CHAPTER II.
GOING BACK WITH THE PILOT.
We were pretty near the Narrows when I thought it was about time to letthe captain, or one of the officers, know that there were some people onboard who didn't intend to take the whole trip. I had read in thenewspapers that committees and friends who went part way withdistinguished people generally left them in the lower bay.
But I was saved the trouble of looking for an officer, for one of them,the purser, came along, collecting tickets. I didn't give him a chanceto ask Scott or any of the other fellows for something that they didn'thave, but went right up to him and told him how the matter stood.
"I must see the captain about this," he said, and off he went.
"He didn't look very friendly," said Scott, and I had to admit that hedidn't.
In a few moments the captain came walking rapidly up to us. He was atall man, dressed in blue, with side-whiskers, and an oil-cloth cap.The purser came up behind him.
"What's all this?" said the captain. "Are you not passengers, you boys?"He did not look very friendly, either, as he asked this question.
THE VESSEL IS OFF.]
"Two of us are," I said, "but four of us were carried offaccidentally."
"Accident? Fiddlesticks!" exclaimed the captain. "Didn't you know thevessel was starting? Hadn't you time to get off? Didn't you hear thegong? Everybody else heard it. Are you all deaf?"
This was a good deal to answer at once, so I just said that I didn'tremember hearing any gong. Tom Myers and his brother George, however,spoke up, and said that they had heard a gong, they thought, but did notknow what it was for.
"Why didn't you ask, then?" said the captain, who was getting worse inhis humor. I had a good mind to tell him that it would take up a gooddeal of the crew's time if Tom Myers and his brother George asked abouteverything they didn't understand on board this ship, but I thought Ihad better not. I have no doubt the gong sounded when we were having ourrow in the state-room, and were not likely to pay attention to it evenif we did hear it.
"And why, in the name of common sense," the captain went on, "didn't youcome and report, the instant you found the vessel had started? Did youthink we were fast to the pier all this time?"
Then Scott thought he might as well come out square with the truth; andhe told how they made up their minds, after they found that the steamerhad really started, with them on board, not to make any fuss about it,nor give anybody any trouble to stop the ship, or to put back, but justto stay quietly on board, and go back with the pilot. They thought thatwould be most convenient, all around.
"Go back with the pilot!" the captain cried. "Why, you young idiot,there _is_ no pilot! Coastwise steamers don't carry pilots. I am my ownpilot. There is no pilot going back!"
You ought to have seen Scott's face!
SCOTT AND THE CAPTAIN.]
Nobody said anything. We all just stood and looked at the captain. Tearsbegan to come into the eyes of Tom Myers and his brother George.
"What are they to do?" asked the purser of the captain. "Buy tickets forSavannah?"
"We can't do that," said Scott, quickly. "We haven't any money."
"I don't know what they're to do," replied the captain. "I'd like tochuck 'em overboard." And with this agreeable little speech he walkedaway.
The purser now took the two tickets for Rectus and myself, and saying:"We'll see what's to be done with the rest of you fellows," he walkedaway, too.
Then we all looked at one another. We were a pretty pale lot, and Ibelieve that Rectus and I, who were all right, felt almost as badly asthe four other boys, who were all wrong.
"We _can't_ go to Savannah!" said Harry Alden. "What right have they totake us to Savannah?"
"Well, then, you'd better get out and go home," said Scott. "I don't somuch mind their taking us to Savannah, for they can't make us pay if wehaven't any money. But how are we going to get back? That's thequestion. And what'll the professor think? He'll write home that we'verun away. And what'll we do in Savannah without any money?"
"You'd better have thought of some of these things before you got usinto waiting to go back with the pilot," said Harry.
As for Tom Myers and his brother George, they just sat down and puttheir arms on the railing, and clapped their faces down on their arms.They cried all over their coat-sleeves, but kept as quiet as they couldabout it. Whenever these two boys had to cry before any of the rest ofthe school-fellows, they had learned to keep very quiet about it.
While the rest of us were talking away, and Scott and Harry findingfault with each other, the captain came back. He looked in a littlebetter humor.
