing
To flit round the beautiful flower.
Oh, be not like that humming-birdAround the sweet rose roving,That is ling'ring there, while e'er is heardThe breezes of summer moving,
Oh, be not like that humming-bird
Around the sweet rose roving,
That is ling'ring there, while e'er is heard
The breezes of summer moving,
But when the chilly blast has blownAnd wint'ry storms are brewing,He flieth away to a milder zone,And leaveth it then to its ruin;
But when the chilly blast has blown
And wint'ry storms are brewing,
He flieth away to a milder zone,
And leaveth it then to its ruin;
Be like that bird we oft have seen,Whose mellow notes were ringingAmong the willows when all was green,And flowers around us were springing.
Be like that bird we oft have seen,
Whose mellow notes were ringing
Among the willows when all was green,
And flowers around us were springing.
And when those boughs are all stript bare,By wint'ry storms o'ertaken,That faithful bird is still ling'ring there,Nor hath ever that spot forsaken.
And when those boughs are all stript bare,
By wint'ry storms o'ertaken,
That faithful bird is still ling'ring there,
Nor hath ever that spot forsaken.
"A song from Mr. Seddon," cried the Professor, as he concluded his own melody. Tom sang as follows: