On the Other Tack: a story of the sea, etc

Front matter

ON THE OTHER TACK A I sprang fro a off the yard, and, in two or three seconds, was in the water. — /. 27. On the Other Tack a §>torp of the §>ea BY WILLIAM CHARLES METCALFE Author of " Nailing the Colours," " The Boy Skipper," " Rogues' Island, "Steady Your Helm," etc., etc. fLLUSTRATED BY S. H. VEDDER LONDON JARROLD & SONS, 10 & n, WARWICK LANE, E.C. [All Rights Reserved] Boys' Books of Adventure, &c. Crown Svo, Cloth, 3/0 each. Uniform with "On the Other Tack." BOB STRONG'S HOLIDAYS; or, Adrift in the Channel. By J. C. Hutcheson. With Six Illustrations by John B. Greene. FOR DUTY'S SAKE. By M. Douglas, Author of "Jottings from a Norwegian Journal." Profusely Illustrated. ON THE FACE OF THE DEEP. By W. C. Metcalfe. With Illustrations by S. H. Vedder. BULLY, FAG, AND HERO ; or, In Playground and Schoolroom.

By Charles J. Mansford. With Six Illustrations by S. H. Vedder. FAR FROM HOME: The Fights and Adventures of a Runaway. By Robert Overton. Illustrated by Enoch Ward. NAILING THE COLOURS. By W. C Metcalfe. Illustrated by G. Grenville Manton. THE STORY HUNTER. By E. R. Suffling. Illustrated by Paul Hardy. THE BOY SKIPPER: A True Story of the Sea. By W. C. Metcalfe. Illustrated by Enoch Ward. AFTER SCHOOL. By Robert Overton. Illustrated by Reinhold Thiele. 2nd Edition. LIGHTS OUT ! By Robert Overton. Illustrated by Reinhold Thiele. 2nd Edition. AFLOAT IN A GIPSY VAN. By E. R. Sufflinc. Illustrated by Paul Hardy. 2nd Edition. THE KING'S PARDON: or, The Boy who Saved his Father. By Robert Overton. Illustrated by W. H. Makgetson. 2nd Edition. REX; or, Winning the Victoria Cross. By L. Thomison. Illustrated by W. B. Wollen, R.I. 2nd Edition.

ADVENTURES IN NEW TEXAS. By Grace Stebbing. 3rd Edition. LO X DOS JARROLD &> SONS, 10 and n, Warwick Lane. And of all Booksellers. CONTENTS. CHAPTER |,ACE I. THE "SPIRIT OF THE OCEAN" ... ... ... 9 II. OLD MONEVBAGS ... ... ... ... l6 III. TO THE RESCUE ... ... ... ... 22 IV. A FIVE-POUND NOTE ... ... ... ,28 V. IN THE SAME BOAT ... ... ... ... 34 vi. mr. ashley's footing ... ... ... 40 vii. a little note ... ... ... ... ... 46 viii. a fog-signal ... ... ... ... 52 IX. RUN DOWN ... ... ... ... ... 6l X. IN AN OPEN BOAT ... ... ... ... 68 XI. PASSED BY ... ... ... ... ... 76 XII. THE RESCUE ... ... ... ... 86 XIII. DULCE DOMUM ... ... ... ... ... 95 XIV. A LOQUACIOUS LANDLORD ... ... ... I07 XV. A BRACE OF ROGUES ... ... ... ... II7 XVI. PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT ... ... ... I27 XVII. ANNIE AND I ... ... ... ... ...

Chapter I. The

"SPIRIT OF THE OCEAN." We were homeward bound from Sydney in the good ship Spirit of the Ocean at the time my story begins. My indentures had expired during the passage out, and I was naturally looking forward with pleasure to passing my examination as second officer and getting a berth as such, and receiving wages sufficient to keep me at least independent of any further assistance from my father. My prospects were good, for my uncle, Captain Laurie, was the oldest servant in the employ of Messrs. P., H. & Co., commanding what was termed the commodore's ship, and enj'oying the reputation of being the most skilful as well as the most trustworthy skipper in their fleet. I knew that I stood on very good terms with my uncle and my present captain, and that, if I should succeed in passing my ex amination, a word from the former would procure me the first vacant berth.

