CHAPTER I.
PEACEFUL REPOSE.
I was now without a heller in my pocket; and yet I did not feel poor.I thought to myself: I am a man, born this day--nothing, and nobody. Iam so much better off than the new-born babe, in that I shall not haveto be taught how to walk and talk, need no one to feed me, and rock meto sleep.
I determined I would not remain longer on German soil. If I remained,only one of two alternatives was left to me: If I desired to associatewith respectable folk, I should have to allow them, when theydiscovered who I was, to cut off my head; and if I went back to my oldlife, or into the army, I should have to cut off the heads of myfellow-creatures. I had no desire to do either.
After my varied, and troublous experiences, I yearned for peace andquiet. My plans were soon formed. There was considerable trade inlumber, between Andernach and Holland. Innumerable rafts, composed ofhuge tree-trunks for masts, and piles for dams, were floated down theRhine; and to the owner of one of these rafts I hired myself as rower.
The wage was fair: thirty pfenings a day, with bread, cheese, driedfish, and a jug of beer. I never drank my portion of beer, but sold itfor three pfenings, to one of my comrades on the raft, who got thirstytwice daily. I drank only water.
When my fellow rowers would curse and swear, because a strong wind, orthe current, drove the raft against the rocks, I would remonstratemildly with them; and assure them that such speech in the mouths ofChristian men was displeasing to God; and when, to pass the time, theywould sit down to a game of dice, I would withdraw to the further endof the raft. If they urged me to join the game, I would reply:
"Thou shalt not covet what belongs to thy neighbor."
After awhile the jeers of my comrades attracted the attention of theowner of the raft.
"Hello, lad; what's the matter with you? You don't drink, don'tgamble, and don't swear--you are damnably pious, it seems to me! But,you are a first-rate worker; and I shall sell you in Nimeguen for atleast three times as much as any of those lazy louts."
"You are going to sell me and my comrades in Nimeguen?" I exclaimed inamazement.
"Why, certainly! What the devil else should I do with you? You canfloat down stream on the raft; but I couldn't float youup-stream!--and I couldn't carry you on my back, could I? But, don'tyou worry. I'll find good places for the lot of you. There will beplenty of buyers for the rowers, as well as for the raft, and theprice every fellow brings will be equally divided between me andhimself!"
"What becomes of the men--usually?" I ventured to inquire.
"Well, I don't believe _all_ are chopped into sausage-meat! TheHollander likes to be a sailor--but only a captain, or a pilot. Helikes also to be a soldier, but again he prefers to be a captain, orthe commandant of a fortress. Therefore, common seamen and privatesoldiers are in demand; and for this the ignorant stranger is good.Consequently, you need only say which you prefer: to become a sailor,or a land-lubber--and take your choice."
I deliberated a moment, then I said to him:
"I will tell you the truth, Captain, because I have vowed never againto let a lie pass my lips. I am tired of soldiering. I have shed somuch blood on the battlefield, that the remembrance of it oppresses mysoul. I don't want to be a soldier; I would rather go to sea, and berocked by the waves."
"Well, you are an ignorant dunce!" he exclaimed. "Don't you know that,if you go to sea, you will get right into the thick of battle? TheDutch fight all their real battles at sea. They keep an army on shore,only that they may have troops to capitulate when a fortress isstarved out by the enemy! The soldiers never get any actual fighting.Punctuality, sobriety, irreproachable conduct--these are the Dutchsoldier's strong points--and, the devil fly away with me, if youdon't rise to be a corporal in less than a twelve-month, if you jointhe army! What were you before?"
"A gunner."
"Well, you can be a gunner in the Dutch army."
"But, what have the gunners in the Dutch artillery to do if there isno enemy to shoot at?" I asked.
"Oh, they find enough to occupy their time. On Saturday evenings theyhave the management of the fire-works, which are set off in the park;and on the other days of the week they prepare the rockets, and otherthings, for the Saturday evening's display."
That is why I became a gunner in the artillery, in the goodly city ofNimeguen. Sixty dollars was the price paid for me, the half of which Ireceived.
