R. M. Ballantyne
The Red Eric
Chapter One.
The Tale Begins with the Engaging of a Tailand the Captain Delivers his Opinions on Various Subjects
Captain Dunning stood with his back to the fireplace in the back-parlour of a temperance coffee-house in a certain town on the eastern seaboard of America.
The name of that town is unimportant, and, for reasons with which the reader has nothing to do, we do not mean to disclose it.
Captain Dunning, besides being the owner and commander of a South Sea whale-ship, was the owner of a large burly body, a pair of broad shoulders, a pair of immense red whiskers that met under his chin, a short, red little nose, a large firm mouth, and a pair of light-blue eyes, which, according to their owners mood, could flash like those of a tiger or twinkle sweetly like the eyes of a laughing child. But his eyes seldom flashed; they more frequently twinkled, for the captain was the very soul of kindliness and good-humour. Yet he was abrupt and sharp in his manner, so that superficial observers sometimes said he was hasty.
Captain Dunning was, so to speak, a sample of three primary coloursred, blue, and yellowa walking fragment, as it were, of the rainbow. His hair and face, especially the nose, were red; his eyes, coat, and pantaloons were blue, and his waistcoat was yellow.
At the time we introduce him to the reader he was standing, as we have said, with his back to the fireplace, although there was no fire, the weather being mild, and with his hands in his breeches pockets. Having worked with the said hands for many long years before the mast, until he had at last worked himself behind the mast, in other words, on to the quarterdeck and into possession of his own ship, the worthy captain conceived that he had earned the right to give his hands a long rest; accordingly he stowed them away in his pockets and kept them there at all times, save when necessity compelled him to draw them forth.
Very odd, remarked Captain Dunning, looking at his black straw hat which lay on the table before him, as if the remark were addressed to itvery odd if, having swallowed the cow, I should now be compelled to worry at the tail.
As the black straw hat made no reply, the captain looked up at the ceiling, but not meeting with any response from that quarter, he looked out at the window and encountered the gaze of a seaman flattening his nose on a pane of glass, and looking in.
The captain smiled. Ah! heres a tail at last, he said, as the seaman disappeared, and in another moment reappeared at the door with his hat in his hand.
It may be necessary, perhaps, to explain that Captain Dunning had just succeeded in engaging a first-rate crew for his next whaling voyage (which was the cow he professed to have swallowed), with the exception of a cook (which was the tail, at which he feared he might be compelled to worry).
Youre a cook, are you? he asked, as the man entered and nodded.
Yes, sir, answered the tail, pulling his forelock.
And an uncommonly ill-favoured rascally-looking cook you are, thought the captain; but he did not say so, for he was not utterly regardless of mens feelings. He merely said, Ah! and then followed it up with the abrupt question
Do you drink?
Yes, sir, and smoke too, replied the tail, in some surprise.
Very good; then you can go, said the captain, shortly.
Eh! exclaimed the man:
You can go, repeated the captain. You wont suit. My ship is a temperance ship, and all the hands are teetotalers. I have found from experience that men work better, and speak better, and in every way act better, on tea and coffee than on spirits. I dont object to their smoking; but I dont allow drinkin aboard my ship; so you wont do, my man. Good-morning.
The tail gazed at the captain in mute amazement.
Ah! you may look, observed the captain, replying to the gaze; but you may also mark my words, if you will. Ive not sailed the ocean for thirty years for nothing. Ive seen men in hot seas and in coldon grog, and on teaand I know that coffee and tea carry men through the hardest work better than grog. I also know that theres a set o men in this world who look upon teetotalers as very soft chapsold wives, in fact. Very good, (here the captain waxed emphatic, and struck his fist on the table.) Now look here, young man, Im an old wife, and my ships manned by similar old ladies; so you wont suit.
To this the seaman made no reply, but feeling doubtless, as he regarded the masculine specimen before him, that he would be quite out of his element among such a crew of females, he thrust a quid of tobacco into his cheek, put on his hat, turned on his heel and left the room, shutting the door after him with a bang.
He had scarcely left when a tap at the door announced a second visitor.
