The Silver Lotus (12 page)

7

LADY YEE and her baby were another case altogether. The captain sought out the best physician he could find and paid him a bounty to come aboard ship to examine his wife. If she needed better care ashore, he would have her taken to the best hospital on the island.

Happily, the doctor told Captain Hammond that he believed Lady Yee was on the mend, and he didn't think that the fetus had suffered any injury, for he discerned a small but steady heartbeat in that quadrant. Nonetheless, the doctor said that Lady Yee needed a few weeks ashore to recover her strength. He said her health required fresh foods, springwater, plenty of fruit, sunshine, and rest. He smiled knowingly, and suggested that her condition required care in the future, but as far as he could tell she had not suffered any serious internal damage, and her other injuries were healing very nicely thanks to the care of her maid.

The doctor felt obliged to use his influence and connections to help the captain find a pleasant cottage to rent in the cooler mountain air. He also arranged for servants to take care of their needs while ashore. Lady Yee was so overjoyed by the prospect of a real bed that Captain Hammond arranged for everything at once.

The ship was another matter. Having nothing perishable in the sealed holds, the captain decided to apply for an anchorage in the harbor for one month. Keeping only a rotating maintenance crew aboard,
he allowed his other men time ashore and kept them all on full sea pay as a sign of his gratitude for their efforts during the storms. The injured men were doing as well as could be expected, and only one of them remained in hospital. However, their spirits were buoyed by constant presents of fruit, fresh pork, and beer sent aboard the ship as gifts from Lady Yee.

With his wife resting in the cooling breezes of a tropical veranda, Captain Hammond decided to visit the mercantile exchange. He was anxious to have more news from the East since the monsoon. He knew that an extensive interruption in trade, or destruction of sources, would drive up the prices of some goods from Asia. Rubber, copra, tea, palm oil, teakwood, nutmeg, and other spices sometimes sold for many times their original purchase prices. And luxury goods requiring great labor and expensive materials, or of fashionable antiquity, often did even better. The auction prices offered at the Hawaiian/American exchange, where information from the western Pacific would be freshest, could indicate what prices to expect in the futures markets of San Francisco, Seattle, or even Mexico.

The captain visited the exchange every other afternoon and made friends with the brokers. He was affable to all, treated some to coffee and cigars, and listened carefully to everything said in his presence. He also made a point of seeking out the Chinese traders on the island, as they maintained their own exchange. When the captain let it be known that he was the son-in-law of the renowned Master Yee of Canton, all doors were thrown open to him. He was told details of the extent of the monsoon disaster that none of the other traders knew. These canny old Chinese factors, who were as sharp as pins, were presently busy buying up certain goods in bulk before word spread about possible future shortages. They politely inquired what the captain was carrying in his holds, and whether he was interested in selling any portion of his cargo in Hawaii. His responses were very polite, of course, but he revealed as
little as possible, just as his hosts expected of a son-in-law of the cunning Master Yee.

Nevertheless, making the acquaintance and gaining the trust of various important Chinese traders brought forth unexpected bounties. To begin with, when these venerable gentlemen discovered that Lady Yee was indeed on the island, and recovering from a dangerous mishap at sea during the height of the monsoon, they began to send along an endless train of exotic flowers, candied fruits, rare teas, expensive Chinese medicines, silk pillows stuffed with fragrant herbs, and all manner of Chinese confections. One very rich old gentleman, who claimed to have known Master Yee in Canton, sent over his prize chef to help her own cook prepare special meals for Lady Yee. He had received instructions to purchase the best of everything necessary to guarantee a healthful diet for as long as Lady Yee remained on the island. But his efforts almost proved unnecessary. So as not to be outdone, when word got out, all the trade barons sent along handsome letters of condolence, and politely appealed for permission to visit her in person if matters permitted. And still more gifts kept arriving each day. Fresh fish, dressed duck, freshly butchered and cleaned chickens, live crabs, shellfish, sweet Chinese sausage, the finest polished rice, and Chinese vegetables only hours from the soil were delivered with daily regularity. Captain Hammond swore to his wife that he'd never eaten better.

