CHAPTER III--THE FIRST NIGHT OUT
While sampling the tiers of candies--each box vying with another inartistic decorations--and then sniffing at the pyramids of flowers sentby loving friends to the voyagers, the girls gossiped of the recentevents, the first experiences of their trip South.
From this form of light conversation, the talk drifted to the discussionof the weather and the waves. The sea was not as smooth and glassy as itmight have been, and the vessel these bragging maids were now on was notas firm and quiet under foot as the Oceanic or the Aquitania. In fact,every huge roller seemed to heave the dainty White Crest up at one endand let it drop at the other. This rather unpleasant tumbling created aslight sense of discomfort in the bosoms of the passengers.
Several boxes of the richest bon bons had been emptied by the group ofgirls before Mrs. Courtney came in to join them. The moment she saw theboxes, and the girls lounging about nibbling at the sweets, she declaredanxiously: "Oh, my dears! Better not eat candy to-night, you know. If wecome into smoother water before to-morrow you will have ample time tofinish these boxes of candy."
Elizabeth laughed, with the suggestion of a sneer in her tone. "Any onewould think, dear Mrs. Courtney, that we were not good sailors. _You_might find it necessary to deprive yourself of certain good things toeat, but _I_ have crossed several times and I am _never_ troubled with_mal de mer_."
"Polly and I never felt a qualm when we went over last year; but thatwas on a great gigantic steamer that felt different from this rocking."As Eleanor spoke she dropped a tempting chocolate cream back into thebox.
"I was about to remark, just as Mrs. Courtney came in, that it might bewiser for us to defer sampling the rest of the candy until to-morrow.This unusual rocking between the tops and the bottoms of the waves is abit uncanny--don't you agree with me?" Polly looked concerned at thesensation she felt.
Elizabeth laughed unkindly. "You are in for a lovely time, my dearchild!"
"Well, I've crossed three times myself," now said Nancy Fabian, "but Iwill admit that this upheaval of the waves is causing me to worry someover my emotions." Her friends laughed.
"This sea-sick business is only a matter of self-control, I think!"declared Elizabeth, with a superior smile. "Naturally, if one dreads it,one will feel more uncertain of keeping up. Now _I_ never permit myselfto dwell upon the disgusting thought of such a condition, and I am asregular at the table each meal as the old sea-seasoned Captains. I havebeen complimented by the Captains on having good sea-going nerves."
Mrs. Courtney listened but offered no contribution to the conversation.Polly was about to make a remark when a tap at the door drew theattention of the occupants of the room.
"Come in," said Eleanor, who sat nearest the door. It was a uniformedboy who came to announce afternoon tea on deck. "Mr. Dalken says to tellyou'se all that every one is there waitin' fer ye'se."
"All right, thank you. We'll be there in a moment," said Eleanor, thenshe closed the door again. "Any one here want tea? We have had so muchcandy that I don't see how we can eat cake or buns."
"We will go up and join the others, however," added Mrs. Courtney,rising to lead the way from the state room.
"But, my dears!" exclaimed Elizabeth in shocked tones. "_Surely_ youwould not sit down to afternoon tea in these street suits?"
"Of course, Elizabeth. Your father made it very plain that this was tobe a rest and pleasure voyage, and not one for dress or social customs.We were asked to live exactly as if we were at home in our own littleapartments with no one but family members near," explained Mrs.Courtney, kindly.
"Well, that may do all right for you, Mrs. Courtney, but I, for one,shall never lower my dignity and social prestige to such a degree that Iwould have to feel like apologizing to myself for my appearances." Withthis rude explanation Elizabeth flounced from the room and went directlyto her own stateroom.
Her erstwhile companions, believing she would change her dress and makean elaborate toilet before joining her father's guests on deck, paid nofurther attention to her absence. But they hurried out of the room whereElizabeth had indulged in overmuch sweets and fruits, and were soonensconced in comfortable chairs on deck with the elders who were sippingfragrant tea and enjoying tea cakes.
Tom made room on the divan for Polly, and she had not the initiative torefuse to sit beside him. She could not describe the lack of interestshe felt in her friends, or the glorious sky and weather. John and Annewere laughing and exchanging their opinions with Mr. Dalken on thequality of his chef. It was the mutual vote of those present that thecook was a genuine find. John even said it was an appeal to the male toremain on the yacht and continue the trip to the Andes.
The crispy brown cakes were so tempting, and the high praise from themen sounded so alluring, that the girls helped themselves to therefreshments provided. An unusually heavy roller caused a little tremorin the minds of most of the mariners, but the sandwiches and cakes werenot neglected for such a small cause.