Hum! Another tail, I suppose. Come in.
If the new-comer was a tail, he was decidedly a long one, being six feet three in his stockings at the very least.
You wants a cook, I blieve? said the man, pulling off his hat.
I do. Are you one?
Yes, I jist guess I am. Bin a cook for fifteen year.
Been to sea as a cook? inquired the captain.
I jist have. Once to the South Seas, twice to the North, an once round the world. Cook all the time. Ive roasted, and stewed, and grilled, and fried, and biled, right round the arth, I have.
Being apparently satisfied with the mans account of himself, Captain Dunning put to him the questionDo you drink?
Ay, like a fish; for I drinks nothin but water, I dont. Bin born and raised in the State of Maine, dye see, an never tasted a drop all my life.
Very good, said the captain, who plumed himself on being a clever physiognomist, and had already formed a good opinion of the man. Do you ever swear?
Never, but when I cant help it.
And whens that?
When Im fit to bust.
Then, replied the captain, you must learn to bust without swearin, cause I dont allow it aboard my ship.
The man evidently regarded his questioner as a very extraordinary and eccentric individual; but he merely replied, Ill try; and after a little further conversation an agreement was come to; the man was sent away with orders to repair on board immediately, as everything was in readiness to up anchor and away next morning.
Having thus satisfactorily and effectually disposed of the tail, Captain Dunning put on his hat very much on the back of his head, knit his brows, and pursed his lips firmly, as if he had still some important duty to perform; then, quitting the hotel, he traversed the streets of the town with rapid strides.
Chapter Two.
Important Personages are Introduced to the ReaderThe Captain makes Insane Resolutions, Fights a Battle, and Conquers
In the centre of the town whose name we have declined to communicate, there stood a housea small houseso small that it might have been more appropriately, perhaps, styled a cottage. This house had a yellow-painted face, with a green door in the middle, which might have been regarded as its nose, and a window on each side thereof, which might have been considered its eyes. Its nose was, as we have said, painted green, and its eyes had green Venetian eyelids, which were half shut at the moment Captain Dunning walked up to it as if it were calmly contemplating that seamans general appearance.
There was a small garden in front of the house, surrounded on three sides by a low fence. Captain Dunning pushed open the little gate, walked up to the nose of the house, and hit it several severe blows with his knuckles. The result was that the nose opened, and a servant-girl appeared in the gap.
Is your mistress at home? inquired the captain.
Guess she isboth of em! replied the girl.
Tell both of em Im here, then, said the captain, stepping into the little parlour without further ceremony; and is my little girl in?
Yes, shes in.
Then send her here too, an look alive, lass. So saying, Captain Dunning sat down on the sofa, and began to beat the floor with his right foot somewhat impatiently.
In another second a merry little voice was heard in the passage, the door burst open, a fair-haired girl of about ten years of age sprang into the room, and immediately commenced to strangle her father in a series of violent embraces.
Why, Ailie, my darling, one would think you had not seen me for fifty years at least, said the captain, holding his daughter at arms-length, in order the more satisfactorily to see her.
Its a whole week, papa, since you last came to see me, replied the little one, striving to get at her fathers neck again, and Im sure it seems to me like a hundred years at least.
As the child said this she threw her little arms round her father, and kissed his large, weather-beaten visage all overeyes, mouth, nose, chin, whiskers, and, in fact, every attainable spot. She did it so vigorously, too, that an observer would have been justified in expecting that her soft, delicate cheeks would be lacerated by the rough contact; but they were not. The result was a heightening of the colour, nothing more. Having concluded this operation, she laid her cheek on the captains and endeavoured to clasp her hands at the back of his neck, but this was no easy matter. The captains neck was a remarkably thick one, and the garments about that region were voluminous; however, by dint of determination, she got the small fingers intertwined, and then gave him a squeeze that ought to have choked him, but it didnt: many a strong man had tried that in his day, and had failed signally.
Youll stay a long time with me before you go away to sea again, wont you, dear papa? asked the child earnestly, after she had given up the futile effort to strangle him.
How like! murmured the captain, as if to himself, and totally unmindful of the question, while he parted the fair curls and kissed Ailies forehead.
