Afloat at Last Read online

  CHAPTER TWO.

  MY FRIEND THE BOATSWAIN.

  I soon made the discovery on getting there, however, that I was neitheralone nor unobserved; for a man called out to me almost the same instantthat my feet touched the deck.

  "Hullo, youngster!" he shouted.

  "Do you mean me?" I asked him politely, as father bad trained me alwaysto address every one, no matter what their social condition might be.

  "An' is it manin' yez, I am?" retorted my interlocutor sharply. "Tarean' 'ouns, av coorse it is! Who ilse should I mane?"

  The speaker was a stout, broad-shouldered, middle-aged man, clad in arough blue jersey as to the upper portion of his body, and wearing belowa rather dirty pair of canvas overalls drawn over his trousers, which,being longer, projected at the bottom and overlapped his boots, givinghim an untidy look.

  He was busy superintending a gang of dock labourers in their task ofhoisting up in the air a number of large crates and heavy deal packing-cases from the jetty alongside, where they were piled up promiscuouslyin a big heap of a thousand or so and more, and then, when the crane onwhich these items of cargo were thus elevated had been swung round untilright over the open hatchway, giving entrance to the main-hold of theship, they were lowered down below as quickly as the tackle could beeased off and the suspending chain rattle through the wheel-block above.The clip-hooks were then unhitched and the chain run up and the craneswung back again over the pile of goods on the jetty for another load tobe fastened on; and, so on, continually.

  The man directing these operations, in turning to speak to me, did notpause for an instant either in giving his orders to "hoist!" and "loweraway!" or in keeping a keen weather-eye open, as he afterwards explainedto me, on the gang, so as to see that none of the hands shirked theirwork; and, as I stared helplessly at him, quite unable as yet toapprehend his meaning, or know what he wished me to do, he gave a quickside-glance over his shoulder to where I stood and renewed hisquestioning.

  "Sure an' ye can answer me if you loike, for ye ar'n't dumb, me bhoy,an' ye can spake English fast enough. Now. I'll ax ye for the lasttoime--whare d'ye spring from?"

  "Spring from?" I repeated after him, more puzzled than ever and awed byhis manner, he spoke so sharply, in spite of his jovial face andtwinkling eyes. "I jumped from that plank," pointing to the gangway bywhich I came on board as I said this.

  This response of mine seemed, somehow, to put him into all the greaterrage--I'm sure I can't tell why.

  "Bad cess t'ye for an omahdawn! Sure, an' it isn't springin'--joompin'I mane," he thundered in a voice that made me spring and jump both."Where d'ye hail from, me joker? That's what I want to know. An' ye'dbetther look sharp an' till me!"

  "Hail from?" I echoed, completely bewildered by this time; for, beingunused to sailor's talk, as I've previously mentioned, I could not makehead or tail of his language, which his strong Irish brogue, equallystrange to me then, made all the more difficult to be understood. Icould see, of course, that he wanted to learn something of me; but whatthat something was I was unable to guess, although all the time anxiousto oblige him to the best of my ability. He was so impatient, however,that he would hardly give me time to speak or inquire what he wanted,besides which, he frightened me by the way in which he roared out hisunintelligible questions. So, unable to comprehend his meaning, Iremained silent, staring at him helplessly as before.

  Strange to say, though, my answer, or rather failure to answer this lastinterrogatory of his--for I had only repeated his own words--instead offurther exasperating him as I feared, trembling the while down to myvery boots, appeared to have the unexpected effect of appeasing hissudden outburst of passion, which now disappeared as quickly as it hadbroken out over my unoffending head.

  "Be jabers, the gossoon's a born nat'ral!" he said sympathetically in asort of stage whisper to the stevedores, although in loud enough tonesfor me to hear; and then, looking at me more kindly, and speaking in agentler key than he had yet adopted, he added, accentuating every wordseparately and distinctly, with a racier Milesian accent than ever:"Arrah, sure, an' I didn't mane to be rough on ye, laddie; but, till menow, whar' d'ye come from, what's y'r name, an' what for are ye doin'here?"

  This was plain language, such as I could understand; and, seeing that hemust be some one in authority, despite his tarred clothes and somewhatunpolished exterior, I hastened to answer his string of questions,doffing my cap respectfully as I did so.

  "My name is Allan Graham," I said on his motioning to those working thecrane to stop a bit while I spoke, "and I came up early this morningfrom the country to sail in the Silver Queen. The brokers in LeadenhallStreet, Messrs. Splice and Mainbrace, to whom I went first, told me togo on down to the docks and join the ship at once, sending a clerk toshow me the way, which he did, pointing out this vessel to me andleaving me after saying that I was to go on board by the `gangway,' ashe called the plank I walked up by--that is why I am here!"

  I uttered these last words somewhat sturdily and in a dignified tone,plucking up courage as I proceeded; for, I began to get rather nettledat the man's suspicions about me, his questions apparently having thatlook and bearing.

  "Och, by the powers!" he ejaculated, taking no notice of my dignifieddemeanour; "yis, an' that's it, is it? Sure, an' will ye till me now,are ye goin' as a cabin passinger or what, avic?"

