A fine night, stranger, he said at length, in a slightly nasal tone.
Still Will remained absorbed, and it was not until the remark had been twice repeated that he looked up with a start.
I beg pardon; did you speak? he said. Well, yes, drawled the dark man, puffing a long white cloud from his lips, I did make an observation regardin the weather. It looks fine, dont it?
It does, said Will.
Youre waitin for Captain Dall, aint you?
Why, how did you come to know that? said Will.
I didnt come to know it, I guessed it, said the dark man.
At that moment the door opened, and a short thick-set man, in a glazed hat and pea-jacket, with huge whiskers meeting under his chin, entered.
His eye at once fell upon the dark man, whom he saluted familiarly All ready, Mr Cupples?
All ready, sir, replied the other; its now more than half-flood; in three hours we can drop down the river with the first of the ebb, and if this breeze holds well be in blue water before noon to-morrow.
Hallo, doctor, is that yourself? said the captain, whose eye had for some moments rested on Will.
It is, said the youth, extending his hand, which the other grasped and shook warmly.
What! changed your mindeh?
Yes, Im going with you.
The governor bein agreeable? inquired the captain.
Will shook his head.
Hope there aint bin a flare-up? said the captain earnestly.
Not exactly, said Will; but he is displeased, and will not give his consent, so I have come away without it.
At this the jovial skipper, who was styled captain by courtesy, sat down and shook his head gravely, while he removed his hat and wiped the perspiration from his bald forehead.
Its a bad business to run agin the wishes of ones parents, he said; it seldom turns out well; couldnt you come round him nohow?
Impossible. He wont listen to reason.
Ah, then, its of no manner of use, said the captain, with a pitying sigh, when a man wont listen to reason, whats the consequence? why hes unreasonable, which means bein destitoot of that which raises him above the brutes that perish. Such bein the case, give it up for a bad job, thats my advice. Come, Ill have a bottle o ginger-beer, not bein given to strong drink, an well talk over this matter.
Accordingly the beer was ordered, and the three sat there talking for a couple of hours in reference to a long, long voyage to the southern seas.
After that they rose, and, leaving the Red Lion, went down to the pier, where a boat was in waiting. It conveyed them to a large ship, whose sails were hanging in the loose condition peculiar to a vessel ready to set sail. An hour after that the anchor was raised, and wind and tide carried the ship gently down to the sea. There seemed to Will something very solemn and mysterious in the quiet way in which, during these still and dark hours of the night, the great ship was slowly moved towards her ocean cradle. At length she floated on the sea, and, soon after, the moon arose on the distant horizon, streaming across the rippling surface as if to kiss and welcome an old friend. The wind increased; the ship became submissive to the breeze, obedient to the helm, and ere long moved on the waters like a thing of life, leaving Old England far behind her.
It was then that young Osten, leaning over the taffrail and looking wistfully back at the point where he had seen the last glimpse of the chalk cliffs, began to experience the first feelings of regret. He tried to quiet his conscience by recalling the harsh and unjustifiable conduct of his father, but conscience would not be quieted thus, and faithful memory reminded him of the many acts of kindness he had experienced at his fathers hands, while she pointed to his gentle mother, and bade him reflect what a tremendous blow this sudden departure would be to her.
Starting up and shaking off such thoughts, sternly he went below and threw himself into his narrow cot, where conscience assailed him still more powerfully and vividly in dreams. Thus did Wandering Will leave his native land.
Commenting on his sudden departure, two days afterwards, Maryann said, in strict confidence, to her bosom friend Jemimar, that she knowd it would appenor somethink simular, for, even wen a hinfant, he had refused to larf at her most smudgin blandishments; and that she knew somethink strange would come of it, though she would willingly have given her last shilling to have prevented it, but nothink was of any use tryin of wen one couldnt do it, as her usband, as was in the mutton-pie line, said to the doctor the night afore he died,and that her art was quite broken about it, so it was.
Whereupon Jemima finished to the dregs her last cup of tea, and burst into a flood of tears.
Chapter Three.