And so it was that when the good ship Spirit of the Ocean cleared the Sydney Heads, with a full cargo of wool, tallow, and hides, and a favourable wind on her quarter, I felt in a very sanguine and buoyant frame of mind, and at peace with every one aboard the ship, from the captain down to the cook's mate. Our cabin was full of passengers, for the ship was a favourite in the trade, and her commander, Captain Boldwig, was noted for his kind and courteous demeanour, and his unflagging efforts to promote a sociable and cordial spirit amongst his passengers, providing for them, so far as circumstances would permit, all kinds of amusements to vary the monotony of their life at sea. There was a fair sprinkling of ladies aboard, and a good piano in the saloon, and we lads were looking forward to having a very merry time of it on our homeward journey.

I was a tall, strapping youth, then in my twentieth year, very active and muscular, high-spirited and fearless — all good qualities for a young seaman ; and I believe that I was popular with all hands, including my young fellow-apprentices, which is saying a great deal. As to my appearance. Well, I can remember that when I had occasion to look in the little glass that hung in the berth, there were reflected therefrom a round, jovial-looking visage, beaming with smiles ; a pair of merry-looking blue eyes ; a nose of a shape which, I have since learned, is not considered handsome, but which a feeling of charity towards those of my young readers gifted with a like proboscis forbids me to describe ; and a wealth of light curly hair which would peep out in clusters from under the peak of my cap and all around it.

Whether I was considered good looking or not was a matter of the utmost indifference to me ; indeed, had my face THE "SPIRIT OF THE OCEAN." 11 borne the most striking likeness to a nutmeg-grater or a "cork fender," it would not have caused me one moment's trouble or regret. I was possessed of a sound, vigorous constitution, and enjoyed the most robust health. What more could I wish for in the way of natural gifts ? We had been about a week out from Sydney, and were sailing across that vast wilderness of waters which lies between New Zealand and Cape Horn. The weather had been stormy since leaving Sydney, but upon this particular day the gale had moderated so as to enable us to shake the reefs out of our top sails and set the main topgallant sail once more. The wind had shifted to the southward, and was still blowing fresh and cool, but the sun shone brightly down from a blue sky, flecked here and there with white, fleecy-looking clouds.

Many of the male passengers, who had been unable to leave the cabin by reason of the tempestuous weather, now began to make an appearance on deck, and were to be seen clinging, some to the mizzen rigging in which a weather-cloth was spread as a shelter from the wind, others to the belaying-pins around the mizzen-mast, and one or two to the companion itself. We were steering nearly due east, with the wind and sea abeam, and repeatedly giving heavy lurches to the big walls of water which rose one after the other in rapid succession, and, lifting the ship's great hull as though it were but a cork, would roll swiftly underneath, leaving it to fall almost suddenly into a great watery gulf, causing thereby a motion that made it extremely difficult even for an experienced seaman to walk safely along the deck.

I had occasion to go to the wheel and speak to the helmsman about some little matter between ourselves, when a very pretty girl of about nineteen appeared at the top of the companion-ladder, and asked with a shy smile whether I thought the weather was likely to improve, and whether it would be safe for her to cross the deck and get hold of the ropes in the rigging and hang on to them, as the gentlemen were doing. " I would not recommend you to come on deck, miss," I replied ; " the ship has a very nasty motion now, and you might easily fall." "Oh, but I should so like to get some fresh air after being shut up for so long in that stuffy cabin," she objected. " The air is so sweet and fresh ; don't you think ? " Here she was interrupted by the chief officer, whose watch on deck it then was. " Excuse me, miss," he said, "but I would strongly advise you to keep where you are and draw in the sweet air, as you call it — though I should call it salt," he wound up, with a smile on his honest, weather-beaten face.