  "I'm going in the Silver Queen as a first-class apprentice," I answeredwith greater dignity than ever, glancing down proudly at the smart bluesuit I wore, with its shining gilt buttons ornamented with an anchor inrelief, which mother and sister Nellie had so much admired the daybefore, when I had donned it for the first time, besides inspecting mecritically that very morning previous to my leaving home, to see that Ilooked all right--poor mother! dear Nell!

  "Whe-e-e-up!" whistled my questioner between his teeth, a broad grinoverspreading his yet broader face. "Alannah macree, me poor gossoon!it's pitying ye I am, by me sowl, from the bottom av me heart. Ye'reloike a young bear wid all y'r throubles an' thrials forenenst ye. Aye,yez have, as sure's me name's Tim Rooney, me darlint!"

  "Why do you say so, sir?" I asked--more, however, out of curiosity thanalarm, for I thought he was only trying to "take a rise out of me," asthe saying goes. "Why should you pity me?"

  "An' is it axin' why, yez are?" said he, his broad smile expanding intoa chuckle and the chuckle growing to a laugh. "Sure, an' ye'll larnafore ye're much ouldher, that the joker who goes to say for fun moightjist as well go to the ould jintleman's place down below in thethropical raygions for divarshun, plaize the pigs!"

  His genial manner, and the merry twinkle in his eyes, which reminded meof father's when he made some comical remark, utterly contradicted hisdisparaging comments on a sailor's life, and I joined in the hearty "ho,ho, ho!" with which he concluded his statement.

  "Why, then, did you go to sea, Mr Rooney," I asked, putting him into aquandary with this home-thrust; "that is, if it is such a bad place asyou make out?"

  "Bedad, sorry o' me knows!" he replied, shoving his battered cheese-cutter cap further off his brows and scratching his head reflectively."Sure, an' it's bin a poozzle to me, sorr, iver since I furst wint aforethe mast."

  "But--" I went on, wishing to pursue my inquiries, when he interruptedme before I was able to proceed any further.

  "Whisht! Be aisy now, me darlint," he whispered, with an expressivewink; and, turning round sharply on the stevedores, who, takingadvantage of his talking to me, had struck work and were indulging in asimilar friendly chat, he began briskly to call them to task for theiridleness, raising his voice to the same stentorian pitch that hadstartled me just now on our first introduction.

  "What the mischief are ye standin' star-gazin' there for, ye lazy swabs,chatterin' an' grinnin' away loike a parcel av monkeys?" he cried,waving his arms about as if he were going to knock some of them down."If I had my way wid ye, an' had got ye aboord a man-o'-war along o' me,it's `four bag' I'd give ivery man Jack o' ye. Hoist away an'
be blowedto ye, or I'll stop y'r pay, by the howly pokher I will!"

  At this, the men, who seemed to understand very well that my friend ofthe woollen jersey and canvas overalls's hard voice and words did notreally mean the terrible threats they conveyed, although the speakerintended to be obeyed, started again briskly shipping the cargo andlowering it down into the hold, grinning the while one to another as ifexpressing the opinion that their taskmaster's bark was worse than hisbite.

  "I must kape 'em stirrin' their stoomps, or ilse, sure, the spalpeens'ud strike worrk the minnit me back's toorned," said he on resuming histalk with me, as if in explanation of this little interlude. "Yez aidy'r name's Grame, didn't ye? I once knew a Grame belongin' to Cork, an'he wor a pig jobber. S'pose now, he warn't y'r ould father, loike?"

  "Certainly not!" cried I, indignantly. "My father is a clergyman and agentleman and an Englishman, and lives down in the country. Our name,too, is Graham and not Grame, as you pronounce it."

  "'Pon me conshinsh, I axes y'r pardin, sorr. Sure, an' I didn't mane noharrm," said my friend, apologising in the most handsome way for theunintentional insult; and, putting out a brawny hairy paw like that ofEsau's, he gave a grip to my poor little mite of a hand that made eachknuckle crack, as he introduced himself in rough and hearty sailorfashion. "Me name's Tim Rooney, as I tould you afore, Misther Gray-ham--sure, an' it's fond I am ov bacon, avic, an' ham, too, by the sametoken! I'd have ye to know, as ye're a foorst-class apprentice--whichkills me enthirely wid the laffin' sure!--that I'm the bosun av theSilver Quane; an' as we're agoin' to be shipmets togither, I hopesthings'll be moighty plisint atwane us, sure."

  "I'm sure I hope so, too," I replied eagerly, thinking him an awfullyjolly fellow, and very unlike the man I imagined him to be at first; andwe then shook hands again to cement the compact of eternal friendship,although I took care this time that my demonstrative boatswain shouldnot give me so forcible a squeeze with his huge fist as before,observing as I looked round the vessel and up at her towering mastsoverhead: "What a splendid ship!"

  "Aye, she's all that, ivery inch of her from truck to kelson," heanswered equally enthusiastically; "an' so's our foorst mate, a sailorall over from the sole av his fut to the crown av his hid."

