Chapter XIII
In which the ship's company join in a chorus, and the corporal goes on acruise.
Mr Vanslyperken is in his cabin, with Snarleyyow at his side, sittingupon his haunches, and looking in his master's face, which wears an airof anxiety and discomfiture; the fact is, that Mr Vanslyperken isanything but content; he is angry with the widow, with the ship'scompany, with the dog, and with himself; but his anger towards the dogis softened, for he feels that, if anything in this world loves him, itis the dog--not that his affection is great, but as much as the dog'snature will permit; and, at all events, if the animal's attachment tohim is not very strong, still he is certain that Snarleyyow hateseverybody else. It is astonishing how powerful is the feeling that isderived from habit and association. Now that the life of his cur wasdemanded by one, and, as he was aware, was sought for by many,Vanslyperken put a value upon him that was extraordinary. Snarleyyow hadbecome a precious jewel in the eyes of his master, and what he sufferedin anxiety and disappointment from the perverse disposition of theanimal, only endeared him the more. "Yes, my poor dog," apostrophisedthe lieutenant, "they would seek your life--nay, that hard-hearted womandemands that you should be laid--dead at her porch. All conspire againstyou, but be not afraid, my dog, your master will protect youagainst all."
Vanslyperken patted the animal on the head, which was not a littleswelled from the blows received from the broom of Babette, andSnarleyyow rubbed his nose against his master's trousers, and thenraised himself up, by putting his paw upon his master's knee. Thisbrought the dog's head more to the light, and Vanslyperken observed thatone eye was swelled and closed. He examined it, and, to his horror,found that it had been beaten out by the broom of Babette. There was nodoubt of it, and Mr Vanslyperken's choler was extreme. "Now, may all thecurses of ophthalmia seize the fagot," cried the lieutenant; "I wish Ihad her here. My poor, poor dog!" and Vanslyperken kissed the _osfrontis_ of the cur, and what perhaps had never occurred sincechildhood, and what nothing else could have brought about, MrVanslyperken _wept_--actually wept over an animal, which was not, fromany qualification he possessed, worth the charges of the cord whichwould have hanged him. Surely the affections have sometimes a benttowards insanity.
After a short time the lieutenant rang his bell, and ordered some warmwater, to bathe the dog's eye. Corporal Van Spitter, as Smallbones wasin his hammock, answered the summons, and when he returned aft with thewater, he made known to Mr Vanslyperken the mutinous expressions ofJemmy Ducks. The lieutenant's small eye twinkled with satisfaction."Damned the Admiral, did he!--which one was it--Portsmouth or Plymouth?"
This, Corporal Van Spitter could not tell; but it was certain that Jemmyhad damned his superior officer; "And moreover," continued the corporal,"he damned me." Now Mr Vanslyperken had a great hatred against JemmyDucks, because he amused the ship's company, and he never could forgiveany one who made people happy; moreover, he wanted some object to visithis wrath upon: so he asked a few more questions, and then dismissed thecorporal, put on his tarpaulin hat, put his speaking-trumpet under hisarm, and went on deck, directing the corporal to appoint one of themarines to continue to bathe the eye of his favourite.
Mr Vanslyperken looked at the dog-vane, and perceived that the wind wasfoul for sailing, and moreover, it would be dark in two hours, so hedetermined upon not starting till the next morning, and then he thoughtthat he would punish Jemmy Ducks; but the question occurred to himwhether he could do so or not. Was James Salisbury a boatswain by rightor not? He received only the pay of a boatswain's mate, but he wasstyled boatswain on the books. It was a nice point, and the balance waseven. Mr Vanslyperken's own wishes turned the scale, and he resolved toflog Jemmy Ducks if he could. We say, if he could, for as, at that time,tyrannical oppression on the part of the superiors was winked at, and nocomplaints were listened to by the Admiralty, insubordination, which wasthe natural result, was equally difficult to get over; and although onboard of the larger vessels, the strong arm of power was certain toconquer, it was not always the case in the smaller, where the superiorswere not in sufficient force, or backed by a numerous party of soldiersor marines, for there was then little difference between the twoservices. Mr Vanslyperken had had more than one mutiny on board of thevessels which he had commanded, and, in one instance, his whole ship'scompany had taken the boats and gone on shore, leaving him by himself inthe vessel, preferring to lose the pay due to them, than to remainlonger on board. They joined other ships in the service, and no noticewas taken of their conduct by the authorities. Such was the state ofhalf discipline at the period we speak of in the service of the king.The ships were, in every other point, equally badly fitted out andmanned; peculation of every kind was carried to excess, and those whowere in command thought more of their own interest than of anythingelse. Ship's stores and provisions were constantly sold, and the want ofthe former was frequently the occasion of the loss of the vessel, andthe sacrifice of the whole crew. Such maladministration is said to bethe case even now in some of the continental navies. It is not until along series of years have elapsed, that such regulations andarrangements as are at present so economically and beneficiallyadministered to our navy, can be fully established.