Business called the mate for'ard again, so, in his absence, the young lady, totally unmindful of his words, watched her opportunity when the vessel had rolled to windward, and made a sudden dart for the mizzen rigging. But she had not calculated the time with sufficient accuracy, and, before she could reach the two or three pairs of hands that were extended to receive her, the ship gave a mighty lurch to lee ward, whilst, at the same time, a sea burst over the mizzen rigging, and in a moment she was thrown off her feet and hurled forcibly to the lee side of the deck. THE "SPIRIT OF THE OCEAN." 13 I was just again passing the companion on the lee side, and in an instant saw what was likely to occur ; so making a rush for'ard, I was just in time to inter pose my comparatively soft form between the slight girlish figure and the hard teak bulwarks.

I raised her in my arms, stunned, and dripping with the salt water ; then, watching a favourable oppor tunity, bore her in safety to the companion and down the steps into the saloon, where I placed her under the care of her parents, who were seated at the table. They rose to their feet with cries of deep concern, when they saw me enter with the senseless, dripping form of their daughter in my arms. " Oh, what has happened ? Tell me ! " almost shrieked Mrs. Ashley. " Oh, merciful Heavens ! she is not dead, is she ? Speak, boy, speak ! " " No, madam," I said ; " she is only stunned." And, after giving her a hurried explanation of what had happened, I returned to the deck, where I found the gentlemen engaged in commenting in the most laudatory manner upon what they were pleased to term my chivalrous and gallant conduct.

For the next few days following this incident we were favoured with fine, clear, bright weather, with fresh breezes blowing between west and south ; and those of the passengers who had quite got over their sea sickness, gladly availed themselves of the oppor tunity to regain their health and spirits by exercise in the fresh exhilarating air. Miss Ashley seized every possible chance, as it seemed to me, of getting up on deck. Thus we found many opportunities for conversation ; for the little service I had rendered her had not been lightly esteemed, and had formed the prelude to an amicable intercourse and interchange of thought. In the course of conversation one evening, I learned that her father was a partner in a banking firm and very wealthy, and that the family had gone out to Sydney, partly because the doctors had recommended a long sea voyage for Mrs. Ashley's health, and partly because the banker was desirous of seeing his second son, Charles, established in a bank at Sydney that was under the management of one of his oldest friends.

They were now returning in the Spirit of the Ocean after a three months' sojourn in Sydney. " You will be glad to get home, I suppose, Miss Ashley ? " I said, with a strange feeling in my own heart that the passage could never be long enough for me. " Glad ! " she repeated. " Why ? " And here she looked full into my face with a merry twinkle in her limpid eyes. " I love the sea — I always did ; there is something so fresh and joyous and lovely in its ever varying moods, from the monotony of a calm to the grandeur of a storm. And oh," she went on, raising her eyes to the great white, swelling sails, " what a beautiful object is a ship ! There is nothing so grand, so majestic, so graceful ! I shall be quite sorry to leave this dear old Spirit of the Ocean!' " You have the true spirit of the ocean in your self," I said enthusiastically; "but I hope you will sometimes give your friends abroad a thought, as well as the ' dear old ship,' and " "Maude," interrupted a gruff, unpleasant voice, " come down at once and get some tea ; and do not spend all your time on deck chatting a parcel of THE "SPIRIT OF THE OCEAN." 15 nonsense."

And, taking his daughter by the arm, Mr. Ashley led her towards the companion ; then, turning round, he gave me a look which I could only compare to that which a dog with a bone between its teeth would bestow on another dog less favourably circumstanced.

Chapter II. Old Moneybags

Mr. Ashley was a tall, thin, sparely built man of about sixty-five years of age, with a long, lean face that wore an habitual expression of anxiety, and decorated with a pair of thin, grey, straggling whiskers. PI is eyes — in hue, of a sort of a greenish grey — were small and very restless ; his nose, long, with a decided dip ; his lips, thin and compressed. Certainly he was not a handsome man, and his whole expression was strongly indicative of those ruling passions which governed him. As I have said before, he was a wealthy man ; but there was nothing in that proud, sour-looking face to lead any one to suppose that he was a happy one in the real and highest sense of the word, for all his plentitude of this world's goods. And, in truth, he was not a happy man, although he was the owner of one of the noblest estates in Sussex, of carriages and horses, and servants, and an income that many a lord might have coveted.

