I'll meet thee at Philippi.
SHAKESPEARE.
Happy is the man who arrives on the coast of New York, with the wind at
the southward, in the month of November. There are two particular
conditions of the weather, in which the stranger receives the most
unfavourable impressions of the climate that has been much and unjustly
abused, but which two particular conditions warrant all the evil that has
been said of it. One is a sweltering day in summer, and the other an
autumnal day, in which the dry north wind scarce seems to leave any marrow
in the bones.
The passengers of the Montauk escaped both these evils, and now approached
the coast with a bland south-west breeze, and a soft sky. The ship had been
busy in the night, and when the party assembled on deck in the morning,
Captain Truck told them, that in an hour they should have a sight of the
long-desired western continent. As the packet was inning in at the rate
of nine knots, under topmast and top-gallant studding-sails, being to
windward of her port, this was a promise that the gallant vessel seemed
likely enough to redeem.
"Toast!" called out the captain, who had dropped into his old habits as
naturally as if nothing had occurred, "bring me a coal; and you, master
steward, look well to the breakfast this morning. If the wind stands six
hours longer, I shall have the grief of parting with this good company,
and you the grief of knowing you will never set another meal before them.
These are moments to awaken sentiment, and yet I never knew an officer of
the pantry that did not begin to grin as he drew near his port."
"It is usually a cheerful moment with every one, I believe, Captain
Truck," said Eve, "and most of all, should it be one of heartfelt
gratitude with us."
"Ay, ay, my dear young lady; and yet I fancy Mr. Saunders will explain it
rather differently. Has no one sung out 'land,' yet, from aloft, Mr.
Leach? The sands of New Jersey ought to be visible before this."
"We have seen the haze of the land since daylight, but not land itself."
"Then, like old Columbus, the flowered doublet is mine--land, ho!"
The mates and the people laughed, and looking ahead, they nodded to each
other, and the word "land" passed from mouth to mouth, with the
indifference with which mariners first see it in short passages. Not so
with the rest. They crowded together, and endeavoured to catch a glimpse
of the coveted shore, though, with the exception of Paul, neither could
perceive it.
"We must call on you for assistance," said Eve, who now seldom addressed
the handsome young seaman without a flush on her own beautiful face; "for
we are all so luberly that none of us can see that which we so
earnestly desire."
"Have the kindness to look over the stock of that anchor," said Paul, glad
of an excuse to place himself nearer to Eve; and you will discover an
object on the water."
"I do," said Eve, "but is it not a vessel?"
"It is; but a little to the right of that vessel, do you not perceive a
hazy object at some elevation above the sea?"
"The cloud, you mean--a dim, ill-defined, dark body of vapour?"
"So it may seem to you, but to me it appears to be the land. That is the
bluff-like termination of the celebrated high lands of Navesink. By
watching it for half an hour you will perceive its form and surface grow
gradually more distinct."
Eve eagerly pointed out the place to Mademoiselle Vielville and her
father, and from that moment, for near an hour, most of the passengers
kept it steadily in view. As Paul had said, the blue of this hazy object
deepened; then its base became connected with the water, and it ceased to
resemble a cloud at all. In twenty more minutes, the faces and angles of
the hills became visible, and trees started out of their sides. In the end
a pair of twin lights were seen perched on the summit.
But the Montauk edged away from these highlands, and shaped her course
towards a long low spit of sand, that lay several miles to the northward
of them. In this direction, fifty small sail were gathering into, or
diverging from, the pass, their high, gaunt-looking canvas resembling so
many church towers on the plains of Lombardy. These were coasters,
steering towards their several havens. Two or three outward-bound ships
were among them, holding their way in the direction of China, the Pacific
Ocean, or Europe.
About nine, the Montauk met a large ship standing on bowline, with every
thing set that would draw, and heaping the water under her bows. A few
minutes after, Captain Truck, whose attention had been much diverted from
the surrounding objects by the care of his ship, came near the group of
passengers, and once more entered into conversation.
