CHAPTER XXXIV.
"Whither, 'midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue Thy solitary way?" _Bryant._
When the young seaman who now commanded the frigate descended from thequarter-deck in compliance with the of ten-repeated summons, he foundthe vessel restored to the same neatness as if nothing had occurred todisturb its order. The gun-deck had been cleansed of its horrid stains,and the smoke of the fight had long since ascended through the hatchesand mingled with the clouds that flitted above the ship. As he walkedalong the silent batteries, even the urgency of his visit could notprevent him from glancing his eyes towards the splintered sides, thoseterrible vestiges, by which the paths of the shot of their enemy mightbe traced; and by the time he tapped lightly at the door of the cabin,his quick look had embraced every material injury the vessel hadsustained in her principal points of defence. The door was opened by thesurgeon of the frigate, who, as he stepped aside to permit Griffith toenter, shook his head with that air of meaning, which, in one of hisprofession, is understood to imply the abandonment of all hopes, andthen immediately quitted the apartment, in order to attend to those whomight profit by his services.
The reader is not to imagine that Griffith had lost sight of Cecilia andher cousin during the occurrences of that eventful day: on the contrary,his troubled fancy had presented her terror and distress, even in thehottest moments of the fight; and the instant that the crew were calledfrom their guns he had issued an order to replace the bulkheads of thecabin, and to arrange its furniture for their accommodation, though thehigher and imperious duties of his station had precluded his attendingto their comfort in person. He expected, therefore, to find the orderof the rooms restored; but he was by no means prepared to encounter thescene he was now to witness.
Between two of the sullen cannon, which gave such an air of singularwildness to the real comfort of the cabin, was placed a large couch, onwhich the colonel was lying, evidently near his end. Cecilia was weepingby his side, her dark ringlets falling in unheeded confusion around herpale features, and sweeping in their rich exuberance the deck on whichshe kneeled. Katherine leaned tenderly over the form of the dyingveteran, while her dark, tearful eyes seemed to express self-accusationblended with deep commiseration. A few attendants of both sexessurrounded the solemn scene, all of whom appeared to be under theinfluence of the hopeless intelligence which the medical officer hadbut that moment communicated. The servants of the ship had replaced thefurniture with a care that mocked the dreadful struggle that so recentlydisfigured the warlike apartment, and the stout square frame of Boltropeoccupied the opposite settee, his head resting on the lap of thecaptain's steward, and his hand gently held in the grasp of his friendthe chaplain. Griffith had heard of the wound of the master, but hisown eyes now conveyed the first intelligence of the situation of ColonelHoward. When the shock of this sudden discovery had a little subsided,the young man approached the couch of the latter, and attempted toexpress his regret and pity, in a voice that afforded an assurance ofhis sincerity.
"Say no more, Edward Griffith," interrupted the colonel, waving hishand feebly for silence; "it seemeth to be the will of God that thisrebellion should triumph, and it is not for vain man to impeach theacts of Omnipotence. To my erring faculties, it wears an appearanceof mystery, but doubtless it Is to answer the purpose of his owninscrutable providence. I have sent for you, Edward, on a business thatI would fain see accomplished before I die, that it may not be said thatold George Howard neglected his duty, even in his last moments. Yousee this weeping child at my side; tell me, young man, do you love themaiden?"
"Am I to be asked such a question?" exclaimed Griffith.
"And will you cherish her--will you supply to her the places of fatherand mother--will you become the fond guardian of her innocence andweakness?"
Griffith could give no other answer than a fervent pressure of the handhe had clasped.
"I believe you," continued the dying man; "for however he may haveforgotten to inculcate his own loyalty, worthy Hugh Griffith could neverneglect to make his son a man of honor. I had weak and perhaps evilwishes in behalf of my late unfortunate kinsman, Mr. Christopher Dillon;but, they have told me that he was false to his faith. If this be true,I would refuse him the hand of the girl, though he claimed the fealty ofthe British realms. But he has passed away, and I am about to follow himinto a world where we shall find but one Lord to serve; and it may havebeen better for us both had we more remembered our duty to him, whileserving the princes of the earth. One thing further--know you thisofficer of your Congress well--this Mr. Barnstable?"
