CHAPTER IX.
This is a gentle trader, and a prudent. He's no Autolycus, to blear your eye, With quips of worldly gauds and gamesomeness; But seasons all his glittering merchandise With wholesome doctrines, suited to the use, As men sauce goose with sage and rosemary.
_Old Play._
On the subsequent morning, Mordaunt, in answer to his father'senquiries, began to give him some account of the shipwrecked mariner,whom he had rescued from the waves. But he had not proceeded far inrecapitulating the particulars which Cleveland had communicated, whenMr. Mertoun's looks became disturbed--he arose hastily, and, afterpacing twice or thrice across the room, he retired into the innerchamber, to which he usually confined himself, while under the influenceof his mental malady. In the evening he re-appeared, without any tracesof his disorder; but it may be easily supposed that his son avoidedrecurring to the subject which had affected him.
Mordaunt Mertoun was thus left without assistance, to form at hisleisure his own opinion respecting the new acquaintance which the seahad sent him; and, upon the whole, he was himself surprised to find theresult less favourable to the stranger than he could well account for.There seemed to Mordaunt to be a sort of repelling influence about theman. True, he was a handsome man, of a frank and prepossessing manner,but there was an assumption of superiority about him, which Mordaunt didnot quite so much like. Although he was so keen a sportsman as to bedelighted with his acquisition of the Spanish-barrelled gun, andaccordingly mounted and dismounted it with great interest, paying theutmost attention to the most minute parts about the lock and ornaments,yet he was, upon the whole, inclined to have some scruples about themode in which he had acquired it.
"I should not have accepted it," he thought; "perhaps Captain Clevelandmight give it me as a sort of payment for the trifling service I didhim; and yet it would have been churlish to refuse it in the way it wasoffered. I wish he had looked more like a man whom one would have chosento be obliged to."
But a successful day's shooting reconciled him to his gun, and he becameassured, like most young sportsmen in similar circumstances, that allother pieces were but pop-guns in comparison. But then, to be doomed toshoot gulls and seals, when there were Frenchmen and Spaniards to become at--when there were ships to be boarded, and steersmen to be markedoff, seemed but a dull and contemptible destiny. His father hadmentioned his leaving these islands, and no other mode of occupationoccurred to his inexperience, save that of the sea, with which he hadbeen conversant from his infancy. His ambition had formerly aimed nohigher than at sharing the fatigues and dangers of a Greenland fishingexpedition for it was in that scene that the Zetlanders laid most oftheir perilous adventures. But war was again raging, the history of SirFrancis Drake, Captain Morgan, and other bold adventurers, an account ofwhose exploits he had purchased from Bryce Snailsfoot, had made muchimpression on his mind, and the offer of Captain Cleveland to take himto sea, frequently recurred to him, although the pleasure of such aproject was somewhat damped by a doubt, whether, in the long run, heshould not find many objections to his proposed commander. Thus much healready saw, that he was opinionative, and might probably provearbitrary; and that, since even his kindness was mingled with anassumption of superiority, his occasional displeasure might contain agreat deal more of that disagreeable ingredient than could be palatableto those who sailed under him. And yet, after counting all risks, couldhis father's consent be obtained, with what pleasure, he thought, wouldhe embark in quest of new scenes and strange adventures, in which heproposed to himself to achieve such deeds as should be the theme of manya tale to the lovely sisters of Burgh-Westra--tales at which Minnashould weep, and Brenda should smile, and both should marvel! And thiswas to be the reward of his labours and his dangers; for the hearth ofMagnus Troil had a magnetic influence over his thoughts, and howeverthey might traverse amid his day-dreams, it was the point where theyfinally settled.
There were times when Mordaunt thought of mentioning to his father theconversation he had held with Captain Cleveland, and the seaman'sproposal to him; but the very short and general account which he hadgiven of that person's history, upon the morning after his departurefrom the hamlet, had produced a sinister effect on Mr. Mertoun's mind,and discouraged him from speaking farther on any subject connected withit. It would be time enough, he thought, to mention Captain Cleveland'sproposal, when his consort should arrive, and when he should repeat hisoffer in a more formal manner; and these he supposed events likely verysoon to happen.