"Why, of all things!" cried Polly, glancing at the coast line which wasstanding out clearly defined from the changing hues in the sky. "Here weare off Atlantic Highlands already! It seems just a moment since wepassed Sandy Hook."
"At this rate I fear we will land in Peru long before we are ready toleave the ship," laughed Eleanor, munching on a chicken sandwich.
For the space of half an hour thereafter, the group of gourmands(self-styled as gourmands because they ate so much of the deliciousviands provided by the chef) admired the setting sun and the colorsreflected in the sea by the clouds. No one had missed Elizabeth as yet,because every one was busy with the tea table. But now Mr. Dalkenglanced uneasily around at the faces so familiar to him, and wonderedaloud: "Why, where is Totty?"
His companions glanced from one to the other, and Mrs. Courtney, fearinglest Polly in her frankness might blurt out the truth about suitabledressing for tea, explained: "Elizabeth left us to go to her own room tochange her dress. She thought the tailor-made street suit rather heavyand uncomfortable for lounging about a tea table."
Those who had heard Elizabeth's unkind remark to Mrs. Courtney silentlycommended her kind interpretation of the girl's sentence. Mr. Dalken,believing his daughter would soon appear, felt satisfied to wait for hercoming. Then the sudden sinking to the horizon of the great sun-ball ofred caused various exclamations of admiration, and also drew the friendsto that side of the yacht where the sunset could be seen to the greatestadvantage.
As the sun set the wind rose. In a short time a perfect gale was tearingacross the waters, and the waves rose accordingly. In fact, so mightybecame the rollers, and so uncertain the footing on board the yacht,that it was a risk for the "land-lubbers" to attempt to walk recklesslyabout the deck. Giant waves, every now and then, washed over the swiftlyflying yacht and sprayed the voyagers with salty drops, and Mr. Dalkenadvised them all to go in and rest before dinner was announced.
Perhaps it was due to obeying his advice to lie down for a short time;perhaps it was the partaking of too much of the delicious viandsprovided by the jewel of a chef; perhaps it was just plain old seasickness--but whatever it was, let it here be stated that only two adultsappeared in the dining room that evening for dinner: Mrs. Courtney andMr. Dalken.
Having waited and waited for the appearance of the others in theirparty, and having ascertained by continued perseverance of aquestionnaire, in the form of a 'phone, that his guests preferred todine in bed, Mr. Dalken finally concluded to eat. Therefore he sent wordby said 'phone to ascertain how many trays would be wanted by sickfriends.
The reply caused Mrs. Courtney a hearty laugh, while Mr. Dalken foundample pleasure for the next week in referring to that night'sexperience, and to their curt thanks to his humanitarian impulses.
Elizabeth had not joined her father's guests at tea that late afternoonfor the very good reason that she threw herself upon the bed in her roomand was glad enough to remain there for several days. She had eatenthree times as much candy and fruit as any one of her comp
anions, andnow she was paying the price for self-indulgence. Where now were all herbrags about being such a splendid sailor!
It was not an individual weakness on the part of Polly and Eleanor thatthey succumbed to the attack of sea sickness soon after they reachedtheir small rooms. But they were not aware at the time that _all_adults, excepting Mr. Dalken and Mrs. Courtney, had decided againstdining that night, and remained in their own rooms instead. Had the twogirls dreamed of the truth, that the two pawns in their match-makinggame were enjoying a tete-a-tete dinner and evening together, thisknowledge would have done much to console them for their weirdsensations within.
As the evening advanced the gale increased, and those who felt too illto leave their beds feared lest they _might_ survive till morning. Theyacht could not sink quick enough to please them. Elizabeth was one ofthis group of morbid sailors. The members of the other group who feltable to hold up their heads and take a squint at the turbulent watersand sky now and then when the craft seemed to spin about on a pivot, orsuddenly soar to the sky and as quickly change its course to sink to thebottom of the sea, prayed and prayed that the shores of Florida mightloom up within the next few hours--that they might go ashore.
These prayers, being selfish ones, were not answered, and the coast ofFlorida remained where it had been placed in the order of arranging theNew World.
Having managed to drag herself across her room to the porthole, Pollylooked out to see whether the moon was the next stop. She thought theyacht had been going, prow upwards, for the last hour. To her amazementshe saw they were still on the sea, but such a sea! So tumbled andtroubled that she wished for oil to pour upon it.
Eleanor and Polly shared one room, and now Eleanor lifted her head andwailed: "What do you see, Poll?"
"I see sea, that's all. Oh, my head!" and Polly fell into a chair andcaught her head between her hands.
In spite of her wish to die, Eleanor could not refrain from laughing ather chum. "I should have said you see saw, instead of see sea, judgingfrom the 'now we go up, and now we go down' behavior of the board we areon."
