CHAPTER XV
THE OLD MEN'S FAITH
The journey back to Moulmein offered no further adventures worthy ofmention; and, when arrived there, Mr. Gilchrist remained in that placequietly until after the New Year.
The floods had then subsided, and the articles for which he had sent toEngland arrived.
He sent off to Mr. Herford all that he had collected during his firstexpedition; and received advices from Rangoon, with money, and fullcredentials for making every possible preparation whilst he was waiting.
Ralph and the two Cornish seamen were regularly engaged, at liberalsalaries; and Captain Rogers wrote to his nephew of the situationreserved for him in the Rangoon house of business,--a situation which,if he were assiduous and steady, would assure his fortune for life, andenable him to forward the interests of his younger brothers.
Ralph also received letters from home, and from Kershaw, relating howkindly he had been received by Mrs. Denham. He mentioned hisdetermination to pass for his master's certificate before again going tosea; and assured his friend that he would often call upon his mother andsister, to tell them all particulars about Ralph himself, which he mightomit when writing.
"I daresay he will," thought Ralph; "and a pretty farrago of rubbishthey will hear from him, too."
Letters arriving faster than the heavy goods that were sent round theCape, one from Mrs. Denham, giving the account of the mate's secondvisit, reached Ralph before he again left Moulmein.
"Your good-looking young friend, Mr. Kershaw, called again last night,"she wrote, "and was most amusing. I do not think I have laughed for manyyears more than I did to hear him relating your imaginary love-affairwith a Burmese belle. With the gravest face, and pretended sympathy forus, he went on piling up the agony, while Agnes believed every word, andher big blue eyes dilated with horror. 'She is a very charming thing innatives, from a Shan district,' he said, with a sly glance at her; 'sheis dressed chiefly with a tablecloth and a rose; she carries a greencheroot in her ear, and she and Denham smoke it by turns. She sellsBurmese cats in the bazaar, and has a fascinating way of sitting uponher heels, which leaves nothing to be desired as to grace. She will beable to teach you much in the way of cooking, Miss Denham; this cake,which I understand is made by yourself from a Cornish receipt, isdelicious to _me_, but Denham has quite taken to Burmese ways now. Youshould see him devouring rotten fish. He is very partial to it, withrice; and finishes his light and wholesome meal with Chinese pattiesmade of sugar and fat pork.'
"'Mr. Kershaw!' she cried. She could really say no more, her horror wasso great.
"He turned to her with the kindest air. 'It is sad, Miss Denham, is itnot? Your dear brother seemed made for better things; but, after all, anearly attachment is often the saving of a man. I think that I could drawa sketch of the lady if you would favour me with a pencil.' Then he drewthe most awful-looking picture which you could imagine; and Agneswatched every line with her whole soul in her face, and heaved thedeepest sigh when it was finished. 'It is a pretty face, is it not?'asked he politely. 'Perhaps I have favoured her a little, she may not bequite so sweet-looking in reality, but she really is a charming girl.'
"He has just walked in again, and brought Agnes the present of what hecalls a Burmese cat, and declares that your _fiancee_ sold it to him fortwopence three farthings, and a dish of fried maggots. It is a thingupon wires, or joints of some kind, like a perfect demon, sprawling andjerking about, and has already frightened baby nearly into a fit."
"I would like to punch his head for him," soliloquised Ralph. "What anidiot he is!"
But this is somewhat out of place.
Mr. Gilchrist was not desirous of remaining long in Moulmein after hisstores had arrived from England. The sooner he started, the cooler wouldbe the weather, and the more time there would be for his journey beforethe rains set in.
Their friends, however, would not part with them until they had passedChristmas in company; and Ralph was a little disappointed to find thatthe merry water-festival was not to take place upon the English NewYear's Day, but on that sacred to Burma. He found that this day fellabout the beginning of April, so he must wait to see the images washed,and to share in the sport of throwing water at everyone, until thattime, when he would probably have arrived in Rangoon.
Mr. Gilchrist knew that many orchids could not be found in bloom beforeFebruary; but, as the jungles around Moulmein had been pretty wellinvestigated, he wished to reach fresh fields and pastures new by thattime; and travelling was slow work in Burma, where the people resolutelyrefuse to proceed on their way if they consider the day unlucky,--if asnake cross their path at the outset of their journey,--or if the whitewitch of any district, who is always consulted _en passant_, pronouncethat the nats are adverse.
Upon the whole, the chances for this new expedition were considered tobe favourable, as a very fortunate day was selected in the firstinstance, and the scouts of the party lighted upon a magnificent bed ofmushrooms before the sun was well up.
With great delight they collected a goodly supply of this delicacy; Mr.Gilchrist produced a tin of gravy soup in which to stew them, and theyfeasted upon them for breakfast. Even the Englishmen were cheered by thesatisfaction apparent on the faces of their attendants at this favorableomen.
"Well," said Wills, "ef it be an omen, 'tis no manner of use to setoneself up against 'un. 'Tis well az it be a good 'un, for there be apesky lot more of whisht 'uns than of 'tother zooart."
"Ah! there be," said Osborn; "and of spreets too."
"Did you ever see a spirit, Osborn?" asked Ralph.
"I did, my son," said Osborn.
"Tell us all about it," pleaded the boy.