"Here we are, my dear young lady," he cried, "within five leagues of Sandy
Hook, which lies hereaway, under our lee bow; as pretty a position as
heart could wish. The lank, hungry-looking schooner in-shore of us, is a
new vessel, and, as soon as she is done with the brig near her we shall
have her in chase, when there will be a good opportunity to get rid of all
our spare lies. This little fellow to leeward, who is clawing up towards
us, is the pilot; after whose arrival, my functions cease, and I shall
have little to do but to rattle off Saunders and Toast, and to feed
the pigs."
"And who is this gentleman ahead of us, with his main-topsail to the mast,
his courses in the brails, and his helm a-lee?" asked Paul.
"Some chap who has forgotten his knee-buckles, and has been obliged to
send a boat up to town to hunt for them," coolly rejoined the captain,
while he sought the focus of the glass, and levelled it at the vessel in
question. The look was long and steady, and twice Captain Truck lowered
the instrument to wipe the moisture from his own eye. At length, he called
out, to the amazement of every body,
"Stand by to in all studding-sails, and to ware to the eastward. Be
lively, men, be lively! The eternal Foam, as I am a miserable sinner!"
Paul laid a hand on the arm of Captain Truck, and stopped him, as the
other was about to spring towards the forecastle, with a view to aid and
encourage his people.
"You forget that we have neither spars nor sails suited to a chase," said
the young man. "If we haul off to sea-ward on any tack we can try, the
corvette will be too much for us now, and excuse me if I say that a
different course will be advisable."
The captain had learned to respect the opinion of Paul, and he took the
interference kindly.
"What choice remains, but to run down into the very jaws of the lion," he
asked, "or to wear round, and stand to the eastward?"
"We have two alternatives. We may pass unnoticed, the ship being so much
altered; or we may haul up on the tack we are on, and get into
shallow water."
"He draws as little as this ship, sir, and would follow. There is no port
short of Egg Harbour, and into that I should be bashful about entering
with a vessel of this size; whereas, by running to the eastward, and
doubling Montauk, which would owe us shelter on account of our name, I
might get into the Sound, or New London, at need, and then claim the
sweepstakes, as having won the race."
"This would be impossible, Captain Truck, allow me to say. Dead before the
wind, we cannot escape, for the land would fetch us up in a couple of
hours; to enter by Sandy Hook, if known, is impossible, on account of the
corvette, and, in a chase of a hundred and twenty miles, we should be
certain to be overtaken."
"I fear you are right, my dear sir, I fear you are right. The
studding-sails are now in, and. I will haul up for the highlands, and
anchor under them, should it be necessary. We can then give this fellow
Vattel in large quantities, for I hardly think he will venture to seize us
while we have an anchor fast to good American ground."
"How near dare you stand to the shore?"
"Within a mile ahead of us; but to enter the Hook, the bar must be crossed
a league or two off."
"The latter is unlucky; but, by all means, get the vessel in with the
land; so near as to leave no doubt as to our being in American waters."
"We'll try him, sir, we'll try him. After having escaped the Arabs, the
deuce is in it, if we cannot weather upon John Bull! I beg your pardon,
Mr. Sharp; but this is a question that must be settled by some of the
niceties of the great authorities."
The yards were now braced forward, and the ship was brought to the wind,
so as to head in a little to the northward of the bathing-houses at Long
Branch. But for this sudden change of course, the Montauk would have run
down dead upon the corvette, and possibly might have passed her
undetected, owing to the change made in her appearance by the spars of the
Dane. So long as she continued "bows on," standing towards them, not a
soul on board the Foam suspected her real character, though, now that she
acted so strangely, and offered her broadside to view, the truth became
known in an instant. The main-yard of the corvette was swung, and her
sails were filled on the same course as that on which the packet was
steering. The two vessels were about ten miles from the land, the Foam a
little ahead, but fully a league to leeward. The latter, however, soon
tacked and stood in-shore. This brought the vessels nearly abreast of each
other, the corvette a mile or more, dead to leeward, and distant now some
six miles from the coast. The great superiority of the corvette's sailing
was soon apparent to all on board both vessels, for she apparently went
two feet to the packet's one.