One fastidious old trader, hoping to ensure favor from Canton, even personally delivered a whole suckling pig, roasted in caked salt and stuffed with coriander and almond-flavored pineapple. Lady Yee, who ate little meat, thanked the gentleman with great sincerity, but then had the gift secretly sent along, with her compliments, to the men working aboard
The Silver Lotus
. She also sent along a two-pound tin of the best Virginia tobacco her husband could find. Since the watch crews were also laboring to effect necessary repairs to the ship, the captain
thought the gift appropriate to their efforts, but he also sent along a butt of locally brewed beer and baskets of fresh baked bread so the crew wouldn't immediately switch their allegiance to his wife and beach him for crimes of sentimental insufficiency.

The Chinese merchants also gifted the captain with secret trading connections in the western Americas that were heretofore unknown to Yankee shipping princes. In effect, the Chinese merchants abroad ran their own separate economy under the very noses of governments powerless to regulate exports deemed of no value, and imports supposedly only valued by a poor minority population. In reality, both markets were priceless to the wealthy elite of both East and West, and in particular those brokers who set the prices. Captain Hammond, because of his privileged relationship with Master Yee, was presented with introductions to the very agents in America who would ultimately secure and increase his wealth for the next ten years. He gilded his reputation and honored his Chinese benefactors by never divulging their confidences to anyone except his business partner, Lady Yee. She would become his guarantee as well as his credential when it came to dealing with Chinese trading companies in foreign ports. The most prominent among these in America were agents for a San Francisco conglomerate with the mysterious title of the Three Corporations. Besides being the richest Chinese businessmen in America, they were the largest labor brokers in the country, and as such, closely associated with western railroads and public works in six states.

Five weeks to the day after anchoring in Hawaii,
The Silver Lotus
sailed on for Oregon and California. Health had been restored, damage repaired, paint freshened, and spirits renewed all around. The ship enjoyed steady winds and strong currents flowing east-northeast. Best of all, Lady Yee showed herself in excellent health, only slightly larger in the midriff, and even this would have gone unnoticed beneath her robes.

The crew's gratitude for all they had enjoyed while in port was focused on Lady Yee. Captain Hammond paid their wages and commanded the ship, and in all things maritime he was a highly respected figure of authority. But as far as the crew was concerned, it was Lady Yee who commanded their hearts. They remembered every little kindness and gift that she had bestowed, as well as her selfless attention to their health and well-being. She became a symbol of their good fortune, and there wasn't one among them who wouldn't have sacrificed their last breath in her defense. Captain Hammond told his sailing master that Lady Yee had inadvertently created the best-behaved ship's crew ever conceived of, but that it had to be seen to be believed, as no other blue-water captain would credit the story on good faith alone.

Their first destination was Portland, Oregon, where Captain Hammond took on supplies and made arrangements for his ship to return to the yards to be refitted with an auxiliary diesel engine, and then modified for the lumber trade. The sailing master would return to Portland with the ship in two months and supervise the refit.

The next port of call was San Francisco. Here the captain housed his wife in the very best accommodations, and then paid court to various Chinese businessmen to whom he carried introductions. They helped him to find secure warehousing for his own cargo, and even purchased the crew's portion of goods at a very handsome price.

On their second night in San Francisco, as they sat down to a lovely supper for the first time in weeks, Lady Yee decided it was time to remind her husband that there was a new captain expected on deck in about seven months, give or take a few days. He sat back in his chair and stared off into the distance. After a silent interval he came down to earth again, looked at his beautiful wife, and said, “You know, I must thank you again, dearest lady, for such an inspiring gift.” He did point out, however, that her happy, heaven-sent condition precluded any further journeys by sea for several years to come, if ever. That being the case,
he asked her where she would like to live and raise her children. He confidently assured her that their present circumstances would allow her to choose a fine mansion anywhere in San Francisco, or all of California for that matter, and she might employ as many servants as she pleased.

