The String of Pearls; Or, The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance.
Mr. Lupin scrambled to his feet; but Ben followed him into the passage,
and did not yet let him go, until he had accelerated his movements by
two hearty kicks. And then the victorious beef-eater returned to the
parlour.
"Why, Ben," said Mr. Oakley, "you are quite a poet."
"I believe you, Oakley, my boy," said Ben, "and now let us be off, and
have a pint round the corner."
"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Oakley, "and leave me here, you wretches?"
"Yes," said Ben, "unless you promises never to be a female variety of a
useful animal again, and begs pardon of Mr. Oakley, for giving him all
this trouble; as for me, I'll let you off cheap, you shall only give me
a kiss, and say you loves me."
"If I do, may I be--"
"Damned, you mean."
"No, I don't; choked I was going to say."
"Then you may be choked, for you have nothing to do but to let your legs
go from under you, and you will be hung as comfortable as possible--come
along, Oakley."
"Mr. Oakley--stop, stop--don't leave me here. I am sorry."
"That's enough," said Mr. Oakley; "and now, my dear, bear in mind one
thing from me--I intend from this time forward to be master in my own
house. If you and I are to live together, we must do so on very
different terms to what we have been living, and if you won't make
yourself agreeable, Lawyer Hutchins tells me that I can turn you out and
give you a maintenance; and, in that case, I'll have my sister Rachel
home to mind house for me; so now you know my determination, and what
you have to expect. If you wish to begin, well, do so at once, by
getting something nice and tasty for Ben's supper."
Mrs. Oakley made the required promise, and being released, she set about
preparations for the supper in real earnest, but whether was really
subdued or not we shall, in due time, see.
CHAPTER X.
THE COLONEL AND HIS FRIEND.
Colonel Jeffery was not at all satisfied with the state of affairs, as
regarded the disappointment of Mr. Thornhill, for whom he entertained a
sincere regard, both on account of the private estimation in which he
held him, and on account of actual services rendered to Thornhill by
him. Not to detain Johanna Oakley in the Temple-gardens, he had stopped
his narrative, completely at the point when what concerned her had
ceased, and had said nothing of much danger which the ship "Neptune" and
its crew and passengers had gone through, after Mr. Thornhill had been
taken on board with his dog. The fact is, the storm which he had
mentioned was only the first of a series of gales of wind that buffeted
the ship about for some weeks, doing it much damage, and enforcing
almost the necessity of putting in somewhere for repairs. But a glance
at the map will be sufficient to show that, situated as the "Neptune"
was, the nearest port at which they could at all expect assistance, was
the British Colony, at the Cape of Good Hope; but such was the contrary
nature of the winds and waves, that just upon the evening of a
tempestuous day, they found themselves bearing down close in shore, on
the eastern coast of Madagascar. There was much apprehension that the
vessel would strike on a rocky shore; but the water was deep, and the
vessel rode well; there was a squall, and they let go both anchors to
secure the vessel, as they were so close in shore, lest they should be
driven in and stranded. It was fortunate they had so secured themselves,
for the gale while it lasted blew half a hurricane, and the ship lost
some of her mast, and some other trifling damage, which, however,
entailed upon them the necessity of remaining there a few days, to cut
timber to repair their masts, and to obtain a few supplies. There is but
little to interest a general reader in the description of a gale. Order
after order was given until the masts and spars went one by one, and
then the orders for clearing the wreck were given. There was much work
to be done, and but little pleasure in doing it, for it was wet and
miserable while it lasted, and there was the danger of being driven upon
a lee shore, and knocked to pieces upon the rocks. This danger was
averted, and they anchored safe at a very short distance from the shore
in comparative security.
"We are safe now," remarked the captain, as he gave his second in
command charge of the deck, and approached Mr. Thornhill and Colonel
Jeffery.
"I am happy it is so," replied Jeffery.
"Well, captain," said Mr. Thornhill, "I am glad we have done with being
knocked about; we are anchored, and the water here appears smooth
enough."
"It is so, and I dare say it will remain so; it is a beautiful basin of
water--deep and good anchorage; but you see it is not large enough to
make a fine harbour."
"True; but it is rocky."
"It is, and that may make it sometimes dangerous, though I don't know
that it would be so in some gales. The sea may beat in at the opening,
which is deep enough for anything to enter--even Noah's ark would enter
easily enough."
"What will you do now?"
"Stay here a day or so, and send boats ashore to cut some pine trees, to
refit the ship with masts."
"You have no staves, then?"
"Not enough for such a purpose; and we never do go out stored with such
things."
"You obtain them wherever you may go to."
"Yes, any part of the world will furnish them in some shape or other."
"When you send ashore, will you permit me to accompany the boat's crew?"
said Jeffery.
"Certainly; but the natives of this country are violent and intractable,
and should you get into any row with them, there is every probability of
your being captured, or some bodily injury done you."
