CHAPTER II.
DONALBLANE CARRIES HIS POINT.
It was one thing for Donalblane to make up his mind to go to Darien,and quite another to carry his resolution into effect.
Alexander Blane was a masterful man, who had no fancy for acceptingadvice or suggestions from other folk. He much preferred thinking ofthings himself, and Donalblane knew well enough that for him to make adirect request meant its being turned down both promptly and finally.Strategy was therefore necessary, and, after some deep thought and thecasting aside of various schemes, he hit upon one that gave promise ofsuccess if judiciously carried out.
Thanks to his natural quickness of mind and his interest in hisstudies, he had quite won the heart of the dominie who with book andbirch ruled his little educational kingdom, and so to wise WilliamLaidlaw he went with his scheme. Now, as it happened, no man inScotland had been more fired by Paterson's daring project than thisschool-teacher of Leith. He was a Scot of the Scots, and the bitterestregret of his life was that a crippled leg, which made active movementimpossible, barred his own way to joining the expedition.
Disappointed in that direction, he had done what was perhaps evenbetter--he had invested the entirety of his own savings in the stock,and he had by tongue and pen done all in his power to promote theinterest of the enterprise. It was therefore only natural that heshould listen to Donalblane's bashful confidence with a swelling andsympathetic heart.
"Ay! ay! laddie," he said, regarding the eager, earnest boy with a lookof unwonted tenderness, "and so ye wad fain gang tae Darien? I dinnablame ye. Glad wad I be to gang myself, if I were na too auld for sica far-going. But if I be too old, are ye na too young, Donald?" Andhe bent a keen look upon him from under his shaggy brows.
Donalblane flushed and moved uneasily on his seat. That was the veryargument he most feared. "I am owre young, maybe," he replied; "butI'm verra strong, and big for my age;" which was true enough, as helooked full two years older than he really was. "And then, ye ken,there'll no be anither such chance as this to see the world for therest of my life."
The dominie smiled shrewdly. That was the usual talk of youth. Heknew much better; but somehow the lad's passion for the adventure tookstrong hold upon him, and the upshot of their talk together that summerevening was that Donalblane went home joyful of heart because he hadenlisted an ally who was pledged to help him in realising his desire.
Mr. Laidlaw was on excellent terms with Mr. Blane, and no excusetherefore was needed for a friendly visit, in the course of which thetalk naturally enough came round to the Darien expedition, already incourse of being fitted out.
"Hech! but I wad fain be going myself," said the dominie, heaving ahuge sigh of regret, "and if it were na for this halting leg of mine,I'd be putting my name down."
Mr. Blane indulged in a sympathetic smile. The idea of the limpingdominie venturing to face the perils and privations on sea and landthat were sure to be encountered touched his sense of humour, but hewas too courteous to betray it.
"I'm inclined a bit that way likewise," he responded, "and were I onlytwenty instead of sixty, I'd be offering myself to Maister Paterson."
"Have ye thought o' sending any one in your stead?" inquired thedominie, as innocently as if no hidden purpose inspired him.
"Ay, I have thought something of it, but I've not made up my mind atall," was the reply.
Having thus secured his opening, the wily dominie, by strategicdevices, which did infinite credit to his ingenuity and knowledge ofhuman nature without putting any strain upon his conscience, at lastsucceeded not only in filling Mr. Blane's mind with the idea of Donaldbeing sent out in some sense as his representative, but in so doing itthat the worthy shipmaster quite supposed he had conceived the notionhimself.
Accordingly, a few days later Mr. Blane called Donald into his ownroom, and began asking him some questions that made the boy's eyesglitter with hope.
The sagacious dominie, knowing Mr. Blane, had counselled Donald not tolet on in any way how eagerly he desired to go to Darien, but to seemsimply willing to do whatever he was told. He therefore put a strongcurb upon himself, and responded respectfully to what was asked of him.
"Ye've got a great liking for the sea, they tell me, lad," began Mr.Blane, with a keen glance at the bright face and sturdy figure.
"'YE'VE A GREAT LIKING FOR THE SEA. THEY TELL ME, LAD,'BEGAN MR. BLANE."]
"Oh, yes, sir," answered Donald emphatically.