"The only thing that can be done with you boys," he said, "is to put youon some tug or small craft that's going back to New York. If we meetone, I'll lie to and let you off. But it will put me to a great deal oftrouble, and we may meet with nothing that will take you aboard. Youhave acted very badly. If you had come right to me, or to any of theofficers, the moment you found we had started, I could have easily putyou on shore. There are lots of small boats about the piers that wouldhave come out after you, or I might even have put back. But I can donothing now but look out for some craft bound for New York that willtake you aboard. If we don't meet one, you'll have to go on toSavannah."
This made us feel a little better. We were now in the lower bay, andthere would certainly be some sort of a vessel that would stop for theboys. We all went to the forward deck and looked out. It was pretty coldthere, and we soon began to shiver in the wind, but still we stuck itout.
There were a good many vessels, but most of them were big ones. We couldhardly have the impudence to ask a great three-masted ship, under fullsail, to stop and give us a lift to New York. At any rate, we hadnothing to do with the asking. The captain would attend to that. Butevery time we came near a vessel going the other way, we looked about tosee if we could see anything of an officer with a trumpet, standing allready to sing out, "Sail ho!"
But, after a while, we felt so cold that we couldn't stand it anylonger, and we went below. We might have gone and stood by thesmoke-stack and warmed ourselves, but we didn't know enough about shipsto think of this.
We hadn't been standing around the stove in the dining-room more thanten minutes, before the purser came hurrying toward us.
"Come, now," he said, "tumble forward! The captain's hailed apilot-boat."
"Hurrah!" said Scott; "we're going back in a pilot-boat, after all!" andwe all ran after the purser to the lower forward deck. Our engines hadstopped, and not far from us was a rough-looking little schooner with abig "17" painted in black on her mainsail. She was "putting about," thepurser said, and her sails were flapping in the wind.
There was a great change in the countenances of Tom Myers and hisbrother George. They looked like a couple of new boys.
"Isn't this capital?" said Scott. "Everything's turned out all right."
But all of a sudden he changed his tune.
"Look here!" said he to me, pulling me on one side; "wont that pilotwant to be paid something? He wont stop his vessel and take us back fornothing, will he?"
I couldn't say anything about this, but I asked the purser, who stillstood by us.
"I don't suppose he'll make any regular charge," said he; "but he'llexpect you to give him something,--whatever you please."
"But we haven't anything," said Scott to me. "We have our return ticketsto Willisville, and that's about all."
"Perhaps we can't go back, after all," said Harry, glumly, while TomMyers and his brother George began to drop their lower jaws again.
I did not believe that the pilot-boat people would ask to see the boys'money before they took them on board; but I couldn't help feeling thatit would be pretty hard for them to go ashore at the city and givenothing for their passages but promises, and so I called Rectus on oneside, and proposed to lend the fellows some money. He agreed, and Iunpinned a banknote and gave it to Scott. He was mightily tickled to getit, and vowed he'd send it back to me in the f
irst letter he wrote (andhe did it, too).
The pilot-schooner did not come very near us, but she lowered a boatwith two men in it, and they rowed up to the steamer. Some of oursailors let down a pair of stairs, and one of the men in the boat cameup to see what was wanted. The purser was telling him, when the captain,who was standing on the upper deck, by the pilot-house, sung out:
"Hurry up there, now, and don't keep this vessel here any longer. Get'em out as quick as you can, Mr. Brown."
The boys didn't stop to have this kind invitation repeated, and Scottscuffled down the stairs into the boat as fast as he could, followedclosely by Harry Alden. Tom Myers and his brother George stopped longenough to bid each of us good-bye, and shake hands with us, and thenthey went down the stairs. They had to climb over the railing to theplatform in front of the wheel-house to get to the stairs, and as thesteamer rolled a little, and the stairs shook, they went down veryslowly, backward, and when they got to the bottom were afraid to stepinto the boat, which looked pretty unsteady as it wobbled about underthem.
"Come, there! Be lively!" shouted the captain.
Just then, Rectus made a step forward. He had been looking veryanxiously at the boys as they got into the boat, but he hadn't saidanything.