But no answering smile came from Polly's somber face.
Eleanor, not to be discouraged in her wish to help her friend cheer up,murmured: "If we feel this way, Poll, how do you suppose precious Tottyis doing?"
This struck Polly's sense of humor at the right moment. She had to laughin spite of her wish to ponder on death and the hereafter. The pictureof Elizabeth as she bragged of her seamanship, gave cause to a duet ofmerriment from the two girls. This acted like a tonic, and thenceforththey began to feel easier. Then, too, the gale had spent its fury andbegan gradually to calm down.
A soft knock on the door of their room brought forth the command to comein. Mrs. Courtney, looking magnificent in her simple but elegant dinnergown entered with a cheerful smile for the girls.
"Well, well! Where are the seasoned ocean travelers?" said she in aquizzing tone.
"Lost! Went down off Sandy Hook!" retorted Eleanor.
"Who are these shadows in their place?" continued Mrs. Courtney,teasingly.
"Never mind who we are," was Polly's laughing rejoinder, "but tell usthis much: where is Elizabeth, and what is she doing?"
"That I cannot say, my dears, till after Mr. Dalken comes from hisdaughter's room. I left him just now about to visit her, then I came inhere to see you. I understand she wishes to die without delay."
This seemed to tickle Polly and Eleanor greatly. They actually exchangeddelighted glances, and Eleanor said: "Serves her right."
"Oh, come," returned Mrs. Courtney, "don't say that. The poor child hasnever had any real example of what is right and good, so how can oneexpect of her what we do of girls like you and Polly?"
"Well," said Polly, swinging her feet out of bed, "I believe I am ableto sit up and enjoy this visit. The sea must be calming downconsiderably from the smooth manner in which the yacht is moving."
But Polly spoke too soon. The moment she tried to stand upon her feetshe swayed uncertainly and her head spun around like a top. Mrs.Courtney sprang over and caught her arm and steadied her till she gotback to bed. Eleanor giggled unmercifully.
"Better stay put, Poll, till morning. Then we'll practice before we showoff."
All that night the waves which had caused the pitching and rolling ofthe vessel kept up a heavy under-swell that made the yacht shudder andtremble uncertainly. At times it seemed as if the great gaping rollerswished to gulp the small craft in one swallow. But inside thecomfortable rooms of the yacht, the _un_comfortable passengers waitedpatiently for the heavy seas to quiet down again.
After leaving his daughter's room, Mr. Dalken went forward to find theFirst Mate who had said he had graduated from a medical college outwest. Having found the man, Mr. Dalken called him by his title ofdoctor.
"I have a plan to suggest, Dr. Braxton, which ought to cure all ourseasick passengers. I want you to visit each one in a professional wayand diagnose their conditions. Do not find any one suffering from seasickness, but find some light cause for their indisposition and be sureand tell them so. I have an idea that the test of changing their mindsabout the cause of their being in bed will change their physicalconditions, too. Will you do this for me? Take your medicine chest andleave each one some melted licorice in water. Tell them to take atablespoonful of this wonderful tonic every hour--then we'll see."
"Why, Mr. Dalken, you would not have me tell these poor people that theyare not ill with sea sickness, would you? It would be unkind of us to dothat," objected the poor young man.
"Now listen, my good friend. I've heard said, over and over again, thatseasickness is mostly due to fear and _concern_ over one's having it.The pneumogastric nerve acts with the mental condition of the patient--weall know that. And this nerve, it is claimed, is directly affected in amanner to make the ill one think he cannot move, or get up, or eat. Iwant to cure my friends in a hurry, and I want you to help me cure them.That is real kindness--not unkindness."
The interested young man asked what more would be required of him, andMr. Dalken explained. In a short time thereafter, Dr. Braxton calledupon his first patient. It happened to be Mr. Fabian.
After using all the usual methods of taking pulse, looking at thetongue, feeling of the heart, and taking the temperature, the youngphysician said:
"I'm happy to say, Mr. Fabian, that this attack is not a case ofsea-sickness at all, but acute comatose condition of the digestiveglands. You might have experienced the same illness had you been athome. Now I shall leave you this wonderful remedy to take every hour,and in the morning you will feel fine. Three doses of this ought to putyou right as a trivet."
Mr. Fabian was so glad to hear he had not had an attack of sea-sicknessthat he thanked the doctor and said he felt sure he would be around inthe morning.
Having visited all the sick-abed members of Mr. Dalken's party, andfound one suffering from a slight attack of gastritis, another withrheumatic neurosis of the abdomen, and many other queer complaints thathave never been heard of before or since that night, and then havingleft the great cure-all medicine for each and every one stricken, thewilling physician went to report to Mr. Dalken.