  "And the captain," I inquired, "what sort of a man is he?"

  "Arrah, now you're axin' questions," he rejoined with a sly look fromhis roguish eyes. "D'ye happen to know what's inside av an egg, now,whither it's a chicken, sure, or ownly the yoke an' white, till yebhrake the shill?"

  "No," said I laughing. "But, we don't find chickens generally in oureggs at home."

  "Wait till ye thry one on shipboord," he retorted. "Still, ye can'tdeny now that ye don't know for sure what's insoide the shill till yebhrake it, an' say for yoursilf--eh?"

  "No," I assented to this reasoning; "but, I don't see what that's got todo with the captain."

  "Don't ye, honey?" replied he with another expressive wink. "Wait tillye can say for yourself, that's all."

  "Oh!" I exclaimed, understanding now that he was shrewd enough not tocommit himself to any opinion on the point; so, I did not pursue theinquiry any further.

  "Sure, ye'll excuse me, Misther Gray-ham," he said presently, afteranother word or two on irrelevant matters; "but I must stop yarnin' now,as I expexes the foorst mate aboord ivery minnit, an' he'll begroomblin' like a badger wid a sore tail if those lazy lubbers ain'thove all the cargy in. We've got to warp out o' dock this arternoon,an' the tide'll make about `six bells'!"

  "When is that?" I asked, to know the meaning of this nautical term,which I guessed referred to the time of day, as my friend the boatswainturned round again towards the stevedores, hurrying them on and makingthem work with a will.

  "Thray o'clock. Sure, I forgot ye didn't savvy our sailor's lingo atall, at all," he explained to me between the interval of his orders tothe men, shouted out in the same high key as at first. "An', be thesame token, as it's now jist toorned two bells, or one o'clock, savin'your prisince, I've got no toime to lose, me bhoy. Jist d'ye go oopthat ladder there, an' wait out av harum's way till I've done me job an'can come for ye."

  He pointed as he spoke to the steps or stairway leading from the main-deck, where I had been standing alongside of him, to the poop.

  I at once obeyed him; and, ascending with alacrity the poop ladder, wasable to see from that elevated position the capital way in which heurged on and encouraged the men, until, as if by magic, the heavy boxesand lumbering crates that had but a short time before almost covered thejetty beside the ship, were all hoisted inboard and lowered down intoher hold.

  Here, below, another gang of stevedores, not less busy than those above,took charge of the stowage of the cargo, slamming the chests and cratesabout, and so ramming and jamming them between the decks by the aid ofjack-screws, that they were soon packed together in one homogeneousmass--so tightly squeezed that not even a cockroach could have crawledin between them, not a single crack or cranny being left vacant.

  "Thare now! Sure, an' that job's done wid anyhow for this v'yge, plaizethe pigs, ma bouchal!" exclaimed the boatswain with a jolly laugh, afterseeing the main-hatchway covered and battened down, and a tarpaulinspread over it to make all snug, gazing round with an air of proudsatisfaction, as he slowly made his way up the poop ladder again andcame up to where I was standing by the rail looking over. "Don't yethink we've made pretty sharp work of it at the last, sorr, eh?"

  "I'm sure you have, Mr Rooney," I replied enthusiastically. For, Icould not help admiring the way in which he had got the stevedores towork so steadily and speedily in getting in the cargo and clearing theship's deck, so that it was now trim and orderly in place of beinglittered over with lumber as previously--the active boatswain helpingone here, encouraging another there, and making all laugh occasionallywith some racy joke, that seemed to lighten their labour greatly andcause them to set to their task with redoubled vigour.--"It's wonderfulhow you managed them."

  "Arrah, sure it's a way I've got wid me, honey," said he with a wink.Still, I could see he was pleased with my remark all the same, from thesmile of contentment that overspread his face as he added: "Bless yethough, me darlint, sure an' it's ownly blarney arter all!"

  "And what is that?" I asked.

  "Faix, ya moost go owver to old Oireland to larn, me bhoy," he answeredwith a laugh. "Wait till ye kiss the blarney stone, an' thin ye'llknow!"

  "I suppose it's what father calls the _suaviter in modo_," said I,laughing also, he put on such a droll look. "And I think, Mr Rooney,you possess the _fortiter in re_, too, from the way you can speaksometimes."

  "Bedad, I don't ondercumstubble," he replied, taking off his cap andscratching his head reflectively, rather taken aback by my Latinquotation; "though if that haythen lingo manes soft sawder, by thepowers I've got lashins av it! Howsomedevers, youngster, we naydn'targify the p'int; but if the foorst mate were ownly aboord, d'ye knowwhat I'd loike to do?"

  "What?" I inquired.

  "Why, trate them dock loompers to grog all round. They've worrukedloike blue nayghurs; specially that l'adin' man av theirs, that chapthere, see him, wid the big nose on his face? I'd loike to pipe allhands down in the cabin to splice the main-brace, if ownly the foorstmate were aboord," he repeated in a regretful tone. Adding, however,the next moment more briskly: "An', by the blissid piper that playedbefore Moses, there he is!"