I was now in a community that exactly suited me. Here was no mightyuproar, no rioting, no drinking. Here, no vain braggart youthsmolested the wives of the staid burghers. Here were no conflictsbetween the military and the citizens. All were at peace with oneanother.
On Sunday mornings the armed, and the unarmed residents went togetherto church; and in the evening all drank their pints together amicablyin the beer-houses. The soldiers were allowed, when not on guard duty,or otherwise engaged in the fortress, to work for the citizens; themoney thus earned belonged to themselves. And there were many chancesto secure employment. The entire city of Nimeguen was a hugeflower-garden, in which was grown that most important article ofcommerce: the tulip bulb.
It is a well-known fact that not only entire Europe but all the landsunder the dominion of the Turkish sultan, would suffer a greaterfinancial loss, were the Dutch tulip-bulbs to remain out of themarkets for a year, than if all other crops were to fail for the samelength of time.
By saying this, I do not mean that the carnation is not also anecessary luxury--if I may so term it; but the tulip is, and willremain, the most important article of commerce in the lands I havementioned. One tulip-bulb is worth as much as a peck of wheat. But itis of different values--according to the color. There are tulips whichonly kings and sultans can afford to have bloom in their gardens.
I was fortunate enough to secure employment for my leisure hours, asgardener's assistant, on the estate of a widow who was "tulip-wealthy."
The lady would visit her tulip beds early every morning, to see themin bud; and again late in the afternoon, to see the full-blownflowers. At such times I never got a glimpse of her face; for shealways wore a huge cap, from which only the tip of her nose protruded.
But I decided, after I had been on the estate a week, that the fairowner must be young, for when she addressed a remark to me, which shedid occasionally, her voice was so low--as if she feared I might hearwhat she said.
To judge by the enormous quantities of bulbs she sent to market, thewidow must have been very rich; but the bulbs were not her onlytreasures. She possessed a collection of shells, fresh, andsalt-water, that represented a very tidy sum of money.
In Holland, as well as in England, and France, the shell had also acommercial value; and wealthy collectors vied with one another tosecure the finest examples of the _spordilus regius_; the "sun-ray"mussel; the rainbow-hued "venus-ear"; the "queen's cap"; the "tower ofBabylon"; and "Pharaoh's turban," and would pay as high as two hundreddollars for a perfect specimen of the shell they wanted. I have knowna perfect _scalaria preciosa_ to bring one hundred zequins. This shellis more valuable than the pearl; and my fair employer possessed awhole drawerful of them. Her sainted husband had collected them; andthey would have sold for more than would a three-master loaded withgrain.
More than one nabob had offered fabulous sums for the collection; andit was said that a British peer, who was devoted to the study ofconchology, had even gone so far as to offer his hand and title to thewidow, in order to gain possession of the much coveted treasure.
The widow who hesitates loses a title; while the lady was consideringthe peer's offer, there was a sudden fall in the price of shells, andmy lord sailed away to England.
What caused this depression in the shell-market you ask?
Well, as your highness, and the honorable gentlemen, must know, everysea-creature like the _scalaria_ builds its house with the volutionsturning to the left.
One day a sailor, whose home was in Nimeguen, returned from a voyageto Sumatra, and brought with him a large number of _scalaria_ with theshell
s turned in just the opposite direction--from left to right. Now,a shell of this order was a decided _lusus naturae_, and the price forthe ordinary pattern at once depreciated. The bankers and nabobs, whohad formerly vied with one another in their quest for the _scalariapreciosa_, were now so inflamed with the desire to possess a _scalariaretrotorsa_, that they willingly paid from two to three thousandthalers for a single specimen. On the other hand, the ordinary_scalaria_, which had sold readily for one hundred ducats, could nowbe bought for ten, and fifteen thalers.
This was a heavy blow for my widowed employer, and she soon found thatshe had not the strength to bear it alone.
When I heard of her loss, I summoned enough courage to say to her:
"If this unlucky business about the shells is all that troubles you,my dear lady, I think I can help you. I have a scheme that will in avery short time produce shells which turn to the right--and in suchquantities, that you can supply all the shell-markets in the country."