But days grew to weeks, and weeks were numbered into months, and heheard nothing from Cleveland; and only learned by an occasional visitfrom Bryce Snailsfoot, that the Captain was residing at Burgh-Westra, asone of the family. Mordaunt was somewhat surprised at this, although theunlimited hospitality of the islands, which Magnus Troil, both fromfortune and disposition, carried to the utmost extent, made it almost amatter of course that he should remain in the family until he disposedof himself otherwise. Still it seemed strange he had not gone to some ofthe northern isles to enquire after his consort; or that he did notrather choose to make Lerwick his residence, where fishing vessels oftenbrought news from the coasts and ports of Scotland and Holland. Again,why did he not send for the chest he had deposited at Jarlshof? andstill farther, Mordaunt thought it would have been but polite if thestranger had sent him some sort of message in token of remembrance.
These subjects of reflection were connected with another still moreunpleasant, and more difficult to account for. Until the arrival of thisperson, scarce a week had passed without bringing him some kindgreeting, or token of recollection, from Burgh-Westra; and pretenceswere scarce ever wanting for maintaining a constant intercourse. Minnawanted the words of a Norse ballad; or desired to have, for her variouscollections, feathers, or eggs, or shells, or specimens of the rarersea-weeds; or Brenda sent a riddle to be resolved, or a song to belearned; or the honest old Udaller,--in a rude manuscript, which mighthave passed for an ancient Runic inscription,--sent his hearty greetingsto his good young friend, with a present of something to make goodcheer, and an earnest request he would come to Burgh-Westra as soon, andstay there as long, as possible. These kindly tokens of remembrance wereoften sent by special message; besides which, there was never apassenger or a traveller, who crossed from the one mansion to the other,who did not bring to Mordaunt some friendly greeting from the Udallerand his family. Of late, this intercourse had become more and moreinfrequent; and no messenger from Burgh-Westra had visited Jarlshof forseveral weeks. Mordaunt both observed and felt this alteration, and itdwelt on his mind, while he questioned Bryce as closely as pride andprudence would permit, to ascertain, if possible, the cause of thechange. Yet he endeavoured to assume an indifferent air while he askedthe jagger whether there were no news in the country.
"Great news," the jagger replied; "and a gay mony of them. Thatcrackbrained carle, the new factor, is for making a change in the_bismars_ and the _lispunds_;[34] and our worthy Fowd, Magnus Troil, hassworn, that, sooner than change them for the still-yard, or aught else,he'll fling Factor Yellowley from Brassa-craig."
"Is that all?" said Mordaunt, very little interested.
"All? and eneugh, I think," replied the pedlar. "How are folks to buyand sell, if the weights are changed on them?"
"Very true," replied Mordaunt; "but have you heard of no strange vesselson the coast?"
"Six Dutch doggers off Brassa; and, as I hear, a high-quartered galliotthing, with a gaff mainsail, lying in Scalloway Bay. She will be fromNorway."
"No ships of war, or sloops?"
"None," replied the pedlar, "since the Kite Tender sailed with theimpress men. If it was His will, and our men were out of her, I wish thedeep sea had her!"
"Were there no news at Burgh-Westra?--Were the family all well?"
"A' weel, and weel to do--out-taken, it may be, something ower muckledaffing and laughing--dancing ilk night, they say, wi' the strangercaptain that's living there--him that
was ashore on Sumburgh-head thetother day,--less daffing served him then."
"Daffing! dancing every night!" said Mordaunt, not particularly wellsatisfied--"Whom does Captain Cleveland dance with?"
"Ony body he likes, I fancy," said the jagger; "at ony rate, he gars a'body yonder dance after his fiddle. But I ken little about it, for I amno free in conscience to look upon thae flinging fancies. Folk shouldmind that life is made but of rotten yarn."