"I have sailed with him for years," returned Griffith, "and can answerfor him as myself."
The veteran made an effort to rise, which in part succeeded, and hefastened on the youth a look of keen scrutiny, that gave to his pallidfeatures an expression of solemn meaning, as he continued:
"Speak not now, sir, as the Companion of his idle pleasures, and as theunthinking associate commends his fellow, but remember that your opinionis given to a dying man who leans on your judgment for advice. Thedaughter of John Plowden is a trust not to be neglected, nor willmy death prove easy, if a doubt of her being worthily bestowed shallremain."
"He is a gentleman," returned Griffith, "and one whose heart is not lesskind than gallant--he loves your ward, and great as may be her merit,he is deserving of it all.--Like myself, he has also loved the land thatgave him birth, before the land of his ancestors, but----"
"That is now forgotten," interrupted the colonel; "after what I havethis day witnessed, I am forced to believe that it is the pleasure ofHeaven that you are to prevail! But sir, a disobedient inferior willbe apt to make an unreasonable commander. The recent contention betweenyou----"
"Remember it not, dear sir," exclaimed Griffith with generous zeal;"'twas unkindly provoked, and it is already forgotten and pardoned. Hehas sustained me nobly throughout the day, and my life on it, that heknows how to treat a woman as a brave man should!"
"Then am I content!" said the veteran, sinking back on his couch; "lethim be summoned."
The whispering message, which Griffith gave requesting Mr. Barnstableto enter the cabin, was quickly conveyed, and he had appeared before hisfriend deemed it discreet to disturb the reflections of the veteranby again addressing him. When the entrance of the young sailor wasannounced, the colonel again roused himself, and addressed his wonderinglistener, though in a manner much less confiding and familiar than thatwhich he had adopted towards Griffith.
"The declarations you made last night relative to my ward, the daughterof the late Captain John Plowden, sir, have left me nothing to learn onthe subject of your wishes. Here, then, gentlemen, you both obtain thereward of your attentions! Let that reverend divine hear you pronouncethe marriage vows, while I have strength to listen, that I may be awitness against ye, in heaven, should ye forget their tenor!"
"Not now, not now," murmured Cecilia; "oh, ask it not now, my uncle!"
Katherine spoke not; but, deeply touched by the tender interest herguardian manifested in her welfare, she bowed her face to her bosom, insubdued feeling, and suffered the tears that had been suffusing her eyesto roll down her cheeks in large drops, till they bathed the deck.
"Yes, now, my love," continued the colonel, "or I fail in my duty. I goshortly to stand face to face with your parents, my children; for theman who, dying, expects not to meet worthy Hugh Griffith and honest JackPlowden in heaven can have no clear view of the rewards that belong tolives of faithful service to the country, or of gallant loyalty to theking! I trust no one can justly say that I ever forgot the delicacy dueto your gentle sex; but it is no moment for idle ceremony when time isshortening into minutes, and heavy duties remain to be discharged. Icould not die in peace, children, were I to leave you here in the wideocean, I had almost said in the wide world, without that protectionwhich becomes your tender years and still more tender characters. If ithas pleased God to r
emove your guardian, let his place be supplied bythose he wills to succeed him!"
Cecilia no longer hesitated, but she arose slowly from her knees,and offered her hand to Griffith with an air of forced resignation.Katherine submitted to be led by Barnstable to her side; and thechaplain, who had been an affected listener to the dialogue, inobedience to an expressive signal from the eye of Griffith, opened theprayer-book from which he had been gleaning consolation for the dyingmaster, and commenced reading, in trembling tones, the marriage service.The vows were pronounced by the weeping brides in voices more distinctand audible than if they had been uttered amid the gay crowds thatusually throng a bridal; for though they were the irreclaimable wordsthat bound them forever to the men whose power over their feelings theythus proclaimed to the world, the reserve of maiden diffidence was lostin one engrossing emotion of solemnity, created by the awful presencein which they stood. When the benediction was pronounced, the headof Cecilia dropped on the shoulder of her husband, where she weptviolently, for a moment, and then resuming her place at the couch, sheonce more knelt at the side of her uncle. Katherine received the warmkiss of Barnstable passively, and returned to the spot whence she hadbeen led.