"But I will take care to avoid all that."
"Very well, colonel, you shall be welcome to go."
"I must beg the same permission," said Mr. Thornhill, "for I should much
like to see the country, as well as to have some acquaintance with the
natives themselves."
"By no means trust yourself alone with them," said the captain, "for if
you live you will have cause to repent it--depend upon what I say."
"I will," said Thornhill; "I will go nowhere but where the boat's
company goes."
"You will be safe then."
"But do you apprehend any hostile attack from the natives?" inquired
Colonel Jeffery.
"No, I do not expect it; but such things have happened before to-day,
and I have seen them when least expected, though I have been on this
coast before, and yet I never met with any ill-treatment; but there have
been many who have touched on this coast, who have had a brush with the
natives and come off second best, the natives generally retiring when
the ship's company muster strong in number, and calling out the chiefs,
who come down in great force, that we may not conquer them."
* * * * *
The next morning the boats were ordered out to go ashore with crews,
prepared for cutting timber, and obtaining such staves as the ship was
in want of. With these boats old Thornhill and Colonel Jeffery went both
of them on board, and after a short ride they reached the shore of
Madagascar. It was a beautiful country, and one in which vegetables
appear luxuriant and abundant, and the party in search of timber for
shipbuilding purposes soon came to some lordly monarchs of the forest,
which would have made vessels of themselves. But this was not what was
wanted; but where the trees grew thicker and taller, they began to cut
some tall pine-trees down. This was the wood they most desired; in fact,
it was exactly what they wanted; but they hardly got through a few such
trees, when the natives came down upon them, apparently to reconnoitre.
At first they were quiet and tractable enough, but anxious to see and
inspect everything, being very inquisitive and curious. However, that
was easily borne, but at length they became more numerous, and began to
pilfer all they could lay their hands upon, which, of course brought
resentment, and, after some time, a blow or two was exchanged. Colonel
Jeffery was forward, and endeavouring to prevent some violence being
offered to one of the wood-cutters; in fact, he was interposing himself
between the two contending parties, and tried to restore order and
peace, but several armed natives rushed suddenly upon him, secured him,
and were hurrying him away to death before any one could stir in his
behalf. His doom appeared certain, for, had they succeeded, they would
have cruelly and brutally murdered him. However, just at that moment aid
was at hand, and Mr. Thornhill, seeing how matters stood, seized a
musket from one of the sailors, and rushed after the natives who had
Colonel Jeffery. There were three of them, two others had gone on to
apprise, it was presumed, the chiefs. When Mr. Thornhill arrived, they
had thrown a blanket over the head of Jeffery; but Mr. Thornhill in an
instant hurled one down with a blow from the butt-end of his musket, and
the second met the same fate, as he turned to see what was the matter.
The third, seeing the colonel free, and the musket levelled at his own
head, immediately ran after the other two, to avoid any serious
consequences to himself.
"Thornhill, you have saved my life," said Colonel Jeffery, excitedly.
"Come away, don't stop here--to the ship!--to the ship!" And as he
spoke, they hurried after the crew and they succeeded in reaching the
boats and the ship in safety; congratulating themselves not a little
upon so lucky an escape from a people quite warlike enough to do
mischief, but not civilized enough to distinguish when to do it.
When men are far away from home, and in foreign lands with the skies of
other climes above them, their hearts become more closely knit together
in those ties of brotherhood which certainly ought to actuate the whole
universe, but which as certainly do not do so, except in very rare
instances. One of these instances, however, would be found in the
conduct of Colonel Jeffery and Mr. Thornhill, even under any
circumstances, for they were most emphatically what might be termed
kindred spirits; but when we come to unite to that fact the remarkable
manner in which they had been thrown together, and the mutual services
that they had it in their power to render to each other, we should not
be surprised at the almost romantic friendship that arose between them.
It was then that Thornhill made the colonel's breast the depository of
all his thoughts and all his wishes, and a freedom of intercourse and a
community of feeling ensued between them, which when it does take place
between persons of really congenial dispositions, produces the most
delightful results of human companionship. No one who has not endured
the tedium of a sea voyage, can at all be aware of what a pleasant thing
it is to have some one on board, in the rich stores of whose intellect
and fancy one can find a never-ending amusement. The winds might now
whistle through the cordage, and the waves toss the great ship on their
foaming crests, still Thornhill and Jeffery were together, finding in
the midst of danger, solace in each other's society, and each animating
the other to the performance of deeds of daring that astonished the
crew. The whole voyage was one of the greatest peril, and some of the
oldest seamen on board did not scruple, during the continuance of their
night watches to intimate to their companions that the ship, in their
opinion, would never reach England, and that she would founder somewhere
along the long stretch of the African coast. The captain, of course,
made every possible exertion to put a stop to such prophetic sayings,
but when once they commenced, in a short time there is no such thing as
completely eradicating them; and they, of course, produced the most