The history of this meeting, so unexpected to Captain Truck, was very
simple. When the gale had abated, the corvette, which had received no
damage, hauled up along the African coast, keeping as near as possible to
the supposed track of the packet, and failing to fall in with her chase,
she had filled away for New York. On making the Hook she took a pilot, and
inquired if the Montauk had arrived. From the pilot she learned that the
vessel of which she was in quest had not yet made its appearance, and she
sent an officer up to the town to communicate with the British Consul. On
the return of this officer, the corvette stood away from the land, and
commenced cruising in the offing. For a week she had now been thus
occupied, it being her practice to run close in, in the morning, and to
remain hovering about the bar until near night, when she made sail for an
offing. When first seen from the Montauk, she had been lying-to, to take
in stores sent from the town, and to communicate with a news-boat.
The passengers of the Montauk had just finished their breakfast, when the
mate reported that the ship was fast shoaling her water, and that it would
be necessary to alter the course in a few minutes, or to anchor. On
repairing to the deck, Captain Truck and his companions perceived the land
less than a mile ahead of them, and the corvette about half that distance
to the leeward, and nearly abeam.
"That is a bold fellow," exclaimed the captain, "or he has got a Sandy
Hook pilot on board him."
"Most probably the latter," said Paul: "he would scarcely be here on this
duty, and neglect so simple a precaution."
"I think this would satisfy Mr. Vattel, sir," returned Captain Truck, as
the man in the chains sung out, 'and a half hree!' "Hard up with the helm,
and lay the yards square, Mr. Leach."
"Now we shall soon know the virtue of Vattel," said John Effingham, "as
ten minutes will suffice to raise the question very fairly."
The Foam put her helm down, and tacked beautifully to the south-east. As
soon as the Montauk, which vessel was now running along shore, keeping in
about four fathoms water, the sea being as smooth as a pond, was abeam,
the corvette wore round, and began to close with her chase, keeping on her
eastern, or outer board.
"Were we an enemy, and a match for that sloop," said Paul, "this smooth
water and yard-arm attitude would make quick work."
"Her captain is in the gangway, taking our measure," observed Mr. Truck:
"here is the glass; I wish you to examine his face, and tell me if you
think him a man with whom the law of nations will avail anything. See the
anchor clear, Mr. Leach, for I'm determined to bring up all standing, if
the gentleman intends to renew the old tricks of John Bull on our coast.
What do you make of him, Mr. Blunt?"
Paul did not answer, but laying down the glass, he paced the deck rapidly
with the manner of one much disturbed. All observed this sudden change,
though no one presumed to comment on it. In the mean time the sloop-of-war
came up fast, and in a few minutes her larboard fore-yard-arm was within
twenty feet of the starboard main-yard-arm of the Montauk, the two vessels
running on parallel lines. The corvette now hauled up her fore-course, and
let her top-gallant sails settle on the caps, though a dead silence
reigned in her.
"Give me the trumpet," said Captain Truck, stepping to the rail; "the
gentleman is about to give us a piece of his mind."
The English captain, who was easily known by his two epaulettes, also held
a trumpet; but neither of the two commanders used his instrument, the
distance being sufficiently near for the natural voice,
"I believe, sir," commenced the man-of-war's-man, "that I have the
pleasure to see Captain Truck, of the Montauk, London packet?"
"Ay, ay; I'll warrant you he has my name alongside of John Doe and
Richard Roe," muttered Mr. Truck, "spell as carefully as it could be in a
primer.--I am Captain Truck, and this is the Montauk. May I ask the name
of your vessel, and your own, sir?"
"This is his Britannic Majesty's ship, the Foam, Captain Ducie."
"The Honourable Captain Ducie!" exclaimed Mr. Sharp. "I thought I
recognised the voice: I know him intimately well."
"Will he stand Vattel?" anxiously demanded Mr. Truck.
"Nay, as for that, I must refer you to himself."
"You appear to have suffered in the gale," resumed Captain Ducie, whose
smile was very visible, as he thus addressed them like an old
acquaintance. "We fared better ourselves, for I believe we did not part a
ropeyarn."