Having settled the point so far, Mr Vanslyperken then proceeded todebate in his own mind, whether he should flog Jemmy in harbour, orafter he had sailed; and feeling that if there was any seriousdisturbance on part of the men, they might quit the vessel if inharbour, he decided that he would wait until he had them in blue water.His thoughts then reverted to the widow, and, as he turned and turnedagain, he clenched his fists in his great-coat pockets, and was heard bythose near him to grind his teeth.
In the meantime, the news had been imparted by the marine, who came upinto the galley for more warm water, that the dog had had one of hiseyes put out, and it was strange the satisfaction which thisintelligence appeared to give to the ship's company. It was passed roundlike wildfire, and, when communicated, a beam of pleasure was soonapparent throughout the whole cutter, and for this simple reason, thatthe accident removed the fear arising from the supposition of the dogbeing supernatural, for the men argued, and with some reason, that ifyou could put out his eye, you could kill him altogether; for if youcould destroy a part, you could destroy the whole. No one ever heard ofthe devil's eye being put out--_ergo_, the dog could not be a devil, orone of his imps: so argued a knot of the men in conclave, and Jansenwound up by observing, "Dat de tog was only a tog after all."
Vanslyperken returned to his cabin and stated his intentions to hisfactotum and confidant, Corporal Van Spitter. Now, in this instance, thecorporal did not adhere to that secrecy to which he was bound, and theonly reason we can give is, that he had as great a dislike to JemmyDucks as his lieutenant--for the corporal obeyed orders so exactly, thathe considered it his duty not to have even an opinion or a feelingcontrary to those of his superior officer. He was delighted at the ideaof flogging Jemmy, and communicated the lieutenant's intention to themost favoured of his marines, who also told the secret to another, andthus in five minutes, it was known throughout the cutter, that as soonas they were in blue water, the little boatswain was to be tied up forhaving damned the admiral in a snow-storm. The consequence was, as theevening was clear, that there was a very numerous assemblage upon theforecastle of the cutter _Yungfrau_.
"Flog Jemmy," said Bill Spurey. "Why, Jemmy's a hofficer."
"To be sure he is," observed another; "and quite as good a one asVanslyperken himself, though he don't wear brass on his hat."
"D--n it--what next--heh, Coble?"
Coble hitched up his trousers. "It's my opinion he'll be for flogging_us_ next, Short," said the old man.
"Yes," replied Short.
"Shall we allow Jemmy to be flogged?"
"No," replied Short.
"If it warn't for them 'ere marines, and the lumpy beggar of acorporal," observed one of the seamen.
"Pish," quoth Jemmy, who was standing among them.
"Won't he make i
t out mutiny?" observed Spurey.
"Mein Gott! it was mutiny to flog de officer," said Jansen.
"That's very true," observed another.
"But Jemmy can't stand against the fat corporal and the six marines,"observed Bill Spurey.
"One up and t'other down, I'll take them all," observed Jemmy, expandinghis chest.
"Yes, but they'll all be down upon you at once, Jemmy."
"If they lays their hands upon an officer," observed Coble, "it will bemutiny; and then Jemmy calls in the ship's company to protect him."
"Exactly," observed Jemmy.
"And den, mein Gott, I zettle for de corporal," observed Jansen.
"I'll play him a trick yet."
"But now, it's no use palavering," observed Spurey; "let's come to somesettlement. Obadiah, give us your opinion as to what's best to be done."
Hereupon Coble squirted out a modicum of 'baccy juice, wiped his mouthwith the back of his hand, and said, "It's my opinion, that the best wayof getting one man out of a scrape, is to get all the rest in it. Jemmy,d'ye see, is to be hauled up for singing an old song, in which a wenchvery properly damns the admiral for sending a ship out on aChristmas-day, which, let alone the unchristian-like act, as you mayknow, my lads, always turns up on a Friday, a day on which nothing butbeing blown out from your anchors can warrant any vessel sailing on.Now, d'ye see, it may be mutiny to damn a live admiral, with his flaghoisted--I won't say but what it is--but this here admiral as Jemmydamned, is no more alive than a stock fish; and, moreover, it is notJemmy as damns him, but Poll; therefore it can be no mutiny. Now, what Iconsider best is this, if so be it be against the articles--well, then,let's all be in for it together, and then Vanslyperken will be puzzled,and, moreover, it will give him a hint how matters stand, and he maythink better of it; for although we must not have Jemmy touched, stillit's quite as well not to have a regular breeze with the jollies; for ifso be that the _Scarborough,_ or any other king's ship, be in port whenwe arrive, Vanslyperken may run under the guns, and then whip the wholeboiling of us off to the Ingies, and glad to get us, too, and that's nojoke. Now, that's my idea of the matter."
"Well, but you've not told us how we are all to get into it, Coble."
"More I have--well, that's funny; left out the whole burden of my song.Why, I consider that we had better now directly sing the song overagain, all in chorus, and then we shall have damned the admiral a dozentimes over; and Vanslyperken will hear us, and say to himself, 'Theydon't sing that song for nothing.' What do you say, Dick Short, you'refirst hofficer?"