Tells of the Sea, and some of the Mysteries Connected Therewith
For many days and nights the good ship Foam sailed the wide ocean without encountering anything more than the ordinary vicissitudes and experiences of sea-life. Dolphins were seen and captured, sharks were fished for and caught, stiff breezes and calms succeeded each other, constellations in the far north began to disappear and new constellations arose in the southern skies. In fact, during many weeks the voyage was prosperous, and young Will Osten began to experience those peculiar feelings with which all travellers are more or less acquaintedhe felt that the ship was home; that his cabin with its furniture, which had appeared so small and confined at first, was quite a large and roomy place; that all the things about him were positive realities, and that the home of his childhood was a shadow of the pasta sort of dream.
During all this time the young doctor led a busy life. He was one of those active, intelligent, inquiring spirits which cannot rest. To acquire information was with him not a duty, but a pleasure. Before he had been many days at sea he knew the name and use of every rope, sail, block, tackle, and spar in the ship, and made himself quite a favourite with the men by the earnestness with which he questioned them in regard to nautical matters and their own personal experiences. George Goff, the sail-maker, said he was a fust-rate feller; and Larry OHale, the cook, declared, he was a trump intirely, an ought to have been born an Irishman. Moreover, the affections of long Mr Cupples (as the first mate was styled by the men) were quite won by the way in which he laboured to understand the use of the sextant, and other matters connected with the mysteries of navigation; and stout Jonathan Dall, the captain, was overjoyed when he discovered that he was a good player on the violin, of which instrument he was passionately fond. In short, Will Osten became a general favourite on board the Foam, and the regard of all, from the cabin-boy to the captain, deepened into respect when they found that, although only an advanced student and, not quite a doctor, he treated their few ailments with success, and acted his part with much self-possession, gentleness, and precision.
Larry OHale was particularly eloquent in his praises of him ever after the drawing of a tooth which had been the source of much annoyance to the worthy cook. Why, messmates, he was wont to say, it bait everything the way he tuk it out. Open yer mouth, says he, an sure I opened it, an before I cud wink, off wint my headso I thoughtbut faix it wor only my tutha real grinder wi three fangs no lessoch! hes a cliver lad intirely.
But Will did not confine his inquiries to the objects contained within his wooden home. The various phases and phenomena of the weather, the aspects of the sky, and the wonders of the deep, claimed his earnest attention. To know the reason of everything was with him a species of mania, and in pursuit of this knowledge he stuck at nothing. Never venture never win, became with him as favourite a motto as it had been with his father, and he acted on it more vigorously than his father had ever done.
One calm evening, as he was leaning over the side of the ship near the bow, gazing contemplatively down into the unfathomable sea, he overheard a conversation between the cook and one of the sailors named Muggins. They were smoking their pipes seated on the heel of the bowsprit.
Larry, said Muggins, I think we have got into the doldrums.
Yere out there, boy, said Larry, for I heerd the capting say we wos past em a long way.
The men relapsed into silence for a time.
Then Muggins removed his pipe and said
Wot ever caused the doldrums?
Thats more nor I can tell, said Larry; all I know about them is, that its aisy to git into them, but uncommon hard to git out again. If my ould grandmother was here, shed be able to tell us, I make no doubt, but shes in Erin, poor thing, mong the pigs and the taties.
Wot could she tell about the doldrums? said Muggins, with a look of contempt.
More nor ye think, boy; sure there isnt nothin in the univarse but she can spaik about, just like a book, an though she niver was in the doldrums as far as I knows, shes been in the dumps often enough; maybe its cousins they are. Anyhow shes not here, an so we must be contint with spekilation.
Whats that you say, Larry? inquired the captain, who walked towards the bow at the moment.
The cook explained his difficulty.
Why, theres no mystery about the doldrums, said Captain Dall. Ive read a book by an officer in the United States navy which explains it all, and the Gulf Stream, and the currents, an everything. Come, Ill spin you a yarn about it.
Saying this, the captain filled and lighted his pipe, and seating himself on the shank of the anchor, said
You know the cause of ocean currents, I dare say?
Niver a taste, said Larry. Its meself is as innocent about em as the babe unborn; an as for Muggins there, he dont know more about em than my ould shoes
Or your old grandmother, growled Muggins.