"Where are you going?" said I; for, as quick as a flash, the thoughtcame into my mind that Rectus's heart had failed him, and that he wouldlike to back out.
"I think I'll go back with the boys," he said, making another steptoward the top of the stairs, down which the man from the pilot-boat washurrying.
"Just you try it!" said I, and I put out my arm in front of him.
He didn't try it, and I'm glad he didn't, for I should have been sorryenough to have had the boys go back and say that when they last sawRectus and I we were having a big fight on the deck of the steamer.
The vessel now started off, and Rectus and I went to the upper deck andstood and watched the little boat, as it slowly approached theschooner. We were rapidly leaving them, but we saw the boys climb onboard, and one of them--it must have been Scott--waved his handkerchiefto us. I waved mine in return, but Rectus kept his in his pocket. Idon't think he felt in a wavy mood.
While we were standing looking at the distant pilot-boat, I began toconsider a few matters; and the principal thing was this: How wereRectus and I to stand toward each other? Should we travel like a coupleof school-friends, or should I make him understand that he was under mycharge and control, and must behave himself accordingly? I had no ideawhat he thought of the matter, and by the way he addressed me when wemet, I supposed that it was possible that he looked upon me very much ashe used to when we went to school together. If he had said Mr. Gordon,it would have been more appropriate, I thought, and would haveencouraged me, too, in taking position as his supervisor. As far as myown feelings were concerned, I think I would have preferred to travelabout on a level with Rectus, and to have a good time with him, as twoold school-fellows might easily have, even if one did happen to be twoyears older than the other. But that would not be earning my salary.After a good deal of thought, I came to the conclusion that I would letthings go on as they would, for a while, giving Rectus a good deal ofrope; but the moment he began to show signs of insubordination, I wouldmarch right on him, and quell him with an iron hand. After that, allwould be plain sailing, and we could have as much fun as we pleased,for Rectus would know exactly how far he could go.
There were but few passengers on deck, for it was quite cold, and it nowbegan to grow dark, and we went below. Pretty soon the dinner-bell rang,and I was glad to hear it, for I had the appetite of a horse. There wasa first-rate dinner, ever so many different kinds of dishes, all up anddown the table, which had ridges running lengthwise, under thetable-cloth, to keep the plates from sliding off, if a storm should comeup. Before we were done with dinner the shelves above the table began toswing a good deal,--or rather the vessel rolled and the shelves kepttheir places,--so I knew we must be pretty well out to sea, but I hadnot expected it would be so rough, for the day had been fine and clear.When we left the table, it was about as much as we could do to keep ourfeet, and in less than a quarter of an hour I began to feel dreadfully.I stuck it out as long as I could, and then I went to bed. The old shiprolled, and she pitched, and she heaved, and she butted, right and left,against the waves, and made herself just as uncomfortable for humanbeings as she could, but, for all that, I went to sleep after a while.
I don't know how long I slept, but when I woke up, there was Rectus,sitting on a little bench by the state-room wall, with his feet bracedagainst the berth. He was hard at work sucking a lemon. I turned overand looked down at him. He didn't look a bit sick. I hated to see himeating lemons.
"Don't you feel badly, Rectus?" said I.
"Oh no!" said he; "I'm all right. You ought to suck a lemon. Have one?"
I declined his offer. The idea of eating or drinking anything wasintensely disagreeable to me. I wished that Rectus would put down thatlemon. He did throw it away after a while, but he immediately began tocut another one.
RECTUS AND THE LEMONS.]
"Rectus," said I, "you'll make yourself sick. You'd better go to bed."
"It's just the thing to stop me from being sick," said he, and at thatminute the vessel gave her stern a great toss over sideways, which sentRectus off his seat, head foremost into the wash-stand. I was glad tosee it. I would have been glad of almost anything that stopped thatlemon business.
But it didn't stop it; and he only picked himself up, and sat downagain, his lemon at his mouth.
"Rectus!" I cried, leaning out of my berth. "Put down that lemon and goto bed!"
He put down the lemon without a word, and went to bed. I turned overwith a sense of relief. Rectus was subordinate!