But riches alone can never bring real and lasting happiness to any one who does not also possess " the one thing needful." " Poor old Moneybags ! " said a young man named Curtis— a passenger— who was acquainted with the OLD MONEYBAGS. 17 Ashley family. " He was only a clerk when he married, and I have heard say that he was the happiest and most contented fellow imaginable then, and never seemed to care whether his salary was raised or not. The firm, however, could not but admire his wonderful industry and steadiness, and year by year he got an increment, until finally he was taken into partnership ; and now, you know, he is as rich as Crœsus. But he's not happy, poor man." " He has one daughter married, has he not ? " I asked. " Yes," said Curtis ; " the elder one. She was married about eighteen months ago to the Honor able I forget the name now, but he was the son of some lord ; and it was the talk of the county for some time.

People said, you know, that her wishes were not consulted a bit ; that her heart was given to some poor, good, hard-working clergyman, and that her father forced her into the marriage because he coveted the alliance with a titled family." " Then his daughter's happiness was sacrificed to his paltry pride ? " said I. " Yes," said Curtis. " Cruel, was it not ? But it's a common occurrence in these days, I'm sorry to say ; so many parents seem to think love only a secondary consideration, and wealth and rank the first, if not the only one." " Rank idolatry, I call it, eh ? " I said. " Yes," said Curtis, laughing. " Not bad that. But here comes Maude. What a child of nature she is ! I don't think that she will ever allow herself to be dictated to ; and if she sets her fresh young heart upon some lucky fellow, it's my opinion that she'll B have either him or no one.

Good evening, Miss Maude." "Good evening, Mr. Curtis, and you too, Mr. Tarle. What a lovely night ! Oh, how beautiful it is to see that glorious moon silvering the water with her lovely beams, and shining upon the sails and making them look quite white ! " Then turning to me, " Mr. Tarle, I think you said we should be in the South-East Trades soon." " Yes, Miss Ashley," I replied ; " very soon now, I think." " I think it is lovely to be in the Trades," she went on ; " the breeze is generally so nice and steady, and the poor sailors do not have to pull and haul the ropes about so much. I enjoyed those pleasant times so much on the passage out to Sydney, for the sailors got up concerts and dances amongst themselves, and some of them sang so well." " I am sure Captain Boldwig will not miss any opportunity of giving you all the amusement he can," I said.

" I know that he delights to see his passengers merry and contented." " Oh, he is a dear old man ! " said Maude. " We all like him so much ; even father has taken to him, which is rather wonderful, you know " — this with a little laugh and a sly twinkle in her eye. "Nobody can help esteeming Captain Boldwig," said Mr. Curtis, " for he is a real good Christian man, and seems to live out his religion." " We are all fond of our skipper," I put in ; " he is very just and good to all of us, and But there's Mr. Binney singing out." I heard my name shouted out by the mate. OLD MONEYBAGS. 19 "Tarle," he said, "just get a piece of twine and jump aloft and overhaul and stop those main-topgallant buntlines ; they'll be chafing right through that sail before long." I had a piece of twine in my pocket, so, letting go the buntlines from off the pins to which they were belayed, I sprang aloft to execute the order, not, however, without feeling somewhat disappointed that my conversation with Miss Maude Ashley had been interrupted.

" Now, mind you take great care of yourself," laughed the happy girl, as I ran up the rat lines. " He knows well enough how to do that, Miss Ashley," I heard the chief officer remark, as I climbed over the futtock rigging into the top, and, with a strange, half-joyous feeling, hurried up the topmast rigging. Yes, Mr. Binney was right ; I did know how to take care of myself, and somehow or other I was feeling then that I would take very especial care of myself; and it was with a light heart that I over hauled the buntlines and descended the rigging. When nearing the main-top again in my descent, the harsh, cantankerous voice of Maude Ashley's father reached my ears. " I will not have it ; I will be obeyed. No child of mine shall act contrary to my orders. Go down at once." " What have you been doing to the lass, Tarle ?

