CHAPTER SIX.
THE CAPTAIN CHANGES HIS QUARTERS.
It was fortunate for Ruby that the skipper of the vessel ordered him toremain in charge while he went ashore, because he would certainly havebeen recognised by numerous friends, and his arrival would speedily havereached the ears of the officers of justice, who seem to be a class ofmen specially gifted with the faculty of never forgetting. It was notuntil darkness had begun to settle down on the town that the skipperreturned on board, and gave him leave to go ashore.
Ruby did not return in the little coaster in which he had left hisnative place. That vessel had been wrecked not long after he joinedher, but the crew were saved, and Ruby succeeded in obtaining a berth assecond mate of a large ship trading between Hull and the Baltic.Returning from one of his voyages with a pretty good sum of money in hispocket, he resolved to visit his mother and give it to her. Hetherefore went aboard an Arbroath schooner, and offered to work hispassage as an extra hand. Remembering his former troubles in connexionwith the press-gang, he resolved to conceal his name from the captainand crew, who chanced to be all strangers to him.
It must not be supposed that Mrs Brand had not heard of Ruby since heleft her. On the contrary, both she and Minnie Gray got letters asfrequently as the postal arrangements of those days would admit of; andfrom time to time they received remittances of money, which enabled themto live in comparative comfort. It happened, however, that the last ofthese remittances had been lost, so that Mrs Brand had to depend forsubsistence on Minnie's exertions, and on her brother's liberality. Thebrother's power was limited, however, and Minnie had been ailing forsome time past, in consequence of her close application to work, so thatshe could not earn as much as usual. Hence it fell out that at thisparticular time the widow found herself in greater pecuniarydifficulties than she had ever been in before.
Ruby was somewhat of an original. It is probable that every hero is.He resolved to surprise his mother by pouring the money he had broughtinto her lap, and for this purpose had, while in Hull, converted all hissavings into copper, silver, and gold. Those precious metals he stowedseparately into the pockets of his huge pea-jacket, and, thus heavilyladen, went ashore about dark, as soon as the skipper returned.
At this precise hour it happened that Mrs Brand, Minnie Gray, andCaptain Ogilvy were seated at their supper in the kitchen of thecottage.
Two days previously the captain had called, and said to Mrs Brand--
"I tell 'ee what it is, sister, I'm tired of livin' a solitary bachelorlife, all by myself, so I'm goin' to make a change, lass."
Mrs Brand was for some moments speechless, and Minnie, who was sewingnear the window, dropped her hands and work on her lap, and looked upwith inexpressible amazement in her sweet blue eyes.
"Brother," said Mrs Brand earnestly, "you don't mean to tell me thatyou're going to marry at _your_ time of life?"
"Eh! what? Marry?"
The captain looked, if possible, more amazed than his sister for asecond or two, then his red face relaxed into a broad grin, and he satdown on a chair and chuckled, wiping the perspiration (he seemed alwaysmore or less in a state of perspiration) from his bald head the while.
"Why, no, sister, I'm not going to marry; did I speak of marryin'?"
"No; but you spoke of being tired of a bachelor life, and wishing tochange."
"Ah! you women," said the captain, shaking his head--"always suspectingthat we poor men are wantin' to marry you. Well, pr'aps you ain't farwrong neither; but I'm not goin' to be spliced yet-a-while, lass.Marry, indeed!
"`Shall I, wastin' in despair, Die, 'cause why? a woman's rare?'"
"Oh! Captain Ogilvy, that's not rightly quoted," cried Minnie, with amerry laugh.
"Ain't it?" said the captain, somewhat put out; for he did not like tohave his powers of memory doubted.
"No; surely women are not _rare_," said Minnie.
"Good ones are," said the captain stoutly.
"Well; but that's not the right word."
"What _is_ the right word, then?" asked the captain with affectedsternness, for, although by nature disinclined to admit that he could bewrong, he had no objection to be put right by Minnie.
"Die because a woman's f---," said Minnie, prompting him.
"F---, `funny?'" guessed the captain.
"No; it's not `funny,'" cried Minnie, laughing heartily.
"Of course not," assented the captain, "it could not be `funny' nohow,because `funny' don't rhyme with `despair;' besides, lots o' women ain'tfunny a bit, an' if they was, that's no reason why a man should die for'em; what _is_ the word, lass?"