"I fancy that it is to keep them in mind of that wholesome truth, thatyou deal in such tender wares, Bryce," replied Mordaunt, dissatisfied aswell with the tenor of the reply, as with the affected scruples of therespondent.
"That's as muckle as to say, that I suld hae minded you was a flingerand a fiddler yoursell, Maister Mordaunt; but I am an auld man, and maununburden my conscience. But ye will be for the dance, I sall warrant,that's to be at Burgh-Westra, on John's Even, (_Saunt_ John's, as theblinded creatures ca' him,) and nae doubt ye will be for some warldlybraws--hose, waistcoats, or sic like? I hae pieces frae Flanders."--Withthat he placed his movable warehouse on the table, and began to unlockit.
"Dance!" repeated Mordaunt--"Dance on St. John's Even?--Were you desiredto bid me to it, Bryce?"
"Na--but ye ken weel eneugh ye wad be welcome, bidden or no bidden. Thiscaptain--how ca' ye him?--is to be skudler, as they ca't--the first ofthe gang, like."
"The devil take him!" said Mordaunt, in impatient surprise.
"A' in gude time," replied the jagger; "hurry no man's cattle--the devilwill hae his due, I warrant ye, or it winna be for lack of seeking. Butit's true I'm telling you, for a' ye stare like a wild-cat; and thissame captain,--I watna his name,--bought ane of the very waistcoats thatI am ganging to show ye--purple, wi' a gowd binding, and bonnilybroidered; and I have a piece for you, the neighbour of it, wi' a greengrund; and if ye mean to streek yoursell up beside him, ye maun e'en buyit, for it's gowd that glances in the lasses' een now-a-days. See--looktill't," he added, displaying the pattern in various points of view;"look till _it_ through the light, and till the light through_it_--_wi'_ the grain, and _against_ the grain--it shows ony gate--camfrae Antwerp a' the gate--four dollars is the price; and yon captain wassae weel pleased that he flang down a twenty shilling Jacobus, and bademe keep the change and be d----d!--poor silly profane creature, I pityhim."
Without enquiring whether the pedlar bestowed his compassion on theworldly imprudence or the religious deficiencies of Captain Cleveland,Mordaunt turned from him, folded his arms, and paced the apartment,muttering to himself, "Not asked--A stranger to be king of thefeast!"--Words which he repeated so earnestly, that Bryce caught a partof their import.
"As for asking, I am almaist bauld to say, that ye will be asked,Maister Mordaunt."
"Did they mention my name, then?" said Mordaunt.
"I canna preceesely say that," said Bryce Snailsfoot;--"but ye neednaturn away your head sae sourly, like a sealgh when he leaves the shore;for, do you see, I heard distinctly that a' the revellers about are tobe there; and is't to be thought they would leave out you, an auld kendfreend, and the lightest foot at sic frolics (Heaven send you a betterpraise in His ain gude time!) that ever flang at a fiddle-squeak,between this and Unst? Sae I consider ye altogether the same asinvited--and ye had best provide yourself wi' a waistcoat, for brave andbrisk will every man be that's there--the Lord pity them!"
He thus continued to follow with his green glazen eyes the motions ofyoung Mordaunt Mertoun, who was pacing the room in a very pensivemanner, which the jagger probably misinterpreted, as he thought, likeClaudio, that if a man is sad, it must needs be because he lacks money.Bryce, therefore, after another pause, thus accosted him. "Ye needna besad about the matter, Maister Mordaunt; for although I got the justprice of the article from the captain-man, yet I maun deal freendly wi'you, as a kend freend and customer, and bring the price, as they say,within your purse-mouth--or it's the same to me to let it lie ower tillMartinmas, or e'en to Candlemas. I am decent in the warld, MaisterMordaunt--forbid that I should hurry ony body, far mair a freend thathas paid me siller afore now. Or I wad be content to swap the garmentfor the value in feathers or sea-otters' skins, or ony kind ofpeltrie--nane kens better than yoursell how to come by sic ware--and Iam sure I hae furnished you wi' the primest o' powder. I dinna ken if Itell'd ye it was out o' the kist of Captain Plunket, that perished onthe Scaw of Unst, wi' the armed brig Mary, sax years syne. He was aprime fowler himself, and luck it was that the kist came ashore dry. Isell that to nane but gude marksmen. And so, I was saying, if ye had onywares ye liked to coup[35] for the waistcoat, I wad be ready to trockwi' you, for assuredly ye will be wanted at Burgh-Westra, on SaintJohn's Even; and ye wadna like to look waur than the Captain--that wadnabe setting."