The widow reflected several moments, then replied:
"But, I couldn't think of allowing you to employ witch-craft to securesuch shells for me. I do not approve of magic. I have always heldaloof from sorcery, charms, conjuring, and all such infernalpractices; and, as I hope some time to be united with my belovedhusband, who is with the saints, I could not bind my soul to thewicked one, by countenancing any sort of magic, or idolatry."
"There is neither magic nor idolatry connected with my scheme tobenefit you, gracious lady," I assured her. "What I have in mind is apurely scientific experiment. It is fully described in a large bookwritten by the learned Professor Wagner, who was a very pious man, aswell as a very clever scholar."
"The book I allude to, gracious lady, treats of the sympathy andantipathy of plants, and cold-blooded animals; and is all aboutcreatures made by our Heavenly Father. It is a noteworthy fact, thatthe bean vine always twines from left to right around the stake whichsupports it; while the hop as invariably winds from right toleft--neither of them ever makes a mistake. If, however, the bean andthe hop be planted close together, then, the two plants beingantipathetic one to the other, the bean will twine to the left, andthe hop to the right."
"_Quid fuit probatum._"
"From such experiments the learned professor was led to experimentwith living creatures. He found that, when an acaleph which forms itsshell from right to left in the flower-beds at the bottom of theocean, chances to lie in close proximity to a _nautilus pompilius_,which belongs to the cephalopods, and builds from left to right, thetwo, because of their antipathy for each other, will reverse the orderof their volutions."
"From this it is clear that those conchologists, who have created averitable social revolution with their _scalaria retrotorsa_, and haveshaken the foundations of prosperity in the Dutch low countries, haveaccidentally come upon such shells which, in consequence of anantipathetic propinquity, have reversed their order of building--andby so doing, my dear lady, have caused you great loss and sorrow. But,you need sorrow no longer, if you will graciously assent to myproposition. It will, I feel confident, bring you a fortune soenormous that even the queen regent will envy you!"
"But, what is your proposition?" queried the pious soul, and for thefirst time, half of her face emerged from the depths of her cap.
"It is this, gracious lady: Order your agents to bring from the oceanliving _scalaria_, and _nautili_, which are to be secured with leasttrouble during the mating season. We will prepare for them here alarge basin of sea-water, with sand from the bottom of the ocean. Inthis we will plant sea-weeds, place our living shells among them, andfeed them with star-fish, holothures, and other soft-bodied marinecreatures. After a season our shell-fish will spawn; the eggs of the_scalaria_ cling together--like a string of pearls; those of the_nautili_ adhere to one another by sixes, in shape of a star.
"When we shall have secured a number of broods, we will fastentogether the ends of a _scalaria_ string, forming a circle, in thecenter of which we will place a star of _nautilus_ spawn; and you willsee, when the tiny creatures escape from the eggs, that they willbuild their houses in a reversed order from the parent shell."
My plan was quite clear to the fair widow; she gave her orders at onceto her agents, for the _scalaria_, and _nautili_, and from thatmoment treated me with great respect and affability.
Meanwhile, I continued to perform my duties: I polished my gunsmornings; inspected the soldiers' coats, to see if any of the buttonshad been sewed on wrong side up--the lower part of the state's coat ofarms uppermost--and reported to the captain that everything was inorder. Saturday evenings I attended to setting off the fire-works; andevery week-day afternoon I worked in the widow's garden.
What I earned I laid by. I never touched pipe, nor glass--not evenwhen they were offered to me; and to whomsoever I addressed a remark,I gave the title belonging to him. Thus, I gained the respect of allmy fellow-citizens. I had become what I had long desired: arespectable God-fearing man--
"Now, look out for a special bit of rascality;" _sotto voce_,interjected the chair.
I admit it was to win promotion that I conducted myself with suchpropriety, continued the prisoner. I was extremely desirous ofattaining a lieutenancy.
When the living _scalaria_, and _nautili_, arrived together with thecreatures which were to serve as food for them, they were placed inthe large basin with a wall about it, I had prepared for them in thelower portion of the tulip garden; and in due time the spawn was readyfor further operation.