Dont be irriverent, ye spalpeen, said Larry.
I ax her reverences pardon, but I didnt know she wos a priest, said Muggins.Go on, Capn Dall.
Well, continued the captain, you know, at all events, that theres salt in the sea, and I may tell you that there is lime also, besides other things. At the equator, the heat bein great, water is evaporated faster than anywhere else, so that there the sea is salter and has more lime in it than elsewhere. Besides that it is hotter. Of course, that being the case, its weight is different from the waters of the cold polar seas, so it is bound to move away an get itself freshened and cooled. In like manner, the cold water round the poles feels obliged to flow to the equator to get itself salted and warmed. This state of things, as a natural consequence, causes commotion in the sea. The commotion is moreover increased by the millions of shell-fish that dwell there. These creatures, not satisfied with their natural skins, must needs have shells on their backs, and they extract lime from the sea-water for the purpose of makin these shells. This process is called secretin the lime; coral insects do the same, and, as many of the islands of the south seas are made by coral insects, you may guess that a considerable lot of lime is made away with. The commotion or disturbance thus created produces two great currentsfrom the equator to the poles and from the poles to the equator. But there are many little odds and ends about the world that affect and modify these currents, such as depth, and local heat and cold, and rivers and icebergs, but the chief modifiers are continents. The currents flowin north from the Indian Ocean and southern seas rush up between Africa and America. The space bein narrowcomparativelythey form one strong current, on doublin the Cape of Good Hope, which flies right across to the Gulf of Mexico. Here it is turned aside and flows in a nor-easterly direction, across the Atlantic towards England and Norway, under the name of the Gulf Stream, but the Gulf of Mexico has no more to do with it than the man in the moon, xcept in the way of turnin it out of its natral course. This Gulf Stream is a river of warm water flowing through the cold waters of the Atlantic; it keeps separate, and wherever it flows the climate is softened. It embraces Ireland, and makes the climate there so mild that there is, as you know, scarcely any frost all the year round
Blissins on it, broke in Larry, sure that accounts for the purty green face of Erin, which bates all other lands in the world. Good luck to the Gulf Stream, say I!
Youre right, Larry, and England, Scotland, and Norway have reason to bless it too, for the same latitudes with these places in America have a rigorous winter extendin over more than half the year. But what I was comin to was thisthere are, as you know, eddies and stagnant places in ornary rivers, where sticks, leaves, and other odds and ends collect and remain fixed. So, in this great ocean river, there are eddies where seaweed collects and stagnates, and where the air above also stagnates (for the air currents are very much like those of the sea). These eddies or stagnant parts are called sargasso seas. There are several of them, of various sizes, all over the ocean, but there is one big one in the Atlantic, which is known by the name of the Doldrums. It has bothered navigators in all ages. Columbus got into it on his way to America, and hundreds of ships have been becalmed for weeks in it since the days of that great discoverer. It is not very long since it was found out that, by keeping well out of their way, and sailing round em, navigators could escape the Doldrums altogether.
The captain paused at this point, and Larry OHale took the opportunity to break in.
Dye know, sir, said he, that same Gulf Strame has rose a lot o pecooliar spekilations in my mind, which, if I may make so bowld, Ill
Here the mates voice interrupted him gruffly with
Shake out a reef in that top-galln sl; look alive, lads!
Larry and his comrades sprang to obey. When they returned to their former place in the bow, the captain had left it, so that the cooks pecooliar spekilations were not at that time made known.
Chapter Four.
A Storm and its Consequences
In course of time the Foam, proceeding prosperously on her voyage, reached the region of Cape Hornthe cape of storms. Here, in days of old, Magellan and the early voyagers were fiercely buffeted by winds and waves. In later days Cook and others met with the same reception. In fact, the Cape is infamous for its inhospitality, nevertheless it shone with bright smiles when the Foam passed by, and a gentle fair-wind wafted her into the great Pacific Ocean. Never, since that eventful day when the adventurous Castilian, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, discovered this mighty sea, did the Pacific look more peaceful than it did during the first week in which the Foam floated on its calm breast. But the calm was deceitful. It resembled the quiet of the tiger while crouching to make a fatal spring.