Afloat and Ashore (48 page)

Marble watched me while I was superintending these changes in the
boat, with a good deal of interest; and one evening—I had announced
an intention to sail next morning, the Major and Emily having actually
gone on board—that evening, he got my arm, and led me away from the
spot, like a man who has urgent business. I could see that he was much
affected, and had strong hopes he intended to announce a change of
purpose. His hand actually trembled, the whole time it grasped my arm.

"God bless you! Miles—God bless you, dear boy!" he said, speaking
with difficulty, as soon as we were out of earshot from the
others. "If any being could make me pine for the world, it would be
such a friend as you. I could live on without father or mother,
brother or sister, ship or confidence of my owners, good name even,
were I sure of meeting such a lad as yourself in only every thousandth
man I fell in with. But, young as you are, you know how it is with
mankind; and no more need be said about it. All I ask now is, that you
will knock off with this 'making him comfortable,' as you call it, or
you'll leave me nothing to do for myself. I can fit out that boat as
well as e'er a man in the Crisis, I'd have you to know."

"I am well aware of that, my friend; but I am not so certain that you
would.
In that boat, I am in hopes you will follow us out to
sea, and come on board again, and take your old place as master."

Marble shook his head, and I believe he saw by my manner that I had no
serious expectations of the sort I named. We walked some distance
farther, in silence, before he again spoke. Then he said suddenly, and
in a way to show how much his mind was troubled—

"Miles, my dear fellow, you must let me hear from you!"

"Hear from me! By what means, pray? You cannot expect the
Postmaster-General will make a mail-route between New York and this
island?"

"Poh! I'm getting old, and losing my memory. I was generalizing on
friendship, and the like of that, and the idee ran away with me. I
know, of course, when you are out of sight, that I shall be cut off
from the rest of the world—probably shall never see a human face
again. But what of that? My time cannot be long now, and I shall have
the fish, fowls and pigs to talk to. To tell you the truth, Miles.
Miss Merton gave me her own Bible yesterday, and, at my request, she
pointed out that part which gives the account about Moses in the
bulrushes, and I've just been looking it over: it is easy enough, now,
to understand why I was called Moses."

"But Moses did not think it necessary to go and live in a desert, or
on an uninhabited island, merely because he was found in those
bulrushes."

"That
Moses had no occasion to be ashamed of his parents. It
was fear, not shame, that sent him adrift. Nor did Moses ever let a
set of lubberly Frenchmen seize a fine, stout ship, like the Crisis,
with a good, able-bodied crew of forty men on board her."

"Come, Marble, you have too much sense to talk in this manner. It is,
fortunately, not too late to change your mind; and I will let it be
understood that you did so at my persuasion."

This was the commencement of a final effort on my part to induce my
friend to abandon his mad project. We conversed quite an hour, until I
had exhausted my breath, as well as my arguments, indeed; and all
without the least success. I pointed out to him the miserable plight
he must be in, in the event of illness; but it was an argument that
had no effect on a man who had never had even a headach in his
life. As for society, he cared not a straw for it when ashore, he
often boasted; and he could not yet appreciate the effects of total
solitude. Once or twice, remarks escaped him as if he thought it
possible I might one day return; but they were ventured in pleasantry,
rather than with any appearance of seriousness. I could see that the
self-devoted hermit had his misgivings, but I could obtain no verbal
concession from him to that effect. He was reminded that the ship must
positively sail next day, since it would not do to trifle with the
interests of the owners any longer.

"I know it, Miles," Marble answered, "and no more need be said on the
subject. Your people are through with their work, and here comes Neb
to report the boat ready to go off. I shall try my hand ashore
to-night, alone; in the morning, I suppose you would like to take an
old shipmate by the hand for the last time, and you will nat'rally
look for me at the water-side. Good-night! Before we part, however, I
may as well thank you for the supply of clothes I see you have put in
my hut. It was scarcely wanted, as I have enough needles and thread to
supply a slop-shop; and the old duck left by the French will keep me
in jackets and trowsers for the remainder of my days. Good-night, my
dear boy! God bless you—God bless you!"