"The ship pitched every stick out of her," returned Captain Truck, "and
has given us the trouble of a new outfit."
"In which you appear to have succeeded admirably. Your spars and sails are
a size or two too small; but every thing stands like a church."
"Ay, ay, now we have got on our new clothes, we are not ashamed to be
seen."
"May I ask if you have been in port to do all this?"
"No, sir; picked them up along-shore."
The Honourable Captain Ducie thought he was quizzed, and his manner became
a little more cold, though it still retained its gentlemanlike tone.
"I wish much to see you in private, sir, on an affair of some magnitude,
and I greatly regret it was not in my power to speak you the night you
left Portsmouth. I am quite aware you are in your own waters, and I feel a
strong reluctance to retain your passengers when so near their port; but I
shall feel it as a particular favour if you will permit me to repair on
board for a few minutes."
"With all my heart," cried Captain Truck: "if you will give me room, I
will back my main-topsail, but I wish to lay my head off shore. This
gentleman understands Vattel, and we shall have no trouble with him. Keep
the anchor clear Mr. Leach, for 'fair words butter no parsnips.' Still,
he is a gentleman;--and, Saunders, put a bottle of the old Madeira on the
cabin table."
Captain Ducie now left the rigging in which he had stood, and the corvette
luffed off to the eastward, to give room to the packet, where she hove-to
with her fore-topsail aback. The Montauk followed, taking a position under
her lee. A quarter-boat was lowered, and in five minutes its oars were
tossed at the packet's lee-gangway, when the commander of the corvette
ascended the ship's side, followed by a middle-aged man in the dress of a
civilian, and a chubby-faced midshipman.
No one could mistake Captain Ducie for anything but a gentleman. He was
handsome, well-formed, and about five-and-twenty. The bow he made to Eve,
with whose beauty and air he seemed instantly struck, would have become a
drawing-room; but he was too much of an officer to permit any further
attention to escape him until he had paid his respects to, and received
the compliments of, Captain Truck. He then turned to the ladies and Mr.
Effingham, and repeated his salutations.
"I fear," he said, "my duty has made me the unwilling instrument of
prolonging your passage, for I believe few ladies love the ocean
sufficiently, easily to forgive those who lengthen its disagreeables."
"We are old travellers, and know how to allow for the obligations of
duty," Mr. Effingham civilly answered.
"That they do, sir," put in Captain Truck; "and it was never my good
fortune to have a more agreeable set of passengers. Mr. Effingham, the
Honourable Captain Ducie;--the Honourable Captain Ducie, Mr.
Effingham;--Mr. John Effingham, Mam'selle V.A.V." endeavouring always to
imitate Eve's pronunciation of the name;--"Mr. Dodge, the Honourable
Captain Ducie; the Honourable Captain Ducie, Mr. Dodge."
The Honourable Captain Ducie and all the others, the editor of the Active
Inquirer excepted, smiled slightly, though they respectively bowed and
curtseyed; but Mr. Dodge, who conceived himself entitled to be formally
introduced to every one he met, and to know all he saw, whether introduced
or not, stepped forward promptly, and shook Mr. Ducie very cordially
by the hand.
Captain Truck now turned in quest of some one else to introduce; Mr.
Sharp stood near the capstan, and Paul had retired as far aft as the
hurricane-house.
"I am happy to see you in the Montauk," added Captain Truck, insensibly
leading the other towards the capstan, "and am sorry I had not the
satisfaction of meeting you in England. The Honourable Captain Ducie, Mr.
Sharp, Mr. Sharp, the Honourable Captain--"
"George Templemore!" exclaimed the commander of the corvette, looking from
one to the other.
"Charles Ducie!" exclaimed the _soi-disant_ Mr. Sharp.
"Here then is an end of part of my hopes, and we have been on a wrong
scent the whole time."
"Perhaps not, Ducie: explain yourself."
"You must have perceived my endeavours to speak you, from the moment you
sailed?"
"To _speak_ us!" cried Captain Truck. "Yes, sir, we _did_ observe your
endeavours to _speak_ us."
