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.