Colonel Howard succeeded in raising his person to witness the ceremony,and had answered to each prayer with a fervent "Amen." He fell back withthe last words; and a look of satisfaction shone in his aged and pallidfeatures, that declared the interest he had taken in the scene.
"I thank you, my children," he at length uttered, "I thank you; for Iknow how much you have sacrificed to my wishes. You will find all mypapers relative to the estates of my wards, gentlemen, in the hands ofmy banker in London; and you will also find there my will, Edward,by which you will learn that Cicely has not come to your arms anunportioned bride. What my wards are in persons and manners your eyescan witness, and I trust the vouchers in London will show that I havenot been an unfaithful steward to their pecuniary affairs!"
"Name it not--say no more, or you will break my heart," cried Katherine,sobbing aloud, in the violence of her remorse at having ever painedso true a friend. "Oh! talk of yourself, think of yourself; we areunworthy--at least I am unworthy of another thought!"
The dying man extended a hand to her in kindness, and continued, thoughhis voice grew feebler as he spoke:
"Then to return to myself--I would wish to lie, like my ancestors, inthe bosom of the earth--and in consecrated ground."
"It shall be done," whispered Griffith, "I will see it done myself."
"I thank thee, my son," said the veteran; "for such thou art to mein being the husband of Cicely--you will find in my will that I haveliberated and provided for all my slaves--except those ungratefulscoundrels who deserted their master--they have seized their ownfreedom, and they need not be indebted to me for the same. There is,Edward, also an unworthy legacy to the king; his majesty will deign toreceive it--from an old and faithful servant, and you will not miss thetrifling gift." A long pause followed, as if he had been summing up theaccount of his earthly duties, and found them duly balanced, when headded, "Kiss me, Cicely--and you, Katherine--I find you have the genuinefeelings of honest Jack, your father.--My eyes grow dim--which is thehand of Griffith? Young gentleman, I have given you all that a fond oldman had to bestow--deal tenderly with the precious child--we havenot properly understood each other--I had mistaken both you and Mr.Christopher Dillon, I believe; perhaps I may also have mistaken myduty to America--but I was too old to change my politics or myreligion--I-I-I loved the king--God bless him--"
His words became fainter and fainter as he proceeded; and the breathdeserted his body with this benediction on his livid lips, which theproudest monarch might covet from so honest a man.
The body was instantly borne into a stateroom by the attendants; andGriffith and Barnstable supported their brides into the after-cabin,where they left them seated on the sofa that lined the stern of theship, weeping bitterly, in each other's arms.
No part of the preceding scene had been unobserved by Boltrope, whosesmall, hard eyes were observed by the young men to twinkle, when theyreturned into the state apartment; and they approached their woundedcomrade to apologize for the seeming neglect that their conduct haddisplayed.
"I heard you were hurt, Boltrope," said Griffith, taking him kindly bythe hand; "but as I know you are not unused to being marked by shot, Itrust we shall soon see you again on deck."
"Ay, ay," returned the master, "you'll want no spy glasses to see theold hulk as you launch it into the sea. I have had shot, as you say,before now to tear my running-gear, and even to knock a splinter outof some of my timbers; but this fellow has found his way into mybread-room; and the cruise of life is up!"
"Surely the case is not so bad, honest David," said Barnstable; "youhave kept afloat, to my knowledge, with a bigger hole in your skin thanthis unlucky hit has made!"
"Ay, ay," returned the master, "that was in my upper works, where thedoctor could get at it with a plug; but this chap has knocked away theshifting-boards, and I feel as if the whole cargo was broken up. Youmay say that Tourniquet rates me all the same as a dead man; for afterlooking at the shot-hole, he has turned me over to the parson here, likea piece of old junk which is only fit to be worked up into somethingnew. Captain Munson had a lucky time of it! I think you said, Mr.Griffith, that the old gentleman was launched overboard with everythingstanding, and that Death made but one rap at his door, before he tookhis leave!"