Like what, papa?
Like your motheryour beloved mother, replied the captain, in a low, sad voice.
The child became instantly grave, and she looked up in her fathers face with an expression of awe, while he dropped his eyes on the floor.
Poor Alice had never known a mothers love. Her mother died when she was a few weeks old, and she had been confided to the care of two maiden auntsexcellent ladies, both of them; good beyond expression; correct almost to a fault; but prim, starched, and extremely self-possessed and judicious, so much so that they were injudicious enough to repress some of the best impulses of their natures, under the impression that a certain amount of dignified formality was essential to good breeding and good morals in every relation of life.
Dear, good, starched Misses Dunning! if they had had their way, boys would have played cricket and football with polite urbanity, and girls would have kissed their playmates with gentle solemnity. They did their best to subdue little Alice, but that was impossible. The child would rush about the house at all unexpected and often inopportune seasons, like a furiously insane kitten and she would disarrange their collars too violently every evening when she bade them good-night.
Alice was intensely sympathetic. It was quite enough for her to see any one in tears, to cause her to open up the flood-gates of her eyes and weepshe knew not and she cared not why. She threw her arms round her fathers neck again, and hugged him, while bright tears trickled like diamonds from her eyes. No diamonds are half so precious or so difficult to obtain as tears of genuine sympathy!
How would you like to go with me to the whale-fishery? inquired Captain Dunning, somewhat abruptly as he disengaged the childs arms and set her on his knee.
The tears stopped in an instant, as Alice leaped, with the happy facility of childhood, totally out of one idea and thoroughly into another.
Oh, I should like it so much!
And how much is so much, Ailie? inquired the captain.
Ailie pursed her mouth, and looked at her father earnestly, while she seemed to struggle to give utterance to some fleeting idea.
Think, she said quickly, think something good as much as ever you can. Have you thought?
Yes, answered the captain, smiling.
Then, continued Ailie, its twenty thousand million times as much as that, and a great deal more!
The laugh with which Captain Dunning received this curious explanation of how much his little daughter wished to go with him to the whale-fishery, was interrupted by the entrance of his sisters, whose sense of propriety induced them to keep all visitors waiting at least a quarter of an hour before they appeared, lest they should be charged with unbecoming precipitancy.
Here you are, lassies; how are ye? cried the captain as he rose and kissed each lady on the cheek heartily.
The sisters did not remonstrate. They knew that their brother was past hope in this respect, and they loved him, so they suffered it meekly.
Having admitted that they were wellas well, at least, as could be expected, considering the cataract of trials that perpetually descended upon their devoted headsthey sat down as primly as if their visitor were a perfect stranger, and entered into a somewhat lengthened conversation as to the intended voyage, commencing, of course, with the weather.
And now, said the captain, rubbing the crown of his straw hat in a circular manner, as if it were a beaver, Im coming to the point.
Both ladies exclaimed, What point, George? simultaneously, and regarded the captain with a look of anxious surprise.
The point, replied the captain, about which Ive come here to-day. It aint a point o the compass; nevertheless, Ive been steerin it in my minds eye for a considerable time past. The fact is (here the captain hesitated), IIve made up my mind to take my little Alice along with me this voyage.
The Misses Dunning wore unusually tall caps, and their countenances were by nature uncommonly long, but the length to which they grew on hearing this announcement was something preternaturally awful.
Take Ailie to sea! exclaimed Miss Martha Dunning, in horror.
To fish for whales! added Miss Jane Dunning, in consternation.
Brother, youre mad! they exclaimed together, after a breathless pause; and youll do nothing of the kind, they added firmly.
Now, the manner in which the Misses Dunning received this intelligence greatly relieved their eccentric brother. He had fully anticipated, and very much dreaded, that they would at once burst into tears, and being a tender-hearted man he knew that he could not resist that without a hard struggle. A flood of womans tears, he was wont to say, was the only sort of salt water storm he hadnt the heart to face. But abrupt opposition was a species of challenge which the captain always accepted at onceoff-hand. No human power could force him to any course of action.