My gracious employer was greatly surprised to learn that the eggs ofthe shell-fish have a peculiarity which distinguishes them from theeggs of birds and insects. With the development of the embryonic fish,its envelope also extends; one such egg, which at first is hardly aslarge as a lentil, increases to the size of a hazel-nut. In thiscondition its outer covering is very thin--merely a transparentmembrane, through which the now quickened animal may be seen revolvingwith the celerity of a spinning top. One may even detect thepulsations of its heart.
"The fellow has actually taken it upon himself to deliver a lecture onmalacology!" irritably interposed the chair. "I am sorry to prolongthe hearing, your honor," deferentially returned the prisoner, "but, Ibeg you will allow me to finish what I have to say on this subject, inorder that I may explain why I was accused of conjuring. I desire toprove that what I did was not accomplished by aid of any infernalpower; but through my own intelligence, in discovering, and making useof one of Nature's secrets."
As I mentioned before, one may perceive, in the embryonic mollusk, theincessant rotary movement from left to right. In order to keep the twoantipathetic broods constantly in the close juxtaposition necessary toinfluence their development, I was obliged to handle them frequently,as the eggs would move about--
"Stop!" interrupted the chair, "mollusks have no eyes; how then werethose you hatched able to see their antipathetic neighbors, and moveaway from them?"
Their antipathetic sensations informed them. Though mollusks have noeyes, they are endowed with other remarkable organs--such as are notfound in warm-blooded animals. However, to cut my story short, thequickened _scalaria_, and _nautili_, immediately began to form theirshells in the reversed order I had expected, and the secret offabulous enrichment was solved.
During the mysterious process of nature--while the shell-fish wereindustriously rearing their priceless houses--my patroness daily spenta half hour or more beside the sea-water basin; and would even, nowand then, assist me to restore the creatures to their properpositions.
At first she would push her sleeves only an inch or two above thewrists; but, after awhile, they were tucked above the elbows, and Icould admire as much as I wanted the beautiful white arms--a favor nomodest woman will allow anyone but her own husband.
As the work had to be done, and as we did not want a third party tohave cognizance of our experiment, the fair widow was obliged toassist me, and the natural result of the bared arms was: I became herlegal husband. Therefore, it was neither through magic, norwitch-
craft, nor yet through seductive arts employed by myself, that Ibecame the legal protector of the richest, and handsomest young widowin Nimeguen.
("The truth of the matter is: the modest Dutch widow bewitched thevaliant gunner, and compelled him to marry her!" was the chair'ssarcastic interpolation.)
Well, be that as it may, the lady was amply rewarded for marrying me.The _scalaria retrotorsa_ resulting from my experiment, brought herenormous wealth. We did not know, at last, what to do with all themoney that kept pouring into our coffers; but, the larger portion ofher reward by far, she found in the conjugal fidelity I vowed to her.I would not have believed that I possessed so many of the attributesnecessary to the making of a pattern husband, and my wife would havebeen entirely satisfied with me, had I been a captain like her firstspouse.
But I was only a gunner!
My predecessor had been a captain, it is true, but he had never seen abattle; and when, on _Corpus Christi_, he commanded the city militia,and gave orders to fire the salute, he always pressed his handsagainst his ears to shut out the noise.
Still, his title gave his wife the right to call herself "FrauHauptmannin;" while, as my wife she was merely "Constablerinn"--adegradation intolerable to any proud-spirited woman.
I tried to purchase at least a lieutenant's commission; but there werefifty-six applicants for the position ahead of me; and there was notelling how many years I should have to wait for my turn.
My wife at last became so sensitive that, in order to escape beingaddressed by the inferior title, she ceased to go out of the house;and when she had occasion to make mention of me to any one, she alwaysspoke, or wrote, in this wise: "The husband of the widow of CaptainTobias van der Bullen." That honorable and high-born gentlemen, is howI came to be called--through no fault of mine!--by my twelfth falsename: "Tobias van der Bullen."
I must confess, it was an extremely dull life. Of what use to us werethe hoards of gold in the treasure-chests? We did not know how tospend them. I did not drink wine; I was not allowed to smoke at home,because it was an unclean habit. And I was always at home, when not atthe barracks, because I had nowhere else to go.
At the merchants' casino, of which I might have become a member had Iso elected, all the conversation was about matters I could not endure.The men were so grave and sedate, there was no fun in trying to playtricks on them; and the women were virtuous to such a degree, that notone of them would have allowed a barn-yard cock to scratch worms formore than one hen.