" asked Mr, Binney, good-humouredly, when I reached the deck. " What have I been doing, sir ? " I repeated curiously. " Why, nothing, sir, except that we have been chatting together." "Well," said the mate, good-humouredly,"the next time you go yarning, go somewhere else, for it seems that old Moneybags has been listening to you. He had finished his game of cards, and then strolled out of the cabin and squatted down on a camp-stool under the break of the poop." " Well, I have not been saying anything against him, sir," I said. Then I added, as an after-thought, "But he must have heard Mr. Curtis." Then all that this gentleman had said flashed across me ; and, following that, the remarks that I had made about Mr. Ashley's elder daughter having been sacrificed for pride came vividly before me, and made me feel very uncomfortable.

" I did make a remark, sir," I went on, " which was drawn from me in conversation." " Well, old Moneybags has heard everything, and I can assure you that I have never seen a man in such a ' scot ' before." " Did he mention my name, sir? " I asked. " No ; but he told the girl he would not permit her to converse any more with ' that young beggar of an apprentice boy,' lowering herself by talking a lot of rot and rubbish to him about ' moonbeams ' and ' silvery sails,' and all that sort of thing. My boy, you'll have to be careful," wound up Mr. Binney. Then he turned and walked aft. To say that I felt merely vexed at hearing of Mr. Ashley's treatment of his daughter, would go no way towards describing my indignation and the sense of bitterness which my pride called up at being OLD MONEYBAGS. 21 designated " a young beggar of an apprentice boy."

I knew that I was wrong to cherish such feelings for an instant, but I was young and passionate, and this rude and cruel interruption to my day-dreams seemed almost to crush every Christian sentiment out of me, and leave me the sport of passions I could not control.

Chapter III. To The Rescue

It was in a by no means happy frame of mind that I turned into my bunk at midnight. Mr. Ashley's harsh words to his daughter, and his disparaging allusion to my own position, rang in my ears for a long time, and kept me awake for the greater part of my watch below. I wondered greatly what old Moneybags would say to Mr. Curtis, and I felt annoyed to think that I had made the remark I did ; for, if he had overheard it, it would only make him adopt measures that might prevent his daughter from being thrown in my company. Then it was that I asked myself the question why I, Richard Tarle, should feel so keenly the rough manner of Mr. Ashley towards his daughter. What had it to do with me ? It was no concern of mine ; and, somehow or other, I felt that there was only one way of answering this question truthfully, and that was, that I, Richard Tarle, apprentice and nineteen years of age, was thinking more of Maude Ashley than I had thought of any other girl.

I was only a youth. Oh, how poor my prospects must seem, even at their very best, in the eyes of the wealthy banker ! " A poor beggar of an apprentice boy " was TO THE RESCUE. 23 the light in which I stood with Mr. Ashley. Oh, how ridiculous must appear, to a man of his character and standing, the notion of my presuming to win from his daughter even the slightest token of anything stronger than a mere passing regard ! I felt miserable when I turned out at 4 a.m. and went on deck, to find the weather very unsettled and with frequent showers of rain, and the watch engaged for most part of the time in trimming sail. Captain Boldwig came on deck at about seven, and, seeing me, beckoned me to him. " Tarle, my boy," he said kindly, " Mr. Ashley has been speaking to me about you. It appears that he overheard a conversation between Mr. Curtis and yourself, in which disparaging reference was made to himself and his affairs ; further, that Miss Maude has been conversing with you about the ' moonbeams ' and 'white sails,' concerts and dances, and all that sort of thing, in a manner which, as he said, was too familiar to adopt towards one of your 'humble, beggarly position.' " "My position is honourable enough, sir," I put in, the old Adam beginning to bristle up again within me.

" Of course it is, my boy," said the captain ; " and so I took leave to tell him, but only received the sneering reply that he would not allow his daughter to be familiar with those who were so far beneath her in the social scale. Of course, he is free to entertain what views he pleases, and to draw his own lines of social equality and distinction ; but that is not the question just now. He has asked me to forbid you to notice or speak to his daughter again for the rest of the passage ; and, since we are all servants, my boy, and it is our duty to study our employers' interest, it is only right that we should respect his wishes." "But, sir," I said, "surely it cannot affect our employers if " "In this particular case it might well do so," the captain interrupted, "for Mr. Ashley is a man of great weight and influence, and can easily put business in our owners' way."