"What am _I_?" asked Minnie, with an arch smile, as she passed herfingers through the clustering masses of her beautiful hair.
"An angel, beyond all doubt," said the gallant captain, with a burst ofsincerity which caused Minnie to blush and then to laugh.
"You're incorrigible, captain, and you are so stupid that it's of no usetrying to teach you."
Mrs Brand--who listened to this conversation with an expression of deepanxiety on her meek face, for she could not get rid of her first ideathat her brother was going to marry--here broke in with the question--
"When is it to be, brother?"
"When is what to be, sister?"
"The--the marriage."
"I tell you I _ain't_ a-goin' to marry," repeated the captain; "thoughwhy a stout young feller like me, just turned sixty-four, _shouldn't_marry, is more than I can see. You know the old proverbs, lass--`It'snever too late to marry;' `Never ventur', never give in;' `John Andersonmy jo John, when we was first--first--'"
"Married," suggested Minnie.
"Just so," responded the captain, "and everybody knows that _he_ was anold man. But no, I'm not goin' to marry; I'm only goin' to give up myhouse, sell off the furniture, and come and live with _you_."
"Live with me!" ejaculated Mrs Brand.
"Ay, an' why not? What's the use o' goin' to the expense of two houseswhen one'll do, an' when we're both raither scrimp o' the ready? You'lljust let me have the parlour. It never was a comf'rable room to sit in,so it don't matter much your givin' it up; it's a good enough sleepin'and smokin' cabin, an' we'll all live together in the kitchen. I'llthrow the whole of my treemendous income into the general purse, alwaysexceptin' a few odd coppers, which I'll retain to keep me a-goin' inbaccy. We'll sail under the same flag, an' sit round the same fire, an'sup at the same table, and sleep in the same--no, not exactly that, butunder the same roof-tree, which'll be a more hoconomical way o' doin'business, you know; an' so, old girl, as the song says--
"`Come an' let us be happy together, For where there's a will there's a way, An' we won't care a rap for the weather So long as there's nothin' to pay.'"
"Would it not be better to say, `so long as there's _something_ topay?'" suggested Minnie.
"No, lass, it _wouldn't_," retorted the captain. "You're too fond ofimprovin' things. I'm a stanch old Tory, I am. I'll stick to the oldflag till all's blue. None o' your changes or improvements for me."
This was a rather bold statement for a man to make who improved uponalmost every line he ever quoted; but the reader is no doubt acquaintedwith parallel instances of inconsistency in good men even in the presentday.
"Now, sister," continued Captain Ogilvy, "what d'ye think of my plan?"
"I like it well, brother," replied Mrs Brand with a gentle smile."Will you come soon?"
"To-morrow, about eight bells," answered the captain promptly.
This was all that was said on the subject. The thing was, as thecaptain said, settled off-hand, and accordingly next morning he conveyedsuch of his worldly goods as he meant to retain possession of to hissister's cottage--"the new ship", as he styled it. He carried his trapson his own broad shoulders, and the conveyance of them cost him threedistinct trips.
They consisted of a huge sea-chest, an old telescope more than a yardlong, and cased in leather; a quadrant, a hammock, with the beddingrolled up in it,
a tobacco-box, the enormous old Family Bible in whichthe names of his father, mother, brothers, and sisters were recorded;and a brown teapot with half a lid. This latter had belonged to thecaptain's mother, and, being fond of it, as it reminded him of the "oldooman", he was wont to mix his grog in it, and drink the same out of ateacup, the handle of which was gone, and the saucer of which was amongthe things of the past.
Notwithstanding his avowed adherence to Tory principles, Captain Ogilvyproceeded to make manifold radical changes and surprising improvementsin the little parlour, insomuch that when he had completed the task, andled his sister carefully (for she was very feeble) to look at what hehad done, she became quite incapable of expressing herself in ordinarylanguage; positively refused to believe her eyes, and never againentered that room, but always spoke of what she had seen as a curiousdream!
No one was ever able to discover whether there was not a slight tinge ofunderlying jocularity in this remark of Mrs Brand, for she was astrange and incomprehensible mixture of shrewdness and innocence; but noone took much trouble to find out, for she was so lovable that peopleaccepted her just as she was, contented to let any small amount ofmystery that seemed to be in her to remain unquestioned.