"His end was indeed sudden!" returned Griffith; "but it is what weseamen must expect."
"And for which there is so much the more occasion to be prepared," thechaplain ventured to add, in a low, humble, and, perhaps, timid voice.
The sailing-master looked keenly from one to the other as they spoke;and, after a short pause, he continued, with an air of great submission:
"'Twas his luck; and I suppose it is sinful to begrudge a man his lawfulluck. As for being prepared, parson, that is your business, and notmine; therefore, as there is but little time to spare, why, the sooneryou set about it the better: and, to save unnecessary trouble I may aswell tell you not to strive to make too much of me; for, I must own itto my shame, I never took learning kindly. If you can fit me for somemiddling berth in the other world, like the one I hold in this ship, itwill suit me as well, and, perhaps, be easier to all hands of us."
If there was a shade of displeasure blended with the surprise thatcrossed the features of the divine at this extraordinary limitation ofhis duties, it entirely disappeared when he considered more closely theperfect expression of simplicity with which the dying master uttered hiswishes. After a long and melancholy pause, which neither Griffith or hisfriend felt any inclination to interrupt, the chaplain replied:
"It is not the province of man to determine on the decrees of themerciful dispensations of the Deity; and nothing that I can do, Mr.Boltrope, will have any weight in making up the mighty and irrevocabledecree. What I said to you last night, in our conversation on this verysubject, must still be fresh in your memory, and there is no good reasonwhy I should hold a different language to you now."
"I can't say that I logg'd all that passed," returned the master; "andthat which I do recollect fell chiefly from myself, for the plain reasonthat a man remembers his own better than his neighbor's ideas. And thisputs me in mind, Mr. Griffith, to tell you that one of the forty-two'sfrom the three-decker traveled across the forecastle, and cut the bestbower within a fathom of the clinch, as handily as an old woman wouldclip her rotten yarn with a pair of tailor's shears! If you will be sogood as to order one of my mates to shift the cable end-for-end, andmake a new bend of it, I'll do as much for you another time."
"Mention it not," said Griffith; "rest assured that everything shall bedone for the security of the ship in your department-I will superintendthe whole duty in person; and I would have you release your mind fromall anxiety on the subject, to attend to your more important interestselsewhere."
"Why," returned Boltrope, with a little show of pertinaci
ty, "I have anopinion that the cleaner a man takes his hands into the other world,of the matters of duty in this the better he will be fitted to handleanything new.--Now, the parson, here, undertook to lay down the doctrinelast night that it was no matter how well or how ill a man behavedhimself, so that he squared his conscience by the lifts and bracesof faith; which I take to be a doctrine that is not to be preached onshipboard; for it would play the devil with the best ship's company thatwas ever mustered."
"Oh! no--no--dear Mr. Boltrope, you mistook me and my doctrinealtogether!" exclaimed the chaplain; "at least you mistook----"
"Perhaps, sir," interrupted Griffith, gently, "our honest friend willnot be more fortunate now. Is there nothing earthly that hangs upon yourmind, Boltrope? no wish to be remembered to any one, nor any bequest tomake of your property?"
"He has a mother, I know," said Barnstable in a low voice, "he oftenspoke of her to me in the night-watches, I think she must still beliving."
The master, who distinctly heard his young shipmates continued for morethan a minute rolling the tobacco, which he still retained, from oneside of his mouth to the other, with an industry that denoted singularagitation for the man; and raising one of his broad hands, with theother he picked the worn skin from fingers which were already losingtheir brownish yellow hue in the fading color of death, before heanswered:
"Why, yes, the old woman still keeps her grip upon life, which is morethan can be said of her son David. The old man was lost the time theSusan and Dorothy was wrecked on the back of Cape Cod; you remember it,Mr. Barnstable? you were then a lad, sailing on whaling voyages from theisland: well, ever since that gale, I've endeavored to make smooth waterfor the old woman myself, though she has had but a rough passage ofit, at the best; the voyage of life, with her, having been pretty muchcrossed by rugged weather and short stores."