" I understand, sir," I said ; " but I cannot help feeling very indignant at being called 'a beggar of an apprentice boy.' " " Never mind," said Captain Boldwig, smiling. " Mr. Ashley is a man, who, like most worldly-minded men, estimates his fellow-creatures by the amount of wealth which they possess or are likely to possess ; and if you were the heir to a large fortune, and he knew of it, we should probably have heard nothing about social standing, and you would have been able to court his merry daughter " — here the captain winked and smiled — " under his own private patron age." Then he turned away and walked aft. In the afternoon my duties called me to the cross jack yard, where I was engaged in fixing a new stirrup to the foot-rope. The weather had become more settled, with a moderate, but decreasing breeze, and most of the passengers were on deck, some working, some reading, others engaged in playing games of rope quoits or shovel-board.

I looked for Maude Ashley, and at last espied her, seated right aft between her father and her mother, the former looking, I thought, even blacker and sourer than I TO THE RESCUE. 25 had yet seen him. Maude was engaged in reading, and I fancied, when I turned my eyes towards her for the first time, that she looked up shyly and with something like a smile upon her winsome face. " It's only fancy ; can't be anything else," I felt bitterly. " I dare say her father has talked her round to his own way of thinking by this time." And I went on with my work in a savage, sullen mood. At that moment I felt at deadly enmity with all wealthy magnates, and discontented with my own humble station. But had I known Maude Ashley better, her sweet simplicity, and, at the same time, her strength of character — how she would never allow herself to be biassed against her will and judgment, but would stand up, even if she stood alone, for what was true and good, my resentment against her father would have been greatly modified, and I might even have smiled at the affront he had put upon me.

Before I had finished what I was doing on the cross-jack yard, I happened to turn round once more, and my eyes rested for an instant upon Maude Ashley's pretty face, then roamed over the taffrail, and the wake marked by the ship's progress through the water. Something caught my eye in that wake, and my gaze was riveted on it for a few seconds, until I had satisfied myself beyond a doubt that it was the dorsal fin of a shark. I thought no more, however, of the creature, for sharks were common enough in those waters, and so went on with my work ; but in a few minutes, during which the wind had suddenly fallen, so that the arched foot of the topsail flapped gently to and fro about my head, I was arrested by the cry of one of the passengers, who was gazing over the taffrail, into the waters below.

"Come and look here! What is this great fish here ? " Then there was a general stampede of excited passengers along the poop-deck, mingled with the cries of "A shark, a shark!" Next, Mr. Binney was seen hurrying along the deck with the shark line and hook already baited with a large lump of pork. The excitement grew intense, men dropping their work to view the interesting opera tion of fishing for the voracious creature. But although, when angling for a shark, a certain amount of laxity of discipline is winked at, and all hands are frequently spectators, on this occasion I took no interest in the proceedings, but went on quietly with my job, contenting myself with glancing once and again at the motions of the big fish as it swain round and round the bait. Then the voice of Mr. Ashley arrested my attention.

" Maude, come down from off that wheel-box ! " And, looking down, I perceived that the girl, in her anxiety and eagerness to see what was going on, had climbed upon the wheel-box. She was kneeling on it, and gazing intently into the water. Next, I heard the cries of "Hooked! got him. Haul taut. Now then with the bowline ; look smart, my man ! " Then, to my horror, I saw that, in her intense eagerness to behold the captured fish, she had stooped over too far, and had overbalanced herself. There was a loud splash and cries of agonized distress. " Oh, my child, my child ! O God, save her ! Maude, Maude ! " Then there was a rush to the boat, and a crowd of eager active seamen fell to clearing it away. I, however, did not wait for this, but, sidling out to TO THE RESCUE. 27 the cross-jack yard-arm, I watched for the girl to rise to the surface for the first time.