"The parlour" was one of those well-known rooms which are occasionallymet with in country cottages, the inmates of which are not wealthy. Itwas reserved exclusively for the purpose of receiving visitors. Thefurniture, though old, threadbare, and dilapidated, was keptscrupulously clean, and arranged symmetrically. There were a few bookson the table, which were always placed with mathematical exactitude, anda set of chairs, so placed as to give one mysteriously the impressionthat they were not meant to be sat upon. There was also a grate, whichnever had a fire in it, and was never without a paper ornament in it,the pink and white aspect of which caused one involuntarily to shudder.
But the great point, which was meant to afford the highest gratificationto the beholder, was the chimney-piece. This spot was crowded to excessin every square inch of its area with ornaments, chiefly of earthenware,miscalled china, and shells. There were great white shells with pinkinteriors, and small brown shells with spotted backs. Then there werechina cups and saucers, and china shepherds and shepherdesses,represented in the act of contemplating the heavens serenely, with theirarms round each other's waists. There were also china dogs and cats,and a huge china cockatoo as a centre-piece; but there was not a singlespot the size of a sixpence on which the captain could place his pipe orhis tobacco-box!
"We'll get these things cleared away," said Minnie, with a laugh, onobserving the perplexed look with which the captain surveyed thechimney-piece, while the changes above referred to were being made inthe parlour; "we have no place ready to receive them just now, but I'llhave them all put away to-morrow."
"Thank'ee, lass," said the captain, as he set down the sea-chest andseated himself thereon; "they're pretty enough to look at, d'ye see, butthey're raither in the way just now, as my second mate once said of therocks when we were cruising off the coast of Norway in search of apilot."
The ornaments were, however, removed sooner than anyone had anticipated.The next trip that the captain made was for his hammock (he alwaysslept in one), which was a long unwieldy bundle, like a giganticbolster. He carried it into the parlour on his shoulder, and Minniefollowed him.
"Where shall I sling it, lass?"
"Here, perhaps," said Minnie.
The captain wheeled round as she spoke, and the end of the hammock sweptthe mantelpiece of all its ornaments, as completely as if the besom ofdestruction had passed over it.
"Shiver my timbers!" gasped the captain, awestruck by the hideous crashthat followed.
"You've shivered the ornaments at any rate," said Minnie, half-laughingand half-crying.
"So I have, but no matter. Never say die so long's there a shot in thelocker. There's as good fish in the sea as ever come out of it; so beara hand, my girl, and help me to sling up the hammock."
The hammock was slung, the pipe of peace was smoked, and thus CaptainOgilvy was fairly installed in his sister's cottage.
It may, perhaps, be necessary to remind the reader that all this is along digression; that the events just narrated occurred a few daysbefore the return of Ruby, and that they have been recorded here inorder to explain clearly the reason of the captain's appearance at thesupper table of his sister, and the position which he occupied in thefamily.
When Ruby reached the gate of the small garden, Minnie had gone to thecaptain's room to see that it was properly prepared for his reception,and the captain himself was smoking his pipe close to the chimney, sothat the smoke should ascend it.
The first glance through the window assured the youth that his motherwas, as letters had represented her, much better in health than she usedto be. She looked so quiet and peaceful, and so fragile withal, thatRuby did not dare to "surprise her" by a sudden entrance, as he hadoriginally intended, so he tapped gently at the window, and drew back.
The captain laid down his pipe and went to the door.
"What, Ruby!" he exclaimed, in a hoarse whisper.
"Hush, uncle! How is Minnie; where is she?"
"I think, lad," replied the captain in a tone of reproof, "that youmight have enquired for your mother first."
"No need," said Ruby, pointing to the window; "I _see_ that she is thereand well, thanks be to God for that:--but Minnie?"
"She's well, too, boy, and in the house. But come, get inside. I'llexplain, after."
This promise to "explain" was given in consequence of the great anxietyhe, the captain, displayed to drag Ruby into the cottage.
The youth did not require much pressing, however. He no sooner heardthat Minnie was well, than he sprang in, and was quickly at his mother'sfeet. Almost as quickly a fair vision appeared in the doorway of theinner room, and was clasped in the young sailor's arms with the mostthorough disregard of appearances, not to mention propriety.
While this scene was enacting, the worthy captain was engaged in activeproceedings, which at once amused and astonished his nephew, and thenature and cause of which shall be revealed in the next chapter.