Lady Yee acknowledged her husband's generosity, but she said that she preferred to live with him, even if that meant sailing away again. The captain laughed and said he had no intention of sailing away and leaving her behind. He had more than enough capital to trade on his own behalf without going back to sea for quite a while. And, barring ill fortune,
The Silver Lotus
would continue to realize decent profits for a few years to come. By any measure one cared to use, they were wealthy enough now to retire from business altogether if she so pleased.

The captain's wife smiled and declared that she would never allow her husband to sacrifice anything that gave him real pleasure, but children, she said, rarely make such allowances, and are selfishly prone to favor the presence of both parents. Captain Hammond promised to fulfill his role as a confused parent as soon as Lady Yee was pleased to make delivery. Until then, he suggested they find a fitting place to live before they were forced to emulate Joseph and Mary.

Lady Yee had no idea what he was referring to, but she smiled and suggested there was no reason to search for something they already possessed. She said the house in Monterey served their purposes directly, and they presently warehoused enough handcrafted furnishings to dress the place out ten times over. She bolstered her suggestion by saying that after their child was born, they could move on if the captain wished to. But for the moment, Lady Yee, who professed to dislike the abiding filth, noise, and constant bustle of city life, pleaded for the serenity of a small town, the peaceful refuge of her own gardens, and the salubrious influence of gentle ocean breezes. Captain Hammond, who had long since surrendered all instincts to say no to anything his wife suggested,
immediately saw the logic in her thinking, and promised to make all the necessary arrangements at once.

The day after
The Silver Lotus
was dispatched back to Portland for her refit, Captain Hammond, his wife, her maid, and her cook left San Francisco by train. They arrived at the depot in Monterey that same evening. The captain had wired ahead to his bank to say he was returning to live in his house. He requested that the bank use its good offices to hire a wagon and two strong men to meet them at the depot. The captain had removed all their possessions from the ship before it sailed, and was surprised to find that their property in total filled eight packing crates and four hundred-gallon barrels. Their personal luggage was another matter, and ultimately required the services of a mule cart, along with a surrey to carry the household.

Considering the scale of his deposits, and the chances of ingratiating themselves into further financial considerations, the captain's Monterey bank sent along one of its clerks to see to it that its client's requirements were satisfied in a timely fashion. His name was Jacob Oaks. He was twenty-three and almost at once he became totally enthralled with the house of Hammond. It was young Oaks who accidently gave rise to the undying rumor that Captain Hammond was married to a very wealthy Chinese princess of the old imperial household. What Mr. Oaks had in fact said was that Captain Hammond was married to a beautiful Chinese woman who looked like a rich fairy-tale princess. Still and all, once the rumor clicked over a couple of times, the engine started right up and continued humming along, gathering momentum all on its own. Soon Lady Yee discovered that nothing she could do or say would convince people that she wasn't in the least respect related to any imperial family and, despite her husband's acts to the contrary, she wasn't a princess of anything larger than her household, and her father was only the emperor of six warehouses and three loading piers in Canton.

But the rumor only dug in its heels with denial. As it passed from one to another, and possibly challenged by a listener, people would simply say that Lady Yee was a person of infinite modesty and decorum, and a person that would never have allowed address as a titled personage in America. And still, no matter what Lady Yee did to disabuse people of this absurd story, it continued on, though part of the problem could be laid at her husband's door. His insistence on always referring to his wife as Lady Yee cemented the general belief that she must be of royal blood. Still, it was Lady Yee's serene, sophisticated, and regal deportment, plus her facility with foreign languages, which locked down the community consensus that Monterey was now home to an authentic Chinese princess. The fact that her husband was a wealthy, handsome, and dashing sea captain only enhanced the romantic image they had come to prefer. To the local population, whose middle-class tastes defiantly leaned toward the romantic side of periodical fiction, the Hammonds were like exotic characters that might have been invented by Thackeray, Brontë, or Hawthorne.