"It was because I was given to understand that one _calling_ himself Sir
George Templemore, an impostor, however, had taken passage in this ship;
and here I find that we have been misled, by the real Sir George
Templemore's having chosen to come this way instead of coming by the
Liverpool ship. So much for your confounded fashionable caprices,
Templemore, which never lets you know in the morning whether you are to
shoot yourself or to get married before night."
"And is this gentleman Sir George Templemore?" pithily demanded Captain
Truck.
"For that I can vouch, on the knowledge of my whole life."
"And we know this to be true, and have known it since the day we sailed,"
observed Mr. Effingham.
Captain Truck was accustomed to passengers under false names, but never
before had he been so completely mystified.
"And pray, sir," he inquired of the baronet, "are you a member of
Parliament?"
"I have that honour."
"And Templemore Hall is your residence, and you have come out to look at
the Canadas?"
"I am the owner of Templemore Hall, and hope to look at the Canadas
before I return."
"And," turning to Captain Ducie, "you sailed in quest of another Sir
George Templemore--a false one?"
"That is a part of my errand," returned Captain Ducie, smiling.
"Nothing else?--you are certain, sir, that this is the whole of your
errand?"
"I confess to another motive," rejoined the other, scarce knowing how to
take Captain Truck's question; "but this one will suffice for the
present, I hope."
"This business requires frankness. I mean nothing disrespectful; but I am
in American waters, and should be sorry, after all, to be obliged to throw
myself on Vattel."
"Let me act as mediator," interrupted Sir George Templemore. "Some one has
been a defaulter, Ducie; is it not so?"
"This is the simple truth; an unfortunate, but silly young man, of the
name of Sandon. He was intrusted with a large sum of the public money, and
has absconded with quite forty thousand pounds."
"And this person, you fancy, did me the honour to travel under my name?"
"Of that we are certain. Mr. Green here," motioning to the civilian,
"comes from the same office, and traced the delinquent, under your name,
some distance on the Portsmouth road. When we heard that a Sir George
Templemore had actually embarked in the Montauk, the admiral made no
scruple in sending me after the packet. This has been an unlucky mistake
for me, as it would have been a feather in the cap of so young a commander
to catch the rogue."
"You may choose your feather, sir," returned Captain Truck, "for you will
have a right to wear it. The unfortunate young man you seek is, out of
question, in this ship."
Captain Truck now explained that there was a person below who had been
known to him as Sir George Templemore, and who, doubtless, was the unhappy
delinquent sought. But Captain Ducie did not betray the attention or
satisfaction that one would have expected from this information, his eye
being riveted on Paul, who stood beneath the hurricane-house. When the
latter saw that he attracted attention he advanced slowly, even
reluctantly, upon the quarter-deck. The meeting between these two
gentlemen was embarrassed, though each maintained his self-possession.
"Mr. Powis, I believe?" said the officer bowing haughtily
"Captain Ducie, if I am not mistaken?" returned the other, lifting his hat
steadily, though his face became flushed.
The manner of the two, however, was but little noticed at the moment,
though all heard the words. Captain Truck drew a long "whe--e--e--w!" for
this was rather more than even he was accustomed to, in the way of
masquerades. His eye was on the two gentlemen as they walked aft together,
and alone, when he felt a touch upon his arm. It was the little hand of
Eve, between whom and the old seaman there existed a good deal of
trifling, blended with the most entire good-will. The young lady laughed
with her sweet eyes, shook her fair curls, and said mockingly,
"Mr. Sharp, Mr. Blunt; Mr. Blunt, Mr. Sharp!"
"And were you in the secret all this time, my dear young lady?"
"Every minute of it; from the buoys of Portsmouth to this very spot."
"I shall be obliged to introduce my passengers all over again!"
"Certainly; and I would recommend that each should show a certificate of
baptism, or a passport, before you announce his or her name."
"_You_ are, at least, the beautiful Miss Effingham, my dear young lady?"
"I'll not vouch for that, even," said Eve, blushing and laughing.
"That is Mr. John Effingham, I hope!"
"For that I _can_ vouch. There are not _two_ cousin Jacks on earth."