"I will be there at least, whether wanted or not," said Mordaunt,stopping short in his walk, and taking the waistcoat-piece hastily outof the pedlar's hand; "and, as you say, will not disgrace them."
"Haud a care--haud a care, Maister Mordaunt," exclaimed the pedlar; "yehandle it as it were a bale of coarse wadmaal--ye'll fray't to bits--yemight weel say my ware is tender--and ye'll mind the price is fourdollars--Sall I put ye in my book for it?"
"No," said Mordaunt, hastily; and, taking out his purse, he flung downthe money.
"Grace to ye to wear the garment," said the joyous pedlar, "and to meto guide the siller; and protect us from earthly vanities, and earthlycovetousness; and send you the white linen raiment, whilk is mair to bedesired than the muslins, and cambrics, and lawns, and silks of thisworld; and send me the talents which avail more than much fine Spanishgold, or Dutch dollars either--and--but God guide the callant, what foris he wrapping the silk up that gate, like a wisp of hay?"
At this moment, old Swertha the housekeeper entered, to whom, as ifeager to get rid of the subject, Mordaunt threw his purchase, withsomething like careless disdain; and, telling her to put it aside,snatched his gun, which stood in the corner, threw his shootingaccoutrements about him, and, without noticing Bryce's attempt to enterinto conversation upon the "braw seal-skin, as saft as doe-leather,"which made the sling and cover of his fowlingpiece, he left theapartment abruptly.
The jagger, with those green, goggling, and gain-descrying kind ofoptics, which we have already described, continued gazing for an instantafter the customer, who treated his wares with such irreverence.
Swertha also looked after him with some surprise. "The callant's in acreel," quoth she.
"In a creel!" echoed the pedlar; "he will be as wowf as ever his fatherwas. To guide in that gate a bargain that cost him four dollars!--very,very Fifish, as the east-country fisher-folk say."
"Four dollars for that green rag!" said Swertha, catching at the wordswhich the jagger had unwarily suffered to escape--"that was a bargainindeed! I wonder whether he is the greater fule, or you the mair rogue,Bryce Snailsfoot."
"I didna say it cost him preceesely four dollars," said Snailsfoot; "butif it had, the lad's siller's his ain, I hope; and he is auld eneugh tomake his ain bargains. Mair by token the gudes are weel worth the money,and mair."
"Mair by token," said Swertha, coolly, "I will see what his fatherthinks about it."
"Ye'll no be sae ill-natured, Mrs. Swertha," said the jagger; "that willbe but cauld thanks for the bonny owerlay that I hae brought you a' theway frae Lerwick."
"And a bonny price ye'll be setting on't," said Swertha; "for that's thegate your good deeds end."
"Ye sall hae the fixing of the price yoursell; or it may lie ower tillye're buying something for the house, or for your master, and it canmake a' ae count."
"Troth, and that's true, Bryce Snailsfoot, I am thinking we'll want somenapery sune--for it's no to be thought we can spin, and the like, as ifthere was a mistress in the house; and sae we make nane at hame."
"And that's what I ca' walking by the word," said the jagger. "'Go untothose that buy and sell;' there's muckle profit in that text."
"There is a pleasure in dealing wi' a discreet man, that can ma
ke profitof ony thing," said Swertha; "and now that I take another look at thatdaft callant's waistcoat piece, I think it _is_ honestly worth fourdollars."
FOOTNOTES:
[34] These are weights of Norwegian origin, still used in Zetland.
[35] Barter.