As all married men know, women are peculiar creatures. There are timeswhen they become impressed with a desire to possess certain thingsthat--so say the sagacious doctors--it is unwise, nay dangerous, torefuse to gratify the request. I have heard said, that a woman hasbeen known to long for a dish of shoemaker's paste; another believedshe would collapse if she did not get a frog to devour; still another,vowed she could not survive, if her husband did not rise from his bedat midnight, and hasten to the nearest grocery for a box of superfinewagon grease!
Now, my wife was seized with a longing to possess a sheet ofparchment--a desire, you will say, that might easily have beengratified. But, the sort of parchment she wanted did not grow on everybush! A document, engrossed with the words which certified that herhusband was a captain, was what she craved. But, where was I toprocure it?
Chance one day brought me face to face with an old acquaintance,Mynheer Ruissen. He recognized me at once. It would have been uselessto deny my identity; moreover, there had been established between us acertain good-fellowship that justified me in believing I might safelytake him into my confidence.
He told me how zealously the officers of the law were searchingthroughout Germany for the fugitive, who had substituted tinchurch-vessels for the gold and silver ones used in the Templars'castle; and for having caused the wonderful metamorphosis of theHamburg moo-calf.
("Fine phrases for robbery, and assassination!" commented the chair).
It was fortunate for me that I was known in Holland only under thename of my wife's deceased husband; had the worthy Dutchmen known whoI was, the German authorities would not have remained long inignorance as to the whereabouts of the fugitive criminal they wereseeking.
I confided to Mynheer Ruissen my desire to obtain the title of captainin order to prevent my wife from grieving herself to death.
"Well, my son," he observed after a moment's deliberation, "it isn'tsuch an easy matter to get to be a captain--on shore. There is no warnow. These Hollanders prefer to look on fighting at a distance. If youwant to become a captain, come with me to sea. I am on my way to EastIndia, with small arms and cannons for the nabob Nujuf Khan, ofBengal. There's a general in his army, who is a countryman of yours--aReinhard Walter. He was an adventurer like yourself when he went toIndia; and now he is a distinguished man. He changed his name to'Sommer,' and the natives out yonder call him 'Sumro.' He is in needof soldiers, especially skilled gunners. If you will come with me--whocan tell?--you may become not only a captain, but a prince within atwelve-month."
The tales Mynheer Ruissen related of General Sommer's success inBengal were so marvelous, they inflamed me with the desire to try myfortune in that distant land; besides, the wearisome dullness of mymonotonous existence in Nimeguen was driving me to madness. I decidedto accompany the Mynheer, whom I introduced to my wife. She was almostbeside herself with delight, when he told her he knew of a land inwhich there grew a tree, called the banyan, with a thousand branches,every one bearing a hundred figs, in every one of which might be founda captain's commission. And these wonderful figs might be had for theplucking, by any one who would take the trouble to journey to thatdistant land.
"You must start at once, my dear," said my wife in urgent tones--as ifshe feared there might not be any of the figs left for me, if Idelayed going immediately. "At once! You must on no account miss theship!"
With her own hands she packed everything I should need for thejourney--not forgetting soap and tooth-brushes! And she did not weepat parting with me. You see, the women of Holland become accustomed tohaving their husbands go away on long journeys, to be absent foryears. I confess I was not sorry to go; for, I knew that, if I stoppedat home, when the third member of the family arrived, it would be mytask to rock the cradle. I preferred to be rocked myself by the waveson a good ship!
Two days later I bade farewell for a time to Europe, and set sail withMynheer Ruissen for India. A favorable wind sent us skimming out ofthe harbor; my wife waved a farewell with her handkerchief from theshore.
"Did you commit any crimes on the high seas?" This query from thechair interrupted the voyage for a few moments.
"Nothing worth mentioning, your honor."
"Then, just skip over the entire ocean, and don't waste our time withdescriptions of flying-fish, and chanting mermaids. Debark withoutfurther delay in Bengal, and let us hear what rascalities youperpetrated there?"
PART VIII.
IN BENGAL.