"And you would have us carry some message to her?" said Griffith,kindly.
"Why, as to messages," continued the master, whose voice wasrapidly growing more husky and broken, "there never has been manycompliments--passed between us, for the reason--that she is not moreused to receive them--than I am to make them. But if any one of you willoverhaul--the purser's books, and see what there is standing here--tomy side of the leaf--and take a little pains to get it to the oldwoman--you will find her moored in the lee side of a house--ay, here itis, No. 10 Cornhill, Boston. I took care--to get her a good warm berth,seeing that a woman of eighty wants a snug anchorage--at her time oflife, if ever."
"I will do it myself, David," cried Barnstable, struggling to concealhis emotion; "I will call on her the instant we let go our anchor inBoston harbor; and as your credit can't be large, I will divide my ownpurse with her!"
The sailing-master was powerfully affected by this kind offer, themuscles of his hard, weatherbeaten face working convulsively, and it wasa moment before he could trust his voice in reply.
"I know you would, Dicky, I know you would," he at length uttered,grasping the hand of Barnstable with a portion of his former strength;"I know you would give the old woman one of your own limbs, if it woulddo a service--to the mother of a messmate--which it would not--seeingthat I am not the son of a--cannibal; but you are out of your ownfather's books, and it's too often shoal water in your pockets to helpany one--more especially since you have just been spliced to a prettyyoung body--that will want all your spare coppers."
"But I am master of my own fortune," said Griffith, "and am rich."
"Ay, ay, I have heard it said you could build a frigate and set herafloat all a-taunt-o without thrusting your hand--into any man'spurse--but your own!"
"And I pledge you the honor of a naval officer," continued the youngsailor, "that she shall want for nothing; not eyes the care andtenderness of a dutiful son."
Boltrope appeared to be choking; he made an attempt to raise hisexhausted frame on the couch; but fell back exhausted and dying, perhapsa little prematurely, through the powerful and unusual emotions thatwere struggling for Boltrope appeared to be choking; he made an attemptto raise his 'exhausted frame on the couch; but fell back exhausted anddying, perhaps a little prematurely, through the powerful and unusualemotions that were struggling for utterance. "God forgive me mymisdeeds!" he at length said, "and chiefly for ever speaking a wordagainst your discipline; remember the best bower--and look to the slingsof the lower yards--and--and--he'll do it, Dicky, he'll do it! I'mcasting off--the fasts--of life--and so God bless ye all--and give yegood weather--going large--or on a bowline!"
The tongue of the master failed him, but a look of heart feltsatisfaction gleamed across his rough visage, as its muscles suddenlycontracted, when the faded lineaments slowly settled into the appallingstiffness of death.
Griffith directed the body to be removed to the apartment of the master,and proceeded with a heavy heart to the upper deck. The Alacrity hadbeen unnoticed during the arduous chase of the frigate, and, favored bydaylight, and her light draught of water, she had easily effected herescape also among the mazes of the shoals. She was called down to herconsort by signal, and received the necessary instructions how to steerduring the approaching night. The British ships were now only to befaintly discovered like white specks on the dark sea; and as it wasknown that a broad barrier of shallow water lay between them, theAmericans no longer regarded their presence as at all dangerous.
When the necessary orders had been given, and the vessels were fullyprepared, they were once more brought up to the wind, and their headspointed in the direction of the coast of Holland. The wind, whichfreshened towards the decline of the day, hauled round with the sun;and when that luminary retreated from the eye, so rapid had been theprogress of the mariners, it seemed to sink in the bosom of the ocean,the land having long before settled into its watery bed. All nightthe frigate continued to dash through the seas with a sort of sullensilence, that was soothing to the melancholy of Cecilia and Katherine,neither of whom closed an eye during that gloomy period. In additionto the scene they had witnessed, their feelings were harrowed by theknowledge that, in conformity to the necessary plans of Griffith, and incompliance with the new duties he had assumed, they were to separate inthe morning for an indefinite period, and possibly forever.