It was nearly dark, but I could see that Marble's eyes looked moist,
and feel that his hand again trembled. I left him, not without the
hope that the solitude of this night, the first in which he had been
left by himself, would have the effect to lessen his desire to be a
hermit. When I turned in, it was understood that all hands were to be
called at daylight, and the ship unmoored.

Talcott came to call me, at the indicated moment. I had made him
chief-mate, and taken one of the Philadelphians for second officer; a
young man who had every requisite for the station, and one more than
was necessary, or a love of liquor. But, drunkards do tolerably well
on board a ship in which reasonable discipline is maintained. For that
matter, Neptune ought to be a profound moralist, as youths are very
generally sent to sea to cure most of the ethical flings. Talcott was
directed to unmoor, and heave short. As for myself, I got into a boat
and pulled ashore, with an intention of making a last and strong
appeal to Marble.

No one was visible on the island when we reached it. The pigs and
fowls were already in motion, however, and were gathering near the
door of the hut, where Marble was accustomed to feed them about that
hour; the fowls on
sugar
, principally. I proceeded to the door,
opened it, entered the place, and found it empty! Its late inmate was
then up, and abroad. He had probably passed a sleepless night, and
sought relief in the fresh air of the morning. I looked for him in the
adjacent grove, on the outer beach, and in most of his usual
haunts. He was nowhere visible. A little vexed at having so long a
walk before me, at a moment when we were so much pressed for time, I
was about to follow the grove to a distant part of the island, to a
spot that I knew Marble frequented a good deal, when moody; but my
steps were arrested by an accidental glance at the lagoon. I missed
the Frenchman's launch, or the boat I had: myself caused to be rigged
with so much care, the previous day, for the intended hermit's
especial advantage. This was a large boat; one that had been
constructed to weigh a heavy anchor; and I had left her, moored
between a grapnel and the shore, so securely, as to forbid the idea
she could have been moved, in so quiet a time, without the aid of
hands. Rushing to the water, I got into my own boat, and pulled
directly on board.

On reaching the ship, a muster of all hands was ordered. The result
proved that everybody was present, and at duty. It followed that
Marble, alone, had carried the boat out of the lagoon. The men who had
had the anchor-watches during the past night, were questioned on the
subject; but no one had seen or heard anything of a movement in the
launch. Mr. Talcott was told to continue his duty, while I went aloft
myself, to look at the offing. I was soon in the main-top-mast
cross-trees, where a view was commanded of the whole island, a few
covers excepted, of all the water within the reef, and of a wide range
without. Nowhere was the boat or Marble to be seen. It was barely
possible that he had concealed himself behind the wreck, though I did
not see how even this could be done, unless he had taken the
precaution to strike the launch's masts.

By this time, our last anchor was aweigh, and the ship was clear of
the bottom. The top-sails had been hoisted before I went aloft, and
everything was now ready for filling away. Too anxious to go on deck,
under such circumstances, and a lofty position being the best for
ascertaining the presence of rocks, I determined to remain where I
was, and conn the ship through the passes, in my own person. An order
was accordingly given to set the jib, and to swing the head-yards, and
get the spanker on the ship. In a minute, the Crisis was again in
motion, moving steadily towards the inlet. As the lagoon was not
entirely free from danger, coral rocks rising in places quite near the
surface of the water, I was obliged to be attentive to the pilot's
duty, until we got into the outer bay, when this particular danger in
a great measure disappeared. I could then look about me with more
freedom. Though we so far changed our position, as respected the
wreck, as to open new views of it, no launch was to be seen behind
it. By the time the ship reached the passage through the reef, I had
little hope of finding it there.