"I wish I knew what the other business of this gentleman is! He seems
amicably disposed, except as regards Mr. Blunt. They looked coldly and
suspiciously at each other."
Eve thought so too, and she lost all her desire for pleasantry. Just at
this moment Captain Ducie quitted his companion, both touching their hats
distantly, and returned to the group he had so unceremoniously left a few
minutes before.
"I believe, Captain Truck, you now know my errand," he said, "and can say
whether you will consent to my examining the person whom you have
mentioned?"
"I know _one_ of your errands, sir; you spoke of having _two_."
"Both will find their completion in this ship, with your permission."
"Permission! That sounds well, at least, my dear young lady. Permit me to
inquire, Captain Ducie, has either of your errands the flavour of tobacco
about it?"
The young man looked surprised, and he began to suspect another
mystification.
"The question is so singular that it is not very intelligible."
"I wish to know, Captain Ducie, if you have anything to say to this ship
in the way of smuggling?"
"Certainly not. I am not a custom-house officer, sir, nor on the revenue
duty; and I had supposed this vessel a regular packet, whose interest is
too plain to enter into such a pursuit."
"You have supposed nothing but the truth, sir; though we cannot always
answer for the honesty or discretion of our people. A single pound of
tobacco might forfeit this noble ship; and, observing the perseverance
with which you have chased me, I was afraid all was not right with
the excise."
"You have had a needless alarm then, for my two objects in coming to
America are completely answered by meeting with Mr. Powis and the Mr.
Sandon, who, I have been given to understand, is in his state-room below."
The party looked at each other, but nothing was said.
"Such being the facts, Captain Ducie, I beg to offer you every facility so
far as the hospitality of my ship is concerned."
"You will permit us to have an interview with Mr. Sandon?"
"Beyond a doubt. I see, sir, you have read Vattel, and understand the
rights of neutrals, or of independent nations. As this interview most
probably will be interesting, you may desire to have it held in private,
and a state-room will be too small for the purpose. My dear young lady,
will you have the complaisance to lend us your cabin for half an hour?"
Eve bowed assent, and Captain Truck then invited the two Englishmen below.
"My presence at this interview is of little moment," observed Captain
Ducie; "Mr. Green is master of the whole affair, and I have a matter of
importance to arrange with Mr. Powis. If one or two of you gentlemen will
have the kindess to be present, and witnesses of what passes between Mr.
Sandon and Mr. Green, it would be a great favour. Templemore, I may claim
this of you?"
"With all my heart, though it is an unpleasant office to see guilt
exposed. Should I presume too much by asking Mr. John Effingham to be of
our party?"
"I was about to make the same request," put in the captain. "We shall then
be two Englishmen and two Yankees,--if Mr. John Effingham will allow me so
to style him?"
"Until we get within the Hook, Captain Truck, I am a Yankee; once _in_ the
country, I belong to the Middle States, if you will allow me the favour
to choose."
The last speaker was stopped by a nudge from Captain Truck, who seized an
opportunity to whisper,
"Make no such distinction between outside and inside, I beg of you, my
dear sir. I hold that the ship is, at this identical moment, in the United
States of America in a positive sense, as well as by a legal fiction; and
I think Vattel will bear me out in it."
"Let it pass for that, then. I will be present at your interview with the
fugitive. If the case is not clear against him, he shall be protected."
Things were now soon arranged; it being decided that Mr. Green, who
belonged to one of the English offices, accompanied by the gentlemen just
named, should descend to the cabin of Miss Effingham, in order to receive
the delinquent; while Captain Ducie should have his interview with Paul
Powis in the state-room of the latter.
The first party went below immediately; but Captain Ducie remained on deck
a minute or two to give an order to the midshipman of his boat, who
immediately quitted the Montauk, and pulled to the corvette. During this
brief delay Paul approached the ladies, to whom he spoke with a forced
indifference, though it was not possible to avoid seeing his concern.
His servant, too, was observed watching his movements with great interest;
and when the two gentlemen went below in company, the man shrugged his
shoulders, and actually held up his hands, as one is wont to do at the
occurrence of any surprising or distressing circumstance.