With the appearance of light, the boatswain sent his rough summonsthrough the vessel, and the crew were collected in solemn silence in hergangways to "bury the dead." The bodies of Boltrope, of one or two ofher inferior officers, and of several common men who had died of theirwounds in the night, were, with the usual formalities, committed to thedeep; when the yards of the ship were again braced by the wind, and sheglided along the trackless waste, leaving no memorial, in the midst ofthe ever-rolling waters, to mark the place of their sepulture.
When the sun had gained the meridian, the vessels were once morehove-to, and the preparations were made for a final separation. Thebody of Colonel Howard was transferred to the Alacrity, whither itwas followed by Griffith and his cheerless bride, while Katherine hungfondly from the window of the ship, suffering her own scalding tearsto mingle with the brine of the ocean. After everything was arranged,Griffith waved his hand to Barnstable, who had now succeeded to thecommand of the frigate, and the yards of the latter were braced sharp tothe wind, when she proceeded to the dangerous experiment of forcing herway to the shores of America, by attempting the pass of the Straits ofDover, and running the gauntlet through the English ships that crowdedtheir own Channel; an undertaking, however, for which she had thesuccessful example of the Alliance frigate, which had borne the stars ofAmerica along the same hazardous path but a few months previously.
In the mean while the Alacrity, steering more to the west drew inswiftly towards the shores of Holland; and about an hour before thesetting of the sun had approached so nigh as to be once more hove intothe wind, in obedience to the mandate of Griffith. A small, light boatwas lowered into the sea, when the young sailor, and the Pilot, who hadfound his way into the cutter unheeded, and almost unseen, ascended fromthe small cabin together. The stranger glan
ced his eyes along the rangeof coast, as if he would ascertain the exact position of the vessel, andthen turned them on the sea and the western horizon to scan the weather.Finding nothing in the appearance of the latter to induce him to changehis determination, he offered his hand frankly to Griffith, and said:
"Here we part. As our acquaintance has not led to all we wished, let itbe your task, sir, to forget we ever met."
Griffith bowed respectfully, but in silence, when the other continued,shaking his hand contemptuously towards the land:
"Had I but a moiety of the navy of that degenerate republic, theproudest among those haughty islanders should tremble in his castle, andbe made to feel there is no security against a foe that trusts his ownstrength and knows the weakness of his enemy! But," he muttered ina lower and more hurried voice, "this has been like Liverpool,and--Whitehaven--and Edinburgh, and fifty more! It is past, sir; let itbe forgotten."
Without heeding the wondering crew, who were collected as curiousspectators of his departure, the stranger bowed hastily to Griffith,and, springing into the boat, he spread her light sails with thereadiness of one who had nothing to learn even in the smallest mattersof his daring profession. Once more, as the boat moved briskly away fromthe cutter, he waved his hand in adieu; and Griffith fancied thateven through the distance he could trace a smile of bitter resignationlighting his calm features with a momentary gleam. For a long time theyoung man stood an abstracted gazer at his solitary progress, watchingthe small boat as it glided towards the open ocean, nor did he rememberto order the head-sheets of the Alacrity drawn, in order to put thevessel again in motion, until the dark speck was lost in the strongglare that fell obliquely across the water from the setting sun.
Many wild and extraordinary conjectures were tittered among the crewof the cutter, as she slowly drew in towards her friendly haven, on theappearance of the mysterious Pilot, during their late hazardous visit tothe coast of Britain, and on his still more extraordinary disappearance,as it were, amid the stormy wastes of the North Sea. Griffith himselfwas not observed to smile, nor to manifest any evidence of his being alistener to their rude discourse, until it was loudly announced that asmall boat was pressing for their own harbor, across the forefoot of thecutter, under a single lug-sail. Then, indeed, the sudden and cheerfullighting of his troubled eye betrayed the vast relief that was impartedto his feelings by the interesting discovery.