"And wad ye care to go away altogether on a ship?" asked his uncle.
"Ay, that I would, sir," was the hearty reply; and then, in a sly,apologetic tone, "But of course I'd like to come back again."
Mr. Blane smiled grimly. He quite understood the boy's eagerness to berid of the restraints of school and of town life, and did not take atall amiss the readiness he expressed to leave the roof that hadsheltered him so comfortably, and fare forth into unknown difficultiesand dangers.
"And what wad ye say to going with Mr. Paterson away out to America, ifhe'll let you?" was the next question; and Donald could feel hisuncle's deep-set eyes piercing him like arrows.
But he controlled himself wonderfully, and in a quiet, steady voice,that touched no chord of opposition, said, "I wad like it verra weel,if _you_ will let me go, sir."
Mr. Blane was better pleased by this response than he showed, and,after a brief silence, he got up, saying, "Well, well, we'll thinkabout it--we'll think about it. Ye're owre young, maybe, to be leavin'your friends to gang among strangers; but ye're a likely lad, and itmay go towards making a man of you. Say naething about it--do youhear?--for the present--not a word."
Donald promptly promised, and left his uncle with a heart full of hope.Only to the dominie did he mention the interview, and then for nearly aweek he was kept on tenterhooks of anxiety.
In the meantime Mr. Blane conferred with Mr. Paterson, and having beenassured by him that he would take a kindly interest in the boy, andallow him to return at the end of the year if he wished, he fullydecided to let him go.
When this was communicated to Donald, he had great difficulty inrestraining the impulse to give a great shout and fling histam-o'-shanter to the ceiling, but by an heroic effort he kept himselfin hand, and, after expressing his gratitude to his uncle, hurried awayto the dominie with the good news. Thus was this momentous mattersettled, and now came the business of getting ready.
Owing to the withdrawal of the English subscribers and the consequentdecrease in the amount of capital aimed at, the expedition could not befitted out on so large a scale as Mr. Paterson had at first intended.Nor was this the only difficulty he had to encounter. If the fundswere somewhat deficient, there was no lack of enthusiasm. The chivalryof Scotland had been aroused, and hundreds of men of high family wereready to exchange their prospects in their own country for the goldenhopes held out by America, recking little of doubts and dangers.
It became a delicate and troublesome task to select from such a throngof eager volunteers, for, of course, all could not go, and, alas! forthe success of the enterprise, in too many cases family interest orpersonal influence prevailed to find a place for some good-for-nothingscapegrace instead of an honest, hard-working man, who would have beena valuable addition. If only Mr. Paterson had been able to inspirethose associated with him with his own unselfish zeal and highintegrity, there might have been a different story to tell. Unhappily,he stood almost alone in seeking no advantage or profit. Everybodyelse had a keen eye to number one. As a natural consequence,numberless jealousies, suspicions, and antagonisms arose. Instead ofworking harmoniously together, the council in charge of affairs plottedand counterplotted, wrangled and fought, until poor Paterson's patiencewas utterly exhausted, and he had good reason to wish himself well outof the business.
Not only were the members of the expedition ill-selected, for thereasons given, but the ships that were to carry them, the arms,provisions, goods, and entire equipment, were all contracted for in amanner that greatly enriched the
merchants at the expense of theenterprise, and led to the loss of many a life in the after-days.
The ships were old and rotten, but so painted and fixed up as todisguise the fact. The arms were of inferior quality, the provisionsadulterated so shamefully as to be hardly fit for human food, and themerchandise taken for traffic with the natives of the Land of Promiseconsisted mainly of shop-worn remainders; yet for everything thehighest price was charged and paid.
To crown all, the ships were commanded by coarse, brutal, and ignorantcaptains, jealous of and hostile to one another, and caring little forthe authority of the council. But Donalblane knew nothing of this,and, beyond warning him to be very careful to keep his own counsel andto be chary of making new friends, his uncle had not given him any hintof it.
Proud of his substantial wooden chest, containing not only an excellentoutfit of clothes, but a good pair of pistols, a sword, and a smallquantity of beads and trinkets wherewith to do a little traffickingwith the natives on his own account, he stood on the deck of thelargest of the little fleet of five vessels one bright day in July 1698.