"Yes," replied Short.
"Hurrah! my lads, then," cried Bill Spurey; "now then, strike up, Jemmy,and let us give it lots of mouth."
The song which our readers have already heard from the lips of JemmyDucks, was then sung by the whole of the men, _con animo e strepito_,and two verses had been roared out, when Corporal Van Spitter, in greatagitation, presented himself at the cabin door, where he found MrVanslyperken very busy summing up his accounts.
"Mein Gott, sar! dere is de mutiny in de _Yungfrau_," cried thecorporal.
"Mutiny!" cried Vanslyperken, catching at his sword, which hung up onthe bulk-head.
"Yaw, mynheer--de mutiny--hear now de ship's company."
Vanslyperken lent his ears, when the astounding chorus came rolling aftthrough the door of the cabin,
"I'll give you a bit of my mind, old hunks, Port Admiral--you be d---d"
"Bow, wow, wow," barked Snarleyyow.
"Why, it's the whole ship's company!" cried Vanslyperken.
"All but de Corporal Van Spitter, and de six marines," replied thecorporal, raising his hand up to his head _a la militaire_.
"Shut the door, corporal. This is indeed mutiny and defiance," criedVanslyperken, jumping up from his chair.
"It is von tyfel of a song," replied the corporal.
"I must find out the ringleaders, corporal; do you think that you couldcontrive to overhear what they say after the song is over? they will beconsulting together, and we might find out something."
"Mynheer, I'm not very small for to creep in and listen," replied thecorporal, casting his eyes down upon his huge carcass.
"Are they all forward?" inquired the lieutenant.
"Yes, mynheer--not one soul baft."
"There is the small boat astern; do you think you could get softly intoit, haul it up to the bows, and lie there quite still? You would thenhear what they said, without their thinking of it, now that it is dark."
"I will try, mynheer," replied the corporal, who quitted the cabin.
But there were others who condescended to listen as well as thecorporal, and in this instance, every word which had passed, had beenoverheard by Smallbones, who had been for some hours out of his hammock.When the corporal's hand touched the lock of the door, Smallbones madea hasty retreat.
Corporal Van Spitter went on the quarter-deck, which he found vacant; hehauled up the boat to the counter, and by degrees lowered into it hisunwieldy carcass, which almost swamped the little conveyance. He thenwaited a little, and with difficulty forced the boat up against thestrong flood-tide that was running, till at last he gained the chesstreeof the cutter, when he shortened in the painter (or rope that held theboat), made it fast to a ringbolt without being perceived, and there helay concealed, not daring to move, for fear of making a noise.
Smallbones had, however, watched him carefully, and as the corporal satin the middle thwart, with his face turned aft, catching but imperfectlythe conversation of the men, the lad separated the painter with a sharpknife, and at the same time dropping his foot down, gave the bow of theboat a shove off, which made it round with the stream. The tide was thenrunning five or six miles an hour, and before the corporal, in the utterdarkness, could make out what had occurred, or raise his heavy carcassto assist himself, he was whirled away by the current clear of thevessel, and soon disappeared from the sight of Smallbones, who waswatching his progress.
It is true that the corporal shouted for assistance when he foundhimself astern, and also that he was heard by the men, but Smallboneshad leaped among them, and in a few words told them what he had done; soof course they took no notice, but rubbed their hands with delight atthe idea of the corporal being adrift like a bear in a washing-tub, andthey all prayed for a gale of wind to come on that he might be swamped,and most of them remained on deck to hear what Mr Vanslyperken would sayand do when the corporal's absence was discovered. Mr Vanslyperkenremained nearly two hours without sending for the corporal; at last,surprised at not seeing him return, he went on deck. The men on theforecastle perceiving this, immediately disappeared gently down thefore-hatchway. Mr Vanslyperken walked forward and found that every onewas, as he supposed, either in bed or below; for in harbour the corporalkept one of the watches, and this night it was his first watch.Vanslyperken looked over the side all round the cutter, and could see noboat and no Corporal Van Spitter, and it immediately occurred to himthat the corporal must have gone adrift, and he was very much puzzledhow to act. It would be flood-tide for two hours more, and then thewhole ebb would run before it was daylight. Corporal Van Spitter wouldtraverse the whole Zuyder Zee before they might find him. Unless he hadthe fortune to be picked up by some small craft, he might perish withcold and hunger. He could not sail without him; for what could he dowithout Corporal Van Spitter, his protection, his factotum, hisdistributer of provisions, &c. The loss was irreparable, and MrVanslyperken, when he thought of the loss of the widow's favour and theloss of his favourite, acknowledged with bitterness that his star wasnot in the ascendant. After some reflection, Mr Vanslyperken thoughtthat as nothing could be gained by making the fact known, the wisestthing that he could do was to go to bed and say nothing about it,leaving the whole of the ulterior proceedings until the loss of the boatshould be reported to him in the morning. Having arranged this in hismind, Mr Vanslyperken took two or three turns more, and then went downand turned in.