We had got to be too familiar with the channels, to have any
difficulty in taking the ship through them; and we were soon fairly to
windward of the reef. Our course, however, lay to leeward; and we
passed round the southern side of the rocks, under the same easy
canvass, until we got abreast, and within half a cable's length of the
wreck. To aid my own eyes, I had called up Talcott and Neb; but
neither of us could obtain the least glimpse of the launch. Nothing
was to be seen about the wreck; though I took the precaution to send a
boat to it. All was useless. Marble had gone out to sea, quite alone,
in the Frenchman's launch; and, though twenty pairs of eyes were now
aloft, no one could even fancy that he saw anything in the offing,
that resembled a boat.

Talcott and myself had a private interview on the subject of Marble's
probable course. My mate was of opinion, that our friend had made the
best of his way for some of the inhabited islands, unwilling to remain
here, when it came to the pinch, and yet ashamed to rejoin us. I could
hardly believe this; in such a case, I thought he would have waited
until we had sailed; when he might have left the island also, and
nobody been the wiser. To this Talcott answered that Marble probably
feared our importunities; possibly, compulsion. It seemed singular to
me, that a man who regretted his hasty decision, should adopt such a
course; and yet I was at a loss to explain the matter much more to my
own satisfaction. Nevertheless, there was no remedy. We were as much
in the dark as it was possible to be with a knowledge of the
circumstance that the bird had flown.

We hovered around the reef for several hours, most of which time I
passed in the cross-trees, and some of it on the royal-yard. Once, I
thought I saw a small speck on the ocean, dead to windward, that
resembled a boat's sail; but there were so many birds flying about,
and glancing beneath the sun's rays, that I was reluctantly compelled
to admit it was probably one of them. At meridian, therefore, I gave
the order to square away, and to make sail on our course. This was
done with the greatest reluctance, however, and not without a good
deal of vaciliation of purpose. The ship moved away from the land
rapidly, and by two o'clock, the line of cocoa-nut trees that fringed
the horizon astern, sunk entirely beneath the rolling margin of our
view. From that moment, I abandoned the expectation of ever seeing
Moses Marble again, though the occurrence left all of us sad, for
several days.

Major Merton and his daughter were on the poop, nearly the whole of
this morning. Neither interfered in the least; for the old soldier was
too familiar with discipline to venture an opinion concerning the
management of the ship. When we met at dinner, however, the
conversation naturally turned on the disappearance of our old friend.

"It is a thousand pities that pride should have prevented Marble from
acknowledging his mistake," observed the Major, "and thus kept him
from getting a safe passage to Canton, where he might have left you,
and joined another ship had he thought it necessary."

"Where we shall do the same thing, I suppose, dear sir," added Emily,
with a manner that I thought marked, "and thus relieve Captain
Wallingford from the encumbrance of our presence."

"Me!—call your delightful society anything but an enumbrance, I beg
of you, Miss Merton," I rejoined in haste.

"Now, that Mr. Le Compte has furnished this comfortable cabin, and you
are no longer at any inconvenience to yourselves, I would not be
deprived of the advantage and pleasure of this association, for more
than I dare mention."

Emily looked gratified; while her father appeared to me to be
thoughtful. After a brief pause, however, the Major resumed the
discourse.

"I should certainly feel myself bound to make many apologies for the
trouble we are giving," he said, "especially, since I understand from
Wallingford, he will not accept, either for himself or his owners,
anything like compensation even for the food we consume, were it not
that we are here by constraint, and not by any agency of our own. As
soon as we reach Canton, however, I shall feel it a duty to get on
board the first English ship that will receive us."

I stole a glance at Emily, but could not understand the expression of
her countenance, as she heard this announcement. Of course, I made an
earnest protest against the Major's doing anything of the sort; and
yet I could not well find any sufficient reason for urging him to
remain where he was, beyond my own gratification. I could not go to
either England, or Bombay; and I took it for granted Major Merton
wished to proceed, at once, to one, if not to both of these places. We
conversed, a little generally perhaps, on the subject for some time
longer; and when I left the cabin, it struck me, Emily's melancholy
had, in no degree, lessened.