CHAPTERXXVI.
The captain’s gig, which I had found in an excellent state of preservation on one of the lower decks, was put in the hands of one of the crew, who had some experience as a carpenter, and was thoroughly refitted. I had the seats in the stern of the boat covered with sea-grass cushions and the trim gig given a coat of the fish-scale shellac, without and within. There were seats for six oarsmen.
When the gig was finished and the oars fitted thereto, I selected a boat’s crew with great care, choosing only the strongest and homeliest young men from the ship’s company. When all was ready I had the boat placed in the water one day when Donna Elenora was present on the Caribas, and then informed the two ladies that the gig was at their service, individually and collectively, whenever they chose to use it. I knew enough of human nature to foresee that, after a few visits together, the two ladies would disagree as to the proper hour to make calls, and practically would never use the boat in each other’s company. I must admit that I felt an emotion of satanic delight in destroying all the traditions of the Sargassons at one blow, and in thus boldly introducing what we in the English language denominate “The Sociability of the Human Race.” Deep down in my heart I felt that the Sargassons were right in theory and in practice.
Little as they knew of the great world that surrounded them, but of which they formed a part, they had discovered that, almost universally, friendships exist because of mutual interests, and that the moment a preponderance of selfish benefit accrues to one individual in excess of that attainable by the other, all cordiality is dissipated.
Friendship is a mirage of Fogland! It vanishes when the sunlight of self-interest beats upon it.
In every way I encouraged the propaganda that these good ladies had set on foot. Day by day I saw them depart, filled with the enthusiasm of their sacred mission. Naturally, the first visits were paid nearest home, but the field of the propaganda was gradually extended until their absence embraced the period between the rising and going down of the sun.
For a few days I was told all that occurred, exactly what had been said on each vessel, how the tea tasted with which they had been regaled, and even the spiteful remarks that the women on the other ships had made about their neighbors. But, prompted by Donna Elenora, who unconsciously was more of a logician than Fidette, the leader of the Great Cause soon ceased to tell me anything. In this she was entirely within her own rights, and I found no fault.
The Kantoon of the Cormorant, however, was not so complacent, and on the first refusal of his wife to tell him where she had been he reasserted the majesty of man by locking her up in the sick bay and putting her on a diet of dry seaweed and rainwater. He peremptorily refused to allow Donna Elenora to again accompany Fidette, and the splendid future of the good work seemed to be imperiled. It was in vain that Fidette appealed to me to have her companion released. I told her, candidly, that under the new order of things my influence did not extend to a control of the women in the community; that, however much liberty I might allowthe gentle sex, I could not abolish the marriage relation or create any ex-post facto regulation that would abrogate the control that the husband was admitted to have over the conduct of the wife at the time the contract was made.
This didn’t satisfy Fidette. Her estimate of man was no better than before. I was really charmed with the manner in which she stamped her little foot on the deck and said:
“Just wait till we control Sargasso and its myriad ships. We’ll crucify such a man as Elenora’s husband!”
This was perfectly delightful to me.
I learned from time to time that the social conditions on the ships that had been visited by the two priestesses of emancipation were quite the same as on board the Cormorant. The custom of giving teas to the visiting wives and daughters of the Kantoons had already practically destroyed one of the most sacred ordinances of the Sargassons forbidding the presence of fire on any ship. This offense, for which any man in the crew would have been instantly punished with death, was now committed by the ladies of Sargasso with impunity.
Another circumstances that I noticed in the line of independence was that they began bartering their jewels among each other, and the greater part of the personal property that had been the pride of the Sargasson people bid fair to drift into the hands of a few women who were shrewder and more skilled in the arts of barter than the others. I foresaw that this would lead to no end of trouble. Fidette was the superior of any woman in striking a bargain, and she did not, therefore, suffer especially at the hands of the shrewdest of her sex.
The catastrophe that I had feared came in a most startling and unexpected way.
Five months had been devoted to “ameliorating the condition of the Sargasson women.” Her cares had been lightened to such an extent that she knew nothing abouther own household as a rule, but was thoroughly acquainted with every detail regarding the affairs of her neighbors. She had begun to observe and comment upon the dress and the personal adornment of her best friends. She had taken to staining her cheeks with the juice of the ogalla berry—not to render her more beautiful and attractive to her husband, but to rouse the envy of her own sex.
Covetousness, a vice that had been unknown among these people previously, made its appearance, and some of the women devoted all their time to plotting how they might secure the most highly prized heirlooms that their friends possessed. Already several very scandalous charges have been made to the Chief Kantoon, involving undue influence and insinuating theft.
But the climax was reached one dark night, when the Sacred Light was flashed high into a sky of inky blackness. No intimation whatever as to the cause of its sudden appearance had been received over the sea-root telegraph, and I have no doubt that on every ship, as on the Caribas, the deepest suspense was felt while the awful import of the glowing message in the sky was being slowly deciphered. With a movement, regular as the swinging of a pendulum, the searchlight was thrown east or west, north or south, southeast or northwest, until enough of the message had been imparted to enable every Sargasson to guess the rest.
I was not familiar enough in reading the signals of the Sacred Light to grasp the startling intelligence it conveyed. Fidette and my first officer, who stood near me, threw themselves upon their faces on the deck, exhibiting signs of abject terror. In vain I shook the first mate; then I strove to raise my wife to her feet.
Taking Fidette in my arms, I was about to carry her to her cabin, when I detected members of the crew dropping overboard from various parts of the ship. One sailor rushed past me, and threw himself headlong intothe sea. These acts of my men filled me with consternation. Before my eyes members of my crew were drowning themselves because of the information that the Sacred Light had flashed to them!
Carrying Fidette to her cabin, I placed her on the sofa, applied to her nostrils a bottle of strong salts that had been in my locker, and she soon revived. I could hear the men rushing about the deck in the utmost confusion. I was still completely mystified. My only hope was an explanation from Fidette. The light in the cabin was furnished by a large piece of rotten wood, suspended from the ceiling by a cord. It was the fox-fire familiar to all woodsmen. By the aid of this light I saw Fidette’s eyes slowly open, but in them was a look of fear and mental distress, such as I never saw exhibited by a human being. I spoke to her again and again. I entreated for an explanation. Suddenly she roused herself and sat bolt upright. She appeared oblivious of my presence. She allowed me to take her hand, but appeared unconscious of passionate and sympathetic words. Finally her lips moved, and she fairly screamed in a tone of agony and remorse:
“We are lost!”
“Lost!” I exclaimed; “what has happened, my darling? What calamity can overcome us? I am here to protect you. I can defend you against the entire power of the Sargasson people—at least, I can do so as long as there is life in me. Speak, sweet one. Do speak!”
“Oh, we are lost!” and the poor, little creature burst into a hysterical fit of weeping. To no effect did I fold her in my arms and hold her cheek close to mine, and, somewhat rudely, perhaps, brushed the long, floating hair from her cold brow. She would explain no further.