"Well, it wor when I was a young shaver, nineteen or twenty, ortheerabout, to age; and I'd gone down St. Minver way to stay with my oldgranfer, who lived in thiccee parish. There wor an awful storm came,fust week in December, and the breakers were mountain high against thecliffs. Word went az how a big three-masted ship of foreign rig had beenzeen trying to make for Padstow Harbour when night came, but never astick of it wor zeen again. 'Twor supposed az it ran on the Doom Bartheer, at mouth of the harbour. I must needs go down to Hell Bay, azthey do call 'un, next day, to zee the waves, az was foaming out formiles; and a fine sight it wor, though the tide had turned, and worroaring out then. I walked along the head of the cliff so az to get outamongst 'em; and az I went, I zeed an old man, with a long grizzledbeard and moustache, like a forriner, a-leaning hisself against a stile.
"'Good-marnin', zur,' saith I; but he only turned his great sorrowfuleyes upon me, with dark fire blazing out of 'em, and never spoke a word.
"'You'm an unmannerly chield,' thought I to myself, but I made to passhim without no more to zay. But he stood in my road, and lifted hishand, and beckoned, like a chield az was used to be obeyed.
"Then I did zee as how his hair was wet, dripping with watter down overhis cloathes, and zayweed and little crabs stuck to it, and his handsand face wor all battered and bruised and torn, and he wor soakedthrough and through with watter. He moved on, making signs for me tofollow of 'un, and the watter squelched in his shoes az he went, and Ididn't dare to hang back.
"He led me out right to point of the cliff, and down over the rocks to alittle cove behind, where a great broken mass reared up in front of acavern, and theer, a-lyin' on the strip of sand, beside the great poolof watter, lay a lady, and she had a little child held tight in herarms, with its face cuddled down on her neck, as ef 'twor asleep. Whenhe pointed to thiccee, he gave a dreadful great wailing cry, and worgone.
"I thought the lady was alive at first; for the wind lifted up her longblack hair, az ef 'twor playing with it; and for all that her white gownwere torn, and a great rag of lace fluttered from it, it wor decentlyfolded round her, but she wor dead and cold enough when I come to touchher.
"I got help, and she wor carried round, and buried up in thechurchyard, with her little 'un in the same coffin, but neither I norany living chield ever saw the forri
ner more."
"Osborn!" cried Ralph. "Do you really mean to tell me that you saw thatyourself?"
"I did, Maister Ralph."
"That Hell Bay be a quare place, zur," said Wills. "I du knaw she well.Ef there du be sech things az spreets, thiccee be the spot for 'un. Manyand many a good ship have gone to pieces there; never a winter passesbut three or four du go. I mind me of one awful gale when a big shipwere seen there, throwing up lights and firing guns for help, but nohelp could drae near to 'un. Next day one little baby's shoe wor washedup,--a purty little blue kid shoe, with a silver button to it, but nevera sign more of who or what the volks might be that had all gone in thedead hours of the night."
"Ay," began Osborn, once more resuming his reminiscences. "That wor thegale--I mind it well--when a brig rode safely into Padstow Harbour, andwor saved, with never a living soul aboard of her. The crew had beenscared, and took to their boats, when ef they'd stuck to the brig they'dhave been saved. Never a one wor zeed, but the clock were ticking awaywhen the brig was boarded, a-telling the time for the dead men; and thefried bacon and tetties wor a-keeping hot over the galley fire for themaz would never eat a meal more."
"Don't you think of these things when a storm comes while you are atsea?" asked Ralph. "Do they not make you nervous?"
"No, maister, I dunna knaw az it du. Men must die sometime, and theLord's will must be followed. He du be so near to uz on zea az on land."
Ralph was silent, but he thought much. The old men's simple trust intheir God struck him forcibly in all its truth and beauty. It was notignorance of the risks which they ran, it was not heedlessness, it wasnot fatalism,--it was faith. Were he called upon to facedeath--instantaneous death--while life was still strong and lusty withinhim, could he meet it in the same steady spirit?
He feared not. Then he remembered a passage in the Bible, where menpersecuted were counselled not to perplex themselves by wondering whatthey should say in hypothetical circumstances, for it should be given tothem, in that same hour, what they should say. Perhaps it would also begiven to others what they should do. He prayed inwardly that it might beso. Life was teaching this lad many lessons, though unconsciously tohimself.
Also the simple straightforwardness with which he was performing hisduty, under such untoward claims upon it, was influencing those whom heloved, at home, in a manner of which he little thought.
He had gone out to Burma, because he wished to relieve his mother of hiskeep, and this was the only manner in which he saw the possibility of sodoing at once. He had thus been the means of introducing into hismother's household a lady who proved to be a most valued and valuablefriend to the whole family.
By his conduct during the voyage, he had secured the attachment ofseveral important friends for himself; opened for himself excellentprospects for prosperity in life; and earned the advantages of seeing anew country in a manner which few succeed in doing even after longresidence in it. This, in after years, proved to be of material serviceto his career.
The accounts of his heroism in the fire at sea, and the esteem for hischaracter which that aroused, called out all that was best in hisbrother's heart; and made the favourable turning-point in his life at acritical and dangerous age.
Finally, this same heroism induced Mr. Herford to take great notice ofhis mother and the whole family. He befriended them in manyways,--assisting in the children's education, securing for them manycheerful pleasures, and making them valuable presents from time to time.
None of these advantages would have accrued to himself, or to those heloved, had Ralph been idle, selfish, or neglectful of his duty; but nowhe was destined to go through a yet greater trial of endurance than anybefore.
Little did he think, when he set out so gaily upon his secondexpedition, of all the dangers which were about to beset his path whilepursuing it.